“What? My mother knew? Knew what?” I interrupted him. He lifted his head up so that our eyes met and sighed.
“I was planning on asking you to marry me, but when you didn’t return my calls ... I figured you were pissed at me,” he said. My body swayed back and forth and I thought I dropped my backpack, but wasn’t sure until I saw Cory bend over to pick it up.
“Did you say marry?” I stammered at the word marry. Suddenly, I felt hot and I couldn’t breathe.
“Ann, are you alright?” He grabbed my arm and opened the door of my truck and set me down on the seat.
“No, I think I’m going to be sick again.” As soon as I said the words, I leaned over and puked. Smooshed up Wheaties and banana splattered all over the pavement and Cory’s brand new sneakers.
“Oh, my God! I’m so sorry,” I said, starting to cry. Cory wrapped his arms around my shoulder and held me tightly until I calmed down.
“Do you want me to drive you home?” he asked, patting my hair.
“No, I can drive, but will you follow me?” I sniffed.
“Sure, love,” he replied with a smile and closed the door. I waited until he got into his car and pulled up behind me before I pulled out of the parking lot. Tears fell onto my cheeks at an even pace as my mind raced a mile a minute. Marriage? To Cory? I just couldn’t grasp it. Never in a million years did I picture Cory being my husband. Okay, I dreamed of it, but I was so sure that eventually he would leave me for a younger, more attractive girl. I was waiting for the day to come, but this definitely caught me off guard.
The shrill ringing of my cell phone brought me out of my stupor. “Hello?”
“Annie, it’s me, Molly. Are you coming home? I thought we could go to the store together. Tonight we’re celebrating our new found friendship/sisterhood,” she said with a chuckle. “Tonight is Taco night!”
“Sure, that sounds great! We haven’t had tacos in like forever,” I said, smiling.
“Great! See you in a few.”
“Molly, wait!” I quickly hollered.
“Yeah.”
“Cory’s following me home. I got sick again in the parking lot. I think he proposed,” I looked down at the steering and noticed my hand was shaking uncontrollably.
“WHAT?” Molly squealed so loud that I had to pull the phone away from my ear. “Did you say yes?” she asked, excited. I sighed in relief that she wasn’t screaming and calling me names.
“I didn’t say anything, just puked.”
“What?” She laughed out loud. “That was romantic.”
I laughed weakly, “Yeah.”
“Well, I think you need to talk to him as soon as you get home. We can go to the store later.”
“Okay, sounds good,” I said, then hung up the phone as my stomach started getting queasy again. Just thinking about talking to him and answering his proposal … I closed my eyes and covered my mouth to keep from vomiting in the truck. The sound of a horn blasting made me open my eyes. Directly in front of me was another car. I quickly swerved the steering wheel to the right and smacked head-on into tree. The noise was deafening, nothing like anything I ever heard before, as metal crunched and glass shattered. My body jolted forward so hard that I smacked my head on the steering wheel. I sat there for a moment, trying to breathe.
“Annie! Annie!” I heard Cory screaming my name. I tried to turn my head to look at him, but I couldn’t move. I was in shock. Suddenly, a cool draft rushed in through the driver’s side door as it flew open.
“Annie, are you alright?” There was sheer panic in his voice, which scared me. It must be far worse than I thought.
“Yeah, I’m okay ... I think. I’m afraid to move.” Sirens roared in the distance as an ambulance pulled up beside me.
“Did I hit someone? Is anybody else hurt?” I asked, starting to choke. The very thought of hurting or killing another driver made me ill.
“No, just you. You hit a tree,” Cory said as I breathed a sigh of relief. His warm hand touched my arm and I slowly lifted my head and turned around to face him. “Oh,” he said, shuddering. Then, warm liquid ran down my cheek. I knew it was blood by the horrified look on Cory’s face.
“Excuse me, sir,” one of the firemen said to Cory.
“Ma’am, are you okay?” the fireman asked.
“I think so.” All I remembered was seeing two firemen climbing inside the truck and pulling me out, then everything went black.
I woke up in a dark room with only a glare coming from the small television hanging on the wall. I knew right away I was in the hospital. I gasped as everything started coming back—the talking on my cell, the car in front of me, the tree ... My left leg felt funny and I looked to see Cory’s head resting on it. I gently reached out and touched his hair.
“Annie!” His voice was groggy. I gave him a small smile. He stood up from the chair and leaned down so our faces were just inches apart. His hair was a tousled mess and there were dark circles under his eyes. He looked worn.
“How are you feeling?” he asked, as I caught a whiff of his spearmint breath. He was always sucking on spearmint flavored lifesavers. I told him once that his teeth were going to rot sucking on all that sugar, but he just laughed and shrugged it off.
“Like I was run over by a truck ... and hungry,” I added weakly. Every muscle in my body ached worse than my last Zumba class experience. I also had a whopper of a headache. Cory smiled and buried his face in my hair with a sigh.
“What time is it? How long have I been in here?”
He lifted his head to look at me. “It’s a little after eleven o’clock at night. You’ve been here since three. Your parents and Molly just left about an hour ago.” He sat back down in the chair and held my hand within his.
“Did the doctor say anything? Am I okay?” I asked, worried. I didn’t see a cast on any part of my body, so I knew nothing was broken.
“Yeah, the doctor said you are just banged up a little. You’re going to be fine. He had to put a few stitches in your head, though.”
I released his hand and put my hand on my head. “Ow,” I said.
Cory chuckled. “Don’t touch it, silly.”
“I won’t,” I promised. There was silence for a moment. I could tell by the way he was looking at me that he had something to say. Then, I remembered the proposal and gasped.
“Ann, is there something you need to tell me?” Cory’s voice turned serious as his dark eyes sobered.
I looked at him, confused. “Um … are you talking about our conversation in the parking lot?” Suddenly, my legs started shaking. Cory noticed them shaking, too.
“No, something else.”
Again, I was confused. I shook my head, clueless as to what he was talking about. He sighed heavily. “Never mind, then.”
“Don’t ‘never mind’ me,” I demanded. “What? What’re you talking about? What is it that I’m supposed to be telling you?” I was getting mad now. Just then, a young nurse walked in.
“Oh, you’re awake. How do you feel, sweetie?” Her voice was like the sound of an angel singing.
“Right now, I’m agitated.” I glared at Cory. The nurse turned around to look him. He was now standing near the door.
“Maybe it’s best that I go now,” he said as despair colored his voice.
“Yes, visiting hours are over. She needs her rest. You can come in after nine tomorrow morning,” the nurse said sincerely.
“Okay. Bye, Annie,” he said, then left. No hug, no good-bye kiss, no nothing. My heart sank into my chest and tears suddenly clouded my vision.
“Is that your boyfriend?” the nurse asked. I noticed her tag read Kristen Deere.
“Yeah, it is,” I said as my voice quivered. Kristen continued to check my vitals, wrapping a cuff around my arm to check my blood pressure.
“How long have you two been dating?” she asked, just trying to have a friendly conversation with me.
“Over a year now.” I swallowed the hard lump in my throat. That’s whe
n I noticed how dry my mouth was. My stomach started rumbling, too.
“Oh,” she said with a chuckle. “I think someone’s hungry.”
I nodded my head yeah.
“Well, dinner was over hours ago, but I can bring you some snacks. How do graham crackers and pudding sound?” she asked, smiling. Suddenly, the cuff grew tighter and tighter around my arm—until it hurt.
“Can I have some ginger ale or juice, too?” I asked, feeling like a small child asking for permission to have something.
“Sure,” she replied. “I’ll bring you extra. After all, you’re eating for two now.” She smiled wide, then ripped the blood pressure cuff off my arm. The Velcro sound ripped through my head like a knife. I hated the sound of Velcro tearing.
“What?” My eyes shot up at her.
She stepped back, stammering a bit. “You don’t know? Oh, dear.”
“Know what?” I asked, suddenly everything was coming back to me—the vomiting, Mom asking me if I was pregnant ...
“You’re pregnant ... about nine weeks,” she replied, looking at me with her crystal blue eyes, not knowing whether to smile or not as I stared at her. Shock was too mild of a word to describe how I felt at that moment.
“I’ll be right back with your snacks,” Kristen stammered as she quickly grabbed the metal clipboard and walked out. I looked around the table beside me for my cell phone and found it in the top drawer, then speed dialed home.
Mom answered the phone. Just the person I wanted to talk to.
“Mom!?” I cried her name as tears streamed down my cheeks. “You know?”
“Annie, are you alright?” There was panic in her voice.
“I’m fine. Do you know?” I asked again, wiping the tears away from my cheeks. Just then, it finally dawned on me what Cory was talking about. He knew. “Oh, God!” I cried louder.
“Annie, I’m coming right now. Stay there,” Mom ordered then hung up. I could hear Dad in the background asking what was wrong. This made me cry even harder. Just as I hung up the phone, another nurse came in with my snacks. She quietly laid the tray on top of a small table with wheels and slid it over top of me. I smiled and thanked her, dabbing at my tears.
I stared at the two cups of chocolate pudding, three packs of graham crackers and an apple laying on the tray. There was also a big cup of ginger ale loaded with crushed ice. I grabbed the cup and quickly sucked down half of it, then grabbed my cell phone and pulled up Cory’s name. I was just about to text him when Mom came walking through the door, then the water works started again.
“Mom!” She pulled the table away from the bed and sat on the edge and hugged me as I sobbed, soaking her shoulder.
“Shhhh ... everything’s going to be okay.”
“I’m nineteen and pregnant,” my voice quivered through my sobs.
“I know and you have a man who loves you very much. You’re not alone; you have Cory and ... us.” She pushed me back so that we could look at each other as her dark eyes glistened with tears.
“Cory knows?” I swallowed another hard lump in my throat. Mom nodded her head and smiled. I closed my eyes and leaned against the pillow.
“What did he do or say?” I asked, not opening my eyes.
“Well, he took it a lot better than you did. He genuinely looked happy. Annie, why didn’t you tell him you were pregnant? Were you planning on keeping it a secret?” Mom asked. I opened my eyes and noticed her staring at me with concern.
“Mom, I didn’t know. Honestly, when you asked me this morning, it shocked the hell out of me.” I hesitated for a moment, “How did you know?” I asked, curious.
Mom let out a hearty laugh. “Let’s just say it was Mother’s intuition. There was something different about you and when I heard you was sick and was throwing up, that’s when I came to the conclusion, but I wasn’t sure until the doctor came in this evening and told us.” She smiled and took my hand and held it in her lap.
“And Dad? What does he think?” I asked, starting to cry again. I was his baby girl. I didn’t ever want to disappoint him and now his baby girl was pregnant.
“Well, at first he was upset. The very thought of his little girl having sex didn’t sit well with him, but I explained to him you are no longer a little girl. You have grown into a fine young lady with a bright future ahead of you and a supportive and very handsome young man by your side. That seemed to calm him down. Then, he and Cory went for a long walk and when they came back, your Dad was in the best mood I had seen him in a long time. I don’t know what Cory said to him, but whatever it was put him at ease. You have a wonderful man, Annie. Cory absolutely adores you and loves you and wants nothing but the best for you,” Mom said, smiling, and I could see in her eyes that she was happy, too.
Mom and I talked for a little while longer. Well ... she did most of the talking while I ate my snacks. After Mom left, I literally passed out. I was emotionally and physically drained.
The next afternoon, the doctor discharged me. I tried all morning to reach Cory, but kept getting his voicemail. After leaving a third message, I finally gave up. Mom and Molly picked me up from the hospital and drove me home. Nobody really had anything to say, except that little Annie was at home waiting for me. She had missed me. This made me smile and I wondered if she was going to be okay with a baby around the house. As we pulled into the driveway, the house looked strange to me. I felt like I was gone for a long time. And I looked like an eighty-year-old woman walking up the walkway to the porch, as every muscle in my body ached. The doctor said I may feel sore for a while and suggested that I take Tylenol for the pain, but I refused. I wasn’t taking any pills that might hurt the baby, except for pre-natal vitamins. He also told me to make an appointment with my gynecologist. I followed Mom and Molly into the house and both of them were unusually quiet and had weird expressions on their faces—like deranged looking clowns.
“Where’s little Annie?” I asked, disappointed that she didn’t greet me at the door.
“She’s in your room. She hasn’t left your room since you didn’t come home yesterday. She only left long enough to go outside and to eat, then back up to your bed she went,” Molly said. This brought tears to my eyes as I painstakingly walked up the stairs. Even a turtle would have bypassed me by now.
As I approached my bedroom door, I heard soft music playing from the other side. I opened the door and Annie began barking immediately. Then, there were three things that I noticed at once: Annie, red roses everywhere ... and Cory.
“What?” I asked, befuddled.
Cory rushed quickly to my side and wrapped his arms around my waist. “You’re not going to pass out, are you?” He asked as panic flitted across his chocolate eyes. Annie was jumping up and down, scratching at my leg—which hurt. I started to lean down to pet her, but Cory quickly picked her up and held her in his arms. Tears sprung to my eyes as I hugged the two of them. I truly missed them both.
“What’s with all the roses? And candles?” I asked looking around my room. There must have been ten dozen roses all in vases scattered around my room. There were also at least a half dozen long, white tapered candles burning brightly, while Air Supply’s All Out of Love was playing quietly from my stereo.
“I wanted to tell you how much I’ve missed you and how much I love you.” Cory set little Annie down and opened the door for her to run out.
“Cory … I …”
Cory placed his hand over my mouth and pulled me to the edge of the bed as I slowly sat down. “Please, let me do this before something else happens,” he instructed, chuckling nervously as I looked at him, confused. Then, he got down on one knee and I gasped.
“The day I met you at the Civic Center, I knew I had to get to know you. It wasn’t easy…considering you kept pushing me away. I’ve always loved challenges, but my biggest challenge was trying to convince you to give me a chance to love you. I would take that challenge again a thousand times over if I had to.” I sucked in a jagged breath. “Annie, you’ve made me a
better person. You made me believe I can accomplish anything I set my mind to. You’re proof of that. I know I can be a wonderful and loving husband and father to you and our baby,” he said as I gasped. Then, he smiled and took my hand.
“Annie Powers, would you do me the honor of becoming my wife? I promise to make you and our baby the center of my world.” Cory then pulled out a small black box from his pants pocket and laid it on my lap. My whole body was shaking. As he opened the box, inside, nestled between the black velvet was the most beautiful diamond ring I had ever seen in my life. It was a heart-shaped diamond with two smaller diamonds nestled on either side of it. When the sunlight from the window hit it just right, it sparkled, leaving tiny crystal lights on the wall.
I let out another jagged sigh as tears streamed down my cheeks. “I’m sorry,” I cried.
The smile on Cory’s face disappeared as disappointment slowing grew within his eyes. “Sorry for what?”
“I’m so sorry that I didn’t know what you were talking about in the hospital. I honestly didn’t know I was pre ... pregnant,” I said as my voice quivered. Cory sighed in relief and his shoulders relaxed.
“Annie, please, before I burst here. Yes or no?” Cory pressed.
I chuckled nervously. “Yes!” He jumped to his feet instantly and wrapped his arms around my shoulders. “Ugh,” I said.
“Oh, sorry.” He gently leaned down and gave me a kiss. I lifted my arms part way and wrapped them around his waist. It hurt my shoulders too badly to wrap them around his shoulders yet. Cory and I turned when we heard the knock on the door.
“Come in,” I said as Cory placed the ring on my finger.
“Little Annie wants to know if Mommy and Daddy are getting married?” Molly asked, holding the dog in her arms. Mom was standing next to her smiling.
“Yes, we’re getting married,” I replied, laughing. Molly and Mom both jumped up and down, but stopped when the candles threatened to tip over.
That evening, we all sat around the table celebrating our engagement with a taco party. It was set. We were going to get married on Valentine’s Day.
Novel Hearts Page 22