Because You're Mine

by Colleen Coble

  The car door stood open. He eased her inside, then shut the door and went around to the driver’s side. His aftershave was strong in the confined space, but it was a scent Alanna was coming to like.

  “How do you feel?” he asked.

  “Calmer. The bite hurts, but I’m not lightheaded or nauseated.” She cupped her stomach. “Just worried about the baby.”

  The car surged down the driveway. Alanna glanced in the outside mirror and saw Grady exiting the house with the snake dangling over a hoe. She averted her gaze and adjusted the vent so a wash of cool air hit her face. Her brain seemed wrapped in cotton. She struggled to think, to feel. Was she experiencing the effects of the venom already, in spite of Barry’s assurances?

  She tried to pray for the baby’s safety, but she hadn’t been on speaking terms with God since he’d taken Liam from her. Her heart was cold as a stone, and her prayers didn’t rise above the roof of the car.

  Moments later, or so it seemed in her numbed state, they reached the hospital’s emergency entrance. For the second time in twenty-four hours, Barry ran through the doors and came out with a wheelchair. He helped her into it, then wheeled her inside where the sharp odor of antiseptic struck her. The pungent odor roused her from her stupor.

  This was serious. Her baby might die.

  She couldn’t bear it if she lost the last bit of Liam she still possessed. She tried to pray again, but she knew God wasn’t listening. Not with the anger she still harbored toward him. She barely listened as Barry related to the staff what had happened.

  A nurse wheeled her back to an exam room. “I’m going to leave you in the chair to keep your ankle below your heart,” she said. “The doctor will be right in.” She put in an IV drip and adjusted it.

  “I’m pregnant,” Alanna said. “Is this going to hurt my baby?”

  The nurse paused for a moment in the doorway. “I’m sure you’ll both be fine.” Her eyes flickered away, and she closed the door behind her.

  Alanna grabbed Barry’s hand. Her teeth began to chatter again. “I’m so scared. I can’t lose my baby.”

  He knelt beside her and put her hand to his cheek. “It’s going to be all right. We’ll have more babies if something happens.”

  She jerked her hand away. “I want this baby,” she shouted in his face. “It’s all I have left of Liam.” She had no energy to spare to soothe the hurt in his face. Such an insensitive comment. Did he have no compassion, no idea what this baby meant to her?

  The doctor came in with the nurse trailing him. He wore jeans and hiking boots under his white coat, and he was young. About Alanna’s age of thirty-two. “I’m Dr. Miller.”

  Alanna grasped his arm. “You’ve got to save my baby!”

  He unhooked his stethoscope from around his neck. “I’ll do my best.” He motioned to the nurse, who wheeled up a fetal monitor. “We’ll see how the baby is doing. Are you having any cramps?”

  “No, nothing.” Alanna leaned back in the chair and let the nurse attach the leads to her stomach. The reassuring thump of a rapid heartbeat filled the small room.

  The doctor smiled. “That’s a good sound.” He bent over and listened to Alanna’s chest. “No distress for you yet. I’m not sure what to do, quite honestly. Sometimes a coral snake bite is a dry bite with no venom—about twenty-five percent of the time. In that case, the antivenom can do more harm than good.” He knelt, unwrapped the compression bandage, and examined her foot. “I don’t see a puncture wound.” He grabbed a light and a magnifying lens. “Ah, there it is. I see no signs yet of envenomation, but we can’t really tell until you show neurological signs.”

  “What signs?” she asked.

  “Paralysis, respiratory failure.” He straightened. “We can’t wait for that. Have you ever been told you’re allergic to horse serums?”

  “No.”

  “Good, then I’ll administer the antivenom.”

  “What will it do to the baby?”

  “There haven’t been many studies on it, but the ones that have been done seem to indicate a higher rate of miscarriage. That may be a moot point because nearly thirty percent of all women bitten by a poisonous snake miscarry. The antivenom is your best chance at protecting you and the baby.”

  Alanna couldn’t hold back the tears. Barry took her hand, and she squeezed it tightly. “What if it’s a dry bite and the antivenom is harmful to the baby?”

  “We have no way of knowing,” the doctor said. “But I think we need to administer the antivenom.”

  Wait. The voice was a whisper in her heart. Was it God’s direction? She’d been going through such a long, dry spell she wasn’t sure. The assurance came again. Wait.

  Is that you, God? Tears pricked the backs of her lids, and she waited, barely breathing.

  Wait. The nudge came again, and she wanted to cry with relief. God hadn’t forsaken her. He saw her pain, her need.

  She lifted her head and looked at the doctor. “I’m not going to take it.”

  Barry’s grip tightened on her hand. “Alanna! You have to take it.”

  “No, I don’t. There’s a chance I won’t need it.”

  “But if you do and we wait until you show signs of envenomation, we might lose you both,” the doctor said. “Once the neurological symptoms appear, they’re very hard to reverse.”

  “I’m going to take the chance.”

  “No, she’s not,” Barry said. “Administer the shots.”

  The doctor glanced from Barry to Alanna. “I’m afraid she’s the one who will have to give permission. You can’t decide that for her, Mr. Kavanagh.”

  Barry took a step closer to the doctor and clenched his fists. “Do you know who I am? I donated the money for your pediatric wing.”

  “I realize that. But laws are laws. Only your wife can choose her care.”

  Barry’s fists opened. He turned and knelt beside her. His eyes were moist. “Please, Alanna, you can’t risk your life this way.”

  She took his hand. “I’m going to be all right. I sense it.”

  “Please, sugar, take the treatment.” His voice broke. “I can’t lose you.”

  She cupped his cheek in her palm. Her assurance deepened. “It’s going to be fine. You’ll see.”

  “I’m going to admit you to the hospital,” Dr. Miller said. “We’ll need to observe you for forty-eight hours.”

  “Righto.” At least she’d be away from that house for a few days. Patricia couldn’t get to her here.

  “I want only the best for my wife,” Barry said. “Give her a private room, the biggest you have.”

  Dr. Miller moved toward the door. “Of course, Mr. Kavanagh. I’ll arrange it now.” He directed his gaze at Alanna. “Call the nurse if you start feeling at all strange.”

  Calm descended on Alanna. Someone in that house had tried to harm her twice. This time was much more serious. Did Patricia know venom could cause miscarriage? Was she only trying to harm the baby, or was killing Alanna her real goal?

  By the time the nurse got her settled in her room, it was close to ten. “You go on home,” she told Barry. “Get some rest. I’ll call you if anything happens.”

  His grip on her hand tightened. “I’m not leaving you. The effects could start any time. Please, take the antivenom.”

  “I am sure it was a dry bite, Barry. It was such a little sting. I feel fine. I’m just needing sleep.” She squeezed his hand. “Thanks for taking such good care of me.”

  “That’s all I want to do—take care of you.”

  She stared into his face in the dim light. “How do you think that snake got in my bed?” His mother had to have done it, but she wanted him to come to the conclusion by himself. An accusation from her could drive them apart.

  He frowned. “I guess it dropped off the tree outside and crawled in through the open door. You leave that French door open sometimes.”

  She hadn’t considered that. “Do coral snakes live in trees?” she asked.

  “I’m not sure of
their habitat. What are you getting at?”

  “This is the second time in two days I’ve been hurt. First someone shoved me down the hill.”

  “You never said someone shoved you!”

  “I didn’t want to worry you. Grady didn’t think the snake could get up into the bed by itself. He thinks someone put it there.”

  “Jesse was at the house both times.”

  She hadn’t thought about that. “When would he have had time? He was with someone every minute.”

  “You followed him around? There was never a moment when he was alone? He could have brought in the snake in some kind of container and slipped it into your room very quickly. He went upstairs to the bathroom before the group left.”

  She remembered now. He’d been gone to the loo about five minutes. Plenty long enough to slip that snake under her sheets. But what was his goal? She didn’t know what to believe about the man.

  “I don’t want him at the estate again,” Barry said.

  “He’s part of my band. We need a drummer, and he’s good. There’s no time to replace him.” “I don’t trust him.”

  Neither did Alanna, but she knew Liam would want her to give his best friend the benefit of the doubt. And she needed to know the truth.

  “I’m tired,” she told Barry. “You go on home, and I’ll be seeing you in the morning.”

  He brushed his lips across hers. “I love you, Alanna. I couldn’t bear for anything to happen to you. I’ll sleep right there on the couch.”

  She wished she could repeat his words of love, but it was going to take time, so she smiled and kissed him back without saying anything. “Okay. Could you run home for a few things? It will be several hours before anything might happen.”

  He nodded and she wrote out a list. When he closed the door behind him, she sat up and reached for her cell phone. Detective Adams might be able to shed some light on this event.

  Twenty-Two

  It’s not unheard of for a coral snake to climb a live oak tree,” Detective Adams said, chewing on a toothpick. Dark bags cupped his eyes. “And you say the French doors were open?”

  Alanna nodded. The detective’s assurances went a long way toward easing her fears. Believing the snake’s appearance in her bed had been a fluke would make it easier to go back to that house of shadows.

  “You see this?” Adams dropped the newspaper in his hand onto her bed. “You and your new hubby are on the front page of the arts section.”

  She opened the folded paper, dated the day before, and saw her face smiling back at her. She and Barry looked incredibly happy. Another picture was of her mates smiling at the camera—with the exception of Ciara, who scowled at Barry. The article told of her tragedy and her quick engagement to Barry, high prince of Charleston society.

  Another picture showed her on stage with Liam pounding away at the drums. She couldn’t look away. Her chest squeezed at the way he was looking at her in the picture. His lips curved in a tender smile, and she well remembered the light in his eyes whenever he saw her. They’d had something so special. Even now, she couldn’t believe he was gone.

  “Mrs. Kavanagh? You okay?”

  She tore her gaze from Liam’s image. “Righto. Just reading.”

  He rose. “You can keep the paper. You talk to Hawthorne?”

  She nodded. “You were right. He seems obsessed with Liam. And me.”

  The detective frowned. “He threaten you?”

  “Oh no, nothing like that. He told me that he’s been dreaming of me though.” She wrinkled her nose. “It was a little wonky. He actually said he wondered if Liam has possessed him.”

  The detective grimaced. “You think he shoved you down the hill?”

  Alanna didn’t dare tell him her real suspicions—that her new mother-in-law might have had something to do with it. “I’m not getting that feeling.” She glanced at her watch. “Barry will be back soon.”

  “I’ll get out of here then. Thanks for bringing me up to speed.” He went to the door, and it whooshed shut behind him.

  Alanna turned up the light above her bed so she could look at Liam’s picture again. The baby fluttered in her tummy, and the sensation brought a smile to her lips. She ran her fingers over the picture. “We’re going to be having a baby, Liam. I wish you were here.”

  The door opened again, and she hurriedly put the paper under the sheet. She couldn’t explain, even to herself, why she didn’t want Barry to see it. But it wasn’t her husband’s face that peered around the edge of the door.

  Her gaze met Jesse’s. “What are you doing here?” Why had he come? Couldn’t he sense his presence made her uncomfortable?

  He stepped into the room. “Barry called Ciara. I asked to come along with her. She stopped off at the bathroom. How do you feel?”

  “I’m going to be fine. My toe aches a little, but it’s not numb or anything. I don’t think the snake put any poison in.” She was clinging to that hope for her baby’s sake.

  He stepped closer to the bed, then thrust his hands into his pockets. “You mind if I pray for you?”

  Pray? That’s what Liam would have done. “I don’t mind.”

  She bowed her head, and Jesse launched into a prayer for her safety. With her eyes closed, she could imagine it was Liam praying for the safety of her and their baby. But when she peeked up at him, it was just Jesse, of course.

  Jesse ended the prayer and stepped closer to the bed. “I looked up coral snakes. They usually burrow underground. How did that one get in your room?”

  “They sometimes climb trees. It probably dropped onto my balcony and came in my open French doors,” she said, parroting what others had told her.

  He shook his head. “Think, Lanna. This is the second time you’ve been hurt. It’s not safe for you to go back to that house. Go stay with your mates at the hotel. Something will happen to you if you go back there.”

  He’d called her by Liam’s pet name again. “At the hotel? Didn’t Barry get by to drop off a key to his flat?”

  Ciara came through the doorway. Dressed in hot pink, she was a bright spot in the drab room.

  “No, he did not. Was he supposed to be doing that?”

  “He said he would.”

  “We need something to happen. We’re all about out of money.” Ciara sat on the edge of her bed. “You look pretty spry for someone who was just bitten by a coral snake.”

  “I think it was a dry bite.”

  Ciara approached the bed. “So Barry said. He also said there’s an even better chance it wasn’t a dry bite. That you really should be having the antivenom.”

  “So that’s why he called you . . . to try to change my mind?”

  “Someone is needing to. Do you realize how deadly that venom is once it starts depressing your breathing? It’s a neurotoxin. Just take the bloody shots! We need you around.”

  Alanna folded her arms over her chest. “There’s an even higher incidence of miscarriage with the antivenom. I’ll not be risking it.”

  Ciara rolled her eyes. “I’m not knowing what to do with you.”

  “Keep the band practicing. I’ll be stuck up here for forty-eight hours. It’s time I can’t really be affording.”

  “Where should we practice?”

  “In the ballroom. All the instruments are still up there. I’ll tell Barry you’ll be coming.” Alanna wanted Ciara to take Jesse and go. She couldn’t take much more of the way he stared at her. It was as if he needed her to remember something for him. Working with him in the coming months would be harder than she thought if she didn’t get past this wonky idea that she was seeing Liam in him.

  Ciara seemed to grasp the plea in Alanna’s gaze. She grabbed Jesse’s hand. “We’ll be getting out of here so you can rest. Talk to you tomorrow. Call if you get sick.”

  “I will.” When the door shut behind them, she snuggled down in the pillow and closed her eyes. She never heard Barry come back and only woke once in the night when the nurse checked on her. Barry snored
on the sofa.

  When sunlight streamed through the windows, she stretched and wiggled her foot. It still felt perfectly fine. About twelve hours had passed since the bite. If she was going to get sick, she would have done it by now.

  Maybe she could push the doctor to let her go home. Sitting up, she pushed her heavy red curls out of her face. Her hair was probably a frizzy mess. If they’d take out the IV and all these monitors, she could have a shower.

  The doctor pushed through the door. “How are we this morning?”

  She put on a bright smile. “Fine. Can I go home? It’s been twelve hours.”

  He frowned. “Not just yet. Let’s give it a few more hours. Symptoms usually develop within ten to fourteen hours though, so my gut says you probably did get a dry bite.”

  Barry jerked, then opened his eyes. “Alanna?” He sat up, rubbing his eyes.

  She sent a smile his way. “No worries, Barry. I’m feeling pretty good. I’m trying to talk the doctor into letting me go home.”

  He swung his feet off the sofa. “She’s going to be okay?”

  The doctor looked up from her file. “Looks like it to me. It’s rare for symptoms to start after this much time. If you’re still feeling good after breakfast, maybe we’ll let you go home. No excessive salivation, nausea, sweating?”

  “Nothing like that. I actually feel very chipper.”

  Dr. Miller lifted the sheet at the end of the bed and examined her foot. “Any tingling or numbness in that toe?”

  “No.”

  A smile spread across his face. “Excellent.” He tweaked her big toe. “What would you like for breakfast?”

  She was suddenly starving. “I wouldn’t turn down a good fry,” she said. At his blank stare, she went on, “That’s rashers and eggs. Em, bacon and eggs. Or bangers—sausage. Mushrooms and tomatoes.”

  “I think we can arrange that. I’ll check back midmorning.”

  When the doctor left, Barry approached the bed and pressed his warm lips to hers. He pushed the hair away from her face with a tender hand. “I’m so relieved you’re feeling all right. I was so worried.”