Her heart started to thump. “What?”
“Nothing quite so bad, at least I don’t think so.”
“What’s that?”
“I spoke with your father.”
She closed her eyes. “I don’t think anything good has ever come after that statement unless the man is about to propose, and we’re already married.”
That made him laugh. “Nothing like that. I just mentioned the idea of our families doing Christmas together.”
Esther stopped and looked up at him. “You did what?”
Gentle pressure from Darius started her moving again. “We talked briefly about it a while ago. I think it would do my family some good to get out of Eyjania, and your father could be a good influence on my brother. We can make it immediate families only and get him away from my uncle for a little while.”
“Okay.” She blinked a few times to clear her mind. “Where do we put two giant...” She looked around then whispered. “...royal families around here?”
“I already talked to Jonathan about it. There’s an estate on the lake that has a single man living on it. He’s occasionally rented it out for things like this. It has more than enough room for both of our families, though some of my siblings will have to double up. All of the married couples, my brother, and my mother, will have their own suites. That’s six. Four more for my siblings. Two for yours since there’s one of each gender. Your nephew is young enough he’ll stay with his parents, I’m sure. Then there are three little girls in your family. One of the larger suites has three rooms connected. They could stay in one of them with parents on either side, unless the parents want the girls with them.”
“You’ve thought of everything, haven’t you?”
“It probably won’t be on Christmas,” he admitted. “My family, your parents, and at least your oldest sister will need to be home Christmas Day, but we can do Christmas Day on Christmas Eve here.”
“Is everyone buying everyone else presents?” She wrinkled her noise. “That could take forever.”
“No. No presents for anyone over ten. That leaves just your nieces, and it’s more likely to be a couple of gifts from my family to the children in yours. Or maybe we just don’t do presents since they won’t be here Christmas Day anyway.”
“Then okay.” And maybe they’d tell all of them her good news at the same time.
After a couple more dances, they bid farewell to Jonathan and Kenzie. Esther was more than ready. She’d told them her sniffles were just a cold, but the medication she’d taken to cover her symptoms was wearing off if it had fully worked in the first place since she was pregnant. The headache had been the worst of it.
Darius left enough cash on the table to cover their part of the check, which hadn’t yet come. They’d been told it was taken care of as they sat down, but he probably didn’t want to assume. If it was, the waitress, who had been exceptional, would get an extra big tip.
Darius helped her with her long coat. The weather had turned much colder during the day. Thank God for heated seats.
As they drove home, the roads became wet. Drizzle covered the windshield, but didn’t seem to come off the way it should.
“It’s frizzle.” Darius’s voice sounded grim.
“What?”
“Frozen drizzle. Not really sleet or freezing rain, but freezing drizzle.”
“Do you need to pull off and let security drive us home?”
He shook his head. “We get this at home, but worse. It’s not that bad. The roads are wet but not frozen.”
She could hear the silent yet.
The closer they got to home, the more relieved she was.
A creek formed the boundary of their neighborhood. Darius slowed and turned onto the bridge crossing it.
Before he could turn all the way, he slammed on the brakes.
Esther saw the deer then felt the car fishtail as everything went into slow motion.
The deer ran.
The car skidded.
The railing grew closer.
The SUV slammed through it.
The split-second feeling of weightlessness.
The ground and rushing water filling the windshield.
The sickening crunch.
Her body whipping forward and back at the sudden stop.
Both hands covering her abdomen as she prayed, Not again.
17
It took a minute for Darius to clear his head. “Star?”
He reached to the right, but didn’t take his seatbelt off. Not when the car wasn’t flat. The seatbelt was the only thing keeping him from falling forward into the steering wheel.
“I’m okay.” Esther’s groan wasn’t very convincing.
“Darius! Esther!” That had to be their security team. “Don’t move!” Ian’s voice cut through the fog.
“We’re okay!” he called back. “Mostly.”
“Dare, there’s something I haven’t told you.” Esther’s voice sounded weak and desperate at the same time. “I was going to tell you when we got home.”
“It’s all right. Tell me later. Save your energy.”
“I’m pregnant, Dare.”
His heart thudded to a stop. “What?”
“Almost eleven weeks. I wanted to tell you, but I needed to see the doctor first. I saw her the other day. I was waiting for the right time.”
He found her hand and squeezed. “It’s going to be all right.” He’d already started praying.
“I wanted you to be the first to know, but the emergency personnel will want to look at us. They’ll need to know.”
Ian appeared at Esther’s door. “We’re going to try to get you out of here, ma’am. Your door is easier to get to. Then we’ll get you out, sir. Emergency personnel are on their way.”
Every member of the security team was also trained as an EMT. Darius had never been more grateful for his father-in-law’s insistence on this. He wasn’t sure the same applied in Eyjania.
The door creaked open. The car wasn’t completely on its nose, but not nearly flat either. Maybe a forty-five degree angle.
“Okay, Esther, tell me where it hurts.” Ian started to evaluate her before moving her.
“My head, but I’ve had a splitting headache all day. I don’t think I hit it on anything. My chest and shoulder hurts, too, but I think it’s from the seatbelt.”
When she hesitated, Darius squeezed her hand. “Tell him.”
“I’m almost eleven weeks pregnant.”
Ian took it in stride. “Okay. I’m going to check you over then see if we can move you. I want to get you in another vehicle as quickly as we can because it’s cold out here tonight.”
“Thank you.”
Pain began to seep into Darius’s consciousness. His head, chest, and neck all ached. His right ankle throbbed with pain beginning to radiate upward.
“Okay. Esther, I’m going to help you out. I see no evidence of an injury that would require more assistance. Your legs or ankles don’t hurt, do they?”
“No.”
Several more people appeared outside the car.
“Do you need any help?” one called.
“Emergency services are on their way,” Ian told the man. “I have medic training, though, and it’s safe to move her. Can you help Esther to my vehicle on the road?”
“Sure.”
Esther squeezed his hand then Darius heard the click of her seatbelt.
A minute later, Ian rested a hand on Darius shoulder. “How are you feeling, sir?”
“About like Esther.” Darius managed to squeeze the words out from between clenched teeth. “But my ankle hurts like...” He stopped himself before muttering an obscenity.
Sirens could be heard in the distance.
“Okay. I can’t get to the other side well enough to get you out by myself. With your ankle in pain, I’d rather let the EMTs decide how best to move you.”
Sirens merged on their location.
“I’ll be right back. I want to talk to them.”
“I’ll be right here,” Darius groaned.
A few minutes later, the emergency personnel appeared on Darius’s side of the car. Moments after that, they helped him up the hill to the waiting ambulance. They were already checking Esther out. Eventually, it was decided they both should be seen in the emergency room, but didn’t necessarily need a ride in the ambulance as neither of them were hurt too badly.
Darius sat in the back seat of the other SUV with his leg stretched out in front of him. Esther took the front passenger seat.
When they arrived at the hospital, Ian got him a wheelchair and pushed him in while Esther insisted on walking by his side rather than be pushed in a chair of her own.
They spoke with the attendant at the desk. She gave them paperwork to fill out.
They sat on a couch and started working on them.
“At some point, I need to see if I’m supposed to legally change my name,” Esther told him. “Maybe next time I go home.”
“Except the marriage hasn’t been filed yet,” Darius reminded her from between clenched teeth. His ankle throbbed, but the pain didn’t seem to have gotten any worse.
“Good point.”
Darius took a deep breath and forced a smile. “Hey. I’m really happy about the baby.” He gave her a small kiss.
“I know. I am, too.”
“Everything’s going to be fine.”
Her smile looked as forced as his felt. “I know.”
Ian arrived to sit with them. He helped fill out the paperwork and turned it in for them. The triage nurse took their vitals and frowned when Esther said she was pregnant.
“You’ve got a bit of a fever, ma’am. I’ll make sure they get you back as quick as I can.”
Darius could see the worry flitting across her face and wished he could take her hand or hold her.
“If we could be in the same place, that would be great,” Darius told her.
“I’ll see what I can do.” The nurse left for a moment then returned. “We’ve got space for both of you. I’m going to send you back to the waiting room, but someone will come get you in a minute.”
Darius smiled at her as he focused on ignoring the pain. “Thanks.”
True to her word, they lay in hospital beds in less than ten minutes, next to each other, off a small hallway. A curtain could be pulled to make it two separate areas, but they were open allowing them to see each other and talk.
Darius was grateful for the pain meds he was given, but another half an hour passed before a doctor came back in to talk with them about their test results.
“The flu?” Esther blinked.
“Influenza A to be exact,” the doctor told her. “How were you feeling before the accident?”
“I’ve had the sniffles and a horrific headache, though medication helped.”
“Did you feel like you’d been hit by a truck?”
Esther shook her head. “I didn’t feel great, but nothing that bad.”
“You were running a slight fever when you arrived, and it’s gone up since then. You’re far enough along that, barring something odd, the flu shouldn’t affect the baby. I can give you an antiviral. It’s not a cure, but it should lessen the severity and length of the symptoms.” He clasped the iPad between his hands as he twirled side to side just a bit on the stool. “You will be miserable for a few days regardless. Having been in a car accident then the flu making you feel like you’ve been hit by a truck, you’re going to need a lot of rest for the next while.”
“How long?” Esther asked him. “Bed rest?”
“Not bed rest per se, though I’d recommend talking to your OB/GYN about any concerns. I just mean that you’ll likely be more or less bedridden for the better part of a week, and it may be several weeks before you start feeling truly normal again.”
Esther closed her eyes which blocked the blinding hospital lights.
“Okay, so Mr. Quatremaine. How are you feeling?”
“Like I got hit by Esther’s truck.”
The doctor chuckled. “We tested you for the flu as well, but you came back negative, for the moment at least. You’ve been exposed, so keep an eye out for symptoms. Call your primary care physician if you feel them coming on.”
“I don’t have one. Haven’t needed one since we moved.”
“I’m sure Jonathan can help,” Ian interjected quietly.
“Most likely,” Darius replied.
“Good. You have resources.”
“Like you wouldn’t believe.” Her husband managed to choke out a laugh.
“Good because you’re going to be laid up for a while, too. Not as bad as your wife is going to feel, but you’ve got a nasty sprain in that ankle. You’re going to be off your feet for a bit. I’ll give you a handout for how to take care of it for the next week or so. I’ll give you a number for the physical therapists. They’ll want to see you. You may not need therapy, but you might. It’ll depend on how it heals. You may need crutches.”
The doctor tapped his tablet on the bed. “Any questions?”
Esther had to ask, because he hadn’t answered directly. “How’s the baby?”
“Heartbeat is strong.”
She voiced her greatest fear. “Does that mean I won’t miscarry?”
He sighed. “I wish I could give you a definitive no, but I can’t. We can’t do anything to prevent it if it’s going to happen. The only thing we could tell you to do is rest, which you’re going to be doing a lot of anyway. Stay on your left side as much as you’re comfortable. Follow up with your OB/GYN as needed.”
Not exactly what she wanted to hear, but she appreciated his honesty.
“I’ll have someone bring in your discharge paperwork, and we’ll get you out of here.”
“How are you feeling?” Darius voice drifted over to her.
“My head hurts like you wouldn’t believe. I’m sore all over, like I’m sure you are.”
“And the baby?”
A tear leaked out of one eye. “All we can do is pray.”
“I think we should tell your parents.”
Esther nodded and hoped Darius could see her. More tears leaked out of both eyes.
She could hear shuffling and grunts and movement, and then the mattress dipped.
“We turned the lights down.” Darius sat next to her. “Scoot over a little.”
Without opening her eyes, she shifted and found herself in Darius’s arms as he settled in.
“We’ll call your parents tonight. We’ll have to talk with our professors and see if we can work from home for the next week or more, but they should work with us. If you’d rather, we could go back to San Majoria for a few days.”
“I think that would be too much for me, even on a private plane. I just want to go home and sleep. Maybe soak in a tub full of Epsom salt.”
“That probably wouldn’t be a bad idea for both of us.”
Someone, she couldn’t see who, walked in. “I think we can send you both home. I’ve got paperwork for you to sign.”
Only the fifteenth set of signatures for both of them since they arrived.
Esther’s dress had been replaced with scrubs not long after they arrived as had Darius’s suit, but she didn’t have any other shoes to wear. The aide gave her some slipper socks and crutches for Darius that would be added to their bill. She hinted they would be cheaper elsewhere, but at this point none of them cared.
Orderlies wheeled them to the exit while Ian took their belongings and went to get the car.
With the winter storm dropping frozen precipitation, the drive home took much longer than normal, and nearly an hour passed before they made it to the house. Ian said the car had been moved already, but Esther didn’t open her eyes to look.
Vesta clucked as she helped Esther upstairs. “Do you want to clean up, dear? Shower or bath?”
Esther shook her head. “I just want to go to bed. Flu and a car accident and pregnant is enough for one day.”
“Pregnant!” Vesta squeezed her shoulders a
s they moved slowly up the stairs. “That’s wonderful.”
“As long as the baby hangs tough. After an accident, we can’t know if I’m going to miscarry like I did last time.”
“I’m already praying.”
“Thanks, Vesta.” They reached the bedroom. “How does this fit into my father’s whole adulting thing? Are Darius and I on our own taking care of each other?”
Vesta clucked at her. “If you didn’t have us, you’d have other friends or family come help out. This is an exception to your father’s don’t-do-anything-for-them rule, and if he has an issue with it, he can come up here and discuss it with me in person.”
Esther managed a smile as she sank onto the bed. “I think these are comfortable enough to sleep in. Tomorrow, I’ll worry about a bath and everything else. Right now, I just want sleep.”
Vesta helped turn the covers down, helped her get as comfortable as possible, then covered her back up before going to the other side of the bed to help Darius as Ian and Louis arrived with him.
“Take these, love.”
Esther managed to open her eyes to see Vesta crouched in front of her.
It took all of her energy to take the offered medication, but she did, then drifted off to sleep.
Darius ached in places he didn’t know he could, but there was a bit of light coming through the room darkening curtains. It happened to land directly on his face.
“Hello?” he whispered, wondering if someone was sitting in there with them, and he could get that person to close the curtains better.
No answer.
Darius tried to move, but everything hurt. A whimper escaped even as he tried not to let it. It took effort, but he managed to sit up without letting another one loose.
Turning to glance at the other side of the bed, he realized his suspicion was right. Esther slept on. It only took a few steps to get to the window, but he knew his ankle wouldn’t appreciate the attempt.
Looking around, he realized someone had left his crutches nearby. Grasping one, he managed to get to the window and adjust the curtain to block the rest of the light. Now, where were the pain killers?
He found them on his side table, along with a bottle of water. But first he needed to take care of something more urgent. After managing to tend to the call of nature, he sat back down on the bed and used the light from his phone to read the instructions on the bottle. It said one to two pills so he swallowed two and laid back down.
Crowns & Courtships Compilation Volume 1 Page 64