“Hang on, I’m speeding up,” I warn her as I finally finish with the dusty back road and pull out onto the freeway. It takes all of my self-control not to flatten the pedal to the floor. The city slides past us in a blur of fluorescent lights as I make my way to the Jubilee hospital.
“We’ll be there in no time, just let me know if anything changes, alright? Are you still good?” I quickly look over at her and can see the worry etched into her beautiful face.
“I’m good,” she answers unconvincingly.
“Okay,” in a stroke of luck I sail through a green light and swoop around a corner, following the hospital signs.
I know it only takes a few minutes, but it literally feels like hours before I pull up in front of the emergency entrance and throw the truck into park. Racing around to the passenger side, I help Charlotte out onto the ground and guide her inside through the automatic double doors.
The tired looking triage nurse doesn’t even look up at us as Charlotte eases into her seat. “Do you have insurance?” She waits for her answer with her fingers hovering over the keyboard of her computer.
“Yes, through work,” Charlotte answers.
Clackety-clack.
“What’s the problem?” The silver haired, white woman still doesn’t actually meet either of our eyes.
“She’s almost five months pregnant and she’s bleeding,” I cut in, trying to move this along.
“What color is the blood,” the nurse answers flatly.
“What color? It’s red, what color do you think it is?” My temper flares and I grit my teeth together.
“Sir, I need you to calm down. I’m talking to the patient. The blood, is it bright, dark, brownish?” She finally glances up at Charlotte. “The more information I have the better.”
“Bright red,” Charlotte clasps my hand and gives it a squeeze. Even in this state she finds time to try to calm me down. She’s an angel.
After the interrogation is over, the nurse asks us to take a seat in the waiting room. We sit down beside one another, our fingers threaded together, and wait. Luckily it doesn’t take too long before a man who looks like he’s dressed up as a nurse for Halloween comes to the end of the hall and calls out, “Charlotte King.” He shakes his head when we both rise to our feet. “I’m sorry sir, but we’re just taking Ms. King in for examination right now. I’ll come and get you once it’s over.”
“What?” I practically choke on the word.
“It’s going to be fine, Connor. Take my phone, please, call my brother and tell him what’s going on. I want him to know, please,” she drops her cell in my hands and follows the nurse down the hall and out of sight.
Could this night get any worse? I immediately regret the thought, I don’t want to tempt fate into showing me just how much worse this whole thing can get. I don’t want us to lose our baby, or for anything to happen to Lottie.
Sighing, I open her phone and bring up Marcus’ contact. I don’t want to overthink it, I just push the ‘call’ button and listen to the rings in my ear.
“Hullo,” my old friend’s familiar voice cuts through my swirling thoughts.
“Marcus?”
“Connor? Why are you calling me?” He sounds like he’s biting off his words.
“Listen, I don’t have time for your shit, Lottie is in trouble, she’s bleeding. We’re at the Jubilee and we don’t know but she might be having a miscarriage,” I wait for an answer but don’t hear anything. I twist the phone away from my ear and look down at the screen. The call timer stopped. That son of a bitch hung up on me!
Rage boils up from my chest and splashes up my throat, “Fucker!” I throw the phone on the floor and the screen shatters.
“Sir!” The tired nurse at the triage desk stands up and levels me with her narrow slits for eyes.
“Sorry,” I pick up the broken phone that I’m going to need to replace and push it into my jeans pocket.
“If you have any more violent outbursts, I’m going to have you escorted out by security,” she points her finger at me and I feel like a kid in elementary school being sent to the principal’s office.
“I understand,” I run my hand over the back of my burning neck and ignore the stares of the other people in the room waiting.
I understand all right, I slump down in a seat and feel my anger coil up inside me. I understand that Marcus is damned lucky he’s not here right now, because if he was I’d be getting dragged away by more than a rent-a-cop. If that asshole was here right now he’d be the one getting seen by a doctor because I’d crush his windpipe with my fist.
27
Connor
My balled-up fists unfurl as the anger inside me slips away and my fears and sadness shroud me in a fog. I don’t want to feel like this. I try to focus my emotions into something that feels more constructive somehow, my anger at Marcus. However, each time I think about beating him or yelling at him the other thoughts slide in and overwhelm me.
Is Charlotte alright?
Is she losing the baby?
How can I ever make this okay?
It never will be.
A child I never knew I wanted turned our entire world upside down and now it seems like it might leave our lives before we ever get a chance to meet. It doesn’t seem fair to love someone that you’ll never know. The ache in my heart is too much, I slump over in my seat and bury my face in my hands as the tears I can’t control fall from my eyes.
I don’t care if people are staring or what they think. After everything Charlotte and I have been through, this can’t be happening.
It just can’t be.
“Connor?” A warm hand squeezes my shoulder and I twist my tear-stained face up to the familiar voice.
“Marcus?”
I can see from his bloodshot eyes that he’s been crying too. He nods slowly and walks around the chairs to sit next to me.
“I didn’t think you were coming, you hung up,” I start to dig into him, but I don’t have the energy to fight. The truth is, I’m happy to see him.
“I’m sorry about that, I raced over here as soon as you told me,” he points down at his gray slippers as if his plaid pajamas with a summer coat thrown over top, isn’t proof enough.
“Where is she?” He eases back in his chair and looks around the room.
“The doctor is seeing her now,” I wipe away my tears and clear my throat.
“It’s going to be okay,” he looks back at me calmly. For a second, I catch a glimpse of the best friend I once had. The boy who always had my back. My blood brother.
“I don’t know about that,” I breathe out shakily. “I don’t know how much more heartbreak Charlotte can take,” it’s not an accusation, but I can see it lands on Marcus’ face like a slap.
“I’m sorry I was so hard on her. I’ve been praying a lot on this and, I’d like us to leave the past in the past, Connor. I’d like us to start over,” he slides his hands down his pant legs and looks at me from the corner of his eyes.
Marcus was never good at apologies. Usually, when we were growing up, he'd have an epic meltdown and then, when it was over, everyone just moved on like it never happened. At least he’s trying to make things right this time. That’s more than I can say about myself.
The realization twists like a knife in my gut as it occurs to me that I’ve never properly apologized myself. Ever since his old girlfriend jumped me in the tent back on prom night, things always blew up when I tried to talk to Marcus. After all these years, I still haven’t said I’m sorry for my part in his pain.
“Hey man, I’d like if we could bury the hatchet. I miss having you as my friend,” I admit.
“Me too,” he looks down at his feet.
“Listen, Marcus, about Sandra…”
“We don’t have to get into this now,” Marcus cuts me off abruptly.
“I don’t want to get into it either,” I ignore him. “I want to say I’m sorry. I know I never went out of my way to sleep with her, I didn’t even realiz
e what was going on or who it was with until it was too late, to be honest,” I watch as Marcus begins to puff up his chest, sitting up straighter in his seat. “Let me finish,” I hold up my hands to stop the anger I can see rising inside him like the mercury on a barometer.
“Fine,” he clamps his dark lips together.
“But it doesn’t change the fact that I hurt you. I betrayed you and for that, I owe you a huge apology. I just hope you can find it in your heart to forgive me so we can move on. You’re still my family. At least, that’s how I think of you. That’s never changed.” I hold out my hand and hope that Marcus can let go of his pride enough to hear the sincerity in my words. I hope he can give me another chance.
His thick, black hand engulfs mine and we shake to letting past mistakes go and giving a future where a friendship is possible again, a chance.
“I’d like that,” he answers, his dark eyes shining with tears that he blinks back.
“Great, so would I,” we drop our hands and the heartwarming moment is short lived as we both sit in silence thinking about Charlotte.
“How long has she been in there?” Marcus interrupts the rabbit hole of worry that my mind begins to fall down.
“They took her in right away, like when I called you,” I gaze over at him.
“It wasn’t all your fault. It was mine,” Marcus clears his throat and studies his palms.
“What do you mean?” I watch his eyebrows knit together as he twists his mouth to the side like he’s wrestling with a secret he’s not sure if he should spill.
“That night with Sandra, it was my fault, not yours. All this time, every time I’ve heard your name or seen your face, it just,” his voice cracks, “it brought it all back. It made me face my demons and I wasn’t prepared to admit what I did. She slept with you to put the final nail in a coffin I built. She wanted to make sure that her and I could never repair our relationship, but I pushed her to that edge. I pushed her there and then I pushed her off.”
I try to make sense of what Marcus is confessing. I know him and Sandra had problems, but they never seemed more intense than any other high school couple. Just normal drama.
“What do you mean?” I search his face for clues.
“You know I’ve always been cursed with this temper,” he twists his hands together like he’s trying to wash away the memory.
“I’ve known since we met, it’s not like it was a secret,” I nudge him with a dry laugh, trying to lighten the burden pushing down his shoulders.
“Yeah, well, Sandra knew it too. We used to get into some blistering fights and I’d fly off the handle. I’d call her names that no man should call a woman, especially not a woman he loved. That night, we were drinking and she just kept pushing me. She kept pressing my buttons, like on purpose, making fun of me at the campfire in front of the whole graduating class. People were laughing and…I lost it.” He can’t meet my eyes.
“What did you do?” I sit up straight and look him square in the face, is he telling me he hurt her?
“I shoved her. Hard. She fell backward and everyone gasped. Even I gasped. I couldn’t believe I let myself lose it to that extent. I’d never, ever laid a hand on her in malice before that. Never. But I snapped. She ran off and I was shunned by the group. As I should’ve been.”
“Man, what were you thinking?” I chide him. “Why didn’t you ever just get help for your temper. That’s not okay, Marcus,” I can’t believe my ears.
“I did. I turned to the church, first to get help and then I found a calm there, a peace, I’d never felt before. Suddenly my anger stopped controlling me. So, I devoted my life to God. I deserved to lose Sandra, but when I saw you again, after all these years, I lost it all over again. You know I have had control over my anger now for almost fifteen years. I thought I had it beat. Then I saw you with Lottie and it all came back.”
“I don’t know what to say, man,” I rub the back of my neck.
“That’s because you don’t need to say anything. I’m the one in the wrong here. After Charlotte left, I started looking for a counselor outside the church.” He looks at me.
“Like a therapist?”
“Yeah, I found someone. I’m supposed to meet her this week. I know it won’t be an easy fix, but I want to change. I want to be in Lottie’s life. In your life. I want to be a good uncle, if you guys will have me.”
“Of course we will,” I smile. But the word uncle makes my heartstrings tug down. Will he be an uncle at all? Will I be a father? What is going on with Charlotte?
“Connor McLean?” The ridiculously young man in scrubs that led Charlotte down the hall calls out to me from across the room.
I stand up abruptly, “Is she alright? Is the baby okay?” I start sputtering.
“Sir, please come with me.” He waits as I cross the floor to his side. I look over my shoulder to Marcus, still slumped over in his chair.
“Marcus,” he looks up at me with surprise. “Come with me. Charlotte’s gonna want to see you too,” I jerk my head to the nurse waiting and he jumps up from the uncomfortable waiting room chair and we all walk down the hallway together.
28
Charlotte
I lean back into the hospital bed, watching the fetal heart rate monitor they have set up beside me. Watching that little printout of my baby’s reassuringly steady heartbeat is mesmerizing.
“Hi, Ms. King,” a woman in mint green scrubs and skin the color of midnight walks in with a clipboard.
“Hello” I smile nervously, even though watching the heartbeat has calmed me down and the bleeding has almost stopped, I still have a twinge of worry that everything isn’t going to be alright.
“I’m Dr. Pike,” she adjusts her thick, vibrant green glasses on her nose and looks at me with genuine concern.
“Is everything okay doctor?” My breath is tight in my chest as I wait for her to finish reading the results of all the tests they ran.
“I’m happy to say it is.” She finally looks up and flashes me a toothy smile. “So, I won’t say it’s common for women as far along into their pregnancy to have bouts of fresh, heavy bleeding like you did,” she walks to the side of my bed and watches the fetal heart rate blip over the screen, “as you can see, the little one is relaxed and happy in there. We checked your cervix and there are no signs that it’s weakened or in danger of not being able to hold this pregnancy.”
I let out a long sigh of relief, “So, you’re saying my baby is fine? Everything is good?”
“It appears that way, yes. I’ve consulted with your gynecologist and he agrees that there doesn’t seem to be any need for concern at this point.”
“Great,” I run my hand over my tummy and smile.
“I’m sure you already answered a million questions, but were you doing any heavy lifting, like fifty pounds or more today?” She clicks the end of her pen and hovers it over the sheet, ready to scrawl my answer down.
“No, nothing like that,” I watch as she records my words.
“Good, good. So, nothing out of the ordinary before the bleeding. No lifting, no falls, no vigorous sex?”
Heat blossoms over my cheeks, we didn’t get the chance to get to the vigorous sex part. “No, none of those,” I answer.
The doctor scribbles some notes.
I clear my throat, “Um, Dr. Pike?”
“Yes?” She looks up, and tucks a strand of hair that escaped her sleek bun back behind her ear.
“I don’t plan on lifting any weights or falling, obviously,” I giggle nervously.
“Good, good,” she answers.
“But do I need to avoid having sex too?” My voice is tight and I feel like an awkward kid back in sex education class, embarrassed to let the grown up in the room know that I’m interested in, you know, doing it.
“No, no, don’t worry about that. You can have all the crazy sex you want. It’s actually really great for you,” she laughs. “I was just trying to pinpoint the reason for the bleeding, but sometimes there is
no reason,” she smiles at me and I feel the knot in my stomach untie.
“Great,” I can’t hide my relief and the doctor chuckles again.
“Nurse Chavez will be letting your husband come in to visit you now that all the tests are done. We would like to keep you under observation for a couple more hours, just to be safe, and then you’ll be free to go home,” her brown eyes twinkle as she drops the chart at the foot of my bed. “Any other questions for me?”
“No, thanks that’s everything.” Dr. Pike nods and then leaves the room.
It’s just me and the baby again. My eyes glide back over to the monitor and the tension slips from my shoulders and floats away as I get hypnotized by the rhythmic beat of my baby’s heart once again.
“Knock knock. Hey Mama, I’ve got some visitors for you,” the handsome, young nurse calls from the doorway.
“Visitors?” I stress the “s” and lift my eyebrows as I look behind him. Nurse Chavez smiles at me and steps out of the way.
“You guys can go in now,” he instructs them and my jaw drops open wide.
Connor and Marcus walk into the room, both smiling at me warmly. I’m a little confused, but more than that, I’m grateful to see them both so relaxed and happy as they stand side-by-side next to the bed.
“How are you doing?” Connor sweeps his palm over my forehead.
“Good, they said everything is going to be fine,” I answer.
“And the baby too?” Marcus looks over at the monitor.
“That’s right. They want to keep me here for a couple more hours, just under observation, but then she said we can go.” Tears brim my eyes as I look at my brother and my man, finally putting the past behind them and getting along. I honestly never thought this day would come. I hold my little belly and silently thank my little bub for bringing us all together. Maybe that’s why I had this bleeding tonight. To show us all what’s really important.
“It’s going to be late by the time you get finished up here. You don’t have to head all the way back out of town tonight. Why don’t you guys come to the house to crash after instead?” Marcus offers, looking down at me.
Once Upon a Time Page 10
