“So you never told him?”
“No.”
“You are going to tell him though, right?”
“At some point.”
“Megan, he has a right to know.” What was with him? It seemed like he constantly took Matt’s side. Irritation must have shown on her face. He reached across the table and took her hand. “Megs, I’m sorry. I know you’ve had a rough day and I’m not trying to make it worse. I guess I just see things from a man’s point of view.”
She smiled and squeezed his hand letting him know that she understood. Her mind turned to Matt again. She knew he had a right to know but she didn’t know when or how to tell him. The one thing she knew for sure…she definitely wasn’t going back to New York!
****
Matt stepped out of the shower and wrapped a towel around his hips. He heard Carly speaking to someone but the door muffled the sounds so he couldn’t understand what she said. He quickly dressed and walked through finding Carly standing there in her T-shirt and panties. Surely, she didn’t answer the door dressed like that! He shook his head a little and smashed his lips to a thin hard line. “Who was at the door?” he asked, getting Carly’s attention.
She stared at him before saying, “Nobody.” He knew she was lying, but he couldn’t think of anyone who would visit.
“Seriously, Carly, who was at the door?” What was wrong with her? I let her stay the night and she’s acting like a bitch!
“Nobody important. Don’t worry about it.”
He couldn’t help what came out of his mouth; his temper was high right now. She knew how to push his buttons and that was precisely what she wanted to do. In the past, a fight always led to sex, but not this time. “Carly, get dressed. Get your fucking shit and get the hell out! Don’t come back.” He said with a stern voice and crossed arms.
Her face fell as she said, “Can I at least shower?”
He knew he was acting like an asshole when he answered, “No. You can shower when you get home tonight. I want you out in ten minutes.”
He needed to leave by then to head to the office. He still had some paperwork to finish and then he planned to visit his mother. He had neglected her lately and even though he had a good excuse, it still weighed heavily on him.
That evening, he hailed a cab and headed to his mother’s apartment. Letting himself in, he wasn’t prepared for the scene that lay in front of him and he panicked. The apartment was dirty, with dishes littered everywhere. She never let dishes set. “Mom?” he called out. Nothing. “Mom, where are you?” he called again. Still nothing. Sweat beaded on his forehead as his heart raced and he could hear it echo in his ears as he started searching every room. He found her stretched out on the bed, and for a minute, he feared she might be dead. He gulped as he walked over to her. When he reached out to touch her, he felt her skin hot with fever. “Oh, Mom,” his voice broke.
She roused a little, and as she opened her cloudy eyes, she barely whispered, “Matty, is that you?”
“Yeah, Mom, it’s me. You should have told me you were sick.” Worry evident in his voice. She hadn’t bathed in a while and had a stench about her. Not that he cared. He scooped her frail body up in his strong arms.
“I didn’t want to bother you Matty, you’re a busy man.” That one sentence seemed to take a lot of her strength.
“Shhh, don’t talk, Mom. I’m taking you to the hospital.” He carried her outside where he enlisted the help of a stranger to hail a cab.
When they arrived at the emergency room, the staff didn’t waste any time. They took her straight back to an examining room, which made him more fearful. She was obviously as sick as he thought if they didn’t make them wait. They took blood, did a chest x-ray and while they waited for the results, he sat by his mother’s side and held her hand.
A short time later, a young man came in dressed in a white coat. “Mr. Bryant, I’m Dr. Smith.” Matt stood and shook his extended hand.
“How is she?” he asked, needing an answer.
“Mrs. Bry…”
“Maggie, she likes for everyone to call her Maggie.” Matt interrupted.
“Okay, Maggie is very sick woman. Her white count is extremely high, she has Pneumonia in both of her lungs and she’s dehydrated. We need to admit her to the hospital.” Matt felt his pounding heart as tears filled his eyes making them look glossy.
“Will she be okay?” He had to know!
“I don’t know. It depends on how well she responds to the medicine. It’s a good thing you got her here when you did. I’m not sure she would have lasted another day or so. As it is right now, she needs to be in ICU.”
Matt swallowed hard, as he choked out, “Thanks doctor.” He sat back down beside his mother and took her hand. The doctor just nodded before leaving. As he sat rubbing the back of her hand with his thumb, he said in a broken voice, “Mom, you should have called me. Don’t you know that you’re more important than work?” Of course she never answered, but he didn’t expect her too.
An hour later, they transferred her up to the ICU, but wouldn’t let him in. He had to sit in the waiting room like everyone else until visiting hours came. He thought about calling Colin but decided to wait until he knew if she’d respond to the medicine. He walked over, poured a cup of coffee and grabbed a pack of crackers from the refreshment table that the hospital provided for the family. It was 11 pm and he had only grabbed a light snack before heading over to his mother’s house that evening. He didn’t want to run to the cafeteria or anywhere else. The nurses told him that as soon as they got his mother settled they’d let him back to see her one last time tonight.
Two cups of coffee and three packs of crackers later he heard the nurse call for him. As she led him to ICU room 3, his heart broke as he saw his mother lying there with an IV stuck in her hand, EKG wires coming out of her gown and a mask over her face. Her color looked a little better though. He walked in, but with so many wires and machines, he was afraid to touch her.
“I’m Nancy, your mother’s nurse for tonight. Dr. Smith told you she has double pneumonia. Right now we are keeping an eye on her oxygen level while we let the medicine do its job. When she came in tonight her oxygen level was very low. We have her on 100% that’s going into the facemask right now and she’s maintaining at 92% saturation. We don’t want her level to fall any lower than 92. If it does we’ll have to put her on a ventilator.” Matt was not ashamed as a tear slipped from him eye. He couldn’t lose her, not now. He wasn’t ready to let her go. “I’ll let you visit for a few minutes. If you have any questions or need anything, I’ll be right outside.”
“Thank you,” he said as he took a seat in the chair beside her bed. He cried as he did the one thing he hadn’t done since his dad passed away, he bowed his head and asked the Lord to help his mother. He was never very religious but his mother was. She always believed in power of prayer and he was out of options. He sat there with his head bowed, holding her hand until they asked him to leave.
Two days had past and she was finally getting some better. It was touch and go for a while but the medicine finally started working and he could see some improvement. Her oxygen saturation was up to 96% even though she was still on 100% oxygen. They were going to start weaning her off it. He hadn’t talked to anyone since he found her Friday night, not even Megan. He tried calling once, but it went straight to voicemail and he hadn’t left a message. He kept his phone off to reserve his battery so it wouldn’t go dead. He hadn’t left the hospital, his clothes were dirty and he had the start of a good beard. At least the hospital gave him a toothbrush, toothpaste and some deodorant. He decided to call Colin, let him know what happened and ask him to stay with his mom so he could run home and shower.
Turning on his almost dead cell phone, he tapped Colin’s picture and waited for him to answer. “Good morning, Matt.” His lips tipped up in the first smile he had all weekend as he thought of how Colin answered the phone. It wasn’t too long ago when he’d just say, speak.
“Morning. I’m sorry to bother you at work.”
“Nonsense, what’s up?”
“It’s Mom, she’s in the hospital.”
“What happened?” Colin interrupted, sounding concerned.
“I found her at home. She was in really bad shape. The doctor said she had double pneumonia and they admitted her to ICU. I didn’t want to call you until I knew she’d be okay. She’s finally showing some improvement.”
“How long has she been there?”
“Since Friday night.” Matt waited, but there was only silence on the other end of the phone. After it became awkward he asked, “Are you still there?”
“Just trying to control my temper. If she’s been there since Friday night then why the hell are you calling me on Monday? She’s the reason I turned out halfway descent. Don’t you think I would have wanted to be there with you?” Colin was mad! Matt easily heard it in his tone of voice.
“I’m sorry. I just wanted to wait until I knew she’d be okay.”
“That implies that they thought she might not make it.” The way Colin said it made him feel like an asshole. If Colin was this mad now, what would have happened if she died?
“I’m sorry, Colin. I guess I wasn’t thinking straight.”
He heard Colin take a couple of deep breaths before saying, “Damn straight you weren’t thinking. Next time you had better call me. I’ll be there soon. What hospital are you in?”
Matt gave Colin all the information he needed and then waited for him to arrive. He should have called him Friday night.
Not long later, Colin walked into the waiting room and found Matt sitting by himself. He looked up as he neared and Colin said, “You look like shit, Matt.”
“Thanks,” he mumbled. “Where’s Carlana? I thought she’d be with you.” Colin took the chair next to him.
“She can’t come. If they thought Maggie wasn’t going to make it, she would have risked it and worn a mask, but she really needs to avoid hospitals, especially ICU.”
“Sorry, I forgot about the lung thing she has.”
“That’s okay, how’s Maggie?”
“She’s doing a little better. Her oxygen level is up more so they’re going to start weaning her off of the oxygen.”
“Good. That sounds good…promising.”
“Do you mind staying here with her while I run home and take a quick shower and change clothes?”
“Sure, no problem, do whatever you need to do Matt. I’ll be here. I cleared my schedule for today.”
“Thanks, man.”
He headed home for a well-needed shower and a change of clothes. He knew Colin would let him know if anything happened but he still didn’t like being away from the hospital too long. He needed to call Derick and make sure everything was running smoothly at work without him and grab any paperwork that needed his approval. He could that from the hospital.
An hour and a half later, Matt felt human again. He packed a bag to keep with him, grabbed an extra battery and charging cord for his cell and headed back to the hospital. He tried to call Megan but it went straight to voicemail again. That bothered him even though he knew she was at work. He was still thinking about Megan when he found Colin sitting in the waiting room.
“You look better,” Colin said.
“Thanks,” he said distractedly.
“What’s wrong?” Colin asked while studying Matt.
He thought about answering Colin. He hadn’t said anything to him or Carlana about Megan. He didn’t know how Carlana would take the news…that he had slept with her best friend and then left. He was thinking of all the scenarios trying to figure out the best way to tell him when something Colin said caught his attention. “What did you just ask?” He slowly turned his whole body to look at Colin.
“I asked, if this is about the girl who spent Thursday night?”
How the hell did Colin know about Carly? His mind was spinning and he knew he was missing something important. “No, and how did you know Carly spent the night?” Matt stared straight at Colin, waiting.
“Ah, Carly was there. Are you two back together?”
“No, she just showed up Thursday night and wanted to get back together. I told her no. She didn’t have anywhere to go and it was late so I let her sleep on the couch. She headed home Friday morning. Was that you that came by?”
He watched Colin have some kind of internal debate with himself. That never happened and as fascinating as he found it, it made him more nervous. Matt finally asked, “What the hell is wrong with you?”
“I’m trying to decide if I want to endure Carlana’s wrath.” He looked at him with troubled eyes but Matt knew the moment he came to a decision. “Megan was here Friday morning.”
“What! Is she still here? Why didn’t she come and see me?” He jumped up, clearly hurt by Megan’s actions.
“She did.” Matt looked down at Colin and slowly plopped down in the chair beside him. “Carly answered the door.”
“Oh God! Why didn’t she just ask for me and I could have explained everything to her?” he asked with an anguished voice.
“She did.” Matt’s head shot up as he looked at Colin. “She had on a T- shirt and a pair of panties and then told Megan you were in the shower. You can guess what Megan thought.”
“Shit! That’s why she won’t answer the phone!”
“No, she accidently left it in the limo. Carlana didn’t find it until the jet had already left.”
Matt’s head was spinning as he tried to figure everything out. Something felt off though. He went over everything in his head. Megan came to see him Friday morning and then Colin flew her home. But when? How long did she stay? He must have accidently asked out loud because Colin answered, “Carlana picked her up at the airport early Friday morning and she left that afternoon.”
Matt still tried to process the information but something was still bothering him. Why did she not tell him she was coming? “She took off work to come here.” He finally realized. “Why was she here, Colin? Tell me everything. Please, I need to know.”
“You care about her don’t you?”
“More than you know, so please tell me.”
“Okay. There are two things you need to know…no…three things. The first is that I was sworn to secrecy and Carlana’s going to kill me.” Matt wanted to smile but he couldn’t. He knew this was serious but he had no idea what Colin was about to tell him. “Second, Megan’s pregnant.”
“What!” Matt’s breathing became ragged as the implications of what Colin had just said hit him full force. Megan was pregnant. She came to tell him and found Carly there instead. He had to talk to her somehow, someway. He couldn’t leave the hospital with his mom in ICU and he had no way to get in touch with her. Hell, he didn’t even know the name of the school where she worked. He knew she taught third grade, so maybe he could call every elementary school in the area.
“And the third thing,” Colin said, “She has a stalker.” Matt’s eyes shot to Colin’s as fear showed clearly on his face.
“What do you mean she has a stalker?”
“Exactly that. She’s been getting flowers.”
“I know, from her ex.” Matt said, cutting him off.
“Half dead, black, flowers with blood on them. And she’s had little things at school go missing.” Matt’s face paled. As head of a security company, he already knew what could happen if things escalated. Megan might not know it, but she was in serious danger. Colin continued, “I told her to call the police as soon as she got home and I went over everything pertinent such as, to change her routine, don’t go out at night alone and if she gets anything else, don’t touch it and call the police.”
Matt paced the room while his mind spiraled out of control in a downward tailspin as his world came crashing down. He couldn’t leave the hospital right now, not until his mom was out of the woods, but Megan, the mother of his child could be hurt by some nut job if he waited. He needed to talk to her, make sure she was okay. But ho
w? What did she think of him now? Her ex-husband cheated on her; did she feel the same why about him? There were so many questions and he had no way of getting answers. He finally plopped back down, burying his head in his hands. He eventually looked at Colin, and said, “What am I going to do?”
Chapter 9
****
Megan woke up early Sunday morning. As she lay snuggled in the bed, she could feel the heat radiating from Eric’s body. They currently shared his king sized bed, since he only had the one bedroom. She refused to make him sleep on the small sofa and he refused to let her sleep there in her condition.
Rolling over, she noticed Eric staring at her. “What?” she asked.
“I never thought I’d see the day that I’d be sharing my bed with a woman on a regular basis.” She laughed as he grinned.
“Is it that weird?”
“Hmm, actually it’s not. I love you, Megs.”
“I love you too, Eric. It’s nice to not be alone right now.” She smiled then rubbed her belly. “What am I going to do?” They lay in bed, facing each other.
“You’re going to stay with me until the police catch your admirer, as you like to call him.”
“Shut up,” she said playfully as he grinned and rolled his eyes.
“And then you’re going to tell Matt about the baby.” Her smile faltered. “Because it’s the right thing to do. And I’m going to be by your side the whole time.”
She smiled a little, “Thanks Eric,” then sighed. “Right now I’m going to get ready for Church. Why don’t you come with me?” She asked, but already knew the answer.
He chuckled, “I think I’ll pass.” She didn’t try to convince him. She liked living near her family but she didn’t like the closed mindedness that came with small towns. She never did understand some of the things Pastor Martin preached about and sometimes she only went because her mother expected her too.
Finding Megan (The Kiser Series Book 2) Page 8