by Hill, Jamie
The doctor asked, “You don’t remember that?”
“Not really.” She shook her head. “I remember heading for the edge. Maybe I blacked out after that.”
“Catlin.” The doctor looked down at her chart “Can you tell me your address?”
“1428 Hazelnut.”
“Do you know what day it is?” the doctor continued to question her.
“Saturday, last time I checked.”
“Yes it is,” he replied. “Well, you have a concussion, but your memory seems to be intact. That’s encouraging.”
“Is my baby still okay?”
“He’s raising a ruckus in there, but he’s holding his own. Your obstetrician has been in several times. He’ll be back when I tell him you’re awake.”
She looked at the fetal monitor, then at the doctor. “My head is just pounding.”
He checked his watch. “We can give you something for the pain in a little while. I’d like Dr. Jonas to examine your first, though. Can you hold on?”
She nodded.
The doctor left, saying, “I’ll be back!”
Steve moved over to where the doctor had been, and sat on the bed. He ran his hand back through Catlin’s hair.
“You were here earlier,” she remembered.
He nodded.
“You didn’t have to come back.”
“I never left.”
“What time is it?” She looked at his watch.
He checked it. “Close to nine-thirty.”
She yawned, and tried to stretch. Every muscle and bone in her body seemed to ache. “Ohh…” she moaned.
“Can I get you anything?”
“Water?”
He filled the cup next to her bed, and held it to her mouth. She sipped, and leaned her head back again.
The doctor returned with her obstetrician.
“Well,” Dr. Jonas smiled at her. “You gave us quite a scare. That baby has been complaining ever since he got here.” He checked the monitor readings.
“It’s a boy?”
“It sure is,” Dr. Jonas replied.
“I didn’t want to know,” she murmured.
The doctor looked at Steve.
He smiled sheepishly. “Sorry.” He looked at Catlin. “I just thought you could use some good news to get your mind off ....things.”
She pointed a finger at Steve. “You wanted to know, didn’t you?”
He shrugged and stepped back while the doctor examined her. “Well, Catlin,” Dr. Jonas said “As far as I can tell, everything’s okay. We want to keep you in bed for a few days for observation, and to make sure the baby stays calm. You’re almost seven months along, and babies have lived outside the womb at that age. But he’s small, and he’ll be better off if he can stay in there another month or two.”
Catlin glanced at Steve to see if he was listening to the doctor. She could tell by the smile on his face that he heard every word.
Dr. Marcus gave her some pain medication. “This will make you sleepy. The best thing you can do right now is rest.”
“Thank you.” She settled back into her pillow. The medicine was working already, she just wanted to sleep.
Dr. Marcus looked at Steve. “You might as well get some rest, too.”
She heard him say, “I want to check on her son, but then I’ll be back.”
Catlin wanted to ask about Chris, but couldn’t seem to speak. She didn’t try and fight the meds, just closed her eyes and gave in to it.
“She’ll probably sleep through the night,” Dr. Jonas agreed with Dr. Marcus.
Steve gave Catlin a kiss on the forehead. “Just in case she doesn’t, I want to be here.”
When she woke the next morning, Catlin’s headache was not as strong, and she didn’t feel as fuzzy as she had the night before. She looked around the room, and saw Steve sitting in the chair next to her bed. “Are you still here?”
He opened his eyes. “Is that a rhetorical question?”
“Apparently.” She yawned. “Did you sleep here?”
He stretched his neck from side to side. “If you can call it sleep.” He looked at her. “So how are you feeling this morning?”
“Sore as hell. But my head feels clearer, I think. Not like I’m lost in a fog.”
“That’s good.”
Catlin needed some answers. “What are you doing here, Steve? Your wife must be furious.”
He looked down, then back up at her. “Barbara’s gone, Catlin. She went back to Kansas City.”
“Gone? Why?” She was surprised.
He shook his head. “It wasn’t working out. I knew it, the kids finally realized it, and even Barbara herself eventually admitted it.”
“I’m sorry.”
“It’s all your fault,” he teased. “You ruined me for anyone else.”
“Oh please.” Catlin rolled her eyes, and then looked at the door as Dr. Marcus walked in.
“Good morning.” He flipped through Catlin’s chart. “How’s the head today?”
“Better. It feels clearer, anyway.”
“Headache?”
“A little one. Nothing like last night.”
“Any other complaints?”
“Bed’s a little lumpy.”
Dr. Marcus tapped her chart on the foot of the bed. “I’d complain to a nurse if I were you. Everyone knows they’re the ones who run this place.”
She smiled as he examined her face. “Sit up for me?” He pulled her forward to look at her back.
“What do you see back there?”
“A bunch of scrapes and bruises which are now purple but will soon be green.”
“Lovely.”
He looked at her. “You’re lucky to be here, kiddo. I wouldn’t complain too much.”
She nodded. “When do you think I can go home?”
“When we’re done poking at you.”
“Today?”
He laughed. “Maybe a week from today. You’ve been through major trauma, Catlin. We’re still not sure that baby is going to stay in there. You need a great deal of bed rest.”
“But I have a son to take care of! I can’t stay here a week!”
“Would he be the long haired boy with the anxious look on his face waiting out in the hall?”
She looked at Steve “He’s here?”
Steve nodded. “Waiting for doctor’s permission to come in.”
She looked at the doctor pleadingly.
“Five minutes,” he told her. “Then you need to rest. And sometime today you need to get cleaned up, and try to get the sand out of your scrapes. The nurse will help you.”
“Five minutes is better than nothing.” She reached for the bed adjustment, and moved herself to a sitting position. “Can I see a mirror?”
Steve touched her face. “You look beautiful.”
“Yeah.” She chuckled. “About as beautiful as I feel, I’ll bet.”
Dr. Marcus walked to the door. “I’ll send him in, and I’ll be back to check on you later.”
“Thank you!” She grinned, eyes on the door.
Chris approached the doorway hesitantly. Dana and David stood behind him.
“Oh, baby!” Catlin started crying when she saw her son. He ran to her.
“Careful.” Steve helped him climb on the bed around the monitors.
Catlin hugged Chris tightly. “I’m so glad to see you!”
“Me too!” He’d been crying. “I was really scared.”
“I’m so sorry we scared you. It was a stupid, stupid accident.”
“Steve said the baby’s okay, though,” Chris assured her.
“Isn’t that wonderful?” She hugged him again. “Did he tell you? The doctor says the baby is a boy.”
“Really?” His eyes lit up “A brother for me.”
“That’s right, my darling. Everything is going to be just fine. Have you seen your father?”
Chris looked at Steve nervously. “No, I haven’t.”
Catlin followed his gaze. “Isn’t he allowed vi
sitors yet?”
“Not yet,” Steve said softly.
Dana stepped forward. “Hi Catlin,” she almost whispered.
“Come here you.” Catlin held out her arms, and Dana gave her a big hug.
“I’m so sorry.” Dana was crying. “For everything, I mean…”
“It’s okay.” Catlin comforted her, and when David stepped up, she held her arms out to him, too. They joined together for one big hug.
A nurse came in and stomped her feet. “Doctor said five minutes, folks. Mama needs her rest.”
The hug broke up, and Catlin kissed her son one last time. “I’ll see you later, honey. You be a good boy, okay?”
He nodded, and was trying to appear brave when Dana led him out.
“Thanks for bringing them David.” She gave a small wave.
He nodded. “See you later.”
Catlin watched them go, and looked at the nurse.
She was a big black woman with a jovial personality. “I will be taking care of you until three. I’m Margaret, but everybody calls me Margie. You need to eat breakfast. Then you can decide if you want to clean up now or later.”
“The first thing I need to do is use the bathroom,” Catlin admitted.
“I’ll get you a bedpan. Doctor says you can’t get up yet.”
“Oh, please!” Catlin rolled her eyes.
“Those feminine wiles don’t work with me, honey,” Margie said as she pulled out a bedpan. She looked at Steve. “You stayin’ or goin’?”
He made a face. “I guess I’m going. Let me know if everything comes out all right.” He went into the hallway as Catlin groaned at his bad joke.
Margie helped Catlin use the bedpan, and then she took it away. “When do you think I can get up?” Catlin asked.
“Doctor will be back in later. You might ask him. Here’s your breakfast. Eat something.”
“Yes ma’am.”
Margie smiled. “Shall I send that good-lookin’ hunk of man back in here?”
Catlin laughed. “Please.”
Margie left, and Steve returned.
“I think she likes you,” Catlin told him.
He laughed.
She went on, “She looks like she could be your kind of woman. Want me to fix you up?”
He picked up her plastic fork and bopped her on the head with it. “Thanks, but no.”
Catlin nibbled on her breakfast. “You must be hungry.”
“Nah.” He stretched out in the chair. “I’m good.”
She smiled. “Yeah, you are.” She ate a few more bites. “Are you sure? I got two pieces of toast, going cheap.”
“Eh.” He shrugged, but accepted one of them.
Catlin settled back into her bed. “What have you heard about Nick?”
“Not much. Why don’t you ask your doctor when he comes back?”
She yawned. “I’m feeling tired again. I think I’ll just shut my eyes for a minute.”
“Go ahead.” He moved her tray table away, and sat back down in the chair.
Catlin closed her eyes.
A couple hours later, Dr. Jonas came in to check on the baby. “Sorry to wake you.”
“Sure,” she complained “They tell you to get rest, and someone wakes you up every freaking five minutes.”
The doctor glanced at Steve. “Has she been asleep just five minutes?”
Steve made a face. “More like two hours.”
Dr. Jonas checked her over. “Things seem to be pretty stable right now. The baby’s vitals are good. Maybe you can try to get up for a few minutes later.”
“Like to use the bathroom?”
“Yeah, like that. But then right back to bed. We’ll see how it goes.”
“Thank you. Say, I know you’re not the right doctor to ask, but I’ve got to know. What’s the condition of Nick Prescott? My, uh, husband.”
Dr. Jonas said, “Let me find out for you.” He looked at Steve. “Come with me, please?”
“Sure.” Steve stepped out into the hall with the doctor.
Catlin adjusted her bed, and ran her hands through her hair. It felt dirty and gritty. She needed a bath and a shampoo, badly.
Steve came back in the room by himself, and sat on the edge of her bed.
“Find out anything?”
He nodded. “Catlin, honey, I need to tell you something.”
She didn’t like the look on his face. “What?”
“Nick didn’t make it. He was thrown from the car. He suffered massive internal injuries.”
“Oh my God.” She shook her head, and buried her face in her hands. Her tears flowed. Steve reached for her, and pulled her close to his chest.
“I’m sorry, honey,” he whispered.
She sobbed, “We—had—an—argument. I was angry at him. He died thinking I hated him!”
“No he didn’t.” Steve rocked her gently. “He would never think that.”
“Yeah, he would. I actually told him, ‘I hate you!’ It was one of the last things I said to him.”
“Catlin.” Steve lifted her chin “He knew you were just upset. He cared about you. The police report said he was thrown from the car. You probably lived because you were wearing your seat belt. And because, somehow, Nick got you out of the car before it blew up.”
“My car blew up?” She sniffled.
“Yeah. But he pulled you out. That’s why your back is so scraped up. He couldn’t have had much energy left. He died at the scene.”
“At the scene?” she repeated angrily. “Why didn’t you tell me before now?”
“The doctors wanted to wait a day, and let you get a little stronger.”
“Oh Chris, my poor baby. What am I going to tell Chris?”
“Honey, he knows. I told him last night.”
She was shaking her head, trying to understand. “How did you even know where Chris was?”
“Lucky guess. Between the kids and Jetta, we came up with the names of some of his friends. I did some calling around until I found him. Jim went with me to pick him up in a squad car. Chris liked that.”
“How did he take the news?” She wiped her eyes and nose.
“He was inconsolable at first. He was angry, and thought I was lying to him. Then he didn’t believe you were okay. We almost had to bring him up last night so he could look at you. But he finally calmed down.”
She was crying quietly. “He must have been so scared.”
Steve nodded. “Jetta, Dana and Teresa were all trying to help me comfort him. I finally found Craig’s number, and Chris talked to him.”
“Craig,” she repeated.
“Yeah. I didn’t particularly want to speak with him, but someone had to give him the news.”
“He must have been very upset.” She thought about her brother.
“I’m sure he was. But he held it together enough to talk to Chris, and reassure him you were okay. Chris was better after that. And I promised he could see you first thing this morning.”
She nodded. “So where is he staying?”
“He’s with us. Teresa and Dana are taking excellent care of him. Please don’t worry.”
She thought about it, and nodded again.
“Craig is coming in sometime today.”
“Craig,” she said again, and thought about her conversation with Nick. It turned her stomach to remember it. “Craig and I definitely need to talk.”
“You and I need to talk, too.” Steve looked at her. “If you’re almost seven months pregnant, then your baby was conceived in September. There’s no way Nick is the father of that child.”
Catlin was crying again.
Steve raised her chin so she would look at him. He smiled. “We must have hit a home run, right off the bat. I thought you were on the pill.”
She chuckled and sniffled. “Yeah, well, apparently I screwed that up, too.”
He handed her more tissues. “You were going to tell me, weren’t you? The day you came to my office? And then you saw Barbara.”
She nodded. “I was so angry when I saw her. And you called me some pretty bad names. I’m afraid I let my stubbornness get in the way.”
“That makes two of us. I should have listened to you before I flew off the handle.”
She looked at him. “You didn’t fly off the handle, Steve. You were pushed. That’s what Nick and I were arguing about yesterday.” She looked up at the ceiling, and then back at him. She reached out and took his hand. “I have to tell you about this. It isn’t going to be easy.”
He squeezed her hand, and leaned in to put a gentle little kiss on her cheek. He spoke quietly into her ear. “I want to hear everything. No more secrets. No more yelling. This is too important.”
She nodded.
“Start from the beginning. You went to Kansas City after we met that last time before Christmas?”
“I was so upset. I didn’t know what I was going to do, except one thing.” She gazed into his eyes. “I knew I wanted this baby. I never had a moment’s doubt about that.”
Steve kissed Catlin softly on the lips. She put her hand around his neck, and held him there for a minute. Finally he pulled back. “This is going to be a long story if I don’t leave you alone.”
She reached for his hand and cradled it with both of hers. “I don’t want you to leave me alone. Anyway, I was concerned about my job. Can’t have a pregnant and unmarried teacher, you know. Well, when I got to Kansas City, Nick and Craig had it all worked out. Nick asked me to marry him. He said it could be an ‘open’ marriage if that’s what I wanted. We didn’t have to sleep together. He said he just wanted to help me.”
“To get you off the hook with the school.”
“Yes. He said to lie about my due date. We weren’t going to tell anyone about the baby for a couple months, and it would all seem legitimate.”
“People Magazine put a crimp in those plans.”
She looked at Steve angrily. “No, Nick and Craig put a crimp in those plans. They gave that picture to the magazine. In fact, they orchestrated this whole fiasco to their benefit.”
He blinked. “How did it benefit them?”
She steeled herself. “Here’s where it gets nasty. Are you sure you want to hear?”
“Wild horses couldn’t drag me from this spot.”
She looked at her hands. “It was all a setup, Steve. Nick didn’t love me. He didn’t even want me. He wanted to use me. He actually said, ‘I wanted to see if I could win you back’.”