Love in the Fast Lane

by Melissa Kate

  “Well pencil me in sweetheart ‘cause I’m here now.”

  He threw open Mena’s door with a flair.

  “Nate,” she jumped. “What a surprise!”

  He closed the door behind him, purposely shutting the mousey receptionist out.

  “What brings you here today?” She walked around the desk to lean against it.

  “You know damn well why I’m here,” his blood was boiling. “I watched the statement that you issued this week, without my consent!”

  “It was a necessary evil, Nate. I’m here to protect your image, your reputation and that’s exactly what I was doing. I was doing damage control.”

  “By telling the press that I was filing for full custody? That I didn’t know about my child? That Brielle kept this from me on purpose?”

  “Nathan,” she touched his arm and he recoiled. She looked as though he’d burned her. “I was stating what was the inevitable. You did not in fact know about your child until a few months ago so why are you acting like I did you a disservice?”

  “I trusted you for years, Mena. I trusted you with managing my career and my life and you fucked me over.”

  “Nate, you’re over reacting.”

  “Am I? Did you tell Brielle Woods six years ago that I was not interested in being a father?”

  Her face fell in shock and guilt. “Nate, you get women calling me every day claiming to carry your unborn child. I-“

  “You made a life-changing decision for me Mena. One I did not ask you to make. Because of you I missed Noah’s birth. I missed his first tooth. I missed his first step. Fuck! I missed his first five years of his life! You can’t give that back to me!”

  “Nate, you always said you never wanted to have kids. You said your father was a piss poor example, that you didn’t have anyone to teach you better.”

  “Well, it turns out that that changed. I was a God damn decent father up until this shit hit the fan and I fucked my child over.”

  “Nate, I did it for you. I thought it was the best decision for you.”

  “And you were wrong. What other amazing decisions have you made without my knowledge? Do I have a Russian wife that you paid off or silenced?”

  “Nate, I’m sorry, I didn’t think-“

  “Yeah, you didn’t think. You crossed a line and I can’t go back. You’re fired.”

  “Nate, you can’t!”

  “I can, I just did.” He turned on his heel, anger still flaring. “Stay away from me and my family. I never want to see you again.”

  Brielle was so glad that Noah had a school field trip for the weekend. The school planned for them to stay on an animal farm a few hours’ drive away so that they could learn about animals and their care. The timing was perfect because Noah had been so withdrawn after the recent mess and this retreat was just what he needed. She still could not believe the judge had granted Nate visitation. Why could nobody else see him for the lying creep that she did? She kicked herself every second for even allowing him into Noah’s life. How could she have been so foolish? She had been so smitten with his good looks and his charm, to both her and Noah, and she had been in a spin until he dropped her flat on her face.

  She sighed out loud, the pain still fresh in her heart. She needed to pick up the pieces and move on now. There was no room for the one person pity party she was currently throwing. She had to just put on her big girl panties and get on with it.

  Against her better judgement, she’d allowed Nate into their lives. She had no one else to blame but herself.

  Emma had gone back home that morning and Brielle suddenly felt very lonely. She poured herself a glass of wine and sat herself on Noah’s swing in the backyard. The paparazzi were thankfully AWOL leaving her with the peace of the night. She took a long gulp and thought back to when she’d met Nate, how she was so unfazed by his celebrity and how he’d seemed like just a regular guy. She remembered him telling her he never wanted children and yet he had become a good father to Noah, teaching him things in one weekend that she probably never would have gotten around to teaching him in years. The anger was passing and now the disappointment was settling in. That was a harder emotion for her to swallow.

  She could be angry and fiery and want to bring down the gates of hell, but the disappointment came from a place of hope and expectation and it was not a feeling she handled well. She guessed that Nate would still be a good father to Noah; the public scrutiny was not against their son, it was against her. And that’s where her disappointment stemmed from. She hadn’t realized it till that moment but she had been holding out hope that they could one day be a real family. They got along so well as a couple and as a unit, she’d hoped that her dream could one day be fulfilled. To be a more stable entity for their son. She wasn’t getting any younger and raising a child as a single parent was difficult at best. She’d just hoped that she, too, could find a man that would hold her hand through the lonely nights and be her shoulder when she needed him.

  She took another long gulp, feeling her skin warm up. If she couldn’t have a man, then she would have wine.

  Lucky for her she had never been the type of female to burst out the waterworks at every down-trodden moment. Life had dealt her a hard hand early on in life and she didn’t sit around, messing up her mascara over a few hard knocks. She’d cried the day she was orphaned and she’d cried the day her son was born. Both significant moments of change in her life. Not a day before, after or in between. She was sad right now, but she would not cry.

  Life was not over.

  CHAPTER 19

  WHEN NOAH CAME HOME THE next day he looked in better spirits. The solitude of the farm and the simplicity of the animals had almost healed his little soul.

  “Mom, there was a pig there and he had the biggest snout I’ve ever seen.”

  “How many snouts have you seen before that one?”

  “Well,” he thought a moment. “None, but you know what I mean. And there was a pony, Momma. He had a swishy tail that looked like Aunt Emma’s hair at the beach.”

  Brielle smiled. “Don’t ever let her hear you say that.”

  She watched his jade eyes gleam with excitement as he continued his story of the farm animals, recounting the moo of the cows and the quack of the ducks. His stories continued well into the evening during dinner and bath time. When Brielle called lights out, he rolled over and was out like a light in minutes.

  The next morning Noah was particularly difficult to get out of bed. Brielle was already dressed and ready to get to work, but Noah refused to budge. She figured it was a combination of his exhaustive recollection of his trip the previous night and the knowledge that he was on school break that kept him firmly planted in bed.

  “Come on, kiddo,” she prompted the sleepy child. “Your dad’s going to be here any minute.”

  The thought of Nate put a sour taste in her mouth.

  “Everything hurts,” he groaned and rolled over.

  “Well that’s what you get for rolling in the dirt and chasing the cows and pigs.”

  He managed a small smile as Brielle prompted him out of bed.

  He was just brushing his hair when Nate pulled up with a roar in his mustang. That damn car was a beast. Her palms started to sweat and she chided her body for its betrayal.

  “Hi,” she greeted cooly when she answered the door, her gaze not quite meeting his.

  “Hi,” he repeated.

  Noah walked toward the front door, still in a sleepy haze, yawning widely.

  “He’s had an eventful weekend,” she explained to Nate. “So, expect some fatigue.”

  He nodded his acknowledgement, his expression sombre.

  “You be a good boy now, Sweetheart,” she kissed his head and walked out the door with them. “Call me later, ok Lovebug?”

  Noah nodded and hugged Brielle before getting into Nate’s car
.

  Her heart squeezed at the sight of Nate taking Noah away from her. She knew it was a court agreement but the picture did not sit well with her nonetheless. She knew that Noah was exhausted from the weekend but the sad, distant look on his face hurt her, too.

  Tonight would be another lonely night without her child. Another night for the Brielle Woods pity party for one. Another night with her red wine and the night breeze. Another night she would not be looking forward to.

  Not at all.

  Not one bit.

  Nate was once again battling to accommodate Noah’s new emotional shift. The child looked pale and withdrawn and he could only imagine what was going through his five-year-old brain. He’d brought him to the penthouse the night before and he’d played some Xbox with Nate before nibbling on his dinner and crashing for an early night.

  When he’d woken up that morning, he’d crawled out of bed with half an eye open and had slogged through the rest of the day, not wanting to engage in any of the activities that Nate had suggested.

  “What’s wrong buddy?” he prompted the sullen child, taking in his mottled skin and sunken eyes. “You missing home? Do you want to go back?” He remembered the last time Noah had slept over and what a disaster that had turned out to be. He desperately hoped that this would not be a repeat episode. He couldn’t handle the feeling of failure at having to take him back to Brielle.

  He shook his head no.

  “Are you upset about all the news reports?”

  His expression looked confused as though he didn’t know what was to be upset about it. He shook his head again.

  “Then what is it, Noah? Are you mad at me?”

  “No, Dad,” he croaked and in the next instant he lurched forward and vomited all over the front of Nate’s shirt.

  He picked up the bent over child and ran to the bathroom where he convulsed again and threw up all over the porcelain tiles. He held Noah up and rubbed his back as the young boy continued to throw up. When the entire contents of his stomach was out on the floor, he slumped against Nate. His body was cold and he shivered against Nate.

  “Come on buddy, let’s get you cleaned up and in bed.”

  He stripped Noah down and put him into the tub, then took off his own soiled shirt before bathing the limp child.

  “You eat something bad buddy? You coming down with a bug?”

  Noah groaned and Nate quickly dressed him and tucked him into bed.

  “Where am I, Dad?” he asked, looking deliriously around the room.

  “You’re at my house, Noah. Don’t you remember? You spent the night here yesterday, too.”

  Noah stared at him blankly, no recollection of the previous night.

  Nate started to feel panicked. What was going on with Noah?

  “Please turn the lights off,” Noah requested, shading his eyes from the dim night light. “It hurts my eyes.”

  Nate reached across and switched off the lamp, bathing the room in the dark moonlight.

  Noah drifted off to sleep but Nate wouldn’t leave the room. He decided to sit it out in the oversized chair in the corner. He needed to make sure that Noah was ok.

  The insistent buzz of her cell phone vibrating on her dresser jarred Brielle out of her slumber. It was an unknown number. She checked her watch, two in the morning. Who could possibly be calling her at this hour? Still half asleep, she answered, “Hello.”

  “Mrs. Woods?” a female voice asked.

  She didn’t bother correcting the title error. “Yes?”

  “You’re speaking to Nurse Quinn at County General Hospital.”

  Brielle sat stock still in bed, her pulse starting to race and her blood running cold.

  “Your son, Noah Woods, was admitted over an hour ago and we need you to come in please.”

  “What happened? Did he have an accident?” Brielle’s mind was spinning.

  “He’s with the doctor now, we don’t know what’s wrong yet.”

  Brielle disconnected, dressed frantically and was at the hospital in less than ten minutes. She barged into the emergency room and searched desperately for a doctor or nurse who could give her some information. She finally found a nurse and stopped her before she could slip out of the room. “I’m looking for Noah Woods. Can you help me?”

  “Are you his parent or guardian?”

  “I’m his mother.”

  She looked Brielle up and down before saying, “He’s still with the doctor.”

  “What happened? Nobody will give me a straight answer.”

  “He came in convulsing and vomiting profusely. He wasn’t reactive and the doctor on call could not provide an initial prognosis. He’s with the specialist physician now.”

  “Can I see him?”

  “Not yet, you will have to wait in the family room till the doctor is done.” She pointed in the direction of the waiting room and left Brielle standing there alone with her confused thoughts.

  She walked into the family room and found Nate slumped over, his elbows on his knees and his head in his hands. When she walked in he glanced up and Brielle saw the concern on his face.

  “How bad is it?” she asked, not bothering with pleasantries.

  “They don’t know yet.”

  “What happened?”

  “He was throwing up all night, even though he barely ate. He was confused and delirious. I brought him here when the seizures started. I don’t know what happened.”

  He put his head back in his hands and rubbed his eyes, leaving Brielle wondering if he was crying. How bad was it if Noah was having seizures? Her pulse quickened again and she speculated how long before her nervous system would crash with the increased heartbeats.

  They sat on opposite sides of the room for a long while, both torturing themselves with their own thoughts. When the doctor came in, they stood simultaneously, wringing their hands in anxious anticipation.

  “Are you Noah’s parents?” the bald-headed doctor asked.

  “Yes,” they answered in unison.

  “I’m afraid the prognosis is not good.”

  Brielle’s world felt like it was spinning out of control, hearing the doctor’s words as though she were suspended above the room, outside of her body.

  “Noah has lost a lot of electrolytes so he’s very weak. The seizures have continued from time to time and the rash on his back has spread.”

  She heard Nate beside her mutter, “What rash?”

  “We’re not sure exactly what’s wrong with him just yet. We need to ask you both a few questions first.”

  Brielle nodded subconsciously.

  “Has he had any changes to his diet of late? Anything new introduced?”

  “No.”

  “Has he been ill recently?”

  “No.”

  “When did the symptoms start?”

  Brielle looked to Nate. “The retching started early yesterday evening. Before that he was just listless and pale.” He explained.

  The doctor nodded in acknowledgement.

  “Has he complained of pain recently?”

  “He was sore yesterday,” Brielle responded, “but I just assumed it was from his recent excursion.”

  “What excursion was that?”

  “He went to an animal farm with his school.”

  “What animals did he come into contact with?”

  Her body started to shake as panic started to overwhelm her. “He mentioned pigs and horses and cows.”

  “Was he in a woody, bushy area?”

  “I think so. He said he played in a lot of soil.” Brielle kicked herself for not paying more attention to Noah’s incessant chatter about his trip. “What do you think is wrong with him?” she pleaded.

  “It’s too early to tell but he has symptoms that could be Lyme disease, which could be caused from a ti
ck bite from one of the animals.”

  Brielle’s knees buckled and in the next instant Nate’s arm was around her waist, holding her up against him.

  “Is there a cure for it?” Nate asked.

  “Lyme disease can be cured with antibiotics, depending on the stage of the disease. But we need to make an informed diagnosis first. I have him scheduled for the tests now and we should know in the next hour.”

  Brielle nodded as the doctor left the room. Nate led her to the sofa and he sat down beside her.

  He was quiet for so long that when he did speak, she was startled by the sound of his voice, “This is all my fault.”

  “How is it your fault?”

  “I should have brought him in sooner. I should have known he wasn’t well. I’m his father, I should have known. I thought he caught a flu bug or something.” He stared off into the distance, at war with his own thoughts.

  “You couldn’t have known, Nate. I wouldn’t have known either. As much as I’d like someone to blame, this isn’t your fault.”

  The look in his eyes told Brielle that he still thought otherwise.

  Brielle drifted off into a fitful sleep. She dreamed of giant ticks crawling all over her body and trying to get to Noah and Nate, too. She was battling to save them but the ticks were holding her down. She awoke with a start to find a commotion outside the waiting area. Nurses and doctors alike were racing into the Emergency Room and Brielle’s heart stopped with fear that it was Noah they were rushing to. She realized at that moment that Nate wasn’t with her. Had he gone home?

  She looked around frantically for hospital personnel. She needed answers. She looked at her watch and saw that it was close to three am. The tests on Noah must have come back already. She wanted to see her son. She walked to the nurses station and noticed that Nate was already there, talking to one of the orderlies.

  “Hey,” he greeted when she joined him.

  “Hey, is there any news?”

  He shook his head, his eyes red with fatigue and his hair mussed up like he’d been running his fingers through it. He looked like he hadn’t slept for days.