Forever & More: The Friend Zone series

by Thompson, Tabetha

  “Do you have a box that would fit that in it?” I ask.

  “A box?” He cuts me a look that screams you’re an idiot.

  “Yes, like I don’t know, a printer box? Oh, and maybe some duct tape?”

  Skye leaves me to go to the next room. He comes back out with a box and walks directly to the money. One of the guards approaches us with a tool box. He sets it on the table and digs through its contents until he finds a grey roll of unopened duct tape.

  He hands it to Skye. Once all the money is placed neatly in the box, Skye wraps the industrial tape around the cardboard until there is nothing showing but silver. We will have to cut the entire box to retrieve what’s inside later.

  With a hand on my hip, I ask Mr. Daniels if there is anything left. He tells me no, so we make our journey back to his office, giant duct-taped box in hand. One of the three guards accompanies us to retrieve Sara and Harley, then escorts us to our car safely.

  The drive back is full of excited chatter. Skye quickly fills Sara and Harley in on what we found. Sara immediately begins spending the money on luxury items like houses, boats, and new cars. She even suggests having wild sex on top of the pile of money.

  “First thing, we are taking care of this Jay mess,” Skye informs her.

  “How are you going to do that? You haven’t heard from them since the trial,” she says.

  “You see that sedan behind us?” Everyone but Sara turns to see what he’s talking about, myself included. He gives us a moment to spot the vehicle trailing slowly behind us. “I think they already know.”

  His comment scares me. If that’s one of her men following us, what’s going to stop them from jumping us the moment we step out of the car? Skye passes the apartment building and I become more nervous; he must be thinking the same thing as I am. He reaches for his phone.

  “Hey,” he greets the person on the other end. He trusts this person enough to tell them we have one point six million sitting in a box in the back seat between Harley and Sara.

  “Okay. Yeah, we’ll be there in a few minutes.” He ends the call. All of us look to Skye waiting for him to fill us in.

  “Do you remember the DA from the trial?”

  I nod, confused.

  “Well, he was supposed to do some digging on Tom’s accounts for me. I didn’t tell him what was going on and he’s still in the dark about Jay and her people, but he knows enough to know we’re in trouble. He has a house on Tybee Island, so that’s where we are going for now, so get comfortable.”

  I look at my rounded stomach. With my history and the measurements on the baby, the doctor told me that I could go early. I’m scared that I’m going to have my baby in the front seat of the Jeep or during a money swap where we all get gunned down. I tell Skye this, but he tells me not to worry, that we’ll be safe where we’re going.

  The drive takes forever, hours actually. We haven’t stopped for food or bathroom breaks once. The gas light comes on the same time we hit the city limits of the island. Skye’s phone rings. We all look to him and listen to his end of the conversation.

  “Yeah, we just got here.” Pause. “Okay, but the sedan is still following us,” he tells the person on the other end. He starts rehashing the details from the trial to now. Only when he starts telling the other person why he asked them to dig for information, do I realized it’s the DA.

  “So I take a right, then the first left. It’s the big blue house directly on the beach?” He nods to himself. “Yeah okay, I got it. We’ll be there in fifteen minutes.” He sighs then ends the call. I rest my forehead against the glass and take in the small town. It has a historical feeling to it and I’ve immediately fallen in love with the coastal town. The twinkling of the street lights makes it welcoming. A man sits on the side of the road with his horse and carriage, offering rides down the streets to tourists and locals.

  There are restaurants and small bars lining the streets along with retail shops. In the middle of it all is a giant water fountain on display with bright lights. Despite the freezing temperatures outside, people are still enjoying the quaint town.

  We pull up at a giant, blue, three story house that sits on stilts. Before we get out of the car, Skye’s phone goes off yet again. This time, I don’t pay it much attention since I assume it is the DA again.

  “Hello?” Skye’s voice demands my attention. “Yeah, we’ve got your money. I can meet you tomorrow—” He stops and listens. His eyes go wide in fear. Immediately, he throws the car in reverse and starts to back out of the drive. The sedan pulls in behind us. My heart beats loudly in my ears. This is it. They’re here to get their money and we are all done for.

  “Skye, Skye, Skye, Skye,” Jay’s voice taunts me. “You’re not very smart are you? You knew I had eyes on you, but you still ran. Trying to run away with my money is going to cost you and your little friends. I think I’m going to make you watch while I cut out your baby then slit your little girlfriend’s throat.”

  I throw the car in reverse, but before I can get out of there, the sedan pulls in behind me.

  Chloe’s face shows me just how terrified she is. I have to find a way out of here. I quickly scan the perimeter and realize I’m stuck. The house is directly in front of me. Its stilts act as a fence and brick walls and shrubs block the other exits. A grey Hummer pulls in behind the sedan. It only takes a moment for Jay to come flying out of the passenger seat of the large SUV.

  She makes it two steps before all hell breaks loose. Unmarked police cars surround every side of us. As those officers climb out of their cars, more come running on foot. Several swat vehicles are on the site and it seems like a never ending line of armed men are coming out of the backs of their vehicles.

  “Get down now!” I scream. Chloe drops to the floor of the car, as do I. I watch with an overpowering sense of helplessness as I see Harley struggle to get Sara out of her seatbelt and onto the floor. I can only imagine how she must be feeling right now not being able to move. Harley positions her on the floor, then positions his body so that he is lying over her protectively.

  In this moment, I have never been so proud of my friend. Not only has he sacrificed his career and his time for this woman, but now he’s willing to sacrifice his life for her as well. I reach over to Chloe and start talking to her, trying to take her mind off what’s going on.

  “She’s going to look just like you. Beautiful red hair, blue eyes, and fair skin. She’s going to have your skin tone and the rosy thing your cheeks do when you’re embarrassed. She’ll be as kind and smart as you and she’s going to love life. She’s going to love it and live it to the fullest. She’ll have your dimples and body structure. God help me, I see a lot of scared young men in our future. You ready for that? I hope you like guns ‘cause we’re going to start investing so that we can keep the boys away. I hope she sings like you, Chloe. I’m going to teach her to ride a bike and play guitar. If you think for one second you’re going to teach her how to ride that damn bull, even for fun, you’re sadly mistaken.”

  Her eyes are shining brightly with unshed tears. We can hear screaming officers, screeching sirens, and finally, gun shots.

  “We’re going to dance in the rain and jump in puddles. We’ll get her a puppy, whatever kind she wants and name it after a Disney character. We’ll teach her how a woman is supposed to be treated by me setting the example. I’m going to shower you both with love and devotion. I’m going to make sure that every day is spent putting a smile on your faces. My girls are going to be rotten and I’m going to be the cause—” The yelling stopped and someone beats on the driver’s side window. We all scream and cower, waiting for Jay and her men to pull us from our vehicles. But it doesn’t come. Instead, it’s a man dressed in black wearing a bulletproof vest, telling us it’s safe to come out.

  I pop my head up first and take in my surroundings slowly. There are four guys, face down in the grass, being handcuffed. An ambulance is just pulling up to the house and two men come flying out of the back of th
e vehicle, pulling a stretcher alongside of them. They stop behind the sedan and I can’t see what they are doing. After a few moments, they roll an unconscious Jay into the back of the vehicle and speed off.

  “Ahhhh!” Chloe screams from her crouched position on the floor. I hit the unlock button on the door quickly and turn to her.

  “It’s okay. Let me help you back into your seat. It’s over,” I breathe out a rush of air until I notice she’s not moving. I reach across the seat and she screams again, clutching her stomach.

  “What’s the matter?” I panic. “Chloe, talk to me.”

  “I fucking would if I could,” she growls out through her teeth. She screams again and I yell for someone to call an ambulance.

  “You have to talk to me. What’s going on? Is it the baby?” The words fire out of my mouth, one right after the other. Her face is plastered with annoyance and pain.

  “Stop fucking talking!” She screams in anger, then again in agony. The sound of sirens reaches my ears. I jump out of the car and race around the front to the passenger side not, caring about what’s going on around me. I sling the door open the same time a paramedic reaches my side.

  “Sir, step aside,” he demands. I do as I’m asked, but I don’t like it. There’s a flurry of activity going on around me. Catledge comes up to me.

  “Are you going to the hospital?” I look at him like he’s fucking stupid, of course, I’m going to the hospital.

  “I’ll have an officer escort the ambulance. I’ll be along shortly to explain everything.” I hadn’t had a chance to really process everything, but now that he mentions it, I want to know how all this came to a head.

  Another paramedic joins in getting Chloe out of the Jeep and onto a stretcher. “Someone’s going to have to stay here and give a statement to the police. I’ll stick around, too.” Catledge tells us.

  “Keys are in the ignition,” I yell to Brady as I race across the yard with Chloe.

  The medics get Chloe in the back of the ambulance and we head off toward the hospital. They are firing medical terms back and forth, but none of it means anything to me until I hear the word labor. Chloe’s in labor! I quickly add up the months, but I can’t be right, it’s too soon for Skylar to come.

  My blood thins and rushes through my veins. I begin to pray harder than I can ever remember praying that everything turns out okay. I make a million promises to God, swearing that I will get my stuff together if he lets us make it through this. I just got her back, I can’t lose her again.

  We arrive at the hospital in record time and are taken into the ER. Chloe is then switched from the gurney to a wheelchair. Don’t they know she’s fixin’ to have a baby? She can’t give birth sitting in a chair. I’m about to tell them this when a nurse with charcoal colored hair comes bouncing down the hall with a huge grin on her face.

  “Hi, momma! You ready to have this baby?” she asks Chloe this like she’s come in for a checkup or something.

  “It hurts,” Chloe cries.

  “We’ll get all that taken care of. Are you the father?”

  I nod eagerly as we start moving through the emergency. At the end of the hall is a set of elevator doors. The nurse pushes the up arrow and it takes forever for the cart to get to us. After climbing in and riding up, we go through a set of double doors and Chloe is crying hysterically.

  The nurse seems to finally notice her distress and picks up the pace. We enter a large hospital suite. The bed is situated in the middle of the room, there’s a vinyl couch against the wall next to it and a TV mounted on the wall in front of it. A large, white contraption that looks like a heating lamp with a clear basket and a ton of buttons is pushed against the wall between the bed and the bathroom.

  Another nurse runs into the room to assist getting Chloe undressed and into the bed. Once she’s on her back, she seems to calm a bit.

  “I’m going to check to see how far you are dilated then we need to do a bit of paperwork.” Chloe just cuts her eyes at the poor nurse. The nurse takes it in stride and just shakes it off, I assume she deals with this sort of thing on a regular basis.

  “It looks like we are already at eight centimeters. So give me the unabridged version of your medical history. Daddy, you can fill out the paperwork for us.” The mention of paperwork summons the other nurse. She hands me a clipboard and pen. I opt to stand next to Chloe and start filling it in. I’ve had to do this before, so I’m familiar with what sort information they need.

  I fly through the papers, filling in every box while the nurses insert an IV into Chloe’s arms and hook her to different monitors. The only thing I’m not able to do is sign her name. Chloe reaches out a hand for the pen and starts to sign her name, but a contraction comes and slams her hard. The pen drags across the page when she cringes.

  Chloe’s opted for no drugs, and that includes the epidural because of her past medication issues. She explains to the nurse that if she takes anything, she’s scared she’ll relapse or get in trouble with the state. She has no problem telling the nurse that she OD’d only to find out that she was pregnant. I’m a little surprised that she revealed so much about her situation.

  I had actually not given any thought about the state coming in and trying to take Skylar from us, and I’m instantly worried.

  “Chloe, what’s going to happen? Is the state going to step in?” I ask her.

  “I was releaseeeee,” she screams again. After a moment, she starts speaking again. “I’ve done everything they asked and I’ve been clean since the incident. They’re not going to try to take herrrrrrr,” she screams again.

  “Let me check you again, Ms. Thomas.” The nurse reaches her slender hand between Chloe’s legs and smiles. “Well, are you ready to meet you little one?”

  Chloe grits her teeth together but nods yes. I grab her hand as the nurse instructs her to push. With a deep intake of determination, Chloe growls, dips her head into her chest, and pushes, hard. Her face turns a blood red color, veins bulge out of her neck and face. Her hand is wrapped around mine like a vice, crushing my bones.

  “Push, baby, push. You’re doing great.” I try to encourage her. She finally takes a breath and looks at me.

  “What the fuck does it look like I’m doing?” I’m glad looks don’t kill, ‘cause if they did, I would be on the floor right now.

  “Okay, sweetie, one more big push; you’re doing great!” Why the hell is she allowed to be encouraging? Chloe screams in pain and pushes. I watch in complete fascination as my daughter with a head of dark brown hair is pulled from her mother.

  “Come cut the cord,” the nurse instructs me.

  Chloe releases me and I take two steps over and do as I’m told. She’s beautiful and I was right, she looks just like her mother. She’s perfect. There’s no noise in the room. Not a sound and that scares the shit out of me. Aren’t babies supposed to cry when they are born? There’s no infant cries filling the room, why isn’t she crying?

  I glance at Chloe and her tired face expresses the same concern. The nurses have Skylar in the white contraption, I’m torn between going to her and staying with Chloe.

  “Go to her!” Chloe screams at me. She doesn’t have to tell me twice; I sprint to my daughter. The nurses are sucking liquid from her mouth and nose. I reach out and touch her hand, not caring if I’m in the way or not, I need to feel her. When my finger touches her little hand, I don’t expect anything to happen, but the moment my skin touches hers, the connection between a father and daughter is there and strong.

  Skylar’s tiny fingers wrap around my pinky, and in that instant, I know I’m a goner. She just wrapped those little fingers around my heart. Wait, she moved! She’s okay! Her little china-doll face turns toward mine and her eyes open. She stares straight through me.

  The nurses have her bundled in a blanket and hand her to me. It all played out in slow motion before my eyes. Skylar’s head turning to me and looking at me for the first time, the way she contently took in her surroundings with her b
eautiful blue eyes. I can’t begin to describe how emotional it was to watch those bright, clear, innocent eyes taking in everything around her in her first moment. If I didn’t believe in miracles, I do now because that’s what this is. This is the miracle of life and I was lucky enough to witness it unfold right before me. SHE. IS. PERFECT.

  The nurse hands her to me and suddenly, I’m petrified.

  “It’s okay. You won’t break her,” the red-haired nurse tells me. I cradle my arms and the nurse places her in. Fireflies, butterflies, fairies and whatever other happy creature you see in cartoons flutter out of my heart like and explosion of love and protectiveness. The happiest tears I have ever shed roll down my cheeks.

  I look up at Chloe and smile so big it hurts my face.

  “She’s perfect,” I tell her. I take three cautious steps until I reach her bedside. Chloe puts her arms out like I had done mine and I gently lay Skylar in her arms.

  “Oh God! She’s beautiful! She looks like you!” she cries.

  There’s a knock at the door and a man in blue scrubs walks in, holding a metal clipboard.

  “Ah, I see I’m too late. How are we holding up?” he asks the nurse.

  “Mother and baby are perfect.” They begin discussing that Chloe went into preterm labor and what the circumstances were. He approaches the bed and extends his hand. I take it.

  “I’m Doctor Taylor. I was in surgery with another mother and came as fast as I was able. Congratulations on the birth of your new baby.” He kindly smiles at Chloe.

  “I need to examine mommy, so now would be a good time to take baby to the nursery to get cleaned up and checked out. She seems to be in good health, but let’s get all of this out of the way so we can get your baby back to you.” The doctor reaches for Skylar and I don’t like it. It’s irrational, but I don’t want anyone but Chloe and me to touch her, now or ever. She’s mine. She’s ours.