One You Never Leave

by Lexy Timms

  “It’s okay, Luke. I feel fine.”

  “You know darn well that’s no assurance against pre-eclampsia. No more pizza for you,” he scolded. “And no more restaurant food. We’ve been playing fast and loose with salt restrictions and that’s going to stop.”

  Emily rolled her eyes. “Yes, sir; now let me get to the bank.”

  “Okay,” he said. “Be careful.”

  “Luke,” she protested.

  “Baby. I lost you twice. I’m not going to lose you again.” He told her that all the time but there was no way he was letting her go from him ever again. No matter what.

  “Don’t worry,” she said. “There’s not a chance in the world I’m letting you out of my sight ever again.”

  * *

  Emily made it to the bank and then realized they didn’t have anything for dinner. She wanted to make sure there was something on the stove before Luke came home. Otherwise he’d insist on cooking, and the resulting mess would be more work than if she did it herself. Something made in the slow-cooker could work. Maybe stew. That was easy enough.

  She walked into the grocery store and was immediately drawn to the Thanksgiving flower displays. Done in greens with white, yellow, and orange carnations, the table decorations were cheery and bright. Still, seeing the twenty-five-dollar price tag, Emily couldn’t bring herself to purchase one. Every dollar counted, and this was a frivolity they couldn’t afford.

  “Pretty, aren’t they?” said a masculine voice with a Hispanic accent behind her.

  “Yes,” said Emily, looking over her shoulder. An elderly man, about her height with salt and pepper hair and brown skin like he spent time in sun, stood next to her.

  “You should get one.”

  “Not this time,” she said.

  “Why not?”

  She shrugged her shoulders. “I’m just here to get dinner.”

  “That’s nice. Women nowadays don’t seem interested in cooking.”

  She smiled. “Well, my mother always cooked, so I suppose I come by it naturally.”

  “I’m sure your husband appreciates it.”

  “I suppose,” said Emily. The man seemed unnaturally interested in her, and his close proximity to her made her feel creeped out. People tended to invade her space bubble these days because of her belly. She still hadn’t gotten used to strangers coming up and wanting to put their hands on her belly. She hated it, actually.

  “When’s your baby due?”

  It was a question Emily got often when she was in public, but this man who’d come out of nowhere definitely left her feeling unsettled. She wanted to just go home. It was silly, but she just wanted to be anywhere but here. “Listen, I have to go. Nice talking to you.”

  The man grabbed her arm. “Emily, please don’t go.”

  She jerked her arm up to dislodge his hand. “How do you know my name? I don’t know you.”

  “But I know you, Emily. You’re Raymondo’s wife. I’m his uncle. My name is Raymondo, too. He was named for me.”

  Emily’s felt her eyes grow wide, and backed away slowly while her heart thundered in her chest. Luke told her about his uncle and his involvement with the Mexican drug trade. “Leave me alone!” she shrieked. “Don’t come near me.”

  A store security guard walked to them quickly. “Is there a problem, ma’am?”

  “This man grabbed my arm!”

  Icherra raised his hands. “It’s a misunderstanding.”

  “Stay away from me. From us,” she hissed at Luke’s uncle. “We don’t want anything to do with you.”

  “Do you know this man?” said the security guard.

  “I’ve never seen him before, but I know of him. He’s a criminal.”

  Icherra’s eyes changed from warm brown to icy dark, and Emily shivered. “You should learn the meaning of respect,” he snapped.

  “Enough!” said the security guard. “That’s enough out of you. Leave the store before I call the cops and have you arrested for assault.”

  Emily thought it was a wonderful idea to have Icherra arrested, but it looked like that wasn’t happening. Icherra backed away, then turned and calmly walked out of the store.

  “If you want to do your shopping,” said the guard, “I’ll keep an eye out and make sure he doesn’t enter the store again. When you’re done, tell the cashier to call me and I’ll walk you out to your car.”

  She managed to grab the groceries she needed and appreciated that the guard carried them as he walked her to her car. Her heart racing, she thanked him for the millionth time and drove off, locking her doors and watching her review mirror the entire ride back.

  She was still shaking when she arrived home. She took the bag with the stuff for dinner and left the rest for Luke to bring in when he got home. Nervously, she looked around the parking lot to check her surroundings. She wished fervently that Luke was home now, but the last thing she wanted to do was upset him while he was at work. He’d rush home and then worry obsessively about his uncle showing up.

  And she didn’t want to set her little sister off, who called just as she put the groceries on the table. Angela the snitch would call Luke and fill him in on everything, spinning things into a situation much worse than it was, upsetting her on-edge husband.

  “Is everything okay?” Angela asked. “You sound off.”

  “No, I’m fine,” Emily insisted. “I just need to put my feet up, is all. I got a little tired at the store and decided to take a nap. It’s not like they need me at the shop.”

  “You know what the doctor said. If your blood pressure goes up any more, he’ll put you on bed-rest.”

  “Yes,” sighed Emily, “I’m aware.”

  “Don’t dismiss this, Em. This is your life and the baby’s we’re talking about.”

  “Sometimes you sound just like Dad.” The words flew out of her mouth in a bitter tone. Immediately Emily regretted it. She shouldn’t snipe at Angela because her sister had a better relationship with him than she did. Then again, Sam Dougherty wasn’t her biological father; just the man who’d married her mom when she was pregnant.

  “Well, maybe I should. You don’t seem to be taking your condition seriously.”

  “It’s not a condition—yet. And I do take it seriously. I just don’t want to talk about it 24/7, okay?” Even Emily heard the peevishness in her voice, but really, who was the older sister here? She was tired of how her family treated her, like she was going to screw up at any time.

  “Okay, Em. I’m just worried, is all.”

  “Luke worries enough for the whole family. Believe me, if he thought I wasn’t okay he’d close the shop and be right here with me.” She sighed and blew her bangs off her forehead. “I’m sorry, Ange. I’m just tired and cranky. I don’t mean to be complaining. I’m being horrible. Sorry.”

  “Complain away, sis. I don’t mind and I’ll let you get away with it for another eight weeks,” Angela chuckled. “You’ll be at Sunday dinner, right?”

  Sunday dinner wasn’t just a ritual at the Dougherty house; it was a rite as holy as a Catholic mass, at least in the eyes of their mother. “How can we not?”

  “Awesome! See you then.”

  Dredging and browning the beef for the stew and peeling and cutting the potatoes gave her something to do to take her mind off this threat. But the back of her mind mulled over the problem, and in the end she decided that she needed to call Matt Stone and let him know about this latest development. He might not be able to do anything directly about Icherra, but he had a way of explaining things to Luke that made sense to her husband.

  Just as Luke wanted, she made sure the stew was low in salt, going so far as to use a low-salt beef broth for the base. She found it hard to eat a low-salt diet. Foods just didn’t have the flavor without the demon salt, but she recognized that it was important for her baby’s health, so she followed her doctor’s advice. Just one salty item was enough to pack on the water weight, which drove up her blood pressure.

  She rubbed her
stomach. “Just a couple more months, baby, and we can get back to normal.” Whatever normal was. She had no idea anymore.

  After combining the meat, potatoes, a couple quartered onions, and a bag of baby carrots in the crock pot, she turned the appliance on high and sighed with relief. The slow-cooker would take care of the rest. Now she could put her feet up.

  Only now she was keyed up and everything she looked at needed cleaning. The bathroom got her started when she spied toothpaste dried in the sink. Then, naturally, the toilet needed cleaning. Then the bedroom needed straightening, the living room dusting, and the kitchen a good wiping down of all the surfaces. She damp-mopped the kitchen and the bathroom floors before she decided the apartment was clean enough. Nesting, her mother would call it.

  By now the delicious smell of stew cooking wafted through the rooms, reminding Emily that she hadn’t eaten anything for lunch. She started for the kitchen when the edges of her vision started to go dark, and she felt lightheaded.

  “Oh boy,” she said out loud. “I guess I pushed myself too hard.” She groped for the edge of the sofa, trying to steady herself, but her knees gave way. Everything seemed fuzzy and far away as she slid slowly to the floor.

  And then everything did go dark.

  “BP one-ninety over a hundred, patient unresponsive on the scene, collared and boarded because of a suspected fall.”

  Emily blinked and tried to get her bearings. She couldn’t move and this frightened her, especially since her body jolted in a swaying motion that made her stomach sick.

  “Where am I?” she croaked. “Where’s my husband?”

  “Try to relax, ma’am. You’re in an ambulance en route to Middletown hospital. Your husband is following us in his car. He found you passed out when he came home from work. Can you tell me what happened?”

  “I don’t know. I felt dizzy, and I don’t know, like everything was far away. My legs gave out. I don’t remember how long I was out.”

  “He said you have a history of pre-eclampsia?”

  “Not really. My blood pressure has been a little high, but the doctor was watching it. Really, is this board necessary? It’s very uncomfortable.”

  “We’ll be at the hospital soon,” the paramedic said. He took her blood pressure again. “What has your blood pressure been?”

  The ambulance slowed down and stopped with a lurch.

  “Around one-thirty-five over ninety.”

  The paramedic’s face remained neutral as he looked at the Sphygmomanometer’s display. “Okay, ma’am, we’re pulling into the hospital now. We’ll get you right in.”

  The paramedics rolled her out of the back of the ambulance, and the cold Connecticut winter air hit her. She shivered, and they quickly pushed her in to the entrance of the emergency room. The smell of antiseptic hit her and she heard the cries of pain from one patient, making her gut clench in dread. She tried to quell the thought what if I’m really sick, but it was nearly useless. She had pushed herself too hard and her traitorous body used the opportunity to fall apart.

  In a flash Luke was at her side, his face flushed from running to her.

  “Please, sir. This entrance is only for hospital personnel.”

  “She’s my wife.”

  “And they’ll let you in at the desk when you tell them that.”

  “I’ll be right in, Emily.”

  Emily swallowed hard, the gravity of the situation hitting her. She had fainted, and it was probably her own fault. She should have rested. Emily was sure the unexpected appearance of Luke’s uncle didn’t do anything to help the situation. But even that scary event receded in the face of the threat that hung over her head now. This was real, and it was dangerous, as evidenced by her very high blood pressure. Her own body was not handling this pregnancy well. She was very lucky she hadn’t had a stroke. Fear spread a cold chill through her.

  The paramedics wheeled her into a cubicle and some nurses moved in behind them.

  “Just relax; we’re going to move you onto the bed.”

  “Can we get me off this board?”

  “Not until the doctor checks you out,” said a nurse in blue scrubs. She smiled reassuringly at Emily. “I’m Ellen, and I’ll be your nurse tonight.”

  “You make it seem like I’m going to be here all night.”

  “Well, maybe not all night. Most likely the doctor will order a bunch of tests for you, and we’ll have to monitor your blood pressure for a while. We’ll just have to see how things go. But we are going to take good care of you.”

  While the nurse fixed a blood pressure cuff to Emily’s arm, Luke entered the room. His expression was near frantic as he took in the sight of Emily lying on the hard board, with the nurse rapidly affixing different instruments to Emily.

  “Emily,” said Luke. “How’re you feeling?”

  “Very embarrassed right now. This is a lot of fuss over a little fainting.”

  A little smile turned up the corners of the nurse’s mouth. “I wouldn’t say that. But let’s get some information for your chart, and then I’ll have someone come in from registration to take your billing information.”

  “Oh,” groaned Emily, thinking that Angela would be on her shift soon. The last thing she wanted was for Angela to know about this. “Can you make sure it’s not Angela Dougherty?”

  “You know Angela?”

  “Yes, she’s my sister.”

  “Oh, okay, sure. I’ll see what I can do.”

  “Thanks.”

  When the nurse left, Luke took her hand. “I’m sorry.”

  “Sorry, baby? You have nothing to be sorry about.”

  “Last night…” He didn’t finish the words, but the look on his face was pure anguish.

  “Sssh, sweetheart. That had nothing to do with it. You can bend me over the couch anytime.”

  “I shouldn’t have.”

  “Luke Wade,” she said sternly, “if you ever say anything like that again, you’ll break my heart. I’ll always want to make love to you.”

  He swallowed but seemed to only half hear her words. Luke stroked her hand.

  “Pull up that chair and sit. You’re making me nervous standing there.”

  “Sure, sweetheart.” He dragged the metal and plastic chair closer to her bed and twined his fingers with hers. With that, they both began the long vigil in the emergency room, waiting for the verdict on Emily’s condition.

  CHAPTER FIVE

  The Scary Situation

  “Emily!” Angela poked her head in the doorway of the cubby. “What’re you doing here? What happened? Are you okay?”

  Luke picked up his head toward his sister-in-law, and Emily groaned. She shifted in the bed. The doctor had come in earlier; a slightly harried man not much older than Emily who looked her over and ordered a bunch of tests and IV fluids. Hospital staff had long ago relieved her of the pernicious spinal board, though she remained hooked up on the blood pressure cuff, an oxygen sensor, and now some IV fluids that rolled through her body and spiked her need to use the bathroom.

  “I’m fine. Just fainted, is all.”

  Angela clucked at the lie.

  “And don’t you tell Mom and Dad.”

  Angela shook her head. “Already did. They’re on the way.”

  “Angela!”

  “You really didn’t expect me not to tell them, did you? You’re in the emergency room, for heaven’s sake.”

  Emily groaned again and Luke squeezed her hand. She was tired, hungry, and upset. The last thing she wanted or needed was her parents’ prying. Sam Dougherty didn’t accept Luke as his son-in-law and Amanda Dougherty just accepted her husband’s attitude. No. Emily definitely did not need her parents here.

  “Luke,” said Emily. “Can you find a nurse?”

  “Sure, baby.” He gave her hand a kiss. When he left the hospital room, Emily turned her eyes towards her meddling sister.

  “What the hell, Angela!”

  “Don’t get mad at me. If I didn’t tell them I’d be
in the doghouse!”

  “When they come, tell them I can’t have visitors.”

  “I won’t do that, Emily. They’re worried sick. They’ve been…” Angela stopped and put her hand over her mouth, as if she didn’t intend those words to fly out of her mouth.

  “What? Since the wedding?”

  Angela stood straighter and looked directly into Emily’s eyes. “Since you met up with Luke again. Look, I understand. You love him. He loves you. But that shootout you were in did nothing to redeem Luke in their eyes. He still belongs to that motorcycle club. Emily, when is Luke going to grow up?”

  “Get out!” said Emily. “You won’t speak about my husband like that.” At that moment, the automated blood pressure cuff decided to puff in preparation to take readings. It cut into her arm painfully as the cuff tightened to reach the maximum level of Emily’s pressure.

  “Emily, look…”

  “Out!” Behind Emily, the monitors keened a warning.

  Luke walked back into the room and took in the strained tableau between Emily and Angela. “What’s going on?”

  “Nothing. Angela was just leaving.”

  Angela gave her a cold stare, and, with a toss of her long black hair, stalked out of the room.

  “What was that about?”

  Emily sighed. “My meddling family.”

  A nurse came in, gave her a visual inspection, and turned off the monitor. “You shouldn’t move around.”

  “I’m not. But I do need to use the bathroom.”

  “I’ll get a bedpan.”

  “But I can walk.”

  “Of course you can, honey. But your blood pressure is high. The doctor wants you in bed until we get the results of the tests.”

  “When will the doctor come back in?” said Luke. “We’ve waited a while.”

  “Soon,” was all the nurse said. She pulled out a bedpan from the cabinets hanging on the wall. She looked at Luke.

  “You can come back in after your wife is finished.”

  “I’ll be back, baby. I’ll get a cup of coffee.”

  “You might as well get something to eat too,” said the nurse. “You might be here a while.”