by K. C. Crowne
With a finger on the trigger and one hand on the latch, I moved in one smooth movement, pulling the door open swiftly before aiming inside. I was fully prepared to shoot when—
“Wait!” a woman screamed.
I dropped my gun instinctively, the sound of Vivian’s voice snapping me out of my trance. Her hands were up and trembling violently.
“Jesse? Jesse, thank God! I’m so happy to see you—”
I cut her off with a deep kiss, holding her like I’d never let her go again. Her skin was distressingly cold, and her lips were likely stiff because of it. Vivian clung to me, sighing happily as she kissed me back.
I checked her over quickly. “Are you hurt?” I asked. “Did those bastards do anything to you?”
“I’m fine, Jesse. I promise.”
A noise came from behind Vivian, and I looked over her shoulder and saw another woman huddling close by.
“Jesse, this is Molly. Molly, Jesse.”
“P-pleasure,” she said dryly. “Can we p-please go h-home now?”
The police and cartel were still fighting out front, and I really didn’t want to risk Vivian and her friend getting caught in the crossfire.
“Stay low,” I instructed. “We’ll have to take the back exit. Whatever you do, don’t stop moving.”
Vivian gasped. “Behind you!”
Something heavy hit me across the back of the head, knocking me to the ground. The room spun; the floor slipped out from under me. I couldn’t hear anything past the loud ringing in my ear. Before I could come to my senses, someone had me by the collar.
They hoisted me up and tossed me across the room. I skidded across a metal preparation table and landed in a hard pile on the cold tile floor. I struggled to my feet, disoriented. I didn’t need a doctor to tell me that I’d bruised a rib. I could feel it, the throbbing pain taking hold of every nerve in my body.
My assailant charged me with a chef’s knife in hand, bringing it down to take a chunk out of my leg. I rolled out of the way and pulled myself up in a hurry, dodging swipe after swipe. He moved with such force that I could feel the air split as he waved his blade around, the edge just barely nicking me each time.
“Vivian, run!” I shouted, praying she had the good sense to actually listen this time.
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Vivian lunge toward me. Terror unlike anything I’d ever experienced ripped through my core. I caught her in my arms, horrified by the red soaking into her shirt.
The guy I’d been fighting stepped toward us, brandishing his knife. With a wicked grin, he swung at both of us. I was fully prepared to use my body as a shield when thunk! Molly threw a heavy cast iron skillet at the man’s head. It knocked him out and sent him crashing to the floor.
Blood was everywhere. So much so that I couldn’t figure out where her wound was. I felt around hopelessly, attempting to staunch the bleeding but with no success. I could feel her fading, growing limp and weak arms. Vivian’s breathing was labored, her eyes fluttering closed.
“No!” I exclaimed. “No, no, no. Vivian, hang on.”
“The ba—” she croaked incoherently. “The baby.”
I shook my head. “Baby? What baby?”
With a shaky hand, Vivian took mine and placed it over her stomach. It took me far longer than I cared to admit to understand what she was trying to tell me.
Joy followed by immediate dread.
Happiness with a harsh slap of horror right after.
A healthy dose of confusion.
“You’re pregnant?” I whispered gruffly.
Vivian nodded, her head lolling to the side. She was pale. Too pale. I was losing her. I was losing them.
I shook her gently, trying everything in my power to keep her awake. “Vivian. Vivian, stay with me. Don’t do this to me, angel. Come on, just—” I looked up, frantically searching for help. “I need an ambulance in here! Someone! Anyone!”
But nobody came.
All I could do was hold her. I’d never felt more useless in my entire life.
“Why did you do that?” I whispered, brushing her hair with trembling fingers. “You shouldn’t have done that, Vivian.”
“To save you,” she mumbled weakly.
“Save your strength, angel. I’m going to get you out of here.”
“Jesse, I—” Her breath came out as a wheeze. “I love you.”
Vivian closed her eyes and didn’t open them again. I shook her again to jolt her back into a conscious state, but it didn’t work. My pulse spiked.
“Vivian? Come on, angel. Wake up. Wake up!” Hot, angry tears streamed down my face. I couldn’t lose her. Not like this. I couldn’t stand the thought of Vivian dying in my arms.
I didn’t even get to tell her that I loved her, too.
Chapter 35
Vivian
I was only partially aware that I’d been drifting in and out of consciousness. It all felt like a dream. Snippets of conversation held in low, concerned murmurs. Bright lights overhead. The beeping of heart rate monitors and the whir of various other equipment. The smell of latex and the calm blue of nurses’ scrubs.
It was impossible to tell how much time had passed. Days. Weeks. Months. In the end, it didn’t matter. The second I thought I was alert enough to return and face reality, I was hit with an almost euphoric level of relaxation. It was probably the medication, but I wasn’t ever awake long enough to piece together what was going on around me.
I didn’t dream of anything while I was under, though I did occasionally hear a voice. Sometimes it would talk to me. Sometimes it would talk to someone else. It was low and soothing. Familiar in its richness and lilt. While I wasn’t aware enough to comprehend anything, I did get the sense that the voice belonged to someone who cared about me. I could tell through their tone, always gentle with an edge of protectiveness.
When I finally managed to summon the strength to wake up, it was morning. The sun was out and shining, rays of warm light streaming in through the sheer white curtains. The scent of antiseptic and plastic filled my nose. It wasn’t unpleasant, just different. The soft voice over a PA speaker down the hall alerted me to the fact that this wasn’t home, but a hospital.
And God was it a fancy place.
This wasn’t some cramped, dark, understaffed inpatient wing. This was a private room, the kind that only super important people or celebrities could afford so they didn’t have to recover from their ailments with a simple curtain separating them from the next patient. Cream walls and freshly cut flowers in tall vases and a big flat screen TV mounted opposite me for entertainment were clear signs of the private institution.
I knew for a fact that my health insurance through Blue Cloud Financial would never cover a place like this.
No, I knew exactly who to thank for this private room. The man in question was sitting right next to me, holding my hand like a lifeline.
Jesse was asleep in the guest chair next to my hospital bed, folded over with his head resting against his forearms. His dark stubble was growing in, and I thought he looked rather dashing. I contemplated waking him up, but the dark circles beneath his eyes were a good indicator that he needed the extra Z’s.
I turned on the TV instead and quickly turned the volume to its lowest possible setting so as to not disturb him. The first channel to pop up was the local news, big red borders and fast-moving headline ticker sweeping across the bottom of the frame. I was about to click away to find something more relaxing —maybe one of those boring documentaries Jesse liked because they were growing on me— when video footage of Alistair McCloud flashed across the screen.
“The investigation continues into Blue Cloud Financial’s illicit activities,” the anchorwoman explained. “This comes just a week after the arrest of the investment firm’s Chief Financial Officer, Alistair McCloud, who has alleged ties to organized crime and gang-related activity. Police raided several locations suspected of being the operational hotspots of the Azure Cartel and have made several major
arrests of head members. McCloud is expected to appear in front of a judge later this week. If found guilty, he could serve several life sentences behind bars.”
I was hypnotized by everything I was seeing. It was strange, but I hoped the courts didn’t treat him too harshly. Even though I thought what he did was reprehensible, he did keep the cartel from killing Molly. It was proof enough to me that he wasn’t all bad. Maybe that was naive of me, but it was the truth.
I shifted in bed, my muscles sore and my skin tight. The bedsheets were starchy and stiff. Uncomfortable. As I readjusted my position in bed, I noticed the tightness in my abdomen. I laid my free hand onto my stomach to inspect. I could feel the stitches, the taught bandage. And that was when it hit me.
“The baby,” I blurted, freaked out. Everything happened so fast. I didn’t remember much about the attack, only that I’d been hit while trying to save Jesse. What if something happened to the baby?
Just as I was starting to hyperventilate, Jesse awoke. He stood immediately and grasped me firmly by the shoulders, likely to keep me from hurting myself. He spoke softly, “Everything’s fine, angel. The babies are fine. The cut was long, but not deep.”
“Babies?” I echoed.
The smile that broke out across Jesse’s face was unlike anything I’d ever seen. Pure joy and elation. Excitement. Bone-deep devotion and love.
“Yes, angel. We’re having twins.”
I finally took a much-needed breath. “Twins… Do we know what they are yet? Or is it to early? I’ve never done this before.”
Jesse chuckled. “It’s too early to tell. All the doctors could tell from the ultrasound was that there are two of them and they’re both doing well.” He reached behind him to retrieve a small slip of paper, a sonogram by the looks of it. “Here.”
I squinted at the image. “I have no idea what I’m looking at.”
Jesse pointed to two little dots near the center. “That’s one, and this is the other.”
Giddiness erupted within me, happy tears welling up in my eyes. “Oh my God, they’re so tiny!”
I scooched over to make room for him. Jesse lay down next to me, one arm around my shoulder bracing my head while his other hand lay gently on my stomach. He kissed my temple, still peering down at the sonogram in wonder.
“I love you, too, by the way,” he whispered.
I looked him in the eye, heart skipping a beat. “Hm?”
“I love you, too. You told me you loved me but passed out before I got the chance to tell you.” His expression darkened. “I thought I’d never get to.”
“Jesse…”
“I love you, Vivian. Seeing you like that… I thought you were going to die. I thought I was going to lose you.” Pain flashed across his face as his brows furrowed. “I wouldn’t know what to do with myself if something happened to you. I know that now. So, please, if you’ll have me… I’d really like to be with you. To take care of you and take care of our children. And I know settling down probably isn’t what you want at your age, but I promise I’ll do everything in my power to make sure you’re happy.”
I placed my hand over his and pressed firmly against my stomach. “Who says that’s not what I want?”
“Really?”
A shaky laugh bubbled past my lips. “I was worried that maybe you didn’t want to have kids again.”
“Only if I get to raise them with you.”
I tilted my chin up to kiss him. It felt good, like coming home. But a thought popped into my head just as I pulled away. “Wally.”
Jesse grimaced. “No, my name’s Jesse. Should I call a nurse? Maybe the meds are too strong.”
“No, no. I meant what about Wally? I want to be with you, I do, but I refuse to come between you and your son.”
“I spoke with him after I sent you away.”
“Oh. And?”
“He’s… adjusting. I’d say seventy percent onboard.”
“Better than not at all, I guess. I’m glad to hear it.”
Jesse kissed me again, slower this time. “I can’t wait to take you home.”
“When do you think they’ll let me out of here?”
“Another couple of days.”
“How long have I been out?”
“Almost a week.”
My eyes widened. “Jesse.”
“What?”
“A private room costs, like, a million dollars a day.”
“More like four hundred, actually.”
My brain ran the numbers automatically. “Twenty-eight hundred dollars and they want me to stay three more days? Absolutely not. I’m fine. I feel great. Let’s get out of here before they bleed us dry—”
“Vivian.” The corners of his eyes crinkled as he smiled. “Relax. The bill’s already been taken care of. I meant what I said. I’m going to take care of you. All you have to do is let me.”
I lay back down, soothed by his deep voice. “Alright, alright.”
“How are you feeling, angel? Any pain?”
“No, I’m good. Just stiff and restless.”
“I’ll go get the doctor to check on you. They should know you’re awake.”
“Wait,” I said, clutching onto his hand. “You can get them, just… In another five minutes, okay?”
He held me close, cradling me in his arms and pressing kisses into my hair. “Okay. Five minutes.”
“Ugh.” Molly was standing at the doorway. “You guys are so cute it makes me want to throw up. Can’t you get a room?”
“We are in a room,” I pointed out.
Jesse moved back to his chair but didn’t let go of my hand as Molly made her way to my other bedside. She looked to be in good spirits, despite everything.
“How are you?” I asked.
“Better. Thank you for coming for me. I knew you wouldn’t give up.”
“I heard Alistair’s been arrested.”
Molly nodded. “Some guy, Detective Monroe? He said that he received all the investment records he needed to link Blue Cloud Financial to the cartel. Someone emailed him from an anonymous address or something. He grilled me for hours about it, but I didn’t have a clue what he was talking about.”
Jesse glanced at me out of the corner of his eye. “Devin?”
I nodded. “Devin.”
Molly shrugged. “So, what are you going to name the babies?”
“You know?”
“Kind of hard not to. Jesse wouldn’t shut up about it.”
I smiled at him. “Is that so?”
Jesse huffed. “I was excited. Sue me.”
“If they’re girls, you should definitely name one of them Molly,” she announced, smirking. “I can’t believe I’m going to be an aunt. I’m going to spoil them rotten when they get here.”
I laughed, patting my stomach tenderly. I could very clearly imagine Fun Aunt Molly. She’d be the one to sneak the kids their first sip of alcohol or take them to their first ever concert despite my express concern that it’s a school night.
I could also imagine Jesse as a father. Warm and caring and stern at times, but only because he cared so much. I’d be there to reign him in when needed, but there wasn’t a doubt in my mind that he’d be a fantastic father to our children.
I smiled as I listened to Molly recite an entire speech on why we should name one of the twins after her. Jesse held my hand and squeezed my fingers gently.
I was happy.
Chapter 36
Jesse
Vivian laughed as I carried her over the threshold into the penthouse. “You’re going to drop me,” she said, half-chiding.
“I would never let that happen.”
“You can put me down now, Jesse. My legs work just fine.”
I kissed her on the tip of her nose. “True, but you’ll have to forgive me for being clingy. You’re carrying precious cargo.”
“Am I part of that cargo?”
“Most definitely.”
I carried Vivian to the kitchen and set her down in the neare
st chair. “Tea? Water? Something to eat?”
She giggled. “I’m fine, Jesse.”
“Do you want to lie down and take a nap?”
“Trust me, I think I’ve gotten more than enough sleep.”
“How about a—”
“Jesse.”
“Yes, angel?”
Vivian stretched her arms out toward me. “Come here.”
I went to her without question, kneeling before her feet so I could hug her, pressing my ear to her stomach. I knew the babies were still too small to kick, but I could sense them. It was almost crazy how much I loved them already and they weren’t even here yet.
Vivian combed her fingers through my hair, nails gently scraping against my scalp. “I think we should plan.”
“What do you mean?”
“Well, now that we know the babies are doing okay, I think we should sort out the logistical side of things. Am I going to stay here with you? What am I going to do with my apartment?”
“I’d love it if you moved in here with me. I can turn the home office into a nursery. I’m in contact with a number of contractors. We can do it up any way you’d like. And if living in the city isn’t what you want, I’d happily buy you a house out in the suburbs.”
“A whole house?”
“No, half,” I replied dryly. “Of course a whole house. We can have a backyard for them to run around in and a big driveway where we can teach them to ride their bikes.”
“I like the sound of that,” she mused. “What about finishing school? I’m so close to finishing my degree.”
“We’ll make it work,” I promised. “I’m sure we can discuss remote learning options. Or we can wait until after you’ve had the babies, you can go back to school, and I’ll watch over them.”
“How are you going to juggle work and taking care of the twins?”
“I’ll take a step back from the firm, be a little more hands-off. I’m sure I can appoint someone to be in charge. Maybe Devin. Probably not, but he’s an option.”