Unexpected Fall

by Ryan, Kaylee

  “My sister, she just delivered a baby. They’re both doing okay. She said Destiny asked her to call me.”

  “What does she want?”

  She shrugs. “I don’t know. They’re both resting. The nurse said not to rush there, but that Destiny was asking for me.”

  “Wow.” It’s not much as replies go, but I’m pretty much speechless.

  “I guess it’s a good thing tomorrow is a holiday and I’m off work.”

  “What time do you want to leave?” No way am I letting her go on her own. Not to deal with the crazy that is her little sister.

  “You don’t have to go.” She’s quick to decline.

  “Where else would I be? My plans are to spend the day with you. So, where you are, I am.”

  Leaning forward, she rests her palm against my cheek. “You’re a good man, Marcus Adams.”

  “Shh, you’re going to ruin my street cred,” I say dramatically. Moving, I crawl over her and plop down on my side of the bed. She snuggles into my chest and I hold her tight. I’m not sure how much more she can handle.

  “I should have asked if she was clean,” she says into the quiet of the room.

  “She said they were both doing well, right?”

  “Yeah, I guess that’s a good sign. Maybe rehab stuck this time and she got her shit together?” she asks, and I can hear the hope in her voice.

  “We’ll find out soon enough,” I say, kissing the top of her head. Once again, I’m in yet another situation where I’m not sure what to say. I have a very strong dislike for her sister.

  “You really don’t have to go,” she says again over a yawn.

  With my fingers, I gently trace up and down her spine. “I’ll be there,” I promise. I feel her body relax into me and her breathing evens out. It’s then, I let sleep claim me.

  Chapter Thirteen

  Dawn

  The drive to Mason is quiet. Mark doesn’t try to get me to talk, instead allowing me to get lost in my thoughts. I’m not sure how, but he always seems to know what I need. Today, what I need is time to process the fact that I’m an aunt. I need time to process my sister, the drug addict, as a mother, and the fact that our parents aren’t here to see it.

  “Dawn.” I feel a soft caress on my arm and let it pull me from my thoughts. “We’re here.” Mark nods toward the entrance of Mason County Memorial. “You ready for this?”

  “I’m not really sure,” I confess. “I guess all this time, I hoped she was clean, but assumed when I didn’t hear from her that she wasn’t. Then there’s the timeline. How far along was she? Was she pregnant that night?” I swallow hard. “The night of the accident?”

  “Only one way to find out,” he says, pulling the keys from the ignition and climbing out of the truck. He’s at my door in a flash, pulling it open and helping me down. Once my feet hit the pavement, his strong arms clamp around me, holding me tightly against his chest. “Whatever happens, you’ve got me right here by your side.”

  I smile up at him. “You’ve already done so much.”

  He tucks a strand of hair blowing in the wind behind my ear. “That’s what you do for those you care about. I’ve got strong shoulders, Pixie, lean on them.”

  I inhale a deep breath and slowly exhale. “Okay, let’s do this.” I hold out my hand and he tangles his fingers with mine. Side by side, we make our way into the hospital.

  “Hi, can I help you?” an older lady greets us from the welcome desk.

  “I’m looking for my sister, Destiny Miller.”

  She types on her computer and smiles up at me. “She’s in the maternity ward.” She rattles off her room number and proceeds to give us directions to the elevator.

  “At any time you want to leave, we’re gone,” Mark says in the elevator.

  “I just don’t understand after all this time why she’s asking for me.”

  “Maybe she wants to make amends? Apologize?”

  “I highly doubt it. Destiny doesn’t apologize.”

  “Maybe she’s turning over a new leaf?” he suggests. We can both hear the doubt in his voice, but I appreciate the effort. If anything, it’s helping to calm my nerves.

  When the elevator doors slide open, my stomach twists with unease. Forcing one foot in front of the other, I watch the numbers on the doors as we pass by until we reach Destiny’s room. I stop and stare at the number, delaying going inside.

  “You want me to wait out here?” Mark asks.

  “No.” I tighten my grip on our joined hands. “I mean, unless you don’t want—” He stops me by bending to kiss my temple.

  “I’m with you, Pixie. Whatever you need. I just wanted to offer. You ready?”

  I shake my head and say, “Yes,” making him chuckle.

  “I’m going with,” he says, lifting his hand that’s not holding mine and rapping on the door. We wait for acceptance to enter, but it never comes.

  I knock again, and still nothing. “Excuse me,” I say to a passing nurse. “Is it okay if we go in?”

  “Are you family?” she asks.

  “Yes. She’s— Destiny’s my sister.”

  “Just let me check with Mom.” She pushes open the door, and it’s not five seconds later, she’s opening the door. “She must be down at the nursery. Have a seat in the waiting room.” She points down the hall. “We’ll round her up and come to get you if she wants to see you,” she adds, scurrying off to the nurses’ station.

  Mark leads us down the long hall to the room at the end clearly marked Waiting Room, and pushes inside. It’s a small room with couches and chairs that look more comfortable than any waiting room I’ve ever been in. There is a TV on the wall and a row of vending machines in the far corner.

  “And we wait,” I say, taking a seat on the couch. Mark settles in next to me, placing his arm around my shoulders.

  “We just got here. Isn’t it too early to complain about waiting?” he asks.

  “No. This is my sister we’re talking about. Hell, she probably planned it all out. I’ll summon for Dawn in the middle of the night, and then I’ll make sure I’m not in my room when she gets here so she has to sit and wait on me. Keep her in suspense,” I mutter, and he chuckles.

  “I doubt that, babe,” he says as the nurse we spoke to enters the waiting room.

  “Ready?” I ask, standing.

  “Have you talked to your sister today?” she asks me.

  “No,” I answer. “It’s been months since I’ve heard from her. I didn’t even know she was pregnant.”

  “Oh, dear,” she says.

  “What’s going on?” Worry takes over the dread of seeing Destiny after all these months, after her confession of what really happened the night our parents died.

  “Well, I’m not sure, but it appears that we can’t find your sister.”

  “Excuse me?”

  “She’s not in her room, and she’s not been signed into the nursery today to see the baby.”

  “She has to be in this hospital somewhere,” I say as I begin to pace the room. Of course she’s gone. This is classic Destiny. “The baby?”

  “She’s doing just fine.”

  “She?” I say, even though I heard her just fine.

  “She. You’re listed as her next of kin, the baby’s too, so I can tell you. She was born at thirty-seven weeks. She’s tiny, but she’s breathing on her own.”

  “And is my sister clean?” I ask.

  She shakes her head and my heart plummets. “She tested positive for opiates.”

  “Fuck,” Mark mumbles.

  “The baby?” I ask, feeling as if my heart is in my throat.

  “She’s doing well, all things considering. She’s tiny at four pounds and one ounce. She’s crying a lot, which causes her to gasp for breath, so we have her on oxygen as a precaution as we help her through this.” She rattles on about hyperirritability, jaundice, bili lights, and increased chances for infection.

  “What happens to the baby? What happens if we can’t find my sister
?”

  “The courts and social services will be involved. They already are due to her addiction. We’ll survey immediate family, including yourself, and see if anyone is willing to foster the child.”

  “It’s just me,” I tell her. “Our parents—” I choke on the words.

  “Their parents passed a few months ago,” Mark answers for me, pulling me into him.

  “Right, I’m sorry for your loss,” she says, and I can see the pity in her eyes. “So, if you are willing, there will be lots of red tape, but the baby is going to be here for a while, so hopefully by the time we discharge her, you’ll have gotten the approval from the judge for temporary custody, and you’ll be able to take her home.”

  “Then what?” Mark asks.

  “Well, then it will be up to you to petition the court for permanent custody if that’s what you choose to do.”

  “I can’t believe this is happening.” I rest my forehead against Mark’s chest. Just when I thought I was starting to find my new normal, my sister strikes again. This time in the form of an innocent baby who’s fighting withdrawal symptoms because my sister can’t stay clean. Even for her unborn child.

  “Can I see her? The baby?”

  “Yes. Right this way.” The nurse turns on her heel, and we follow her out of the waiting room and down the opposite end of the hall. She leads us to a long window that showcases babies with names all done up on pretty cards. I spot my niece right away. Her card says Baby Girl Miller.

  “What’s her name?” I ask, peering through the window, trying to get a better look.

  “She hasn’t been given a name yet.”

  I stare through the glass at the miracle that is my baby niece, and the hatred I have for my sister grows. She’s so tiny, and she’s in what looks like an incubator, whereas the other babies are just in regular beds. “Can I hold her? I mean, are we allowed to do that?”

  “You can. You have to be mindful of her IVs and oxygen, but you can hold her. Come with me.” We follow her a few steps to a door that’s locked and clearly states authorized personnel only. “We’ll need to see some identification, to match it with her file to verify you are indeed listed as the next of kin. I’m sorry, it’s procedure.”

  “Sure.” I rummage in my purse, pulling out my wallet and handing her my ID.

  “Thank you.” She disappears behind the door, leaving us standing in the hall.

  “I can’t believe this. She’s so tiny and fighting, and Destiny just what…? Skipped town? Left the hospital? What the hell is wrong with her? How is it that the same people raised us? It’s not normal, Mark.”

  “Here you go.” The nurse is back, handing me my ID before Mark can get a word in. “I’m sorry, sir,” she says to Mark. “It’s family only.”

  “He’s my fiancé,” I blurt before thinking. I can’t do this alone. I need him there with me.

  “Fiancé?” she asks skeptically, eyes darting to my left hand.

  “Yes,” I say, my voice strong. Mark moves to stand a little closer, placing his arm around my waist. I fight the urge to sigh that he’s going along with this.

  “Okay. I need some ID and will need to enter you into the system.”

  “Sure.” He retrieves his wallet from his back pocket and fishes out his ID, handing it to her.

  “I’m sorry,” I rush to say as soon as she disappears behind the door. “I just don’t want to go in alone, and you’re here, and I need you, and I’m sorry.”

  “Hey.” He cups my face in his large hands. “I’m right here. Whatever you need, it’s yours.” His blue eyes are warm and filled with reassurance. He didn’t even flinch when I told her that he was my fiancé.

  The door opens and the nurse peeks her head out. “Come on back.” She motions for us. “We’re going to need you to wash up and slip into these.” She hands us some scrubs to place over our clothes. “She’s prone to infection, so we’re doing everything we can to limit her exposure until her lungs are more developed and she’s stronger.”

  Mark and I take turns washing up and slipping into the provided clothes. “Right this way.” She motions for us to follow her through yet another door, and then another. “I’ll go get her. I’ll be right back.”

  “I’m nervous. Why am I nervous?” My voice pitches high.

  “Because you’re about to hold the best part of your sister in your arms.”

  My mouth falls open and then closes. “You continue to amaze me, Marcus Adams.” I don’t know what I did to deserve a man like him, but I’m thankful for him all the same. When I met him, I never would have guessed this is where we would be. Me, madly in love with him and afraid to tell him, and him? Well, I never guessed from our first meeting he would be this loving and supportive guy. I never would have fathomed he would become my rock and the glue that holds me together. I had no way of seeing the fall I was about to take or that he would be the one there with open arms to catch me. Regardless, I’m glad he’s here.

  My safety net.

  “All right, little lady,” the nurse coos, as she’s pushing the incubator holding my niece into the room. “There are some people here to meet you.” I watch with rapt attention as she opens the lid and lifts her from her bed, holding her tiny body with such care.

  “Why is she in this bed?” Mark asks.

  “The light. She’s jaundice and needs the light to help even out her bilirubin levels.” He nods like he understands and we both go back to watching intently.

  “She’s going to be okay?” My voice catches with emotion.

  “She’s a fighter this little one,” she says, not really answering my question. “Go ahead and have a seat,” she tells me.

  I do as I’m told, and she places the sweet baby girl in my arms. “Hi,” I whisper. Hot tears prick the back of my eyes. Emotions threaten to overwhelm me. My parents are missing this, their first grandbaby. My sister, this little angel’s mother, has disappeared. She’s hours old, and already all alone in this hospital.

  “You’re a natural.” Mark’s deep timbre surprises me.

  “Yeah?” I ask, never taking my eyes from the baby.

  “Yeah,” he says, crouching down next to me to get a better look. “She’s beautiful.”

  “I can’t believe she left her here,” I speak my earlier thoughts.

  “We don’t know that,” he tries to reason.

  I get what he’s doing trying to stay optimistic, but I’ve dealt with my sister and her disappearing for too many years. I feel it in my gut. She ran.

  “Unfortunately, we do know,” the nurse interrupts. “As of about fifteen minutes ago, security footage shows her leaving out a side entrance. They told me while I was entering your information into the computer.”

  “I’m so sorry,” I whisper to my niece. “Who will name her?” I ask the nurse, without taking my eyes of the little bundle in my arms.

  “She’ll be Baby Girl Miller. I’m not privy to all the legal that needs to happen. I know that whoever takes this little one home, whether it be social services or family, will name her. If she’s placed for adoption, her new family has the right to change that name.”

  I look up at Mark, who’s watching me intently. I feel tears burn my eyes thinking about this baby girl going to an unknown family. She’s my family, all I have left. “I want her,” I say, never taking my eyes off Mark. He doesn’t even flinch at my confession.

  “Okay,” the nurse says. “We’ll get someone from social services to talk to you and start the process.”

  I nod and turn my attention back to the tiny human in my arms, who is fighting for her life, all on her own. There’s been no one here to love on her and tell her she’s a fighter.

  Until now.

  That person is me.

  I lose track of time as I hold her, slowly rocking her in my arms. She fusses and jerks, which the nurse tells me is the drugs in her system. I thought I hated my sister after her confession the night my parents died. I thought that was her lowest low, but this is…. I�
��ll never be able to forgive her for this. The nurse said she was addicted to pills, but not out of her mind that she didn’t know what she was doing to her unborn baby. She simply stated she needed them. As far as I’m concerned, she has no right to this beautiful baby girl. I’ll fight her with everything I have to keep this little one safe. My sister has burned her final bridge with me. I thought maybe she had cleaned up and I could learn to forgive her. That’s what Mom and Dad would have wanted me to do, but this… there is no coming back from this.

  Sure, I could say that there is a semblance of redemption. She had enough care to call me, and bring me here. She knew I would take her baby. She knew that I would care for her. That’s what my parents and I have always done. Fixed her screwups. Although, it’s impossible for me to think of that baby alone without a mother to comfort her as a screwup. She’s innocent in all this. My sister though, she’s a screwup. Letting the drugs rule her life, choosing her next fix over her own flesh, her newborn baby. I’ll be there for this baby; she’s my family. My sister, however, I’m finished. She has to want to get clean, to mean it to make it happen. Until then, I want nothing to do with her.

  She’s dead to me.

  Chapter Fourteen

  Mark

  I’m out of my element here. For the second time in the last year, the woman I love is faced with the unimaginable, and I don’t know what to do to help her. We’ve just finished talking to the social worker who explained all the red tape that goes along with the process of Dawn obtaining guardianship of the baby. Luckily, being the only living relative, and with no father listed, there won’t be anyone to contest. At least not that we’re aware of. Even if Destiny shows up, she won’t get her baby. Not until the court runs her through counseling, rehab, and a host of other hoops she’ll have to jump through.

  “I can’t believe this is happening,” Dawn says, slumping down in the waiting room chair. “I guess I need to find an attorney.”

  “Maybe call Ridge and Kendall. I know they had a good attorney who helped them with the adoption.”