Highway Don't Care (Freebirds)

by Vale, Lani Lynn

  Payton was a friend of Cheyenne’s she met during clinicals nearly three years ago. She was a little ball of spunk. She had a larger than life personality, which made up for her four foot and eleven inch frame. Her brown hair was a riot of jagged edges that hung to just below her shoulders in the longest spots. Every few pieces she had highlighted it with neon pink and jet blue. She was solid muscle despite her midgetness.

  Payton and Cheyenne still ended up being in the same graduating class, even though both of them took a year off. Cheyenne’s excuse was because of the twins. Payton’s was a lot more in depth.

  Payton was on a date with her boyfriend when a couple of men attacked them. Said boyfriend took off leaving the attacker there to do what he wished with Payton. It took her nearly a year to come back from the attack physical attack. Mentally was a different story.

  “Must be something in the air.” I said blandly.

  “Yeah, y’alls legs.” Payton quipped.

  I burst out laughing, and then sobered when I started thinking about why I was here again.

  Both Payton and Cheyenne were on shift on the OB floor, which was where I was. Once in the ER a doctor removed the knife that was luckily only through the fat of my back, just as Gabe predicted. They transferred me to the OB floor for monitoring since learning I was pregnant.

  This is where I met Cheyenne and Payton. Cheyenne was furious that I hadn’t called her, but really what did she expect? Me to say “Oh hey Cheyenne, I’m on my way to the hospital with a knife wound, I was held hostage, shooters shot up the college, and oh by the way I got put on administrative leave until I got my ‘Situation’ sorted out?”

  “I can’t believe I’m pregnant again.” Cheyenne said miserably.

  Fortunately, Cheyenne got over it quickly, and then we went about monitoring the baby. Gabe followed me up here but left soon after without a word. This was the point we were at now. Two hours later and still no Gabe.

  “He’s going to fucking kill me. I did everything right, Cheyenne!” I wailed.

  I really was wailing. My emotions were all over the place, and without Gabe here with me I felt oddly empty and alone. Cheyenne and Payton were doing their best to be here with me, but they did have work to do and couldn’t stay here with me every minute.

  “Alright, chick. Got a few more rounds to do. See you in a few.” Payton said as she flounced out of the room ponytail bobbing behind her.

  “You have the weirdest friends.” I hiccoughed.

  “Yes, I do. Gotta go too. I’ll be back in thirty. I’m gonna ask if they’ll do an ultrasound on you.” Cheyenne said.

  She gave me a slobbery kiss on the forehead, patted my ass, turned the lights out, and left the room.

  I was plunged into darkness, and then my head started spinning. I’d gone through a lot in the past four months. My mind was whirling. How would I pay for an apartment if I didn’t have a job? How would I pay for a baby? Would Gabe even be there? I knew he loved me, but he had a lot going on too. He already had one kid that he was worrying about, and I’d just added another in the span of a week! The rhythmic ‘lubb dubb’ of the baby’s heartbeat calmed me enough for a fitful doze. I was still crying, and would wake myself up choking on snot and the likes, but still managed somehow.

  “Are you in pain, baby?” Gabe whispered into my ear.

  I came out of my doze to find myself on my side, my back to the door. Gabe was at my back leaning over my body wiping my tears with the back of his hand. I could smell him. It was a mixture of Irish Springs soap and a faint hint of burnt oil. Didn’t matter how many times he washed his hands or his clothes, he always smelled like he came from a garage. Which he did.

  “No. They gave me some good shit.” I said into the darkness while cringing away from his touch a bit.

  I didn’t really want him to touch me. Made me want things I wasn’t sure he wanted to give at that moment in time.

  He felt my withdrawal and got up to come to the other side of the bed so he could see my face.

  “What is it? Is it the baby?”

  “Do you care?”

  “What the fuck kind of question is that? Of course, I care. How could you ask me that?” He whispered heatedly.

  “You didn’t seem too excited when I told you. You freakin left me here by myself. I’m scared shitless here. You haven’t said one single word to me since we left the college.”

  “Ember, I was pissed. Not about the baby. Not at you. In fact, pissed isn’t even the word here. More like irate. How would you feel if your fiancé was held at knifepoint, and to top it off that she was pregnant?”

  “Well I don’t lean towards that side of the fence. So if my fiancé was pregnant it would be a miracle.”

  “Ember.” He growled.

  “Okay, I’ll give you that. But why were you gone so long?”

  “I was questioning the girl that Jack shot. She was lucky. Only skimmed her face.”

  “What’d you get out of her?”

  “She was high on the painkillers too. What I got was there was some tension in this branch of the gang. Some of the main people don’t agree with what the gang leader is doing to you.” He said while running one long finger along the belts at my stomach.

  “That good?”

  “Could be, we’ll see.” He said as he bent his head and kissed my cheek.

  The sound of a large thump on the other side of the door had Gabe tensing in wariness. He didn’t need to worry though because Cheyenne’s clipped, “Motherfucker” soon followed the thump.

  I let out a watery laugh when I heard that. Even her being at work couldn’t curb her mouth.

  Standing and walking to the door Gabe opened it for Cheyenne.

  “Thanks.” She said as she pushed the ultrasound machine in.

  “What’s going on?” Gabe asked her.

  “We get to look at the baby!” Cheyenne squealed while jumping up and down clapping her hands.

  Gabe watched her as if she was on crack.

  “If it’s a girl, you have to name her Cheyenne.” Cheyenne said.

  “Fuck that. You wouldn’t name either one of your girls after me! What makes you think we’ll name mine after you?”

  “Ember’s a weirdo name. I didn’t want to stick my kid with a weirdo name.”

  “Ember is not a weirdo name! What the heck is Cheyenne? That’s like white-trash redneck.”

  “Take it back.” Cheyenne fumed.

  “You first.”

  “Seriously? Would you two shut the fuck up?” James said as he, Sam, Max, Jack, Elliott and Blaine walked into the room.

  “Make me.” Cheyenne and I said at the same time.

  “What are y’all, two?” Max asked.

  “Do you still keep those porn magazines in your bathroom?” I asked Max sweetly.

  His faced reddened and I burst out laughing.

  “You do!” I squealed.

  “I do not. I was fifteen! Tell me what fifteen year old boy didn’t have a fuckin’ porn magazine.”

  I looked at Gabe who was wearing a sheepish expression. I laughed and then groaned when my side pinched.

  “Where did you keep yours?” Blaine asked Elliott.

  “Mattress.” He answered.

  “What about you?” Cheyenne asked Sam.

  “My car.”

  “Wow. Y’all are a bunch of pervs.” Cheyenne exclaimed.

  “Hello, group. I’m Dr. Robinson. If everyone but the father and the bed ridden would give us a moment, please.”

  Everyone filed out of the room leaving only Gabe and I alone. Dr. Robinson walked to the side of the ultrasound machine and turned it on, and then turned to me. Gabe made his way back to my side and regarded the doctor.

  “You’ve had an exciting day, haven’t you Ember?” Dr. Robinson asked me.

  “You could say that.” I answered dryly.

  “I’m assuming you’ve not had a chance to tell this young man over here what we discussed earlier, correct?” Dr. Robinson queried
.

  “Not yet. I wanted to do it face to face, and we haven’t had that chance yet.”

  “Okay, I’ll lay it all out again.” He said and then turned his attention to Gabe. “We discussed today about the risks of an IUD pregnancy. We have two options here. We can leave the IUD in, or we can remove it. If Ms. Tremaine is at 12 weeks or less this is the better option. Once the IUD is removed it will have the same risks as a normal pregnancy.”

  “What’s the other option?” Gabe asked.

  “If Ms. Tremaine is over 12 weeks she can have it removed or she can leave it in. The results are both a 50% rate of miscarriage. This is also if the IUD is still in the correct position. We had an appointment for tomorrow morning, but since we are all here I would like to go ahead and take a look around.” Dr. Robinson explained.

  Heart in my throat I glanced at Gabe’s face. It was completely blank and I couldn’t read anything off his facial expressions as to what he was feeling.

  Nodding my consent, he got started.

  “What we are looking for is gestation first. Then we will look for IUD placement.”

  The doctor squirted a clear lube on my stomach that was colder than a witch’s tit. He rubbed it in with the alien probe and our little alien face lit up the screen. He did some clicking with the mouse and moved the wand again.

  “Looks to be about sixteen weeks. Due date should be around February 7th.”

  A small inhalation from Gabe had me looking his way with raised brows.

  “That was my mom’s birthday.”

  “Alright, the IUD doesn’t even look like it’s there anymore. At least it’s not in the correct place. My guess would be that it is somewhere in the uterus, most likely behind the baby since we can’t see it. It’s also possible that it isn’t there at all anymore. When was the last time you felt the strings?”

  My face flamed. To feel the strings you had to stick your finger’s up your vagina. The last time I had my finger up my vagina was months ago, before Gabe and I were officially seeing each other. I’d also been getting off to thoughts of Gabe, but now that I think about it, I didn’t feel them then either.

  “Uhh, well I haven’t felt them in a while.” I stuttered out.

  “I haven’t noticed them either. So it’s been four months at least.” Gabe said with a shit-eating grin on his face.

  Dr. Robinson laughed quietly under his breath.

  “We’ll monitor you once a week. I still want you to come in tomorrow, and then every other Tuesday until you deliver. We’ll probably move you up to twice a week once you get closer. Any other questions?” Dr. Robinson asked.

  “No.” I said quietly.

  I wasn’t sure what to feel. I couldn’t get too excited, what if I lost the baby?

  Seeming to read my thoughts Gabe asked, “What’s the likelihood of this pregnancy going all the way?”

  “There’s no way to tell. This could be just a perfectly normal pregnancy. If the IUD is still in there, I have hopes that it will just float around on the outside of the amniotic sac. As I said, it’s also possible that the IUD fell out and you never noticed it was gone. This is one of those wait and see type things. I have no guarantees right now.”

  “Is it too early to tell the sex?” I asked him.

  “This isn’t normally my forte, but I will definitely give it the try. The ultrasound techs have taken over this job for me and it’s been many years since I have had to do it. Let’s see.” He said as he moved the wand around. “This is a leg. This is a foot. This right here is a penis. Nope, no mistaking that one, he just let it all hang out there.”

  Everyone chuckled at the lack of modesty of our little guy. Like father like son.

  “Here are a few pictures. Careful of that side there. I’ll get the nurses to bring your discharge papers. See you in the AM.” Dr. Robinson as he walked briskly out the door.

  “I’m scared.” I whispered.

  “I know baby, me too.”

  “Who wants hotdogs?” Cheyenne said as she burst into the room.

  “You interrupted my moment. I was about to get hospital sex.” I whined.

  “Don’t lie. Gabe would never let you do that.” Cheyenne argued.

  “How do you know? Do you have superpowers now?” I asked her.

  “Gabe’s a good guy. He would never do it anywhere where it was possibly to get caught.” Cheyenne said confidently.

  At that, I laughed my ass off. Of course, he wouldn’t.

  “Hello, all. Ember dear, this is your discharge papers. Come in if you experience any bleeding or contractions. Your follow up appointment is tomorrow at 9:30 A.M. Sign here.” Nurse Wilma said.

  I didn’t know if she was actually named Wilma. She did however resemble Wilma off The Flintstone’s.

  Just like that, I was released from the hospital. Gabe helped me downstairs with an arm around my waist. I felt like I’d been run over by a Mack Truck. I ached in places I didn’t even know had muscles.

  “I want to go to Cancun Dave’s.” I said to the group.

  Everyone groaned, but we loaded up into Sam’s suburban and James’s truck and headed over.

  Cancun Dave’s was one of those restaurants that you either loved or hated. My mother used to describe it as a hole in the wall mom and pop place. It used to be located right beside its current location, but it burned to the ground from an unexplained kitchen fire. Then they bought the old pawnshop next store and converted it. They’d plowed down the old one and now used it for extra parking.

  I was devastated when I found out it burnt down. I spent months in a state of depression because I couldn’t get my queso fix like I was used to every Thursday. However, it was back now and better than ever. The whole place was done up in Retro 50s.

  Entering in through the main door (There were two, one was to the bar, the other was to the main restaurant) I walked up to the host and said, “Nine please.”

  The young teenybopper’s eyes widened when she got a gander at the sexy man flesh at my back. Then again, who wouldn’t? They were all over six feet, scary, muscled, and menacing. None of them looked to be in the mood to go out to eat, but they would for the poor girl that was held hostage.

  I was practically bouncing on my feet I was so excited to eat here, but as I rounded the corner, I stopped dead at what I saw in front of me.

  “Motherfucker.” I said under my breath.

  “What?” Cheyenne asked.

  “Look.” I said.

  By this time, the rest of the group had caught up with us, and then immediately caught on to what I was seeing. There sitting in front of us, one table over from the one we were about to sit at was Sidney, her husband, and the baby. Sidney looked up, and her eyes widened when they connected with what I expected was Gabe’s over my shoulder. I could feel the fury vibrating at my back as he put his arm on my hip and pulled my back to his front.

  This hurt, but I dealt with it because I knew he needed something to ground him at this moment.

  Getting tired of the staring match I made my way to the table and sat at the far end. Gabe sat at the head so he had a clear view of the table where his baby-sat, eating beans and rice. Both Sidney and her husband were arguing. Something likely heated if there body language was any indication.

  It didn’t take long for the baby to notice the tension, and she started to whimper. Big huge tears welled in her eyes and started spilling over her cheeks. Gabe’s body went rigid when he saw the baby start silently crying. It was as if she knew crying would get her nowhere, so she held it inside, crying silently all the while her parents ignored her.

  Gabe’s control snapped, and he was out of his seat, fists clenched in unhappiness. Max was nearly on his heels when I grabbed his hand and refused to let him go. Sidney and her husband noticed instantaneously that this was going nowhere fast, so they yanked the baby out of her high chair and headed out the door seconds later, tossing a $100 bill down before they left.

  Gabe followed them out, and I gave Max a sho
ve to make him follow just in case Gabe needed a hand. Yes, it was obvious that he was going to go anyway, but what are little sisters for if not to annoy the crap out of you?

  “Sam.” I said repeatedly until his eyes turned to me. “Go stand at the window and tell us what’s going on.”

  “No. Just leave it. They don’t need an audience. He’ll tell us or he won’t. That’s that.” Sam said seriously.

  I looked at him and understood he wasn’t going to budge, so I did the next best thing, which was turn to Cheyenne. Cheyenne was twelve steps ahead of me though, because she was already up and walking towards the window. Fortunately, we were the only ones on this side of the restaurant because Cheyenne started yelling out the play by play.

  “Gabe is standing there all badass silent like. The husband is yelling at the wife, the wife is strapping the baby into the car. She doesn’t look happy at all. Kinda like, she swallowed something sour. The baby’s still crying, aloud now. Gabe just said something that made both of their heads whip around as if he slapped them. Must have beens something to do with the baby because Sidney slammed the door and is now standing in front of it, so is the husband. Uh oh. Now they’re pissed. Hubby is gesturing with his hands. Sidney’s face is turning purplish. Uh-oh. Now he’s done. Coming back to us now. He has a look on his face that could strip paint off a car. Spit nails with his teeth. Beat someone until he shit his pants. Until they are lying in their own puddle of tinkle. Like he could shove a longhorn up the guy’s a-“

  “Stop. Come sit down, dammit.” Sam scolded.

  “My name’s not dammit, it’s Cheyenne.”

  “Cheyenne, dammit, that’s not what I meant and you know it.”

  “Name’s not Cheyenne Dammit either, by the way.” I pointed out.

  Annoyance registered on his face as he said, “Oh my God. Would you two quit?”

  “Quit what?” Gabe asked as he took his seat at the table.

  No Max yet though. He was still outside. That or taking a piss, because he did that, too.

  Cheyenne ignored the question and asked, “Where’s Max?”

  Gabe knew a diversion when he heard one but let it go and answered, “Either Sidney drove him to drink, or he needed to take a piss.”