Pass.
When I step down the hill, the sound of clumsy and panicked hooves against the concrete grabs my attention. I look to barn number three, and find Coley prancing out of the aisle. Her whinny is panicked. The cross ties have been ripped out of the wall and fly freely, still clipped to her halter.
It’s not enough she’s escaped. She has to let the whole world know about it. I jog that way, and when she spots me, she gallops towards me, skidding to a stop when she’s six feet away, and nervously prancing.
“Hey, you. What’s going on?” I reach for her halter, but she turns on a dime and canters back into the barn.
Shit.
Something happened.
I jog into the barn and follow Coley until she skids to a stop. Aria lies on the ground, unconscious. Her face is flushed and red, and what makes my heart pound in my chest is she’s not sweating. At all.
“Aria?” I crouch down beside her and roll up her sleeves. I remember the scars from that first day she came back home. Most of them are faded, but they still remain. She’s been through hell.
I gently pat her cheek repeatedly, trying to get her to come to.
“Ace? I need you to open your eyes. Can you do that?”
Her eyelids don’t even flutter. There’s literally no change.
“Shit,” I hiss under my breath.
My phone is at the house. Time is of the essence.
“Aria, baby, I need you to open your eyes. We need to get you to a bathtub…”
Nothing.
Okay. This is happening.
I gently scoop her up in my arms. She lies like a ragdoll. Her whole body is dead weight and it’s difficult to walk. Coley walks beside us like she’s Aria’s guard dog. She has to make sure Aria’s getting taken care of.
I get it, girl. I don’t want anything happening to her either.
I walk as fast as I can, stopping a few times to adjust my grip on her. I nearly cry when I reach the hill to the cul-de-sac, but I press through it.
When I reach Annie’s house, I don’t bother ringing the doorbell. I walk right in, kicking the door open, and call out for Annie.
A chair scrapes against the wood floor, and suddenly, Annie appears in the foyer. Her bluebell eyes widen in horror at the sight of her sister.
“What the hell happened?” she demands, rushing over to us and pressing her palm to Aria’s forehead.
“Where’s your bathroom? We need to get her under cold water. Now.”
She motions for me to follow her.
We storm through the house like a tornado. Annie kicks open the door to her room and leads me to lay Aria on the bed so we can begin undressing.
“Everything has to come off. Panties and bra too. Can you do that?”
Annie’s eyes whip to me, scandalized.
“She’s suffering from heat fatigue. We need to cool her internal temperature down before there’s any damage. Where can I find your thermometer?”
“Medicine cabinet,” she murmurs, working on Aria’s boots.
I race into the bathroom and turn on the faucet to the bathtub, putting on the coolest temperature. I then search the medicine cabinet and find a rectal thermometer. It’s interesting she has one. But there’s no time to dwell on it. I sterilize it with the bottle of rubbing alcohol in the medicine cabinet.
Racing into the room, Aria still has her bra and shirt on, but her jeans and underwear are off.
“Okay, I need help turning her on her side. I need to get her internal temperature. That will give us the most important information we need.”
Annie gently rolls her over and I insert the thermometer, holding my breath. I hope it’s not too high. I hope we’ve caught this in time.
“A hundred and three,” Annie murmurs.
“Okay. Shirt and bra off.”
I turn away to give her some sense of dignity, not that it will matter. I’m about to see everything anyway.
“She’s ready,” Annie murmurs.
I scoop her up, her skin burns against me. I lower her into the bathtub and stretch her legs out.
Then I see it.
That’s not a food baby.
It’s a small baby bump.
Shit!
“Annie, is she pregnant?”
“Yes, but—”
“Call an ambulance. Then call her OB and tell her to meet you at the hospital.”
Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.
I’ve never dealt with heat fatigue in a pregnant woman before. In the Corps., they dropped your pants, stuck the thermometer in your ass, and then carted you away to get treatment. Other friends in the Army told me they treated heat fatigue with linens submerged in ice to get the internal temperature down.
“Aria? Can you hear me?” I plead. I need her to come to. I need to know she’s okay.
Her eyelids flutter but remain closed. Progress.
“You’re in Annie’s house. You’re in a cold bath. You passed out at the barn. Do you understand that?”
Her lips move like she’s chewing.
Come on, sweet thing. Wake up for me.
“Ambulance is on the way. Dr. Cash is on her way to the hospital and Momma is on her way over. What do you need me to do?”
“We need to lean her forward. Aria, can you bring your knees to your chest?”
She doesn’t answer, but her legs draw up to her chest, slowly, and her arms hug them for dear life. I push her hair to the side and grab the cup on the side of the tup, filling it with the cold water and pouring it at the base of her neck. I don’t mean to peek, I don’t, but her back grabs my attention. And apparently, it grabbed Annie’s attention too.
She gasps in horror. Long scars mar her back. I’ve seen this in movies. At least, this is how Hollywood portrayed the markings slaves were given when they were punished. Long gashes of brown and pink, some still red, raised, and scabbed over. I swallow the lump in my throat. I glance to my left and see Annie in tears.
How does a man destroy a woman to this capacity? I get it now. I get why she wears the baggy, long sleeved shirts. I get why she’s been so emotional. I don’t understand why she didn’t tell anyone. Me. Why wouldn’t she tell me?
Because you’re not really her friend. You’re a guy who lives on the property.
But it’s more than that now isn’t it?. It has to be.
A sob sounds off from the bathtub. Aria is coming to.
“Aria? Can you hear me?” I ask.
“Yes,” she whimpers.
“Do you know what year it is?”
“2017.”
Good.
“Do you know what day it is?”
“It’s Thursday,” she replies.
“What’s my name?”
“Derek Alexander Hawthorn.”
Never in my life has my name sounded so sweet. She’s okay. Sort of.
“How are you feeling? Do you think you can lay back now?”
She nods wordlessly.
“Baby? Where are you?” Betty Lou’s voice shrieks throughout the house.
“In here!” Annie calls out.
“Do me a favor. Grab a few dark colored washcloths. We can cover her up for when the paramedics get here.”
It’s a forty minute drive from town to get here. But I imagine she’d be mortified if I saw her naked like this. Annie throws me two dark purple washcloths as she races out the door. Aria leans back in the tub, her pools of hazel swimming with tears. When Annie returns, I cover up her full breasts, and her lower half.
“It’s going to be okay,” I reassure her. “The ambulance is on the way and Dr. Cash is meeting you at the hospital.”
Her bottom lips wobbles and she sobs.
“I’m sorry,” she wails.
“Why are you sorry?”
“I didn’t want to drink the water. The fridge was too far.”
I smirk and chuckle.
“How are you feeling otherwise? Do you feel any pressure? Are you cramping?”
She shrugs. At this point, I’m
sure she’s in shock.
“Annie? Can you check her underwear? Tell me if you notice any blood.”
Aria’s eyes fly open and she moves to stand up.
“No, sit down. We need to bring your internal temp down. Relax. We’ve got it from here.”
Betty Lou rushes into the bathroom and nearly pushes me away.
“Baby, what happened?”
Aria can’t form coherent sentences. She sobs into Betty Lou’s shirt, repeating her apologies. What does this woman have to be sorry for? It’s not her fault!
“I need some makeshift ice packs. Three of them to be exact. One each for under her arms, and then one in between her legs. Those are the hottest parts of the body and it’ll help with bringing her temp down,” I say to Betty Lou.
She pats my face, a silent thank you, and rushes out to the kitchen.
“You’re lucky Ace. If it wasn’t for your psycho horse, I might not have found you in time.”
She sobs harder. And that reminds me I didn’t put Coley back. She’s probably roaming the property with the cross ties still hanging from her halter.
“Did Momma see my back?” she whimpers.
“I don’t think so.” I won’t tell her Annie did.
After ten more minutes with the ice packs and the cold water, she shivers. I shut off the water and allow Betty Lou and Annie to get her dressed and into bed until the paramedics get here. Annie opens the door when Aria is decent and allows me back inside.
I sit on the edge of the bed and examine her pupils.
“Do you remember what happened before you went unconscious? Did you hit your head on anything?”
“I’m not sure,” she murmurs.
“Does your head hurt now?”
“A little.”
She sits up so we’re touching from shoulder to ankle. She leans against me, resting her head on my shoulder.
“What’s going to happen to the baby?” she asks in a small voice.
Betty Lou’s gaze meets mine in the mirror in the bathroom, and she stops what she’s doing and listens.
“We won’t know anything until your OB checks you out.”
“But in your professional opinion?”
“My professional opinion doesn’t matter right now. I’m a doctor for horses and cows. And unfortunately yappy dogs I want nothing to do with. You’re none of those. But…I think I found you in enough time.”
“I’ll never forgive myself if something happens to the baby.”
My gut twists in anxiety. It’s the perfect excuse to put a highway of distance between us. But my instincts tell me something different. I’d be lying if I said I didn’t like her leaning on me. I do. I like it a lot.
Her pouty lips quiver.
“Don’t jump to conclusions yet, Ace. It’s going to be okay.”
Steve and Chris race single file into the room on high alert. They catch sight of Aria and relax, slightly. When Chris sees our position, he immediately scowls.
“Man, you think you know a guy.”
I grin and glance over to Steve who narrows his eyes at Aria.
“What happened?” Steve asks.
“She’s dehydrated. I found her unconscious in the middle of the barn.”
“Aria—”
“Say something mean to my baby, Stephen, I dare you.” Betty Lou barrels out of the bathroom and squares up against her husband. If this wasn’t such a serious moment, it would be funny.
“I wasn’t going to say anything!”
“You’ve been home all of sixty minutes and you’re already picking fights. If you have nothing to say, get the fuck out!” My insides freeze. Not once in my life have I ever heard Betty Lou McKenzie drop an ‘F’ bomb.
Picking his battles, Steve leaves the room as my phone vibrates in my pocket. I excuse myself to the living room and answer it.
“Hey Bubba,” Logan greets sadly in my ear.
“Hey Logan. What’s going on?”
“We have a court date.”
Brakes screech in my head.
“A court date?”
“It turns out Emily and her lawyer want to contest the parenting plan. This is a full blown custody battle now. Whoever wins, gets Zoey for good.”
“What happened?” Nate rushes into the living room, giving the McKenzie’s some space.
“Emily’s a fucking bitch,” I seethe.
“Bubba, focus.”
“She’s contesting the parenting plan, Nate!” My voice carries into the other room, and suddenly, all of the McKenzie’s are watching this.
“We’ll talk about this later,” he says, lowering his voice. “I’m here for you, Bubba. I am. What happened with Aria? Why is there an ambulance screaming over here?”
“Heat fatigue.”
Nate’s face falls.
“What’s Nate doing there?” Logan’s voice shouts from the phone.
“He’s here for Aria.”
“Who’s Aria?”
“Logan, I don’t care what you have to do, but there is no fucking way Emily is leaving this god forsaken state with Zoey.”
“I’ll handle it, okay? She won’t.”
I hang up with Logan as the paramedics sweep into the room. They take Aria’s vitals and ask her a ton of questions. Nate’s on his phone with his supervisor.
“She’s pregnant and dehydrated. You’ll need to start an IV in the bus,” I say quietly to the nearest paramedic. Nate’s eyes snap to mine, and then to Aria. I give Aria an apologetic grimace.
They wheel her out on the stretcher.
“Thank you for finding her,” Betty Lou says quietly approaching me.
“Thank Coley. If it wasn’t for her crazy ass, I would’ve gone on my run.”
She nods and shrugs. I know she wants to say something more. She wouldn’t be Betty Lou if she didn’t have the last word.
“Thank you for helping her. And…for understanding.”
That she’s knocked up?
My stomach churns knowing Dodge left her with a parting gift. Now I understand her line of questioning from when we were first shooting. She wanted to know if it was possible to change her mind.
“Mrs. McKenzie, I know you’d like to escort Aria in the ambulance, but I’m going to have to insist I do. This is for her safety, and I’m erring on the side of caution,” Nate announces professionally.
Mark, the paramedic with the dark hair snickers.
“That’s not going to fly, man. Do you know who you’re talking to?”
Betty Lou glares at Nate and places her hands on her hips.
“I appreciate the concern, Agent, but I’m not leaving my baby again.”
“Not to worry Mrs. McKenzie, you’re always our exception. Agent what’s-your-name, you can ride in the middle.”
Nate’s face sours.
“Fine.”
24
ARIA
25 weeks pregnant…
The cat’s out of the bag. And I have nobody to blame but myself. Soon, the entire town will know I was living in sin with a man who had a few screws loose. I should thank Charlie for the parting gift, shouldn’t I? He’s found a new way to humiliate me and he isn’t even around to enjoy the spoils.
The whooshing sound from my uterus fills the room, and Dr. Cash sits at the edge of her seat, her chocolate eyes trained on the screen in front of her with her brow furrowed. There’s still a heartbeat. And that’s all that matters.
“Amniotic fluid is a little low,” she murmurs.
“What does that mean?”
“You’re severely dehydrated,” she replies, wiping off the jelly from the wand and placing it back in the holder. “I know we talked about the amniocentesis and you weren’t sure about it, but I highly recommend it. Heat fatigue can cause some birth defects, and an amniocentesis can tell us if there’s anything we need to prepare for.”
I feel like such an idiot. All I had to do was drink water. All I had to do was stay inside. But no. That’s not who I am, is it? I have to test the
patriarchy whenever I see an opening.
“Okay.”
She grasps my hand and squeezes it reassuringly.
“How are you feeling, otherwise? Any cramping? Any pressure?”
“No, and no. I’m feeling…foolish.”
Her pitied smile makes me want to look the other way. I’m so sick of seeing it on her and the other people around me. It’s my own fault I’m in this predicament. They should be angry. I should be punished.
“It happens, Aria. Everyone makes mistakes. But the baby’s okay. You’re okay. That’s all that matters.”
Yeah, screw all the other bullshit that brought me here.
Annie sits in the chair beside my bed, staring off into space, uncharacteristically quiet. Annie always has something to say, even when everyone around her doesn’t want to hear it.
When Dr. Cash excuses herself, I turn to Annie and offer a pathetic smile.
“Hey, are you alive over there?” I ask teasingly.
“I’m alive, Aria.”
Shit.
“Aria, huh? Not Peanut?”
Her hard expression softens.
“I’m sorry. I’m just upset.”
Because I’m an idiot.
“Oh. I’m sorry for—”
“I’m not upset at you, Aria.” She sighs and turns to face me. “I’m upset with myself. There were so many times I wanted to go to Chicago and figure out what was going on with you. Believe it or not, you’re my best friend.”
Of course she is. She’s mine too. My traitorous tears stream down my face when my sister can barely look me in the eye. I’m so ashamed. I should’ve known being with Charlie was going to affect everyone around me.
“Anyway, I kept putting it off because I didn’t think you’d want to see me. And now I know you did, and more than anything, you needed help, and I wasn’t there for you.”
My heart plummets to the fiery depths of my stomach.
“I saw your back. I can’t imagine the pure hell he put you through. And it’s a constant reminder I need to be better—”
“Stop it,” I plead. “It wouldn’t have mattered if you came for me. Honestly, it probably would’ve gotten me killed.”
She glances up at me with watery eyes.
“I don’t blame you at all. He made me think going home with him meant you guys wouldn’t want to talk to me again. And if I had any hope you did…he would have snuffed that right out of me. I don’t blame you. Mostly, I blame myself. I ignored the red flags and I’m in here because of that.”
Make Me Dream (The Sage Creek Series Book 1) Page 19
