by Elle Keating
Through the room’s glass walls Jake saw who he believed was a doctor and another woman walking toward them. The woman pointed in the direction of Aunt Day and the doctor nodded. The doctor walked over to Morgan’s mom. She had a clipboard in her hand and wore an expression that said she was all business. Jake was the first to leap from his chair and stand at Aunt Day’s side. “Ms. Kelley, I’m Dr. Rahway. Your daughter is out of surgery and recovering. Her condition is serious, but stable at the moment.”
Stable. She’s going to be okay. She was...
“But she hasn’t woken up yet, so we will be monitoring her closely,” the doctor said.
“Is she...in a coma?” Aunt Day choked out.
“We considered putting her in a medically induced coma to relieve pressure on the brain and reduce swelling, but she responded to several other interventions and we didn’t need to go that route.”
“Oh my God!” Aunt Day said, shaking her head and covering her mouth.
He couldn’t breathe. He wasn’t going to keep whatever was in his stomach down. He was just about to lose it right there on the hospital floor when Aunt Day said, “I want to see my daughter.”
Dr. Rahway nodded and extended her arm toward a set of double doors.
“Jake, come with me,” Aunt Day said.
Jake fought the urge to vomit and grabbed Aunt Day’s hand. They followed Dr. Rahway through the doors to the Intensive Care Unit. The doctor stopped at Room Five. Aunt Day squeezed Jake’s hand until his knuckles cracked. “I got you,” Jake said.
Aunt Day took a deep breath, stood up straight, and they entered the room.
Jake would never forget what Morgan looked like right now, not as long as there was air in his lungs. Lying in a hospital bed, seeing her hooked up to countless machines, the bandage covering her forehead, the image would be burned in his brain. Aunt Day let go of his hand, ran to Morgan’s bedside and wept.
“She suffered a broken femur and a dislocated shoulder in addition to the concussion. Her leg and shoulder should heal without issue. But what took the team awhile, what kept us longer than we liked, was the internal bleeding in her spleen. Thankfully, we were able to get the bleeding under control and we didn’t have to remove the organ.”
Thank God the driver who put Morgan in this bed was dead because if he had survived, Jake wasn’t certain that he wouldn’t take matters into his own hands. While Jake and the rest of Morgan’s family waited in that waiting room, the policeman who had driven Jake to the hospital had returned and told Jake that the driver was most likely intoxicated when he hit Morgan’s car. The toxicology results weren’t back yet, but there were enough open containers in the driver’s vehicle to lead the police to that conclusion.
The doctor continued to talk about what to expect while Morgan was in this state and what signs to look for that she might be waking up. “Ms. Kelley, your daughter is strong and healthy. I truly believe that she will make a full recovery.” Dr. Rahway’s eyes softened and she touched Aunt Day’s arm. “But I must say though, the amount of damage internally… it is truly miraculous that the baby wasn’t affected. I’m not a God-fearing woman, but even I… ”
“Baby?” Jake and Aunt Day asked together.
“It’s still early. Definitely within the first trimester. But we were clearly able to detect the fetus on ultrasound. From the looks on your faces, I’m assuming you didn’t know?”
Pregnant. Morgan was pregnant with his child. But how? Her condition… she said it was next to impossible for her to conceive naturally.
“You found a way, didn’t you, sweetheart?” Aunt Day said, staring down at her daughter. She was crying and fighting to keep it together.
Jake didn’t hold back as he gazed at the mother of his child. Every emotion, even some he had never experienced before, seized him and he nearly buckled beneath their weight. “My God.”
“Would you be the father, by any chance?” Dr. Rahway asked. The woman’s voice broke Jake’s awe-induced trance.
Jake looked over at Aunt Day and answered the doctor’s question. “Yes. Yes, I am.” Jake watched Aunt Day’s eyes overflow with tears. “Morgan told you what happened all those years ago. That she… that we… ”
“She did.”
“I’ll never forgive myself for being so foolish, for not protecting her.”
Standing before the mother of the woman he had impregnated when he was just twenty years old and admitting that he had behaved recklessly was harder than he had ever imagined. He was all set to apologize when she reached up and cupped his cheek. “You have loved her all your life. I know you would never intentionally hurt her or put her in harm’s way.” Aunt Day leaned in and kissed him on his other cheek. “Jake, you and my daughter made that decision together. And now it’s time you two move past the guilt and focus on the here and now.”
Jake could hear Dr. Rahway clear her throat from behind. Jake smiled at Aunt Day before looking at Morgan’s physician. Dr. Rahway flipped a few pages over on the clipboard she had been carrying and released a small three-by-five piece of paper from the clip. “Then I imagine that the father of his child would like to take a look at this?” Dr. Rahway handed him the paper.
Jake stared at what he immediately concluded was an ultrasound of his and Morgan’s baby. Although it lacked definition he was mesmerized by it, the life that was growing within the woman he loved.
“I’ll be back tomorrow morning to check on her.” Dr. Rahway nodded and was just about to make her exit when she turned and said, “You know, some patients have reported that they could hear their loved ones while they were coming out of this state. It wouldn’t hurt to talk to Morgan, to tell her you love her, to share a story or a memory from her past.”
“Thank you, Doctor. I think I know just the story to tell,” Jake said. Dr. Rahway smiled and then left for the night.
“I’ll be just outside the door,” Aunt Day said.
“No. I have nothing to hide. Please stay.” Jake meant what he said. He had no problem telling the tale he was about to share in front of Morgan’s mother.
“No, you two need a moment alone.” Aunt Day hugged him and said, “Take care of my girl.”
Chapter Thirty-Five
Morgan
“Not too high, Morgan!” A leg was already extended and her arm was reaching for the next branch when her mom called through the kitchen window.
“Okay!” Morgan yelled back. Morgan waited until her mom was out of sight and then climbed farther up the tree. She scraped a bare knee against the coarse bark but she bit back the pain and continued on.
“I wouldn’t go higher than that. The next branch is dead and will probably break.”
Morgan stopped and peered down. A boy with dark brown hair was staring up at her. He was tossing a football back and forth from one hand to the other.
“And how would you know?”
“Just look at it. It’s not going to hold you,” the boy said, challenging her.
Oh yeah? Watch me.
Morgan lifted her leg and put all her weight onto the next branch. For a moment she rejoiced and considered sticking her tongue out at the boy below when she heard the first cracks. She latched onto a branch above her when the one she had been standing on snapped, leaving her dangling.
“Let go. I’ll catch you,” the boy said, quickly positioning himself on the ground beneath her.
“No!” she wailed. Her arms burned as she clung to the branch. She started to inch over toward the trunk of the tree when she heard that cracking sound again. She froze in place.
“I got you. I promise I’ll catch you,” he pleaded. Morgan looked down and noticed that he looked as scared as she felt.
“Promise?” she asked.
“I promise,” he said, holding out his arms.
The tree branch cracked again. But before it could snap off cleanly, she closed her eyes and let go. And just like that boy said he would he caught her, sending them both tumbling to the ground. Her backside ached
and she felt a bruise already forming on her hip, but the pain disappeared the second she looked into her rescuer’s eyes.
Green was now her favorite color. She suddenly had the urge to run into the house and tell her mom that she had changed her mind and wanted to paint her new bedroom walls green, the color of this boy’s eyes, to be exact.
“Are you okay?” he asked. She was still firmly in his grasp, his arms holding her close against him as they lay in the grass.
“Yeah, thanks,” she said, getting lost in his gaze.
“Why didn’t you listen to me… ”
“Morgan,” she supplied.
“I told you that the branch was going to break. Why didn’t you believe me, Morgan?”
“Because,” she said.
He didn’t say anything at first but continued to stare at her. Suddenly, he smiled. “Because why?”
Morgan felt her cheeks grow hot and she struggled for words and breath. Instead of answering him she asked, “What’s your name?”
“Jake.” He hadn’t let go of her or loosened his grip. “How old are you?”
“I’m five. My mom and I just moved in. How old are you?”
“Seven.” Jake released her and she scooted away from him.
“Well, I know why you didn’t listen to me,” he said, standing up.
She followed him and rose to her feet. “Yeah, why?”
“Because you’re stubborn.”
“Be that stubborn, strong-willed girl I fell in love with that day. Wake up, Morgan. I can’t lose you, not again.”
At some point the beautiful dream she had been having melted away and joined her reality. She was no longer lying in her backyard, safely in Jake’s arms, and trying with all her might to stop blushing.
Jake was here and all she had to do was open her eyes. Her eyelids felt like they weighed a thousand pounds and she moaned under their weight. “Jake,” she whispered. Her voice sounded raspy and barely audible, but he must have heard her because he started to say her name over and over again, with an “I’m here,” and a “wake up, baby” thrown in. She gathered her strength, drawing on Jake’s pleas, and opened her eyes.
She blinked several times due to the blinding light but willed herself to focus on the man at her side. He was crying and holding her hand up to his lips. “Morgan, I’m here. I’m right here, honey.” He kissed her fingers and said, “I’ll be right back. I’m going to get the doctor.”
Doctor?
“Wait,” she rasped, reaching for him. He stood over her and took her hand back in his. “Where am I?”
“You’re in the hospital, sweetheart, and I need to get the doctor and tell her that you’re awake.”
“What happened? How long have I been like this?” she asked. Morgan looked down and saw that her arm was in a sling and she was hooked up to an IV. The sight sent her mind reeling and she tried to sit up to get a full look at the damage but couldn’t. The pain that ripped through her body as she moved even a fraction of an inch made her abort her mission and she decided to stay as still as possible. But as much as she wanted pain meds right now, and lots of them, she needed answers more.
“You were in a car accident.” Jake released her hand to caress her cheek. His eyes were bloodshot and still filled with tears. How badly was she hurt? She was in pain, no doubt about it, but what was causing Jake to look so distraught? Morgan flexed her legs and wiggled her toes which hurt like hell, especially her left leg, which was in some kind of brace. But at least she wasn’t paralyzed. Did she suffer a traumatic brain injury? She silently rattled off her full name, address, and age. No, things seemed to be intact. And then the events of the past twenty-four hours came rushing back and her head, the same head that hadn’t been cloudy just seconds ago, throbbed and she was overcome by the vivid images that played in her mind.
“I was heading to our nook. I needed to go to our place.” Morgan shook her head. “But there was this white car. The driver was swerving all over the road, so I pulled over hoping he would just pass me. But… ”
“Let’s not talk about that, not right now.” He kissed her forehead and smiled at her. “I love you, baby.”
Baby.
Her mind started backpedaling, as if playing in reverse, and the next image that came to her was one of her and Jake standing on the sidewalk in front of her townhome...with Owen. “The miscarriage… I’m so sorry. I’m so sorry for keeping that from you, for not telling you about our baby. I was so selfish.” She cried into her hand as she couldn’t bear to look at him.
“Selfish?” Morgan felt his fingers at her chin. “Look at me,” he demanded. “I’m the one who will apologize, not you. Carina told me, she made me see why you made the decision you did. You chose me, my dream, above your own wants and desires.”
Morgan opened her eyes, but they continued to overflow with tears. “But we lost so many years because of the choice I made.”
Jake pulled up a chair and sat next to her. She watched him reach over and retrieve something from the table next to her hospital bed. He put his focus on the thin piece of paper in his hands and said, “Because of the choice you made… we… you and I, made this little miracle.” He smiled at whatever was on that piece of paper and then handed it to her.
No. It couldn’t be. It looked so much like an ultrasound. It wasn’t possible.
“You’re pregnant, Morgan.”
She took her eyes off the photo for a second to see if Jake was telling her the truth. His smile and the way he choked back his tears confirmed that he was serious and completely in love with the fact that he was going to be a daddy. But the doubt crept in when her attention drifted back to the ultrasound. “But the doctors, they all said that it was next to impossible for me to get pregnant naturally.”
Jake gently removed the photo from her hand and laid it on her lap. He took her hand in both of his and said, “Leave it to you, my beautiful, stubborn girl, to defy them all.” He leaned over and kissed her gently on the lips. Despite her current condition and the fact that she probably looked like a wreck, she wanted that kiss to continue. But much to her dismay he pulled away and said, “I have loved you all my life. There is no one but you. Because it’s always been you, Morgan.” The love in his eyes, the way he looked at her as if she was his reason for existing at all, made her body tremble and her heart quicken. “Please marry me. Say you’ll be mine.”
She smiled when she realized what he was wearing. With her one free hand, she grabbed him by his hoodie strings and pulled him over until his lips were just millimeters from hers and said, “I’ve always been yours.”
Also by Elle Keating
The Dangerous Love Series
Thrill of the Chase
Cut to the Chase
Wanting More
Standalone
Keeping His Commandments
About the Author
Elle Keating is the author of romance novels with sexy heroes and fierce females. Her first book, Thrill of the Chase (Dangerous Love, #1), was published by Forever Romance’s digital imprint, Forever Yours, in 2015. Cut to the Chase (Dangerous Love, #2) soon followed. Most recently, Elle self-published Wanting More (Dangerous Love, #3) and a standalone novel, Keeping His Commandments.
An avid reader of gritty, dark romances, her favorite authors include Pepper Winters, Penelope Ward, and Anna Zaires.
When she isn’t torturing her heroes and heroines (don’t worry, there’s always a happily ever after), Elle is a public school administrator and enjoys spending time with her husband and 3 children in New Jersey.
For more on Elle and her books, visit ellekeating.com.
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