by Tia Siren
“What about the vomiting? Can you give her something?” I asked, knowing the answer but not wanting to sound pushy. Doctors made the worst patients, and even worse spouses of patients.
The doctor said he would see about giving her something.
When we were alone, I put my hand on her forehead, pushing back her hair. “I’m sorry you’re sick. I wished I would have known. I could have helped you earlier.”
She made a slight move of her head. A tear slid out from under her closed eyes. I used the pad of my thumb to wipe it away before kissing her forehead.
“I’m cold,” she whispered.
I grabbed the thin sheet at the bottom of the bed and covered her. “They’ll get you feeling better real soon,” I promised.
After waiting for what felt like an eternity, the doctor finally returned, looking far cheerier than the situation dictated.
“Well?” I asked, a little short due to my frustration at being unable to help her.
“Food poisoning. There is no sign of an infection. The violent vomiting, weakness, and dehydration all point to food poisoning. For now it is going to be rest and liquids. You seem to have a pretty severe case, but I don’t think it warrants any further testing unless we can’t get things to settle down.”
“Did you run a pregnancy test as well?” I asked, knowing it tended to be standard protocol in women with Lara’s symptoms.
“No,” he said, looking at the tablet he was holding.
“I’d like a pregnancy test done,” I stated.
“No,” Lara moaned. “I’m not pregnant.”
I looked at the doctor, letting him know in no uncertain terms to run the damn test.
“We can do that. We’ll need to keep you here, I would say overnight to get you rehydrated and make sure you can keep fluids down. We’ll have you moved up to a room here shortly.”
“Overnight?” she groaned.
I grabbed her hand. “It’s okay. You’re in pretty rough shape. They need to get you rehydrated before you go home.”
Another tear slid down her face. I knew she felt miserable and was emotional because of it. Remarkably, we were moved to a private room relatively quickly. I took up residence in the comfortable recliner next to her bed. I wasn’t leaving her, even though she told me to several times.
It was in the early hours of the morning when the doctor coming on shift stopped by.
“Congratulations,” he said, walking into the room.
I wiped the sleep from my eyes. “Excuse me?” I whispered, not wanting to wake Lara. She’d had a rough night and had only fallen asleep a couple hours ago.
“Your wife—she’s pregnant,” he said, checking the chart to make sure he had the right room.
“What!” Lara exclaimed, clearly not sleeping anymore.
I grinned but quickly wiped it off my face when she glared at me. I wasn’t sure if she was pissed because the doctor had called me her husband or because she was pregnant.
“The pregnancy test we ran, it came back positive,” the doctor repeated.
“Oh boy,” Lara said, clearly in shock by the news.
Chapter 33
Lara
I couldn’t be sure I was hearing right. The past day had been a blur. I blamed the ice cream of course. Ever since I’d had those few bites of ice cream, I’d felt as if someone had taken a carving knife to the inside of my stomach and forced the contents up and out through my mouth. It was extremely unpleasant. I had barely had the strength to call in sick. Kali had promised to stop by, and she may have, but I never made it to the door.
Then, I awoke to hear a doctor tell Mason, my husband, I was pregnant. This had to be a dream. I would wake up again and I would be back on the cold bathroom floor—any second now.
“Lara?” I heard Mason’s voice.
I squeezed my eyes shut and then opened them again, expecting to see the bright blue walls of my bathroom.
Nope. There was the doctor, and now Mason was standing beside the bed I was lying in, holding my hand.
“Lara, are you okay?” Mason asked again.
“Yes.”
“Okay, well, we’re going to keep you here a few more hours. The nurse said you were vomiting most of the night. Let’s see if we can get that tummy to settle down before we let you go,” the doctor said before leaving the room.
I looked at Mason, “I’m going to be sick,” I muttered.
He sprang into action and held me up as I retched into the basin over and over. He rubbed my back throughout the whole horrible episode. Once I felt I had completely emptied my stomach, I leaned back. Mason went into the bathroom, grabbed a cool washcloth, and sponged my forehead and face while I lay there trying to force my stomach to behave.
Fortunately, I only puked a couple more times. Each time, Mason was right there, whispering comforting words and rubbing my back.
“Can I please go home now?” I asked for what was probably the tenth time.
He looked at me and finally caved in. “I’ll see if I can get you released. Sit tight.”
This was when it was a good thing to have a doctor for a husband.
He came back into the room. “You’re being freed, but I will be taking care of you at home.”
When I opened my mouth to protest, he held up a finger. “Either come with me or you have to stay here another night.”
“Fine. Let’s go,” I muttered, not at all happy to have to spend another night with him.
“They’ll be in soon to get you discharged.”
We sat there in silence while we waited for the nurse to come in with my paperwork. Once I was free and in his car on the way back to my house, he attempted to bring up the baby.
“Don’t. I don’t want to talk about the pregnancy or anything else.”
“Lara, please, we have to talk about this.”
“No, we don’t. I can call Kali or Brian and have one of them stay with me. You can go home. I’m sure you have people waiting on you.”
“Stop it. That isn’t the case at all.”
When we arrived at my building, I was a little embarrassed. Mason had told me how he had managed to find me.
“Bed,” he ordered when I went for the couch.
“Mason,” I protested.
“Nope. Bed or the hospital.”
I growled and stomped my foot but headed for my bedroom. I was tired, and bed did sound better than the couch. The last two nights I had slept very little. I was just happy not to have puked for a few hours. Small blessings I supposed.
Mason was behind me and quickly straightened the covers and helped me get into bed. He tucked the blankets around me and left. When he came back in, he had a Gatorade with a straw.
“Where’d that come from?” I asked, knowing damn well I didn’t have that in my fridge when I’d left.
“Kali and Brian brought some supplies over while we were waiting to be discharged.”
“Oh,” I murmured.
He had thought of everything.
“Do you want to try to sleep, or would you prefer to watch television? Or maybe we could talk?”
“No. I don’t want to talk about anything.”
He grabbed the chair from the corner of the room and dragged it to my bed. He situated it so he was facing me.
“You don’t have to talk. It’s probably better if you don’t, but I need to.”
“Mason, please.” He was shaking his head the whole time I objected.
“No. I’m going to say what I’ve been trying to say for two days.”
He reached for my hand, but I yanked it away. In the hospital I had been too weak to do anything about it. I was feeling better and more like my old self now, and my old self was not happy with him.
“Lara, that woman, she isn’t anyone you need to worry about. I used to see her off and on before I met you. Well, not met you, but you know what I mean. I will admit I had sex with her, but not since I met you. I told her I didn’t want to see her anymore. The whole thing was supposed
to be casual. It was a booty call. She understood that. Hell, she is the one who established that in the first place. I wasn’t the only guy she was seeing,” he explained.
“Nice,” I said, rolling my eyes in disgust.
“She wouldn’t take no for an answer. I even changed gyms so I could avoid her. That day, she showed up at my place. I hadn’t seen her or talked to her since I left the gym. She threw herself at me and kissed me. I pushed her away. I don’t want her, Lara. I want you. I only want you.”
Looking into his beautiful green eyes, I wanted to believe him, but I knew he would hurt me again if I let him back into my life.
“Mason, I’m sorry to hear you are having trouble with the woman, but I want no part of it. We are over. We both had some fun, but I have no interest in getting involved with a man who could casually have sex with random women.”
It physically hurt me to say those words, but I had to do what was best for me and my unborn child. I couldn’t be involved in some yo-yo romance where I was constantly bawling or furious over something he had done. It was best to cut ties before it went any further.
“Lara, I’m not like that. Sally was a one-time thing. I’ve been single a long time and I do enjoy sex. You have always had my heart, Lara. I couldn’t be in a long-term relationship with anyone but I longed for female companionship. I’m not the only man to have a casual relationship where sex is the only reason for it.”
I shook my head, not able to accept his words. “I can’t, Mason. I just can’t. I want you to leave. I’ll ask Kali to come over. You being here isn’t right. I don’t want you to waste any more time here. We are never going to happen.”
He ran his hands over his face and through his hair. There were dark circles under his eyes and a five o’clock shadow covered his face. He hadn’t been home since he’d found me last night. I felt my heart soften for a brief second before I quickly hardened it against him.
“Fine. I’ll go once someone gets here, but, Lara, you know I’m not the man you are painting me to be. I wasn’t the man Brian imagined me to be all those years ago either. You know me. I know you do.”
“It wasn’t my imagination. I saw what I saw. She was kissing you, Mason!”
“Exactly. She kissed me. I pushed her away. I’m not Mitchel. I’m not the kind of man who cheats. You can’t think I am like him. You know better than that. Don’t judge me based on his sins.”
“I’m not judging you. Go fuck her. I don’t care. We are not a couple. We are not in a relationship. You can still keep your little floozy on the side.”
He stood up, pushing the chair across the floor when he did.
“You are so wrong, Lara. I don’t know how I can ever change your mind or make you understand that I’m not like him. I honestly don’t think I can, and that’s too bad, because I am a good guy. I would take care of you. You were only just getting to know the man I am today.”
He was looking at me, pleading with his eyes, but I refused to answer him. I had thought I was getting to know him, but then I found him with another woman’s tongue in his mouth. That didn’t exactly scream faithful boyfriend.
I saw the defeat and pain on his face as he walked out the door. I had gotten my way. I should have been thrilled, but all I felt was profound sadness and emptiness. I closed my eyes. I was so tired of fighting with him and myself. Life and love shouldn’t have been this hard.
The next thing I knew, Kali was beside me.
“Hey you,” she whispered. “How are you feeling?”
“Better.” I looked around her to see if Mason was there.
“He’s gone,” she said in a soft voice. “It’s just me. Brian dropped me off.”
“Good,” I said, and broke into tears. I sobbed uncontrollably. Kali went into the bathroom and came back with several tissues.
“Oh, Lara, why are you doing this to yourself?”
“I didn’t make myself sick,” I argued.
“Not that. Him. I know you’re not crying because you are sick. You are crying because you kicked his butt out of here.”
“I don’t want him here. He was only here because he’s the one who found me. I would have never allowed him to take me to the hospital or stay with me if I had been stronger and in my right mind,” I protested.
“Are you sure about that? It seems like he is truly sorry. To me, it sounds like it was all a big misunderstanding. I think you owe him the benefit of the doubt. After all, the man stayed with you all night. I think that has to count for something.”
I shook my head. “I’m pregnant,” I moaned.
She sat back in the chair. “Oh my god, Lara! That’s amazing!”
“No, it’s not.”
“Lara, you are a fucking crazy woman. You were crying ’cause you weren’t and now you’re crying because you are! What the hell?”
I blinked, stunned by her outburst. I had expected sympathy, not anger. “I’m not crazy.”
“You must be.”
“Yes, I wanted to be pregnant, but now what if I’m pregnant with his baby? He knows I’m pregnant. He could make my life a living hell if he wanted to.”
“I don’t think he would do that. The man seems very concerned for your well-being.”
I shrugged. “I don’t know. It’s such a mess.”
“Girl, the man stuck by your side through what had to be one of the worst nights of your life, and let me tell you, you aren’t looking like a thousand bucks at the moment. He was willing to stay here again, taking care of you, holding your hair while you puked and the whole nine yards. That screams keeper to me, and I know you would agree if you weren’t batshit crazy.”
“Oh god, I must look awful,” I groaned.
She smiled and took my hand. “That is the least of your problems. I was only trying to make you see how special he is for sticking by you. I hope Brian is half the man Mason is.”
“He is. He’ll be good to you.”
She leaned back in the chair and relaxed a bit while I closed my eyes and thought about what she’d said.
Chapter 34
Mason
My eyes felt like sandpaper had been rubbed over them. It was from too many nights in a row of no sleep. That combined with the stress of it all left me feeling like I had been hit by a truck. It wasn’t a good combination. I didn’t want to go anywhere or do anything. I had ordered some groceries and a lot of beer from the local market to be delivered. That was how lazy I was feeling. I had zero energy to do anything except sit on my couch, drink beer, and be angry. A little angry and a lot disappointed.
While sitting there, drinking my beer, I heard the doorbell. I didn’t want to see anyone and ignored it.
“Mason, it’s me, Brian. Open the door, man.”
I groaned. The last thing I wanted was a confrontation with Lara’s big brother. It wouldn’t go well. I was in no mood to be nice or try to keep the peace. If I didn’t have Lara in my life, there was no point in me trying anyway.
“Go away, Brian.”
“Open the door, Mason.”
“No. I don’t want to hear it.”
He rang the doorbell over and over and over.
“Dammit!” I shouted and jumped off the couch, unlocked the door, and yanked it open. “What? If you’re here to bitch at me, punch me, or laugh at me, just get it done and go away.”
Brian smiled and held up a case of Heineken beer. “None of the above. Come on, let me in.”
I stood to the side and he went straight into my kitchen, placed the case of beer in the fridge on the shelf next to what I already had, and grabbed out two cold ones.
“What’s going on, Brian?”
“We need to talk.”
I groaned. “Man, I already told you, I’m not in the mood for a lecture. Say what you have to say and then go. Take your beer with you.”
“It’s not like that. Kali told me what’s been going on the past couple days. I believe you, and I am really happy you were there for her.”
I nodded,
waiting for the other shoe to drop. I was sure he had to know about the pregnancy as well. “Thanks,” I mumbled.
“I also heard Lara got a positive pregnancy test and you may have had a hand in that.”
I nearly choked on the beer I had just guzzled. “Um, that’s a long story, and I really can’t talk about the specifics. You’ll have to get the details from her. That is her business.”
Brian shook his head. “I did. I think. I had no idea what she was doing.”
I looked at him with confusion. Did he know about the fertility treatments, or was he referring to me purposely trying to get her pregnant? This was dangerous territory. “She wants a baby.”
That was a safe statement. I was sure Brian had to know that much. I didn’t want to divulge how she was going about getting that baby.
“So I figured out, but damn, I had no idea she was willing to pay so much money to try to get pregnant. That little fucker Mitchel really did a number on her. I’d like to beat his ass one day.”
I shrugged, not wanting to admit my real part in the potential pregnancy. “He isn’t a nice guy, that’s for sure.”
“Is it yours?” he blurted out.
“Is what mine?” I asked, trying to play dumb.
“The baby. Is she pregnant with some random donor’s kid or is it yours?”
I shrugged my shoulders. I truly didn’t know. “I don’t know. I assume you know she hasn’t actually seen a doctor for that. It was only a positive test. Right now the goal is to get her through the food poisoning. By the way, how’s she doing?”
“Much better. Kali stayed with her last night. I stopped by this morning and hung out while Kali opened up the shop and got the employees set up for the day.”
“Good. I’m glad she’s on the mend.”
“She booted me out and said she didn’t need a babysitter.”
I smiled. “Sounds like she is definitely feeling better.”
He released a long breath, and I braced myself for the coming lecture. “She’s making a mistake. I know that and told her so, which is probably why she kicked me out, but I tried. I believe you when you say there was nothing happening between you and that Sally girl. I got your back, man. I do, and I will keep trying to persuade her to see reason.”