Break My Fall

by Chloe Walsh

  Reaching down I touched my crotch. Bright red blood covered my fingers. The blood on my hand was the last thing I saw before the darkness swallowed me.

  Kyle

  “Rachel,” I nodded curtly as she approached me.

  “Kyle,” she smiled up at me, slipping on that sexy face. I knew that look well. “So where’s your little roomie? I didn’t see her here tonight; don’t tell me you got sick of her already?”

  I tensed, but managed to keep my face void of emotion. I had a plan and I needed to stick to it. The dirt Linda had dug up was like a winning lottery ticket. “We need to talk,” I said coolly.

  She stepped closer, pressing her body against mine. I shuffled backwards, but she moved closer again. Fuck, she had me pinned against the wall. She ran a finger from my stomach to chest and rested her hand over my heart. Shit. “Rachel,” I cleared my throat. “We need to talk.”

  She smiled darkly and leaned towards me. “You remember the date don’t you?”

  I nodded. How the fuck could I forget?

  “Kyle?” I heard some guy call my name from the hallway. “There is some chick in the upstairs bathroom calling for you, sounds important.”

  My heart dropped into my stomach, shit Lee. I went to move, but Rachel pulled me back. “Why don’t I go upstairs and have a little chat with Lee? I’m sure she would love to hear what I have to tell her.”

  I froze, this was exactly what I was trying to avoid. Derek, who was standing nearby glared at Rachel, then looked at me with the most disappointed expression I had ever seen on his face. Well fuck him. This was hard enough, without being judged.

  He made his way towards the stairs. He was probably going to check on Lee.

  I knew what I had to do and if I didn’t go with Rachel now and get it over with, the repercussions would rip Lee’s heart out. I had to do this dammit.

  “You ready to get out of here?” Rachel asked, as she squeezed my hand.

  I nodded and walked to the front door. “Yeah, let’s get out of here, before I change my mind.”

   Chapter Forty

  Lee

  In the darkness, I could hear banging, then Derek’s voice above the screaming. “Lee? Jesus Christ, Lee.” He sounded terrified. I felt him pull me into his arms, but I could not move a muscle.

  Kyle, where was Kyle?

  “Someone call a fucking ambulance,” Derek roared.

  Moments later I heard Cam sobbing. “Yeah, I need an ambulance, I don’t know what’s wrong with her” I heard her say. “She’s covered in blood and vomit. Jesus Christ hurry.”

  Derek’s voice was close to my ear, calming me. “You’re gonna be fine Lee. You’re gonna be just fine sweetie, keep breathing, There’s an ambulance on the way for you, just hold on Lee.”

  Kyle

  “I want out Rachel.” There, I’d finally said it. I felt the manacles around my wrist loosening already.

  I stood up and paced around her lounge. I couldn’t sit still. I was too fucking excited.

  “Out of what Kyle?” she hissed. “You want out of your responsibilities?” I watched from the corner of my eye as she threw her wine glass. I ducked just in time.

  It sailed passed my head, shattering against the cream wall of her apartment.

  “You know what happened,” I said calmly. “It was a goddamnn accident. If I could take back that night, I would. I would have never gotten into that fucking car if I had known the outcome.”

  She laughed darkly. “But you can’t change anything can you? You ruined my life and now you are going to be a man and suffer the consequences of your actions.”

  I flinched and for the first time in two years, I felt like fighting back. For the first time in my life, I had something to fight for. My phone was vibrating in my pocket; I knew it was either Derek or Cam. They’d been ringing me constantly since I left the party. They were probably pissed with me, but I’d deal with them later. Right now, I had a much bigger fish to fry.

  “You can blame me for crashing the car Rachel. That part was my fault, but it was your fault we crashed. Yours,” I said, feeling vindicated with my outburst, for finally allowing myself to shift some of the blame that had been weighing on my like a crane.

  She blanched and strode towards me. I didn’t bother moving, I knew what she was going to do. Her hand struck my face.

  “You bastard,” she screamed. “How can you say it’s my fault? You crashed the car. You caused me to lose our baby, you killed it and it’s your fault I can’t get pregnant again.”

  She was shaking with anger. Good, I needed her shaken.

  “You fucked my brother,” I said calmly, “Had been for months. You decided to shift your game plan on me because I was the bigger meal ticket, what with my grandfather having just left his fortune to me.”

  She paled. I caught the bitch out. I thanked god for confiding in Linda, if I hadn’t I would have never known the truth. The phone call I received earlier tonight from Rachel’s mom confirmed everything I had believed for the last two years was a lie.

  “That night I caught you fucking my brother, the night you told me you were pregnant with my child? Well it got me wondering and I started putting dates together and realized the baby couldn’t be mine. The dates didn’t add up and I’d worn a glove. It wasn’t mine was it Rachel?”

  She stared at me, silent for a change, I continued. “You ‘got pregnant’ and blamed the baby on me, on the one time we had sex when, in fact you’d been fucking Mike for months, which made wonder why? Why lie about the child being mine if it was his?”

  I paced the floor as I spoke. “And why was it that I never even knew about you being pregnant until after the accident? Of course, the first thought that came to my mind was money. You didn’t expect our grandfather to leave everything to me. I was the bastard child and Mike was the golden boy, the true heir to the Henderson Hotels, but then the more I started to think about it, the more things didn’t add up.” I pulled my phone out of my pocket. “And then, I got a phone call and it all became crystal clear.”

  Lee

  I could hear the paramedics, could feel them moving my body. I was screaming Kyle’s name inside my head, fighting my way back to consciousness.

  My eyes flickered open. “Derek,” I gasped when I saw that he was still beside me. Cam was beside him, she was crying. “Cam,” I whispered. I tried to move my hand towards her, but an agonizing pain shot through me and I screamed in pain.

  “Lee, can you hear me? You’re gonna be fine sweetheart,” Derek said rubbing my forehead. “We’re in an ambulance. Lee, we’re getting you help sweetheart, you’re gonna be fine.”

  I shook my head confusion, Kyle, where was he? I twisted my head around looking for him. I couldn’t see him. “Kyle?” I cried out. “Kyle? ”Where was he?

  Cam and Derek turned their faces away from me. What was happening?

  “Are you the father?” The paramedic asked Derek as he held my wrist in his hand, timing my pulse. Derek shook his head and then whispered something to Cam. Her whole face caved as she burst into tears.

  The father? “What are you talking about?” I cried. “The father of what?”

  The paramedic smiled sadly at me. “Miss Bennett, please try to stay calm, we are concerned that you may be having a miscarriage, the best thing you can do is breathe slowly and try to stay relaxed for the baby’s sake. We’ll know more when we get to the hospital and run some tests.”

  The baby, what baby?

  “I’m not pregnant,” I screamed before the darkness swallowed me up once more.

  Chapter Forty-one

  Kyle

  “You’ve been telling porkies Rachel,” I said calmly.

  “You don’t know what you’re talking about,” she screamed and lunged for my phone. I let her take it. She scrolled through my phone frantically. She couldn’t delete the information in my head that finally freed me from her hold.

  “You really are a sick little girl aren’t you,” I taunted. “I’
m not even angry with you. I pity you more than anything.” She threw my phone at me, hitting me in the chest. “It takes a sick person to concoct a fake pregnancy, but it takes a bitter, twisted whore to allow a man to walk around for two years thinking he made her infertile. Thinking he killed her child and any chance of having another.” The look on her face confirmed to me that Linda’s source had been spot on. “I had a little chat with your mother today, who, needless to say was shell-shocked with what I had to say. She seemed to be under the impression that you had surgery on your spleen after the accident and not a hysterectomy like you told me.” I stared straight at her; her face was red, her eyes full of rage. “Therefore, you can imagine my surprise when she confirmed, no, assured me that you weren’t pregnant when you were brought in to the hospital that night because you had been tested before getting x-rayed and the test had come back as a big fat negative.”

  I sneered at her, “You were never pregnant. Games up Rachel, find some other fool to leech from, I’m cutting you off.”

  She choked out a twisted laugh. “It took you long enough to figure it out, but do you think because you understand the truth your little princess will?” I tensed. “She will hate you. You’ve been lying to her for months Kyle. There is no way she’ll forgive you.”

  I shook my head. “She loves me. Unlike you, Lee is a fucking saint. A saint.”

  Rachel sneered. “Oh you are so pathetic Kyle. It’s happened hasn’t it? You’ve finally fallen in love? I knew that girl would be trouble.”

  “You don’t know anything about her,” I said through clenched teeth.

  “I know enough to know miss prim and proper won’t look at you twice when she knows the double life you’ve been leading.”

  “She loves me, she’ll understand.”

  Rachel stepped up to my chest. “Are you sure about that Kyle? You’ve lied to her, cheated on her. And I’m fairly certain she’ll know by know by now that you’re here in my apartment with me.” She threw her head back and laughed. “I bet you haven’t even told her you love her.”

  I froze and Rachel’s eyes gleamed. “I’m right aren’t I? She asked. “You’re not capable of loving someone without destroying them. Your mother. Your grandfather. Walk away before you destroy her.”

  Chapter Forty-two

  Lee

  I felt as if I had been asleep for days. Opening my eyes I scanned the room, there were machines everywhere and everything was white.

  “Hey sleepy head.” I turned my head to see Cam sitting in the chair next to my bed.

  “Cam?”

  She leaned over to me and hugged me tightly. “You had us scared for a while Lee,” she chuckled, her voice laced with concern. “You’ve been out with twelve hours.”

  I pulled myself up slowly, wincing from the sharp pain in my lower stomach. “What happened to me?”

  Cam dropped her eyes from mine. “Maybe I should get a nurse to explain it?”

  I grabbed her arm. “No Cam, please, I want to hear it from you.”

  She nodded slowly, straightening in her chair. Leaning over she grasped my hand in both of hers. I sucked in a sharp breath; this was bad. “Do you remember the ride in the ambulance Lee? You were awake for parts?”

  I thought back and my mind froze on one word. “They said I was pregnant? That I was losing my baby?” Oh god, I wanted to keel over. “I didn’t know Cam, I swear I never skipped a period,” I paused as tear fell down my cheek. “This is my fault.”

  Cam squeezed my hand. “No, Lee, this was not your fault; the doctors said you had what they call a concurrent ectopic and intrauterine pregnancy.” Looking at my confused face she smiled kindly. “It means, you were carrying twin’s Lee and one of them was in you tubes instead of your womb, that’s what caused to get so sick.” She shivered. “You nearly died Lee. The surgeons had to remove you one of your fallopian tubes and I’m so sorry sweetie, but the baby inside it was already dead.”

  Tears flowed down my face. I closed my eyes, desperately trying to hold it together. Just because I didn’t know I was pregnant did not mean that I did not want my baby. It wasn’t just my baby to lose, I had lost Kyle’s baby too. It had been dead inside me and I never knew. If I had been checked out sooner and listened to my body. I could have changed this. I curled my hands around my stomach, feeling empty and dead.

  Cam was smiling at me. I frowned at her, confused. “The baby in your womb survived the surgery Lee,” she squealed, scooting up on to the bed beside me.

  “It’s healthy and the perfect size for thirteen weeks.”

  Survived? Thirteen weeks? I had been pregnant for three months. I was stunned. “But, how, how is that possible? All the blood? How could a baby survive that?”

  Cam shuddered, remembering all too well what I was talking about. “They never operated on your womb, just removed the tube. The doctors say it’s very rare to have a survivor twin from those circumstances, but this little one is a fighter, just like her momma.”

  “Her?”

  Cam patted my belly excitedly. “Oh it’s too early to know, but I’m guessing she’s a girl,” Cam practically cooed.

  “So I’m due in June?” I guessed. I covered my hand over my belly, amazed at what was inside there; a baby, mine and Kyle’s miracle baby…I was just about to ask where he was when Derek walked into the room.

  “You’re awake,” he smiled, his green eyes twinkling, He leaned down and kissed the top of my head. “Don’t you ever scare us like that again Lee, I nearly had a fucking heart-attack.” He brushed his lips against Cam’s, then plopped into a chair beside my bed.

  “Yeah I’m sorry guys,” I winced as I pulled myself up further in the bed, “I want to thank you both, you saved our lives.” I patted my stomach, already loving the little miracle growing inside me desperately. I was gutted that I had lost one of my babies and I guessed those emotions would floor me later, but for now, all I could think was that I could have lost both and that put things into perspective for me. “I remember hearing your voice in my head,” I said to Derek. “You were telling me to hold on, I held on to your voice, I think that’s how I pulled myself back.”

  Derek blushed crimson and shifted uncomfortably in his chair. “Uh, no problem, just don’t go telling all the guys that,” he muttered. “I don’t wanna be nicknamed ‘the baby whisperer.’” Cam and I both chuckled at that.

  “So where’s Kyle?” I asked, wondering what could be delaying him from being here. “Is he outside?”

  Cam shifted awkwardly. “You can deliver that news baby whisperer.”

  Kyle

  I turned my key in the front door and let myself inside. The house was eerily quiet.

  “Derek? Cam?” I called out. I didn’t dare call Lee’s name out, she was probably asleep. I couldn’t wait to talk to her, to finally let her all the way in. I had messed up by leaving her last night, but I could fix everything now.

  I was free.

  There was crap all over the place and Bruno was passed out on the couch, the little snake. I walked into the kitchen and it looked like a shit heap. Goddamn Cam, she knew the rules, ‘throw a party and clean the shit up after.’ I needed a shower; I would deal with the mess later.

  I was bone tired. I’d had a long fucking night and all I wanted was to shower and crawl into bed with Lee. I trudged up the stairs and passed Lee’s bedroom door. I stalled by the door, this was definitely weird. Lee never left her door unlocked, let alone wide-open.

  Her bed was empty. Something strange was going on. Had they all bailed out on me? I shook my head and opened the bathroom door.

  My chest heaved and my stomach twisted when I took in the sight. There was blood everywhere, blood drenched towels were scattered all over the blood encrusted floor. I staggered back from the door and grabbed my phone from my pocket. The battery was dead.

  Fuck, how long had it been dead?

  I ran into my room and plugged it into the charger. I waited impatiently for it to start up. What the fuck
had happened here and where were they? I had only been away a fucking night.

  Finally, my phone booted up and was inundated with missed calls and text messages. I scrolled through them; fifteen missed calls from Derek, twelve from Cam. Dread filled my guts. I was afraid to read the texts.

  Derek: (Dude get your ass home a.s.a.p.)

  Cam: (Come home Kyle, there is something wrong with Lee. There is blood everywhere. I'm scared.)

  Cam: (Where are you? We are in the ambulance with Lee, taking her to the hospital, Call me.)

  Derek: (Answer your phone you stupid sack of shit, this is your girl I’m tryna save. Pull your dick outta Rachel, get in your fucking car and follow us to the hospital. You stupid shit.)

  Ice ran through my veins. I couldn’t read anymore, I ran for my truck.

  I dialed Derek’s number; he answered his phone on the third ring

  “Dude, about fucking time-”

  “Is she okay? I demanded, “Where is she?”

  I heard Derek snort. “In the fucking hospital. She’s lucky to be alive, no thanks to you.”

  Jesus Christ. “Which hospital is she in?” I drove down 10th, towards the city.

  “I don’t think that’s…”

  “Which hospital is she in Derek? I’ll find her either way.”

  He sighed loudly. “St.Lukes.”

  I nodded, taking a left. “I’ll be there in twenty.”

  “Kyle, you might want to brace yourself dude, there’s something you need to know…”

  I needed to get to Lee, not listen to Derek and his bullshit. I should have never left her last night. I was fucking stupid. “Spit it out dude, I’m trying to drive.”