Chapter 30

9/18/2041

Tears streamed down Tyree's cheeks as he waited for the doctor. The horrified look on Luca's face was still fresh in his mind. Tyree wiped his eyes and stood up when the double doors that led to the ER opened. Dr. Newton came and walked up to him.

"How are they?" he asked.

"Mr. Hodges and the babies are fine," she said. "He passed out from shock," the doctor explained.

"Doctor, this was caused because his ex is stalking us," Tyree said.

"Have you told the authorities?" she asked.

"An officer was supposed to take a report tomorrow," he said.

Tyree followed the doctor to the room that Luca was staying in. When he entered the room, Tyree's brown eyes fell upon an IV and other machines hooked up to Luca's body. Luca had his eyes closed and looked pale. "Shit," he swore under his breath.

"Don't swear," Luca said hoarsely, "the babies might hear you."

"You scared the dickens out of me," Tyree said, hugging him. "Maybe you shouldn't have read that message," Tyree said.

"I needed to know," Luca said.

Tyree suddenly looked at Luca with serious eyes. "I need to talk to you about your ex," he said.

"What is it?" Luca asked softly.

"An officer was going to take a report from us because I called to file a complaint," Tyree said.

"Tomorrow morning," he said. Tyree turned to face the doctor. "If the officer comes here, is my boyfriend well enough to answer some questions?" he asked.

"Okay, but if the questioning gets too stressful, I'm stopping the questions," she said.

"Are you willing to do this?" Tyree asked, glancing back at Luca. Luca nodded his head and said, "I want him gone,"

When visiting hours were over, Tyree said, "I'll be back tomorrow." "I love you," kissing Luca on his cheek.

"I love you too," he said. Luca rolled onto his side, closed his eyes, and let sleep overcome him. Tyree headed back home to his children so Ken could go home.

"The kids are asleep," Ken said once Tyree stepped into the house.

"Thanks," Tyree said.

"So, how is he?" he asked.

"Luca and the babies are fine," Tyree said. "He just panicked," he said.

"I'm glad that he's okay," Ken said before he left. Tyree double checked on the children before retiring for the night.

9/19/2041

While Tyree was preparing to meet with the detective, Thomas dropped Alicia off at school, and Adrian brought Angel over to play with Elena. Tyree discovered Luca's phone in the kitchen and was relieved to discover that it was not broken. Tyree gathered all the evidence he needed to back up his suspicions. There was a knock on the front door after Tyree had finished eating breakfast. He approached the door and opened it. A tall, muscular man stood in front of him.

"Hello," said Tyree.

"Hello, I'm Detective Kellerman," he said.

"I'm Tyree Richards," he said. "Can you question my boyfriend elsewhere?" he asked. "He had a panic attack and is in the hospital," Tyree said.

"That is fine," he said. "Now, do you have any evidence?" the detective asked.

"The first one, he showed up at our old house and stood at the window," Tyree said. "My three-year old daughter, who is at school right now, saw him," he said. "Yesterday, roses were delivered, but the card had no name," he explained. "I found this in the flowers," he said, showing the detective the note. "Lastly, there's this," Tyree said, bringing up the message and handing the phone to him.

The evidence was examined by the detective before being placed in a plastic bag.

He explained, "I'll need to take the flowers and the phone to look at them more closely."

"Are you still interested in speaking with my boyfriend?" Tyree inquired.

"No," he said with a shake of his head. "I've got plenty of evidence," the detective explained.

Tyree thanked the detective and shook his hand. "Please find and apprehend him," he said.

"I'll do whatever I can," he said. Tyree thanked him once more and walked him to the door.

Tyree went back into the living room and sat down. The front door opened and Thomas walked inside. "Was Alicia a good girl?" Tyree asked.

"She asked where Luca was, but I wasn't sure how to answer her," he said.

"I'll talk to her once I get back," Tyree said.

"How did the meeting with the detective go?" Adrian asked.

"He seemed hopeful," he said.

"Are they going to be able to capture Patrick?" Thomas asked.

"He didn't say," "But I hope so," Tyree said.

Tyree glanced down at Elena, who was playing with Angel. "Can you two stay until I come back?" Tyree asked.

"Are you going to see Luca?" Adrian asked.

"I promised that I would come back," Tyree said, nodding his head.

"Don't worry," Thomas said. "We can take care of things here," he added.

"Thanks, you're a great friend," Tyree said. "It seems like Elena likes your daughter," he said, glancing over at the toddlers.

"Yea, they seem to get along with each other," Adrian said.

"I better get going or Luca will think I stood him up," Tyree said.

Tyree arrived and parked in the hospital parking lot twenty minutes later. He headed straight to Luca's room. Luca was sitting up and eating his lunch when Tyree walked in.

"Hiya, babe," Tyree said, kissing Luca on the cheek.

"Ty, you're back," Luca said with excitement. "Did you see the officer today?" he asked.

"Yes," Tyree said, nodding his head. "We finished a while ago," he said.

"I thought he needed to talk to me," Luca said.

"He got all the evidence that he needed and changed his mind," Tyree said.

"That's good," Luca said, letting out a sigh of relief.

The doctor entered the room and did her usual routine of tests to check Luca's health.

"Your health has improved," she said. "I don't see why you can't go home tomorrow," the doctor said.

"Oh, that's great," Luca said.

"But remember, no overstressing," Dr. Newton said. "And no sex," she added.Luca glanced at Tyree and blushed profusely. The doctor smiled and left the room.