Huh. It was a weird saying anyways.
12
Anabelle
I felt like I had just done something stupid, dangerous and irresponsible, but I was still too boneless and contented to care.
The last time I had sex with Michael, we had fallen asleep together on that massive hotel bed. So, as it were, it was taking a whole lot of both brain and muscle power to make myself walk along like I was sober and not nearly fucked to the point of being intoxicated from the pleasure of it all.
And it was a long time coming. How much pressure could build up in a bottle before it inevitably exploded? Because I certainly felt like that bottle, pent up for far too long until my cap had finally popped right off and into Michael’s awaiting hands.
After I had found out I was pregnant, I had just never had time for a relationship with anyone. Trying to date when I was carrying a baby and starting a new job seemed like way too much stress, and I was turned off of one night stands entirely -understandably so. So, even though it had been four years going on five, Michael was still the only man I had ever slept with. The only one who had made my toes curl and my soul leave my body for a moment.
We reached his car and that broke my chain of thoughts. Ever the gentleman, he opened the door for me while I tried not to ogle at how nice his vehicle was. I wasn’t an expert by any means, but I knew enough to be aware that I was staring at an expensive piece of machinery.
And it was quiet too, amplifying the lack of talking between us after I told him my address and he plugged it into the LCD screen built right into his dash. It was way better than the junker that I had used to own and had just broken down the year before.
I felt like I should say something, but I didn’t know what. I hadn’t exactly been a saint after I left, and I had looked him up every once in a while. I knew now that he was never actually engaged to the one actress I thought he was connected with, as she’d done several interviews about how he’d been such a good friend to her and helped her come out along with her costar on the buddy-cop show they worked on together. But there were still plenty of rumors about other women who just so happened to be lucky enough to hold his attention. I wanted to ask him if they were true, if I was the other woman, but I knew it wasn’t my place.
It was none of my business.
He was none of my business, and I needed to keep that in mind.
Eventually, we did pull up to my apartment building. If Michael thought anything of the side of the city I lived in, or about the somewhat busted building, he didn’t say. I thought that perhaps that was it, I was just going to get out of the car and that was the last we would ever see each other, but then he was opening my door and helping me onto the sidewalk.
I didn’t need help, and I almost told him as much, but I realized that my thighs were still shaky, and I could feel his spend starting to drip down them. Okay, maybe a little help wouldn’t be entirely out of order.
Arm in arm, he walked me up the steps while my mind whirled with what to say.
Once again, I felt entirely unprepared. I wished there was a manual I could buy, something with clear instructions on how to deal with your second one-night stand with the same person, but instead I was floundering on my own.
But before we even reached the top step, the door flew open and Stacy bounded out, looking at me with wide eyes and a pale face.
“Miss MacIntyre!” she said, and her tone instantly had me on edge. What was happening? Why did she look like that? “Why haven’t you been answering your phone?! You always answer your phone!”
I started at that, realizing that I indeed hadn’t looked at the thing at all. Reaching down into my cleavage, I pulled it out to realize it was stone cold dead.
“I didn’t even realize…” But the phone went to the back of my mind as I realized there was a reason that she had been calling me. “What’s going on, is something wrong?”
“It’s Griffin,” she said quickly, bounding right back down the hall and through the open front door of my apartment. Once more, I was quite grateful for having been able to snag a first floor place for myself. “He couldn’t finish his supper and started to complain about stomach pain. I helped get him in bed, but soon he started burning up. I didn’t want to give him any sort of medicine without your permission, but you weren’t answering, so I gave him some of that children’s flu medicine you have in the bathroom.”
I could hear the panic rising up in her voice and it echoed the surge of fear within me. But I was the adult, and I was the one who messed up, so I laid a gentle hand on her shoulder. “You did the right thing, Stacy. Is he still in the bedroom?”
She nodded and I rushed there, leaving both Michael and her at the door. I didn’t care. The only thing on my mind was my son.
I found him just where she said he would be, curled in the fetal position with only his pajama bottoms on. There were multiple damp washcloths around his pillows, where I guessed that Stacy had tried to place on his forehead to help cool him, but he was still slick with sweat.
“Hey there, my baby boy. You awake?” He groaned and I practically flew to his side. It was so hard to keep my tone in check, to not let him hear just how terrified I was. “Can you tell me where it hurts?”
Gently, I twisted his face towards me, and I hated how pale he looked. But his lips weren’t blue, so he was getting oxygen. That was one worry out of about a thousand that I could cross off my list.
“Errwhere,” Griffin managed to gasp, his voice barely a whisper. “A lot in my tummy. I can’t go potty, but I gotta.”
“Oh, I’m so sorry, my boy. Mommy’s gonna take care of you, alright? We’re gonna get you all better, I promise.”
Gently, I set him down and went back to the entryway of our place, the whole world seeming to fade away.
“Stacy, I need you to call an ambulance.”
“What? Why?” I could tell that she wasn’t arguing with me. That she was just shocked and wanted to know. But my voice still came out a bit sharper than perhaps it should have.
“I need you to call an ambulance because I’m pretty sure Griffin’s appendix is inflamed, and considering his fever, it’s either about to or has already ruptured.”
She started at that, her hand going straight to her pocket for what I guessed what her phone, but suddenly Michael was stepping forward.
“It’ll take too long for an ambulance to get here, especially since they’re not likely to consider this a real emergency compared to a car accident or GSW. Let me drive you.”
I didn’t even argue. It didn’t matter that this man was practically a stranger. That I had slept with him twice and was hiding the world’s cruelest secret from him. He was offering to help me help my child and that was all that mattered.
I nodded instantly, turning on my heel and rushing back to Griffin’s room.
“Hey, my big boy, we’re gonna go on a trip, okay? In a really cool car and I’m gonna roll down the window so you can feel all of that nice, fresh night air on you. Doesn’t that sound nice?”
He let out a groan and it just about broke my heart. Sliding my arms under him, I picked him right up and headed back out. I hated that with every step I took he seemed to wince or let out the tiniest of pained noises. It felt like I was the one responsible for all his torment.
And maybe I was. What kind of mother was I, staying out all night and hooking up with his father, who I had abandoned, just to get my rocks off?
Well, I could deal with that later. The most important thing was getting my son to the hospital asap.
I headed out the door, noticing that Michael extended his arms to offer to carry Griffin for me, but I wasn’t having any of it. I was going to hold onto my son until a doctor pried him out of my arms. Michael seemed to accept this quickly and rushed to open his car door for me.
“Lock up and get home safe, Stacy, or stay here as long as you want. I’ll make sure to charge my phone and keep you updated.”
The young woman nodded, her f
ace pale, and headed back inside. For being relatively young, she was certainly handling the situation well. I guess I really had chosen a good babysitter.
I’d have to get her sometime nice later. As a thank you and a sorry all wrapped in one. But first, I had to finagle both Griffin and I into Michael’s car.
It wasn’t the easiest thing, and I knew it wasn’t exactly safe, but I couldn’t dream of putting him in the back while he was in pain, especially since there was no car seat. So instead, I arranged him so that he was cuddled against my front then buckled us in.
“I’ll put the seat back for you,” Michael said before rushing around the front of the car. “Should make the potholes easier to deal with.”
Dammit! Potholes. I had forgotten about those. Well, hopefully they wouldn’t be too bad, because there was nothing I could do about the road themselves.
True to his word, Michael peeled out. Thankfully it was late enough where there was almost no traffic, and soon we were on the highway.
But even though I knew Michael was going fast as he could -and definitely over the limit-it was still torture. Every time the car hit a bump, or a change in the roading, a little groan would issue from Griffin.
I hated it, I hated it so much, and all I could think of was how terrible he must have felt and how there was a ticking clock above his head.
While I had never had any problems with my appendix, my mother had. I’d heard the story many times, starting from when I was just a kid and noticed her long appendectomy scar through her bathing suit.
She’d told me how she almost died as a little girl because her pain was on the wrong side and her white blood cell count was normal. Apparently, her brother, uncle and great-grandfather had all had it to, so I had always expected it. I’d been relieved that it never came, but I would have taken multiple ruptured organs if it spared my son.
Technology had progressed so much from when my mother was a young woman, but that didn’t mean anything if I didn’t get Griffin to the hospital. I knew there were laparoscopic techniques, but I also knew that those couldn’t be used if his organ ruptured. I didn’t want that to happen. The thought of them opening up my little boy… I had to squeeze my eyes shut and banish that thought away. I couldn’t let him know how scared I was. Because that would just terrify him more. Mommies always knew everything and weren’t worried, so I had to be strong.
Or that was at least what I told myself.
But the more time passed, and the more Griffin’s sweat soaked my front, the harder it was to hold on.
But what choice did I have?
I shoved everything down, down, down, narrowing my focus as I murmured Griffin’s lullaby to him.
“Every little nail, asleep in the wall.”
He let out a little noise. Somewhere between a breath and a coo, but too weak to be either. It both bolstered me and made my heart ache even harder.
“Every little lamb, asleep in the stall.”
I thought back to all of our precious memories together. Of his first words, his first cold. Of his first day to daycare, and the first picture he ever colored for me. They all played through my mind, and I didn’t know if that was helping or causing the tears that were beginning to well up in my eyes.
“Every little flower, asleep in the de-ew.”
For all of him being in the top percentile of growth, he still felt so little against me. All skinny limbs and tiny little bones. Was I feeding him enough? Would I get a chance to feed him enough?
“Oh my darling, Griffin, I love you.
Oh my darling, Griffin, I love you.”
“We’re here.”
Michael turned the corner and sure enough, the hospital loomed to our right. As fast as he could without being reckless, he whipped up to the entrance of the ER. My hand went to the door handle, and I practically vaulted out of the car with Griffin still in my arms.
I rushed up to the front desk and the woman sitting there didn’t even ask me how she could help me. She stood, calling over the name of someone who I guessed was an orderly, then came around the desk with a clipboard.
“What’s going on?”
“I think my son has appendicitis. He’s running a fever, he’s constipated and in a lot of pain.”
“Is there a history of this in your family?”
I nodded. “I long history.”
“Alright, well why don’t you and me fill out these forms as we walk while Vincent here will take your son to one of our exam rooms.”
I nodded, trying to contain myself. Following along, I walked after them, answering the woman’s questions. I was faintly aware that Michael would probably be coming in soon, but that could be dealt with later.
I had gotten my son to the hospital, but that was only step one.
There were still a lot of steps to go before my baby was alright.
13
Michael
I walked around the back of my car, popping the trunk and pulling both the giant teddy bear and the new handheld gaming system I had my personal assistant pick up. I hadn’t checked the games he’d bought yet, but I’d told him to try to get at least a few educational one and make sure they were all age appropriate.
Once both of those were securely under one of my arms, I grabbed the bouquet of flowers I had left in the front then locked up my car.
I was never a fan of hospitals, and I looked around the garage for a moment, trying to figure out which way to go. The signage was… subpar at best, but after a few moments, I managed to make it towards the elevator that would eventually lead me to the lobby.
It had been a whirlwind the previous night, and while I hadn’t wanted to leave, Belle had texted me about an hour in thanking me for my time and saying they were taking him into surgery. It was appendicitis, just as she’d feared, and it had beginning to look like they hadn’t caught it in time.
Of course, I’d offered to stay with her, but she declined, saying that she wasn’t fit for human company, but she would text him. I wanted to argue a bit, no parent should be alone while their little guy was going through an important surgery, but I realized that I was stranger. I was basically one step above a sex toy. I didn’t get to tell her what she did or didn’t get to do with her life.
And although that thought had soured my mood, I told myself not to make it about myself. I wasn’t the one going through the tense situation. I was just a bystander.
I headed home, wishing I could do more. I was just puttering around my kitchen, knowing that I should go to bed but being entirely unable to, when a couple of hours later she did indeed text me.
He was out of surgery. It had ruptured, but luckily, it’d been a very, very small fissure that had leaked its poison into him much more slowly than usual. It was rare for someone so young to have such an enflamed organ, but apparently there were drawbacks to being in the top of his growth percentile.
But he wasn’t going to be released anytime soon. Apparently, he was on a nose-tube and they were going to keep him at least for the weekend, but most likely an entire week as they made sure he wasn’t an infection risk.
So of course, I’d asked where her room was and if I could swing by. She had told me that I didn’t need to, that it was fine, but there was no way I was going to let her sit there, alone.
Besides, it had to suck for the little guy too. Once he was done with the laying there and sleeping his trauma off, he was bound to get bored. Because hospitals were boring. Especially for children.
And that was pretty much how I found myself striding towards the front desk, asking the receptionist there how to get to the room number Belle had given me. The woman looked at the flowers in one hand, and the teddy bear and new game system in the other and smiled knowingly.
“I wish all of our patients got visitors like you,” she said before giving me thorough directions to a set of blue elevators, up several floors, and then a couple of turns.
I didn’t know what to say to that, so I just thanked her and headed towards Bel
le.
I was aware that maybe I was crossing a line, that I was being far too invested in a one-night stand that had bolted from me for five years, and her son that she said definitively wasn’t mine. But I couldn’t just let her, and her son just sit there in the hospital alone. It wasn’t right.
Sure, maybe I could show up and she would take the things I brought then ask me to leave, but if that happened, that happened. I was still going to help while I could. Whatever she needed.
Finally, I arrived at her door and gave a knock. A moment later, it cracked open, and I saw Belle’s exhausted, oily face. She still had bits of makeup from the benefit and her hair was an utter mess, but I was still struck by how unearthly beautiful she was.
“Hey,” I said, trying to smile charmingly. “How are you holding up?”
She blinked slowly and I wondered if she had slept at all. “Your hands are full,” she murmured.
“Uh, yeah.” I held the flowers out to her. “I thought you might like a pop of color. Hospitals can be pretty drab?”
It was nice to watch the color rush up her face, coloring her cheeks through the patches in her foundation. “You didn’t have to.”
“It wasn’t any trouble. Do you have a vase?”
“I… I think there’s a pitcher in here.” She opened the door further and stepped to the side, allowing me in. I walked in and it took quite a lot of willpower not to wrinkle my nose at it.
The room as so small, with only a single window that was facing a brick wall. There was a tv, sure, but it was tiny, and I couldn’t spot a remote anywhere. That wouldn’t do. But it wasn’t the time to mention it, so instead I turned towards the bed.
I was fully ready for him to be passed out, but I saw that his eyes were half open, a dream-like fuzz to them like he was still trying to work off that anesthesia. I wasn’t sure if he was awake enough to understand me, but I figured I should give it a try.
“Hey buddy, how are you feeling?”
Baby Daddy (Forever Daddies Book 1) Page 11