by Parker, Ali
“Or what?” Dustin shouted, spit flying as he jabbed his finger at me and then toward Aston. “You or your little whore over there going to make me?”
The same dangerous calm I felt earlier returned to me, but my blood was pounding in my ears. I could keep my cool over work, but if he said another word to or about Aston, all bets were off. “Leave my girlfriend out of this. And you’d better apologize for calling her a whore.”
“Girlfriend, huh?” Dustin swayed as he tried to raise his eyebrows. Unfocused eyes sought her out behind me. “Poor little gold-digging slut probably thinks if she keeps giving herself to you on a silver platter she’ll be safe. Newsflash honey, he’s an asshole. He’s not gonna stick around. As soon as he’s done sticking it in you, he’ll be gone. You can’t trust him. He’ll chase your bony ass away just like he did mine.”
“Shut the fuck up, Dustin. Last chance.” My self-control was dangerously close to snapping. He’d gone way too far. While I didn’t relish the idea of getting arrested for assault if I hit him—because I knew he’d press charges—my fists were aching to meet his jaw.
Unfortunately, he didn’t seem to realize how serious I was. Ignoring me, he rounded another table so he could look right at Aston. I couldn’t shield her since our table was in the way. “Your loose pussy won’t keep him, sweetheart. I’m sure you fuck like a—”
He knocked the table over trying to dodge me when I launched myself at him, but he was too drunk and too slow. I had him by the collar with my arm pulled back when I felt someone slamming into me from behind.
“That’s enough, sir.” A security guard barked at Dustin from behind me. When I stopped straining against him, he let me go. “Sorry we didn’t get here sooner, we’re stationed outside. The hostess just came to get us.”
“Fucking finally,” I mumbled, before shaking off the rage rolling through me. Another security guard had Dustin’s arms held firmly behind his back and was marching him out of the restaurant when I heard a woman cry out behind me.
“Did he do something to her?”
Pivoting on my heels, terror gripped my heart when I saw what she was referring to. Aston was crouched over on her chair, grasping her stomach as tears streamed down her cheeks.
What the—? I closed the distance between us before my heart could finish its next beat. “Aston, honey? What’s wrong?”
“I don’t know,” she whimpered, her eyes clouded with pain and wet with tears. “Hospital. Blake. Please.”
“Yeah.” I ignored people shouting at me, asking if they should call an ambulance. There was no time to wait for one to get here. Scooping her up in my arms, I cradled her as gently as I could, threw some bills from my pocket onto the table and rushed out of the restaurant.
Thankfully, I’d gotten our driver with the town car to drive us tonight, thinking it would be a nice, relaxing way for us to see the sights. We wouldn’t have to navigate public transportation or look for parking everywhere. It was impossible to find parking in the city anyway, as I knew from my previous trips here.
Thank God I had wanted to spoil her. The driver was waiting for us right outside, his eyes stretching wide when he saw me running out of the restaurant with Aston in my arms. He jumped out and yanked the door open.
“Whatever the closest hospital is, get us there now. Do whatever you have to do to get us there fast. I don’t want to feel the wheels of this thing stop turning once.”
The driver nodded wildly at my barked order, throwing himself behind the wheel and taking off. I stroked Aston’s skin, it was pale and clammy. “It’s going to be okay, Aston. We’re going to be at the hospital soon, just hold on. We’ll be there in a matter of minutes. I’ve got you, Aston. I’ve got you.”
She managed a weak smile before another whimper escaped and she contracted in pain, her body folding in on herself. The ride to the hospital was a complete blur.
What had I done to cause this to happen to Aston and my child? Was it the stress of flying? Of bringing her here? Was it Dustin and his shitty remarks back at the restaurant? I didn’t know, but I swore to any and every higher power that I would never do it again.
Bargaining with divinity was irrational, but I did it anyway. When we got to the hospital, the car skidded to a stop and within seconds, there were nurses around and Aston was being loaded onto a gurney.
I ran after them as they rushed her inside until we got to a door marked ‘Staff Only.’ One of the nurses whirled around when I pushed my way through it anyway. “Wait here, sir. We’ll be out with an update on her condition as soon as we can.”
Chapter 62
Aston
The last thing I remembered was some man slinging insults at me while Blake and I were at dinner. Before the pain started, I’d been pretty sure it was Dustin. As I was about to stand up to form a united front with Blake against the drunken thief, an intense pain ripped through my body.
I only remembered flashes after that.
Blake coming to me in the restaurant. Getting much less jolted than I should have as he ran out with me in his arms. Bright lights as I glided down some kind of hallway.
The smell and the shouting told me I was in a hospital as the pain slowly subsided. A round faced doctor with red cheeks and curly gray hair had appeared in the room like magic, only seconds after I was wheeled in.
She gently pressed her fingers on my stomach when I told her I was pregnant, got an ultrasound machine wheeled into the room at what seemed to be the speed of light and took some blood before she disappeared.
It all happened so fast, I wasn’t even sure it was real. Outside my room, I heard some kind of a commotion before I realized Blake was the one causing it. “I don’t give a fuck about protocol. I’m not letting the love of my life do this alone. I’m going in there and if you want me out, you’re going to have to call security. And they’re going to have to bring reinforcements, because I’m not leaving her alone.”
The door to my room opened shortly after and the next thing I knew, Blake was standing next to me. His eyes were so dark with worry they seemed almost black. The line between his eyebrows was etched so deep it looked painful.
“Are you okay?” His voice was coarse and rough. “Please tell me you’re okay, Aston.”
I reached for his hand, trying to give it a reassuring squeeze. I didn’t know how reassuring it ended up being, since it felt pretty weak to me. Blake also didn’t seem one little bit less worried afterwards.
“I’m so sorry about everything, Aston. I never should’ve dragged you all the way out here, I should’ve been with you today. I knew something wasn’t right when I got back to the hotel, I should have brought you straight here instead of taking you to that rest—”
“Blake, no.” Clearing my throat, I managed to find my voice. It came out as a croak. “You can’t blame yourself for this. I felt a little pain in my tummy this afternoon, but I looked it up and it’s supposed to be normal. This isn’t your fault.”
He hung his head low, touching his forehead to mine. “Are you still in pain?”
“Not really,” I admitted, wondering what the hell was going on. It wasn’t the pain I was afraid of, I would deal with the pain as long as the baby was okay.
Fear stabbed me in the heart with the force of a thousand spears all tearing through me at the same time. I knew I wasn’t very far into this pregnancy. It had been unplanned and unexpected and it couldn’t have come at a worse time.
But none of that mattered to me. I already loved our baby. After the initial shock wore off, I started loving it and I loved it more and more each day. It was a part of me, of us. I didn’t care if I had to endure the kind of pain I had tonight every day for the next six or seven months, I would take it over and over again, as long as our baby was safe.
Tears welled up in my eyes and I didn’t even try to hold them back when they spilled down my cheeks. Blake sucked in a pained breath. “I’m so sorry you’re in pain, Aston. I’m so sorry.”
“It’s not t
he pain,” I told him. “It’s not back.”
Frowning, he looked down at me as if he could develop x-ray vision to find out what was ailing me. I grasped his hand tighter, winding my fingers around his I brought it up to my mouth and kissed it. “I can’t lose the baby, Blake. I can’t lose it. It’s supposed to be safe with me. What if it isn’t safe inside me anymore? I’ve been so careful, I can’t lose him. Or her. I just can’t.”
Blake released a shuddering breath and placed his free hand on our joined hands as well. “You’ll be okay, Aston. You and the baby will both be fine. We’re at the hospital, they’re doing everything they can for him, or her.”
The deep resonance of his voice was calming, reassuring. Logically, I knew there was no way he could know that the baby was fine, but I believed him anyway. I let his confidence seep into me, breathed it in and hung onto it. It was what I needed to get through this, to wait for the rosy cheeked doctor to come back with good news. Because I knew she would. She had to.
“The baby will be fine,” I repeated.
Stroking my forehead and my sweat dampened hair, Blake gave me a beautiful smile I hoped the baby would inherit. “There’s my girl. See? If both Mommy and Daddy believe it will be fine, it will be. Everything will be okay.”
Everything would be okay. Blake was right. I just had to keep believing. Closing my eyes, I settled in for the most excruciating wait of my life.
After a couple of minutes, Blake whispered. “Get some sleep, Aston. I’ll be right here. I’ll wake you the minute the doctor comes in. Wild horses and ten packs of rabid wolves couldn’t drag me away.”
I trusted him to stay, but I shook my head anyway. “I can’t sleep. Not until the tests come back.”
Blake glanced at the ultrasound machine still beside the bed. “Have they used that already?”
“They did,” I told him, trying to remember if the doctor had said anything. But she hadn’t. If she did, I couldn’t remember it. “The doctor took all the film with her, and the flash drive that was in it. At least I think so. I can’t remember properly, Blake.”
“That’s okay,” he said, soothingly. “Don’t worry, Aston. They didn’t know you were pregnant when we got here, I’m sure they’re just getting someone to take a look.”
“I told them I was pregnant,” another tear rolled down my cheek.
“So did I,” Blake replied, his tone quiet and even. “I gave them all the details for the doctor in Florida, too. Just try to relax, Aston. I know it’s hard, but try, okay? I’m sure they’ll be back any minute now.”
“Any minute now,” I agreed, but we were wrong.
I lost track of time. Blake and I spoke in low voices, but it wasn’t about anything important. He was trying to distract me, to keep me calm. I loved him so much more for it, even if I knew in my heart of hearts that I wouldn’t be able to relax until the doctor came in and told me the baby was okay.
When she finally came in, either hours or minutes later, she smiled and gestured at a tall blonde woman behind her. “Ms. Brier, this is Doctor Steele. She’s the best OB/GYN in the state.”
Doctor Steele stepped forward, lifting up a thin tablet. “I don’t know about being the best in the state, but I’m pretty good at what I do. Your baby is going to be fine, Ms. Brier.”
A relieved sob sounded in the quiet room. It took me a second to realize it had come from me. “Are you sure?”
She nodded, reading off her screen. “I’ve had a look at your blood test results and the scans that were done when you got here. If you want, I can do another scan and show you the baby’s heart is still beating strong. Would you like that?”
I nodded wordlessly, desperate to see my little bean. Blake spoke up beside me. “We’d appreciate it very much if you could do that, Doctor.”
“No problem.” Doctor Steele wheeled the machine closer again and squeezed a blob of gel onto my belly. It was the first time I realized I’d been put into a hospital gown at some point. It was terrifying that I couldn’t even remember that happening, but it didn’t matter now.
Nothing did, except that the baby was okay. Doctor Steele pressed the ultrasound wand onto my stomach and fiddled with some buttons. A low, swooshing sound filled the room. “That sound is your baby’s heartbeat.”
“It is?” I blinked, feeling more tears building in my eyes. “It’s the most beautiful thing I’ve ever heard.”
When I looked up at Blake, his eyes were watery as well when he nodded his agreement. “Yeah, it really is.”
Doctor Steele showed us the baby and let us listen to the heartbeat for a little while before shutting the machine down. “Everyone okay, now? Feeling better?”
“So much better,” I answered. My voice was thick with tears. I hated crying and absolutely despised doing it in front of people, but I couldn’t bring myself to care. “Thank you. Thank you so much.”
“Any time,” she said kindly.
“What happened?” Blake asked, locking eyes with the doctor. “Why was she in so much pain?”
The doctor shrugged, shaking her head. “It’s hard to be sure when it’s this early. Some pain is natural and expected, but the kind of pain she felt is cause for some concern.”
“Concern?” Fear threatened to drag me under again. “I thought you said the baby was fine.”
“The baby is fine,” she reiterated. “We can’t pinpoint the exact cause of your pain, but my educated guess is that the pain was brought on by stress.”
“Stress?” I all but squeaked. “I’m not even working right now.”
Smiling kindly, she came closer to the bed. “Stress isn’t only caused by work. The vast majority of pregnant woman work right up until delivery without encountering any problems. You do need to calm down for a little while though. You need rest and a peaceful environment for at least a week to ensure this doesn’t happen again.”
“I’ll get us a flight back to Florida tonight,” Blake said. “I’ll organize it right now. We’ll go to my dad’s beach house and do nothing but watch the waves. It’s gorgeous there, you’ll love it.”
Doctor Steele shook her head. “I would advise against flying for the time being. I know you’re from out of town, but flying also causes stress to the body. Getting home would’ve been good if you were close by, but it’s better to stay in town under the circumstances.”
“For how long?” Blake asked. “We’ll stay for as long as it takes.”
“A week, at least,” the doctor said.
Blake nodded. “A week it is. Thank you, Doctor. We appreciate everything you’ve done for us more than you can possibly know. We’ll stay around, don’t worry.”
Chapter 63
Blake
When I woke up, Aston was still sleeping beside me. She was still a little pale, but there was some color back in her cheeks and in her sleep, she didn’t look as worried anymore. She was peaceful, almost like nothing had happened.
I didn’t risk moving a muscle for fear of waking her. The doctor said she needed rest and I wasn’t going to interrupt what she was getting now.
When they wheeled her away from me in that hospital, it was the most frightened I’d ever been in my entire life. I nearly lost my mind when they told me I had to wait outside. It took way too long before I finally managed to get to her again.
Just thinking about it shook me up. I wasn’t afraid to admit how scared I was. It was right up there in the top two worst moments of my life. Second only to the day I realized Mom was gone for good, that she wasn’t just out shopping and she wasn’t coming back.
Even then, I had been so young that it was hard to understand exactly what her leaving meant. The concept of growing up without her wasn’t fully within my grasp until years later when I put it in context that she wasn’t going to be there for any of my most important days and for no more of the normal ones.
Watching Aston being rushed into the hospital was different. I had far too good of a grasp on the concept of having to live without her for th
e rest of my life if something happened to her. It was unimaginable, more painful than I cared to remember.
And the baby—I was still trying to wrap my head around the fact he or she even existed, but I’d been so safe in the knowledge that he was protected inside of Aston and I had time to figure it all out that I never considered the alternative.
For a man who saw most things coming from two miles away, it never crossed my mind that something might happen before it could even take its first breath. The thought that it could was downright terrifying.
The fact that it almost had was paralyzing.
No. I couldn’t let anything happen to either of them. Ever. It was my job to keep both of them safe. A job I took seriously. More seriously than I’d ever taken anything before.
The only problem was that I’d already been in New York longer than I’d planned on being here. The trip was supposed to be in and out. The plan had been to fly in, find Dustin and my brother, do what had to be done and get back to Florida.
Extending the trip to have a day or so to show Aston around had been challenging, but I got it done. It was easier to justify the downtime when I had to wait for the dynamic duo to surface before getting down to business.
For all intents and purposes as far as the rest of my world was concerned, I didn’t have a reason to stay in New York any longer. As far as anyone outside except the doctors knew, Aston and I were done here and should be getting back.
Buying myself more time without coming clean was going to be hard, especially because I really did have to get back. After all the traveling I’d been doing, my presence was sorely necessary at the head office.
There were so many meetings set up for this week it made my head spin. More than a month’s worth of important meetings that had already been pushed back as far as they could go filled my calendar. Angry red flags and reminders kept causing my phone to buzz. I had been trying to swipe them away before Aston saw them, but I couldn’t ignore them much longer.