by Sadie Grubor
"W-where..?"
"The hospital. Shh...take your time, love." I smiled slightly at the new little name Aidan seemed to have developed for me.
"W-what..?"
"You were in a car accident, everything is fine," Phoebe spoke and I could tell that it was her squeezing my hand.
My mind was spinning, finally catching up with everything.
"Donald!" I shouted and tried to sit up.
Aidan held me down.
"He's fine, Lilli, he is in recovery. Everything went perfectly."
I sighed in relief.
"My head," I groaned out.
"You hit your head hard, but you will be fine." Dixon was patting my leg as he spoke.
"I want to sit up."
I felt movement around me and then my bed was slowly moving up.
I rubbed my eyes and looked around the room. Celia, Phoebe, Aidan, Dixon, Viola, Liam, Maggie, and my mother were all standing around me with smiles on their faces.
"Oh, baby," Sarah moved quickly to me and leaned over, kissing my cheek.
"Mom?" I questioned.
"Yes, baby."
"You're here?"
"Of course I am. Did you really think I wouldn't be?" She sounded shocked.
"Thank you." I said.
"Oh, baby, don't thank me. I am so happy that you’re okay." I could see the tears slipping down her cheeks.
"Don't cry, I'm fine."
"She is beyond fine. She is doing extremely well!" I saw a large dark haired man enter the room, the white coat and scrubs declaring him a doctor. "I hate to break up the reunion. However, I do need to check over our patient now that she is awake and speaking." Everyone groaned. "I promise that you can all return once we finish up in here."
Everyone patted me on some part of my body and told me that they would be back, only Aidan stayed.
"So, how are you feeling?"
"Groggy and my head hurts," I answered.
"The grogginess is the medicine still working its way out of your system, now the head pain, scale of one to ten?"
"Five," I answered.
"I'll get some Ibuprofen brought in soon." He looked down to his clipboard. "Well, you have my clearance, though you will have to keep your ankle wrapped and stay off of it as much as possible." When he saw my confusion he explained. "You suffered bruising and a fracture to your ankle during the car accident."
Then I remembered.
"The construction truck," I whispered. The doctor nodded.
"We also need to discuss another matter; however, I would like to wait for Doctor Munthers to join us before we go any further. She should be along shortly. I will go get the ibuprofen while we wait." He smiled and quickly left the room.
I turned to Aidan.
"Other matter? What's wrong with me?"
Aidan stiffened. That made me more nervous.
"It's nothing...wrong."
"Aidan?" I knew I was starting to panic.
"Lilli, do you still take—?"
"Here we go." The familiar doctor walked in with a small white cup and a tall woman with auburn hair and a white coat. He handed me the pills and poured me some water. "Take these for the headache." He then turned to the other doctor. "This is Doctor Munthers. She is our head OB/GYN at the hospital."
I furrowed my brow.
"OB/GYN? Why do I need..?"
"Mrs. Iverson, we were made aware by your husband that you did not know at the time of the accident; however, you are pregnant." My mouth fell open as the shock set in. "Dr. Munthers is here to perform a few tests before we officially discharge you from the hospital."
"Wait, wait, wait! I am on birth control" I argued.
"Birth control is only 99% effective." The auburn haired doctor stated. "However, we found no traces of birth control in your system." She eyed me curiously, almost as if I were lying.
"Where's my purse? I am not lying. I carry it with me." I slammed my hands to my sides. I glared at Aidan, but he simply looked down at the bed, not speaking. "Did you know about this?" I hissed.
Aidan looked at me guiltily.
"Not until I arrived here and Dr. Sherman mentioned a baby. I told him about you being on the pill and they started to explain the same..."
"Where is my purse?" Aidan moved to a closet and pulled it out, handing it to me.
I pulled out the small purple pouch and tossed it on the bed in their direction. The doctor's looked at each other and then Dr. Munthers picked the pack up.
"Do you mind if I test these?" She turned the pack over in her hands.
"Of course not." She walked out of the room and then returned a few moments later.
"I am having the lab look at those immediately." She half smiled and then moved to my side. "I want to do a couple of tests while we wait." I nodded that she could continue.
"Lilli, love, we will figure this out, okay?" I looked at Aidan, the look on his face was making warnings go off in my mind.
"Okay, first, I want to tell you that your HcG levels are very high and we want to get a better ultrasound than the ER can offer to find out why. Plus it will let us know about how far along you are."
"My what levels?" I furrowed my brow.
"HcG. It's a hormone produced during pregnancy. The higher the level, the further along you are, typically." She turned to a machine that had been pushed in by a nurse, raised my gown to reveal my bare abdomen, and squeezed a clear-blue gel on me. "This is warmed up so it will be comfortable." Then she took a small hand piece and pressed it to my stomach. "Okay, let's have a look."
Slowly she moved around my abdomen, her fingers clicking buttons, and rolled around a large ball, sort of like those golf arcade machines. I swallowed hard when I saw the wide grin spread on her face.
"Well, well..."
"What?" Aidan and I asked in unison.
She pointed to a black area with a white bundle.
"Here is your baby." I squinted to get a better look. "And this little flutter is the heartbeat." Then my eyes went wide. I was pregnant. How the hell? "And you see right here?"
"Yes." Aidan answered.
"This is your other baby and there is the heartbeat." She turned to look at us both. I was pregnant with twins. Holy...
"I don't understand." I shook my head, my chest tightening, breath evading me.
"Take a deep breath, Lilli." Dr. Munthers removed the hand piece and looked into my face with her hand on my shoulder. "I know it's a lot to take in, but calm down."
I took deep breaths and slowly calmed myself.
"Dr. Munthers?" A small nurse appeared with a large white folder. "The test results that you asked for." She handed her the folder.
"Thanks, Abby." Dr. Munthers said as Abby left the room.
She looked over the folder and flipped some papers, repeating the same action three times.
"What is it?" I asked nervously.
"Lilli, you weren't taking birth control pills." She looked up to me with a shocked expression. "Those were Clomid pills." She looked confused.
"What the hell is Clomid?" I exclaimed. "And how the hell did that get replaced with my pills?"
"I-I don't know how, but Clomid is given to women with fertility issues who are trying to have a baby." She shook her head. "It’s impossible to mix them up like this. Clomid doesn't come in a pack like birth control does."
"What? Why? Who—?" It was as if pieces were starting to fall into place.
I was remembering different things all at once, but they all seemed to relate to each other. 'It's been taken care of', 'Dr. Johnson, the family doctor', 'Hell, Aidan Sr. put the doctor through college practically as well as his daughter, Becca', 'Oh, she is a pharmacist'. Aidan needed an heir, he was close family friends to the doctor that he asked me to go to and then his daughter was a pharmacist! Could that be how I knew her? The pharmacy?
Aidan seemed to see the expression on my face because he looked terrified.
"What did you do to me?" I shouted so loud that even Dr. Mun
thers jumped back from my bed.
"Lilli, I didn't do—"
"Don't lie to me!" I exclaimed. "You're the one who wanted me to go to your family doctor and you are the only one who would have access to my birth control pills!" He tried to speak again, but I cut him off. "And, if you think for one minute that I didn't feel your tense reaction to Becca at the ball, you are sadly mistaken!" I knew hurtful words were spewing from my mouth and daggers were shooting from my eyes. "You drugged me? Are you insane?"
"I didn't do any such thing," Aidan hissed and stood quickly beside me. "I would never do that to you!"
"That's a bit hard to believe right now! Here I am, after having been drugged for however long, pregnant with your children! How convenient for you." I crossed my arms over my chest.
"I swear to you that I didn't have anything to do with this, Lilli. I promise you that I will find out who did, but I don't know anything about this," He was pleading, but I just couldn't ignore everything that I had pieced together.
"What about your call a week ago, Aidan? Was this…" I motioned to my stomach "what you have taken care of'? Huh?
He seemed to go pale and speechless.
"That's what I fucking thought! Get out!" I screamed.
"No!" He shouted back. "I will not get out! You have this all confused, I made sure that you got the birth control pills!"
"What?" I spit out, not believing a word coming from his lips.
He sighed.
"Look, I talked to Dr. Johnson after your appointment to ensure that no one, especially my family, found out that you were taking birth control." He sighed heavily. "I know that I should have told you that, but I just needed to keep it from my family and public knowledge."
"What are you talking about?" I growled.
"I called to make sure that it was all kept a secret so that my family wouldn't freak out and so that our clients, who are counting on the Iverson's to keep AIS, weren't aware that we were not 'trying' for the heir." He got on his knees next to my bed.
"I swear to you, Lilli, I did not change your pills or give you some fucking drug. I just...I was scared to deal with my uncle, my family, and the clients." He grabbed my right hand and refused to let go of it. Placing his forehead on my hand he continued.
"I would never do that to you, Lilli. I love you. Can't you see how in love I am with you?"
My breath caught.
He loved me? He chooses now to tell me that he loves me! Was it just a ploy for him to use?
I sighed and threw my head back.
"I don't know whether I should believe you or not, Aidan. I really just don't know." Then I remembered that he didn't answer me about Becca. "What about Becca?" I eyed him.
He exhaled heavily.
"Becca and I...well...we, um, had a fling."
"When?" I snapped.
His eyes came up to mine quickly.
"No, no, no...before you. She got slightly...attached to me and even broke into my apartment, as well as my grandfather's...erm...our home." I scowled at him. "We never pressed charges. My Uncle Henry and I are the only ones who know about it. The Ball was the first time I had seen her since then. I had hoped that she wouldn’t start...her um...tendencies again."
I pulled my hand away and rolled over to my side, away from him. "I need to be alone." I heard him shuffle out of the room.
"Lilli?" I looked up to Dr. Munthers with tears straining my face.
"I'm sorry that you had to witness—"
"Don't say another word." She smiled kindly. "However, I need to finish your examination. I can come back if you’d prefer?"
I shook my head.
"No, I want to get to my father."
She continued on with the scan and the other internal exams.
"Well, I would place you at roughly two months pregnant and doing very well." She smiled down on me. "I can discharge you. You need to start scheduling regular visits with your family doc...or, um...I'll provide you with a list of highly referred OB/GYN's in New York, okay?"
"Thank you," I wiped the tears from my face.
"A nurse will be in to discharge you soon." She got to the door and paused. "And don't be afraid to call me if you have any questions, okay?"
I nodded and smiled at her before she walked out of the room.
Mentally exhausted, I rolled to my side and sobbed as everything ran through my head. Aidan's revelations made sense. But, at the same time, I just didn't know for sure if I could trust him. He says he loves me, but what if it is simply because now I hold the key to his precious AIS? I was too exhausted to think any more about it and drifted into blackness.
Dixon and Phoebe appeared in my room after I had been woken up by the nurse to be discharged. Dixon had the wheelchair and Phoebe was gathering my bags. I hadn't seen or heard from Aidan and, honestly, I preferred it this way, for now.
Once I was in the chair, Dixon wheeled me to my father. He still had a small blue tint to his lips, but that was normal. I remembered from last time. I stood, overcome with wanting to just be a small girl again, I climbed into the bed and laid on my dad, crying into his chest.
"Whhhatssss wronng?" His raspy voice pulled me from my grief.
"Oh, daddy, don't talk. Just rest." I cupped his cheek with my hand and smiled at him.
He started to open his mouth, but I stopped him.
"When you are better and we are home, okay?"
Though he looked at me with concern and annoyance, he complied. I laid back down on his chest and he moved a hand to my head. I squeezed onto him, hoping that I could draw strength from him.
Chapter Ten
Discovery
Lilli
I laid with Donald until I fell asleep, just like when I was a little girl. Millie’s voice woke me from my restless slumber. I groaned and rubbed the dried tears from my swollen eyes.
"Lilli?" She whispered and patted my arm.
"Hmm?" I sat up.
"Um…you have a visitor." I looked up at Millie and followed her gaze over my left shoulder.
There stood a disheveled Aidan. He looked as bad as I felt. I felt my face instantly harden.
"I don’t want to talk to you right now." I growled out low.
"Please, Lil…" I cut him off.
"Just go," I sighed out and rubbed my stiff neck.
"Lilli," I looked up at Millie who had a very motherly look on her face. "Go on now. Give the man a chance to speak." She raised a brow at me as if she were daring me to argue with her.
I huffed and got up, pushing past Aidan as I walked out of the hospital room door. I didn’t stop. I continued until I came across the waiting room that held the vending machines. Smiling at a couple who were seated with magazines, snacks, and a couple of pillows, I walked to the soda machine. After getting a bottle of root beer from the machine, I turned to face Aidan.
"Well?" I took another sip.
"Lilli, I didn’t…" he turned and looked at the couple who was trying to pretend that they weren’t listening to our conversation. “I didn’t do what you are thinking. I would never do that, ever. Why can’t you realize that?" Even in his hushed tone his voice was intense.
"I don’t think that you would, Aidan. It’s just…I mean, it’s just so convenient and, well, to be honest, I don’t know if I should or if I can trust you." I sighed and sat down. "Why didn’t you tell me before that you called the doctor about my prescription? Why couldn’t you be upfront about it when you did it? And, then, when I overheard you on the phone the other day. Now it just makes me wonder." I put my head in my hands. "Trust and belief is not something that I can give you right now."
"I’m sorry this happened. I’ve already placed calls and have people looking into everything. Plus, the hospital is making a report about the drug switch." I could hear the sadness in his voice. "I know that you are angry, but I am too."
I looked at him about to get defensive.
Was he trying to say that he was angry at me?
He saw the look on my fac
e.
"Not with you, with me." Now I was confused. Before I could ask what he meant, he continued. "I should’ve been honest with you before all of this."
I shrugged.
"I guess it doesn’t really matter about the pills…" I broke off when I saw his face. "What?"
"I was talking about telling you that I love you." He turned his entire body to face me. "I am dead serious, Lilli, I love…"
I groaned loudly and stood up.
"What?" he asked, sounding a little annoyed.
"Just…just don’t say that." I closed my eyes and rubbed my closed lids.
"Why shouldn’t I say it? I mean it." He stood and his hands were on my upper arms tightly, pulling me closer to him.
I opened my eyes.
"You may think that you love me, Aidan, I don’t know, but you are not in love with me. We have an agreement and that is…"
"Will you please stop trying to discredit how I feel about you?" He wrapped his arms around my waist.
Pushing him away, I swallowed hard.
"Aidan, I don’t feel that way about you." I lied. "I knew and so did you, that this was just an arrangement. The newest development doesn’t change anything." I lied again and wiped away the solitary tear that escaped my traitorous eye.
"You’re lying," he spit out quickly. He sounded cocky, but there was a hint of anger and sadness to his voice. He sighed. "When we get home we are going to…" I cut him off.
"I am not going ho…to your house." I turned to look at him. He looked terrified.
"You—?"
"I am going to stay and take care of Donald, until he is better." I cleared up the misunderstanding. "I know that you need to get back to AIS, so I will be away for a while."
Aidan looked so sad that I almost wanted to comfort him, but I held strong. If I comforted him then I would simply crack into a million pieces. My father just had a heart transplant, I was hit by a freaking truck and I found out that I was pregnant, that I had been drugged to produce said pregnancy. And, the icing to top off the pregnancy cake, something that I am not even sure how I feel about, I was pregnant with twins. My emotions and my logical thinking were so wrapped up with each other that I couldn’t stand to be in my own skin. Confusion, sadness, shock, fear, and panic ripped through me in continuous waves. Trying to hold myself together was a full time job right now.
