by T. L. Haddix
She pulled a pillow over and hugged it against her stomach, absentmindedly plucking at the fringe. “If I didn’t have a commitment to a couple of the workers there, I wouldn’t go back.”
He sat on the edge of the coffee table. “Sweetheart, I don’t think it’s a good idea. Can you call them at home, let them know what’s going on?”
Brooke thought about Gina, who was really the person she was most concerned about. “Maybe. I’ll try.” She couldn’t hide her disappointment or the sadness that was starting to creep over her. “I hate drama.”
“I know. So do I, and believe me, I’ve seen my share.” Arlen touched her foot, which she’d propped next to his hip. “Have you heard from my future son-in-law this morning?”
“Dad!” Brooke swatted at him with the pillow. “No. I’m trying to give him a little space to cope with things.”
“And maybe take a little for yourself?” he asked shrewdly.
“Maybe. How did you and Mom make it, having to get married because Brandon was on the way? How did you get through it without letting resentment eat away at you?”
His face reflected his concern. “Do you resent Walker? Is that why you’re asking? Are you not in love with him?”
Her smile was sad, she knew. “I do love him. I think I have almost since I started working at the clinic and got to know him a little. But you know I hate having other people decide my fate. I’m not entirely happy to be pregnant.”
“Are you certain that you are?”
“Caleb isn’t, but I am. We’ll find out tomorrow. And I don’t resent him, just the circumstances. If this had happened another time, I’d be overjoyed. So how did you two do it? How’d you stay in love?”
Arlen laughed. “With a lot of grit and determination at times. Marriage has a tendency to be stupidly simple in a lot of ways, then when you’re least expecting it, it gets all bungled and tangled up. I guess the answer is that we both always wanted to keep going enough at the same time.”
She lifted an eyebrow. “Were there times you didn’t?”
“Not seriously, I don’t think. There were a few spots when we were sick of the sight of each other though. A weekend away, or even a few hours, usually did the trick. One of us would reach out and make the effort, and we loved each other. That always helps, the love.”
“You still miss her so much. I’m sorry, Dad.” She held out her hand.
He took it and kissed her fingers. “I’m not, not in the least. I wouldn’t trade the time we had together for anything in the world.” He hesitated, looking uncertain. “Do you like Jeanette?”
Brooke smiled widely. “Oh, yes. I see a peace in you when you’re with her that I’ve not seen in a very long time. But the question should be, do you like her?”
“Well,” he said on a short laugh, “if you want the truth, I’m quite terrified that I’m in love with her. I never expected that, you know. Does that surprise you?”
“I know. And no, I’m not surprised. If you want something as silly as my approval, you have it. Like I said, I think she’s good for you.” She stood to kiss the crown of his head. “Let’s get some lunch. It’s going to be a long day, and I’m starving all of a sudden.”
As she led the way to the kitchen, she realized that as happy as she was for her father, she wasn’t entirely comfortable with all the changes happening around her. Maybe I need one of those weekends away. The more she pondered the idea, the better it sounded. It certainly couldn’t hurt, and if it helped her come to terms with her circumstances, all the better. All that was left was to decide where to go and when.
Chapter Fifteen
Telling his parents he’d lost his job was one of the hardest things Walker had ever done. Even though they understood and supported him, the confession was difficult. So much so, in fact, that he decided he’d wait a few days before mentioning anything about Brooke possibly being pregnant. That bit of news, he was certain, wouldn’t meet with as much sympathy and understanding. Trent and Cora had drummed the idea of safe sex into his head nearly from the time he’d started noticing girls.
With that being said, he knew any child he had would be spoiled absolutely rotten and loved unconditionally regardless of its date of conception.
Brooke and Arlen drove out to his house around five. The weather had turned rainy, though thankfully temperatures were well above freezing. Arlen only stayed long enough to brief Walker on how the conversation had gone with Dr. Harvey, citing the rain as an excuse to head back to town.
As Arlen left, Walker and Brooke stood on the porch, watching him go.
“I’ll bet you a dozen doughnuts he’s going to Jeanette’s,” Brooke said. “I think he’s actually going to see if she’ll go public after all this time.”
“How long have they been seeing each other?” Walker held the door open for her.
“A couple of years now, so far as I know.” She crossed her arms. “I should probably go too, get out of your hair.”
“And miss the home-cooked meal that I had all planned out?” He placed his hands over his heart and struck a pose. “I’m destroyed. I slaved all day over a hot stove, and this is the thanks I get.”
Brooke laughed and rolled her eyes. “I don’t want to bother you, you silly man.”
All teasing gone, Walker took her in his arms. “You could never, ever bother me in a way that I didn’t want to be bothered. Are we okay?”
She laid her head on his shoulder. “I don’t know. I hope so. I’m feeling pretty vulnerable right now, if you want the truth. I don’t know if I could handle rejection. I’d probably melt into a weeping puddle on your floor, and that would be difficult for both of us.”
“Then I guess it’s a good thing I have no plans of rejecting you.” He held her tighter for a few seconds then pulled back to look her square in the eye. “I’m no good at relationships, especially at the complicated parts like this. I always seem to manage to say the wrong thing at the wrong time, and it all goes to hell. But pregnancy or no, I want this to work between us. The idea of keeping us casual doesn’t fit with what I want anymore. Please tell me you feel the same way.”
She touched his cheeks, her eyes glistening as she smiled. “Those were pretty good words.”
“Yeah?”
“Oh, yes.”
He dropped a soft kiss onto her lips. “Then how about these—I’m falling head over heels for you, Brooke Harrison. I think I have been for a while.”
She searched his eyes. “When did it change for you?”
“I’m not sure if it was the garlic chicken or the chili, to be honest,” he teased softly. “It could have been your laugh. I’m very fond of your laugh. Or maybe it was that you kept giving me these ridiculous snippets of menus that no one else would consider to be love notes. I still have those, you know. I put them in a box, and they’re in my desk in the office here.”
The kiss she gave him was reverent, and the moment stretched out, feeling almost fragile and infinitely precious.
“You’re just a big softy, Caleb Walker, and I love you for it. Well, for a million other reasons too. I’m scared though.”
He framed her face. “So am I. Can you stay for a little while?”
She nodded. “I brought an overnight bag and stashed it in my car when we got here, before you came outside. I’ll stay as long as you want me to.”
Bending at the knees, he lifted her straight up and settled her legs around his hips as she laughed. “Then you’d better be prepared to stay forever. Now, about that dinner…”
Brooke nipped at his lower lip. “Why don’t we start with dessert?”
“Yes, ma’am,” he said breathlessly as he carried her down the hall toward the bedroom. “Anything you say.”
Chapter Sixteen
Vicious cramps tore through Brooke’s abdomen, awakening her in the middle of the night. Though she tried t
o stay quiet as she got out of bed, she didn’t pull it off.
“You okay?” came the quietly concerned question from behind her.
She stopped in the bedroom door. “Fine. I just need the bathroom.”
But she wasn’t sure she was all right, really. There was no blood on her underwear when she sat on the toilet even though she’d expected to be spotting, the cramps signifying her late period’s vengeful arrival. When she moved to stand up, another spasm hit, making her gasp.
“That’s not normal. That can’t be normal,” she whispered, holding on to the sink as the pain eased.
The third wave hit her as she reached the bedroom door. Caleb, who’d been sitting up in bed with the lamp beside him turned on, was off the bed in a flash, catching her as she sank to her knees.
“Oh, God. What’s wrong?”
She shook her head, clinging to him so tightly she knew her fingers would leave impressions on his skin. “I think we’d better call Jeanette.”
“Fuck that,” he said as she cried out with pain. “We’re going to the hospital.”
He hurried around the room, swearing and praying in turns as he pulled on clothes. In less than two minutes, he was ready to go.
He hunkered down beside her, thick flannel robe in hand, and started wrapping her in it. “Do you think you can call her from the truck? You can use my bag phone.”
All she could do was nod. Surely to goodness, she could get a handle on this pain by the time they got on the road.
When he lifted her to her feet then picked her up, she didn’t protest. There was no way she could walk to the door on her own, much less to the truck. Besides, they were halfway there before she could muster the breath to speak. Once he had her settled in, he hurried around to the driver’s side, and he had the truck started in an instant.
“My purse. I might need it,” she said.
Caleb cursed. “I’ll be right back.”
While he was gone, she fumbled for the phone he kept in the empty space behind the gearshift. The bulky bag-style phone was cold against her skin, but as soon as she plugged it into the cigarette lighter, it lit up. By the time he got back, she had signal and was calling Jeanette.
“It’s Brooke,” she said when the doctor answered. “I’m so sorry to bother you this late. I don’t even know what time it is.”
“Don’t worry about how late it is. What’s going on, Brooke?”
A man’s voice murmured in the background, and Brooke closed her eyes. Her father. “I’m having some really bad cramps,” she said, gritting her teeth as another one hit. “Not regular cramps either. Something’s wrong. We’re on our way to the hospital.”
Jeanette relayed the information to Arlen. “Any bleeding?”
“No, but it feels like there should be. Please tell Daddy not to be upset. I don’t want him to worry.”
“Arlen’s fine, sweetie. How far out are you?”
Brooke glanced around, trying to breathe against the nausea that had joined the pain. “Maybe ten minutes? Oh, God, I’m… oh, geez, I’m gonna be sick.”
Caleb pulled the truck over, and she just managed to get the door open and get out before the sickness hit her. Once it passed, he got her back in the truck.
He picked up the phone. “Dr. Jeanette? Arlen, yeah. She’s hanging in there. We’re getting back on the road now. Okay, see you there.”
He didn’t waste any time, driving as fast as safely possible, emergency blinkers on. By the time they screeched to a halt outside the doors to the emergency room, where he gave the horn three sharp toots, he was pleading with her not to die on him.
“I’m not planning to, you silly man. I’ve got to stick around a few more years to keep you in line.” But she was drenched in sweat, and whatever was going on, she knew it wasn’t good.
Jeanette reached them a few seconds after the ER crew, and Brooke saw shock on Jeanette’s face for a brief instant before the doctor went into full emergency mode. Everything after that was a blur, even her father and Caleb. Almost before she could blink, she was on a gurney in an exam room with what felt like half a dozen people poking and prodding her, asking her ridiculous questions while yelling at each other. Bright stars began dancing around her head, stunningly brilliant and almost painful to see.
“How did you get the sky to come inside?” she asked, feeling drunk. And that was the last thing she knew.
Chapter Seventeen
Walker paced the nearly empty waiting room as Arlen gave the nurse at the desk Brooke’s information. They’d had to stop at the department’s main double doors, with Jeanette throwing a promise over her shoulder that she’d be back out as soon as she could.
Knowing something was drastically wrong, and he had no doubt that whatever had happened was serious, threatened to bring Walker to his knees. Pregnancy could be terribly dangerous for a woman even in this day and age. Guilt was settling on his shoulders like a leaden mantle.
Arlen joined him. “What the hell happened?”
Walker scrubbed his face with his hands then yanked on his hair. “She got up to go to the bathroom, I thought, and she was hurting a bit. I figured maybe she was having her period,” he said quietly. “She’s been hoping it would start. But when she came out, she didn’t look right. She stopped in the door, turned white as a sheet, and down she went. She was hurting pretty bad.” He stopped, his eyes closing against the pain of remembering. “So I got dressed, got her in the truck, and you know the rest. She told Jeanette there wasn’t any bleeding. Shouldn’t there be? I mean, if it’s… if she’s having a miscarriage?”
The word came out strangled, and for a few seconds, Walker couldn’t breathe. He knew about the process on the nonhuman side of things. He just wasn’t sure how things went when the patient didn’t have four legs and a tail. Sure as hell, he’d never been through it with a woman he loved.
Arlen clasped him on the shoulder. “Let’s sit down. Chances are that’s exactly what’s going on.”
But they exchanged a look. They’d both seen how ashen Brooke had been when the ER staff got her loaded on the gurney.
For the next little while, they took turns wearing a path in the tile in front of the row of plastic chairs that lined the wall. Walker couldn’t figure out why Arlen hadn’t throttled him already since he was the reason this was happening. He wasn’t about to ask though. Getting into an argument with Brooke’s father wouldn’t help anything right now.
When a side door opened, revealing a grim-faced Jeanette, Walker felt his heart skip a beat then speed up until it was a painful throb. “Oh, God. It’s bad.”
“It’s not good. Let’s step in here,” she said. Once they were inside the small room with the door closed, she explained. “Brooke was pregnant, but wasn’t not a normal, viable pregnancy. It was ectopic, and the tube has ruptured. We won’t know how much damage there is until she’s in surgery, which is where she’s headed now. The surgery isn’t optional,” she told Arlen when he started to speak. “If we don’t get in there and repair the damage, she’ll die. I’m sorry. I don’t have time to put it gently. I’m going to need you to sign the authorization ASAP.”
“Of course. Can we see her?” He quickly scanned then signed the papers she handed him.
“No. I’m sorry, darling.” When Arlen looked incredulous, she touched his hand, her face showing her pain. “She fell unconscious almost as soon as we got her in the back. She wouldn’t know you’re there, and it would only slow things down when they need to go fast.”
Walker spoke. “Will you be doing the surgery?”
“I won’t. I’m too close to her. I’ll be in the room though, and our best surgeon is on his way in. He’ll be here by the time they get her prepped.” She glanced at her watch and stood. “I have to go. I’m sorry. As soon as I know anything, I’ll be out to tell you. You’ll want to go up to the surgical waiting area. Do you kn
ow where it is?”
Arlen got to his feet. “Of course. I spent hours there waiting for her mother. Jean… should I call the boys?”
Lips compressed in a tight line, she nodded. “And do you know if your blood type matches hers? We might need a donation.”
Brooke’s father rubbed his eyes. “It does, and so does Brandon’s. I’ll get him here as soon as I can.”
She nodded. “I have to go.”
She left without another word. Deafening silence fell in the room. Walker couldn’t move. All he could do was stare at the table in front of him, Jeanette’s words echoing around his head. When Arlen’s hand came down hard on Walker’s shoulder, he jumped.
“Snap out of it. Fall apart later. After she’s out of surgery, after she’s recovering. There’s no time for either of us to lose our minds now.” Arlen handed him a handkerchief. “I’m going to call the boys then get to wherever I need to go to give blood. She’s A positive. Do you know what you are?”
Walker wiped his cheeks. “O, I think. Cora would know.”
“Then go call her.” Arlen paused. “You might need them here with you anyhow. It wouldn’t be a bad idea.”
“Okay.” Walker clenched his fists and stood slowly, as though he were an old man. By the time he got to his feet, his brain was starting to catch up to his body. “Okay. Let’s go.”
The next two hours were the longest of his life. Brooke’s oldest brother, Brandon, and his wife, Louisa, arrived, and her brother Dustin was on his way from Lexington. Cora and Trent had come in as soon as Walker called them, and Cora quietly stepped in to act as go-between for the family with the hospital staff. As a retired nurse’s aide, she knew most of the staff and could get further than they could.
