by A. Aubry
“Jay…don’t let them take me away.” Tears welled up in my eyes before quickly spilling over onto my cheeks.
He practically flew across the room to kneel back in front of me and snaked his arms tight around my waist, “I will be right by your side the whole way. I’m not letting you out of my sight for the rest of our lives.”
“I—I don’t want to lie on the stretcher,” I argued.
“And why is that, baby?” Jameson let one arm unravel from me before bringing it to my cheek and wiping away my tears.
“Because I want to be in your arms, I want to feel safe,” I admitted as my face gently turned into his touch.
Jameson looked up at the paramedics. The man shrugged while the female looked unconvinced, “Will you two just let me carry her out to the ambulance? I promise that she will lie on the stretcher once we are in there. She has been through a lot.”
That was my husband, already making promises for me that he figured I probably wouldn’t keep. I’d fight every step of the way out of his arms. After going several days held captive away from my husband, I think that was allowed. Finally, the female paramedic nodded, and Jameson lifted me into his arms with ease. The trip down to the ambulance was much faster than I would’ve hoped, and Jameson set me down on the stretcher once we were inside. When I tried to fight it, he shut me up with a kiss. I guess I could see things his way if that was what I got.
Jameson sat back on a bench and watched the female paramedic hook me up to an IV as the male drove us to the hospital, siren wailing. I asked why I was having an IV put in and the paramedic said that I was dehydrated and that I needed fluids immediately. On top of being dehydrated, I was hungry as fuck. When would be the right time to ask someone to get me some food? I didn’t have time to ask my question as we came to a quick halt and the back doors flew open. Just as he promised, Jameson was by my side even as I was being carted into the emergency room and into a room of my very own.
I lost count of how many nurses were flying in and out of my room. Some of them were cleaning the wounds on my arms and bandaging them up, some of them were addressing my swollen eye that I could already feel deflating, and there were a few assessing the back of my head from where I had hit the ground. I could see the worry in Jameson’s eyes as he took in every injury that I had incurred over the last few days. Most of them were nothing that would scar, but there was no real way for me to reassure him of that because he was already so far gone in his head. One by one the nurses slowly trickled out as my wounds were tended to until we were done to one that was making constant visits to check up on us. That was when the doctor strode in and it was great to see a familiar face. Dr. Luke Hayes worked closely with the surgical department because he worked in the emergency room. Crazy to think that he was the one on shift today.
“Briella how are you feeling?” He asked with his wide white-toothed smile as he held out his hand to me.
I took his hand and gave it a light squeeze, he was my mentor when it came to me considering applying for a medical assistant or even a registered nursing program so that I could move up in the surgical world. Then again, that was all pre-Jameson and I was happy just where I was now.
“I’m sore, but that’s to be expected. I’ll just be happy when I can open both my eyes so that I can look at my husband in all his glory rather than with just one eye.”
He chuckled, and I could see Jameson shake his head at me with a smirk, “Sounds like your personality is still intact after such a traumatic few days. There are a few tests that I’d like to run before I can even consider releasing you to your husband. You got a pretty nice bump on your head and I just want to take a CT scan of that to make sure that everything is looking good that way. The nurses also said that there was bruising on your ribs when they changed you into your gown, were you kicked there?”
I pursed my lips before slowly nodding, “Yeah, just recently Melody kicked me when I was lying on the ground. It wasn’t hard enough to do any real damage like break them, but I’m not sure about possible hairline fractures and whatnot.”
“Okay, we can get you in for an X-ray while we are at it too. That way we can cover all of our bases. First things first, is there any chance that you could be pregnant? You know the usual round of questions that we are required to ask before any radiation testing.”
“Actually, there might be a possibility? Jameson and I have been trying for a little over a week. It has been far too early to take any tests or anything and my period isn’t exactly due this week so I’m not sure.”
Luke smiled at me before turning and smiling at Jameson, “A family is a great blessing. I don’t know what I would do without my boys.”
Jameson nodded, “My thoughts exactly.”
Luke walked over to the computer in the corner of the room and made a note in my chart. When he was finished, he clapped his hands together and walked over to the door.
“I will let them know that they can take you down for those tests right away. I did make a note about possible pregnancy on your chart, so we will accommodate that into your tests. I have also heard that you have been having a little separation anxiety from your husband, which after what you’ve been through is completely normal. He is allowed to come along to your tests, but as you know he has to stand outside the room for the x-ray, but he can sit in with the tech during your CT scan.”
I grinned as I held out my hand to Jameson, “Thank you, Luke. That will make things less stressful.”
He gave a quick nod and left the room. Jameson sat down on the edge of my bed and took my hand in both of his. I couldn’t help but smile when he brought my hand to his lips. He looked exhausted, as though he hadn’t slept in days. Even his clothes looked disheveled which was very unlike him.
“I’m so happy that you’re back with me,” Jameson admitted, breaking me from my thoughts.
“I’m happy to be back with you, Jay. For a little while there, I thought I would never get to see you again.”
He sighed, “I did everything that I could think of to find you. Your cellphone was off, so they couldn’t trace it, I used all of my connections. I even went on the news begging for information.”
I put my hand with the IV in it on top of our hands, “I know you did, I saw. You don’t know how much that meant to me. How you said that you loved me and were coming to get me really pushed me to not give up.”
“What did they want? Why would they take you and hurt you this way?”
“Melody wanted you and Gavin wanted me back. Melody went crazy and started cutting up my arms to try to get me to say that I wouldn’t go back to you. Gavin lost it when I said that I didn’t love him anymore and that I promised my life to someone else, that’s when he began punching me. It was all to break us apart. Melody thinks that you would be better off with her.”
“She’s wrong, Bri. Nobody is better for me than you.”
“Prove it,” I quietly challenged.
Jameson smiled and leaned in, pressing his lips against mine gently at first before letting the passion take hold. It was almost as though we were trying to devour one another, like we were obviously making up for lost time. When his tongue softly ran across my bottom lip, I instantly let him in. It still blew my mind that Jameson was the kind of guy to silently ask for permission rather than just take what he wanted. Don’t get me wrong, there were days when Jameson would just take it but today wasn’t one of those days.
The door to my room opened and Jameson reluctantly pulled away. A nurse came into the room, stopping in her tracks as soon as she realized that she had interrupted a moment between the two of us. Jameson ran a hand through my hair, tucking it behind my ear as a mischievous smile tugged at his lips.
“I’m here to take you to your tests. Is that okay?” The nurse asked politely.
“Yeah, let’s go,” I smiled as Jameson stood up from my bed.
After the tests were all run, the police came to ask me a few questions. Jameson was by my side for every second of t
hat interview, even as I recounted every blow from Gavin and every slice from Melody. They had told me that they were both taken to the police station and faced several charges. Hopefully I would never have to see their faces again.
The wait felt like forever to find out if I could go home with Jameson. The hospital bed wasn’t as comfortable as the bed that Jameson and I shared at our penthouse, and after being forced to sit in a chair for three days, your ass starts to get sore from uncomfortable surfaces. Jameson hunted down Luke to ask if he could at least give me something to eat. I hadn’t exactly asked anybody if I could eat, but my stomach started growling so loud that Jameson took it upon himself. That was how I ended up eating chips, pretzels, and other snacks from the vending machines in the waiting room until I could actually get out of here and have a full meal.
After polishing off my second bag of potato chips, Luke finally came back into the room. He went over to the computer and brought up the results of my CT scan and my x-ray. Jameson threw away the garbage that was from my makeshift meal and came to stand next to my bed. His hand quickly grasped mine and I knew he was ready to hear whatever news would come.
“Okay, well your CT scan shows that there isn’t anything we should be worried about from that bump on the head. It’ll just be sore for a few days, but if anything changes or Jameson, if you see any changes in her habits or personality, call me right away. Your x-ray is clear, Melody didn’t use enough force to even crack a rib.”
He clicked around on the computer and I wondered if this meant that I was free to leave, “So, Luke, does that mean I can go home? If we keep you posted on any significant changes in my health or personality?”
He nodded but brought up another chart, “Yes, with those in the clear, we are allowed to discharge you. But, there was something in your bloodwork that I wanted to talk to you about.”
“Please don’t tell me that they were secretly drugging me. I don’t think I could take that right now,” I furrowed my brows and gave Jameson’s hand a squeeze.
“No, it’s nothing like that. Actually, I wanted to be the first to let you know that you two are expecting a baby. It’s very early, but the pregnancy hormones were detected. Congratulations.”
My head shot up and I looked at Jameson. He was completely still as he kept his eyes fixed on Luke. Was he happy? Was he sad? What the fuck was going through this guy’s mind?
“Jay, baby, did you hear that?” I whispered encouragingly.
He slowly moved his gaze from the doctor down to me, “What?”
I quietly laughed, “We are going to have a baby.”
“That was real?”
“The proof is right here if you’d like to take a look,” Luke chuckled, pointing his finger at the computer screen.
Jameson released my hand and walked over to where Luke stood. Luke was pointing to different things on the computer explaining them to Jameson. It all took a moment for it to click but the moment that it did, Jameson quickly turned around to face me with a large smile on his face.
“We’re going to have a baby!” Jameson exclaimed as he rushed over to me and took me into his arms.
I giggled as he planted kisses all over my face. Luke said he would fill out the paperwork to have me discharged and send in a nurse to take out my IV before excusing himself. Jameson moved his kisses from my face to my lips and it was like I could almost feel his happiness radiating through his kiss. Then again, I was just as happy.
“A baby, Bri. We’re going to have a baby,” Jameson whispered.
“Ready or not, our family is already growing,” I replied.
“I love you, baby.”
“I love you too, Jameson. Now, let’s get the nurse in here to take this IV out. I’m ready to go home.”
Jameson laughed, “Of course, anything for you.”
Chapter Twenty-Two
It had been almost two months since Gavin and Melody had kidnapped me and held me captive. The last several weeks had been a whirlwind of avoiding the press so that I could recuperate in peace. Luckily, I had enough leave from work so that I could take another two weeks off before going back. Even then, I was getting picked up by Christopher in the garage of the penthouse so that we could avoid the vast number of reporters that were on the sidewalk outside.
Most people at work were telling me that maybe I should just resign, that I could help out with Jameson at his club. But this was my dream, I wanted to help people in any way that I could. Besides, I needed something to keep me sane and on a normal schedule. Jameson had me going to a therapist for a few weeks after everything that happened, but I started putting up a fight about going. If I wanted to talk about anything, I knew that I could talk to Jameson. He was like my in-home psychologist.
Since I had been back to work full-time, it was difficult to schedule an appointment with an OB/GYN. That was sort of why it took this long for me to even see my doctor to check on mine and Jameson’s baby. So, during my lunch hour, Ashley accompanied me to my appointment. Jameson was beyond upset that he wasn’t going to be able to make it. Something had come up at the New York location of the guys’ club and all three of them were going there for an overnight trip to figure things out. That emergency needed to be fixed on the exact date of my appointment. But Jameson had his plane ready and waiting for the second that he could leave and be back home. Which was late this afternoon and that meant that he was already at home waiting for me.
Christopher pulled me up to the elevator in the garage. I gave him a large smile and a thank you before letting myself out and into the elevator. One quick ride later and I was at our front door. With my sonogram photos in hand for Jameson to see, I walked through to the door and dropped my bag and lunchbox right there in the hallway to run into Jameson’s ready and waiting arms. He spun me around and I squealed, holding my arms tight around his neck. We had only been apart for one night, but it was the first night since I was saved from captivity that we were apart. I was amazed that I even survived it because a good chunk of my night was spent crying into Jameson’s pillow rather than sleeping.
“I’ve missed you so much,” I cooed before kissing his lips hard.
Jameson’s arms were wrapped tight around my waist, “I’ve missed you too, Bri. I barely slept because you weren’t there beside me.”
“I have a confession to make, your pillow may or may not be damp still from me crying into it most of the night.”
“You know you could have called me. I don’t like it when you cry.”
“I know, its just hard for me to be apart from you after the whole kidnapping thing. But, security was tight last night, and I was safe. Now, is everything okay in New York?”
Jameson rolled his eyes, “For now, yes. I swear, the manager out at that location has no idea what they are doing. I even considered having Kelly go out there to train them for a week.”
I giggled at the face that he made as he talked about the New York manager, “Well, as long as it is taken care of right now, that’s all that matters. Seeing as I am not getting any less pregnant, I need my husband with me.”
“I’ll try to talk Zander and Peter out of forcing me into these things. Speaking of being pregnant, how was the first appointment? I am really bummed that I couldn’t be there,” Jameson looked down between us at my belly.
I was showing more than I thought that I would at this stage in my pregnancy. That was from my point of view though. The only change that Jameson really noticed was that my breasts got a bit bigger in the last month.
“It was great! The heartbeat, Jay, I immediately teared up at the sound. And I brought you pictures.”
Jameson grinned and set me down, “I wanna see our baby.”
We walked over to the couch and took a seat. I made sure that the pictures were in the order that I wanted them and straightened them out. I handed Jameson the first one. It was an overall shot, one that didn’t have any labels on it. The smile on his face when he looked back at me made my heart flutter. I handed him the
second one that had the letters A, B, and C by each little figure. That’s right, Jameson and I were expecting triplets.
“Why are there letters on this one?” Jameson lifted his head and his forehead was creased in the adorable way that it did when he was confused.
“Um, because we are going to have to get an actual house. The penthouse isn’t going to be big enough,” I tried to hint.
“For what? A baby? We could turn the guest room into the nursery,” he offered.
Wow, he really was clueless when it came to looking at sonograms.
“For three.” I tried again.
“What?” Again, with the adorable forehead crease.
“It’s triplets, Jay. We are having three babies.”
“You’re kidding.” His mouth easily fell open.
I chuckled and leaned closer to him, putting my finger against the sonogram that had the letters, “A, B, and C, those are indicators of how many babies there are. We are having triplets.”
Jameson dropped the picture and immediately put his hand on my belly, bending down to bring his mouth close, “There are three of you in there?!”
“Yes, there are. All three heartbeats are strong, all three babies are looking good. Like I said before, ready or not.”
“Holy fuck,” Jameson gasped, resting his forehead against my stomach.
“We are really going to have to practice curbing our swearing before the kids get here,” I teased.
“What else am I supposed to say?” Jameson laughed, “I was expecting getting my wife pregnant with one kid at a time, not three on the first attempt.”
“But you’ll still love each of them, right?” Wow, Bri. Did pregnancy brain make you that naïve?