Tangled Up In You (A Savioe Family Novel) (23 page)

I shook my head frantically causing the back of the ambulance to spin and squeezed her hand. “My baby.”

The EMT’s head popped up and asked. “You are pregnant?” I nodded my head slowly to keep my sight from spinning. “I’ll make sure to tell the ER doctor that when we get there.”

             
                                          *****

             
             
Chapter Eighteen

Pain. That’s all I felt now was a constant pain. I’m not talking stub your toe or hit your funny bone pain. This was all consuming never-ending pain. Not an inch of me escaped it. I tried to open my eyes.
Why can’t I open them?
My throat was scratchy and felt swollen. I tried to move my hands to touch it but they wouldn’t respond.

“…a broken nose, wrist and a few ribs were bruised. It was a bit touch and go in the operating room. She had severe internal bleeding from the fragment of metal that broke off in her abdomen, but her vitals are good. When was her last tetanus shot?” A man with a thick Indian accent explained.

“She’s allergic to them. Why is she still unconscious?” My mother breathlessly asked.

“Mrs. Saintshill, once the anesthesia completely wears off she should wake then. Just give it some time.”

“And the baby?” My father quietly asked.

“There were no signs of her ever being pregnant.” Paper rustled as a pen scratched across it filling the silence. What? I was never pregnant? Then why did the test show that I was. He continued. “If you used an over the counter test it can sometimes show up as a false positive. It is always best to go to a doctor after you take one to confirm the results with a blood test. When she wakes call for the nurse.”

The door shut. So it was a faulty test that said I was pregnant. I know it’s bad of me but after hearing that I felt a sense of relief. I was no longer a statistic. I had my life back. There was no need to rush things in my relationship anymore. I tried once more to move my hand to my belly but it didn’t respond.

A knock on the door sounded. The shuffle of footsteps sounded as someone else entered. A calloused hand rested on my arm.
Luke.
I felt a faint touch of lips to my forehead. “How is she?” His voice sounded hoarse and choppy.

“The doctor says she’s fine. Once all the drugs burn out of her system she’ll be back to her old self. Luke, you need to sit down the doctor told us something else.”
My father ordered. I heard the sound of a chair scraping across the floor closer to the bed. He threaded his fingers through mine. “He said that she had a false positive with the pregnancy test.”

His hand squeezed mine gently. “What does that mean, Daniel?”

“She’d not pregnant. Never was.” My mom’s voice cracked.

             
                                          *****

Next time I woke
up, I heard someone softly sob beside the bed. The calloused palm of Luke’s was still in mine. I tried to squeeze it but my body refused to obey me. “I still want her in my life, Jamie. Just because she is not going to have my baby doesn’t mean I want to stop being with her. This just means we get to have more time to grow up and be kids before we start having them.”

The sobbing stopped and I heard my father tearfully say. “That is perhaps the most mature thing I have heard you say.”

Wait my father was crying? I have never seen or heard him cry before.

             
                                          *****

The faint tickling of his stubble scraped the back of my hand as he clutched my fingers. “Chèr, please come back ta me. Gawd, please just wake up. I love you.” He sounded so lost and scared.

“You know I love that accent.” My voice sounded so gravely like that animated woman in the movie about that rabbit. I opened my eyes in a squint as I took in my surroundings. He looked like hell. His clothes were rumpled; hair sticking up and he had bags under his eyes. He was so startled when I spoke he dropped my hand and leaned over me.

“Love, say someting else tell me I didn’ jus’ imagine dat?” His hand gently touched my
hair, as he looked so concerned.

“You didn’t just imagine that.” I tried to smile but my face hurt.

He gave me his dimpled smile and caressed my cheek. “Gawd, love, ya had me so worried. I tought dat ya’d never wake up.”

“How long was I out?” I opened my eyes fully. The room was bathed in the faint flickering light from the TV. I tried to sit up but stopped suddenly when a sharp pain from my stomach made me gasp.

“Shh. Stay still. Ya’ve been out fo’ tirty six hours.” He kissed my forehead and sat back down at the chair by my side.

I glanced over at the window and noticed that it was dark out. “What time is it?”

He kissed my knuckles. “It’s almost five in da mornin’, chèr.” He looked so tired.

“When was the last time you slept?” I asked as a wave of pain hit me. He
noticed my grimace and frowned.

“Been grabbin’ a few winks
here and dere, love. Don’ worry ‘bout it. Are ya in pain now?” He didn’t wait for me to answer and pressed the call button for the nurse on the side of my bed. A woman in her mid-twenties walked in the room. Her brown hair was pulled back into a high ponytail. The scrubs she wore had uber religious images on them. She had on a cross necklace that matched her wedding ring that she absentmindedly twisted with her thumb. Despite her flaunting her religious views and obvious marital status, she still eye fucked Luke and he was blissfully unaware of it.

“You called, honey?”

“She jus’ woke up and I tink she’s in some pain.” He took a step back from the bed as she made her way to me.

“Welcome back, Ms. Saintshill. You’ve had a lot of pe
ople worried about you. Why your brother here hasn’t left your side since he arrived.” She checked the machines I was hooked up to and the IV drip.

“I’m her fiancé.” Luke corrected as he walked over to the other side of my bed.

Her nose curled up a bit as her demeanor abruptly changed. “Oh. You know visiting hours were over at seven and do not start again until noon. I’ll be back in a bit with something for the pain.”

             
                                          *****

The next few days were a blur. I had people I barely knew coming to visit me bringing flowers and balloons wishing me well. A couple detectives came in and questioned me on what had happened. Bus was charged with attempted murder, aggravated battery and attempted rape. He was in a room at the hospital under constant police supervision. Apparently, the wood I stabbed him with nicked his femoral artery and cause
d some damage to the muscles.

I made Luke go home to get some sleep,
get a change of clothes, and to take a shower. Eva promised to keep him there for a few hours. No one has mentioned anything about the false pregnancy yet. They have just been skirting the issue.

A knock sounded on the door followed by a harried looking Jess popping her head in. She smiled at me and walked in with Drez in tow. “You look like shit.” She tearfully joked and gave me a gentle hug.

“I don’t doubt it. No one is willing to show me a mirror.”

“So how long are you going to laze about in here?”
She sat at the foot of the bed and frowned at me. I knew what she was thinking. She had avoided hospitals ever since her mother died. Tears gathered in her eyes briefly, before she blinked them away.

“I don’t know.
I kinda like people bringing me things.” I looked over at Drez. He stood against the wall with his hands in his pockets. His hair was its usual messy self. He had on the same black t-shirt and dark jeans that he normally wears. “Hey.”

He pursed his lips before pushing off the wall and walked over to the chair by the bed. “You gave us a good scare there, little bit.”

I gave him a weak smile as my mom entered the room with an arm full of fresh clothing. “Hey Roxy, got some good news. They are cutting you free as soon as the paperwork is finalized. Oh, hi Jess. Who’s your friend?”

“Mom this is Drez. He helped me out the other day. Drez this is my mother Jamie.”

She raised her eyebrows in approval and extended her hand. “Where do you find these guys, Roxanne? He’s cuter than your Luke.”

Drez’s cheeks flushed in a faint blush as he shook her hand. “Pleasure to meet you, ma’am.”

“Oh and he’s got an accent too. If you weren’t so hung up on the other one I’d say take this one for a test drive.” She released his hand and set my clothes next to Jess on the bed.

“Mom!” I dropped my head back on the pillow and sighed. She walked over to the window and moved the blinds letting the afternoon night in. “You know I am completely happy with what I have.”

Jess looked at a very stunned Drez and laughed. “Don’t take anything she says to heart. They do this all the time.”

             
                                          *****

Though I was released and allowed to go to school the next day Dr. Patel advised that I not drive for another week. So my dad suggested that Luke drive me to and from each day. I really did look like shit. My eyes were black and blue. My nose swollen and I had this white butterfly looking bandage on it. I had a
three-inch gash on my chin, my lip was split and my right wrist was in a plaster cast. That’s just the damage that my clothes failed to cover. My chest and sides looked like someone just tossed ink on me they were so dark from bruising. Next to my belly button, I had another long gash that I kept covered with a bandage. My knees and shoulders were spotted with scrapes and bruises. It was enough to send me into a crying fit if I dwelled on it.

I heard the telltale rumbling of the Harley and finished trying to cover the more gruesome sights. There was no need to remind him just how bad the attack was. I pulled on my flare leg jeans and green turtle neck grabbed my bag and headed out to the living room where my dad was talking to him. I will say that is one of the only good things that have come out of this. My father and he had a long heart to heart chat when I was still out of it and each came to terms with the other.

Luke saw me enter the room and took my bag from me. “Whoa. I’ll get that. Dr. Patel said you had to take it easy and not lift anything heavier than ten pounds or you’ll pull the staples. And I know this thing weighs twenty or more.”

My father shook his head at me and tossed something to Luke. “Take the R8. It’s a smoother ride than her Olds.”

“Thanks, Daddy.” I gave him a slight hug before leaving the house.

“You sure she’s ready for this?” I heard Luke ask.

“I don’t think so but trying to get her to listen to reason is easier said than done.” My father sighed heavily. “You two be careful.”

             
                                          *****

Luke

Roxy gently lowered herself into the passenger seat of the car. A small grimace of pain etched her battered face. I thought I had lost her when my father came to get me at work last Wednesday. When he told me what had happened to her it took him, Beau, Charles and Marie to keep me from finding Bus in the hospital and permanently making sure he could never hurt another person. Then I saw her lying so still hooked up to all those IVs and machines.
She looked so small and broken.

I released a shuddered breath and ran a hand over my face. I placed my hand on hers and tenderly caressed the side of her hand before pulling out of her driveway. “Are you sure you are ready to go to school?”

“Yes.” She rolled her eyes. “If I don’t get this over with I’ll be too afraid to do it.”

We drove over a small speed bump and she placed her broken arm over her stomach. That’s another thing I’m trying to wrap my mind around. I had just gotten used to the idea of being a father only to find out she took a faulty test. When her parents told me that I wanted to scream and punch something. That hurt just as bad as seeing
her on that bed all fucked up.

I swallowed the lump that had formed in my throat and cleared it. “If you need any of us today for any reason….”

“I know, Luke. I will be fine. I promise.” She patted my hand and looked up at the school looming in the distance.

The school had implemented a new policy regarding staying on the property after hours in an attempt to wash their hands of what had happened. They originally intended to ignore everything and allow that bastard back on the property. That was when both of our fathers stepped in
and used every bit of legal pull they had by calling in favors from everyone all over the state and threatened to own the school. So the school board reluctantly conceded.

Jess told us that there was a school wide assembly on Friday. The principal and a few teachers droned on about safety measures and on how that was just an isolated incident. The football team, now down their star running back, announced that they would hold an impromptu tryout to try to fill the spot. Why they didn’t just pull someone from JV or use someone f
rom second string no one knows.

I pulled the R8 into the spot in between Beau’s
truck and Drez’s Charger. Drez smacked my brother in the chest and nodded toward the car, his mouth was gaped open in pure car lust. Beau turned to look at us and nodded his head in approval. I parked the car, turned it off and rushed over to Roxy’s door to open it.

She just shook her head and laughed at Drez and Beau’s expression
s. She carefully got out of the car. “Don’t drool on the paint you two. My dad just had it detailed.”