Chapter 42
FORTY-TWO
She could only handle two nights at her parent’s house with her mother hovering over her almost constantly. By the third day she was going crazy and informed her mother that she would be returning home, despite Seren’s arguments about how it was better for her to stay with them.
“Mom, I need to go home. Steve probably misses me. And I miss my bed,” she said, the first part being a truth, the second part being a half-truth. Her bed hadn’t felt the same since Kasey left. Seren finally relented, agreeing to let Levi drive her home.
An hour later she was home and in bed after a very long, very hot shower.
Her ribs ached more than they had the first day.
Seren and Levi had set her up with several reusable ice packs, putting them in the freezer so they would be ready when she needed a fresh one.
Climbing into the softest, most comfortable pajamas she could find that didn’t hurt to put on, she had just climbed into bed when her phone started buzzing.
Groaning, she stared at it, where it glowed several feet out of reach on the nightstand. “Sorry, whoever it is. I’m not moving.”
The call ended, the buzzing going silent, but almost immediately it began buzzing again. She remained where she was, finally comfortable, and glared at it as it started to buzz a third time.
“I’m not getting up! Stop calling me!” she whined at the phone as it stopped ringing for the third time. Holding her breath, she growled in frustration when it started ringing again. “Ugh, fine!”
Inching closer to the edge of the bed, she grabbed it, fumbling it.
As she saw the name on the screen, she panicked, but the damage was done, she’d already answered it by accident by sliding her finger across the screen as she’d fumbled it.
“Fuck,” she hissed silently, then took a deep breath and brought it to her ear.
“I’m not in the mood to talk. Goodbye, Kasey. ”
She hung up as his voice cut through, and she closed her eyes, letting the phone drop to the bed beside her.
“God dammit,” she snarled as it began ringing again, swiping it to send to voicemail. He called back immediately, and she answered it, snarling into the phone, “Stop calling me, Kase! I don’t want to talk to you right now!”
She hung up then turned her phone all the way off, tossing it across the bed and wincing with the movement as it sent nausea rolling through her all over again.
Settling into the pillows again, she placed the ice pack on her side and closed her eyes.
She’d cried most of her tears the first night, waking up the following morning with an even worse headache than she’d gone to sleep with and eyes that felt like sandpaper.
She had just started to drift off to sleep when she heard a car door close with a slam, then a loud, unrelenting banging on her door. She didn’t even have the energy to get up, just covered her head with the pillow and prayed whoever it was would get the hint and go away soon.
The knocking ended, then the car door closed again, and a moment later she heard the engine turn over as whoever it was left, and she was finally able to drift off to sleep.
It couldn’t have been twenty minutes later that she woke up to the sound of her door opening, then angry, heavy footfalls down the hallway.
Groggily, she blinked rapidly just as he appeared in the doorway, his body tense and his eyes a terrifying mix of gray and blue.
His blonde brows were pulled low over them, but when he caught sight of her laying in the bed, his entire body seemed to sigh as his shoulders released all the tension in them, his gaze softening.
“Why aren’t you answering your phone?” he snapped, though there was little heat in his words.
He strode over to the bed, swiping the Texas Longhorn ball cap off his head and tossing it to the foot of her bed.
He then sat on the edge of the bed facing her, and he smoothed his hand over her curls, down her shoulder.
“Do you have any idea how worried I’ve been? ”
She shook her head dumbly, staring up at him from where she still lay on her right side. The ice pack had slid off her left side, and he picked it up, returning it to its place on her ribcage. She winced slightly at the light pressure, and his brows drew into a deep V again.
“Jesus, Shaun,” he whispered, running his hand over her gently again, his eyes roving over every inch of her. “Free texted me, told me you’d been hurt at work. That bastard put his hands on you, I’ll fucking kill him—”
Squeezing her eyes shut, she took a deep breath in at the annoyance that flashed through her. Meddling brother-in-law. “Of course he told you.”
“Well, I’m glad someone did,” he snapped. “Since obviously you had no intention of telling me yourself.”
“I had nothing to say to you,” she hissed through clenched teeth as she struggled to a sitting position. Gingerly, she moved her legs to the opposite side of the bed and stood.
“Sit down,” he said gruffly and then his hands were on her shoulders. She shrugged away, baring her teeth as the motion caused another flash of pain to lance through her side. “Sit down, Shaun. Don’t make me say it again.”
“You don’t get to come in here and boss me around,” she snapped, backing up a step, her eyes fierce. “I’ve had enough of people telling me what to do the last three days.”
Kasey scrubbed one hand down his face, over the scruff that was dusting his upper lip, chin, and cheeks. He needs a shave, she thought absently. “I’m sorry. I’ve just been worried sick. You wouldn’t answer my texts or calls.”
“I didn’t have anything to say,” she said again, crossing her arms over her stomach. He didn’t know, did he? There was no way he could know. No one knew yet.
Kasey’s face went taut as he stared down at her. “So, you just weren’t going to tell me? About any of it? You didn’t think I would want to know?”
Shaun raised one shoulder in an indifferent shrug, her face pulling with the pain of the movement. “Nothing has changed.”
Liar. Everything has changed. He deserves to know.
Oh god, she thought miserably, then turned and raced toward the door, barely making it to the toilet before vomiting violently.
Agony shot through her side and head as she vomited, the action making her ribs ache abominably.
Sweat broke out along her entire body in swells as the pain undulated over her.
She moaned when she realized Kasey had followed, and that he was kneeling next to her. He smoothed her hair away from the side of her face, then rubbed her back as she continued to dry heave.
“Is it normal to vomit this long after a concussion?” he asked, still rubbing along the curve of her back.
The doctors had said that it was normal to have nausea for up to two weeks following a concussion… but to expect the morning sickness could last much longer.
Oh my god, I’m pregnant, she thought again and moaned miserably. She panted, squeezing her eyes shut against another wave of nausea that enveloped her, sweat making her feel clammy and cold. Embarrassment made her nose sting with unshed tears as he continued to rub her back soothingly.
When she had finally spent herself, she flushed the toilet and then rested her cheek along her arm as it rested on the seat of the toilet.
She shivered in the aftermath and protested only mildly when Kasey scooped her into his arms as gently as possible, carrying her back to the bed, where he deposited her carefully.
He disappeared for a moment, returning to sit on the edge of the bed beside her with a cool, damp cloth that he used to dab at her forehead and temples, wiping away the sweat there.
Tears blurred her eyes, and she squeezed them shut again.
Why was he being so sweet to her when she was only ever awful to him? She didn’t deserve this, or him.
His thumb swept away the first tear that escaped as it rolled down her cheek. “Are you in pain?”
Shaun shrugged, not wanting him to know just how badly she was hurting. Physically, emotionally, mentally. It all hurt.
“What can I do to help you?” he asked, still rubbing his thumb over her cheek.
She stared up at him, then her lower lip began to wobble.
His eyebrows pulled together in a worried V, those wonderful storm cloud eyes troubled.
He leaned down and pressed a kiss to her forehead, which just made her cry harder.
“I’ve been worried out of my mind, darlin’. Let me help you, please.”
“I think you helped enough,” she accused weakly. When confusion clouded his eyes, she caught a sob, her lip trembling more as she whispered, “You knocked me up.”
His face went completely blank, his gaze bouncing from one of her eyes to the other. Color drained from his face, but then he asked, “Is— fuck. Is everything okay? With the baby? Is the baby okay?”
She nodded, just barely, tears leaking unchecked down her face. “You’re not mad?”
Surprise made him lean back. “Mad? No, darlin’, of course I’m not mad. Is that why you didn’t answer the phone? Because you didn’t want to tell me?” She lowered her gaze guiltily, and then he murmured, his voice harder than before, “You were going to tell me, right?”
She shrugged, twisting her fingers in her lap. “I already said, this changes nothing.”
Kasey stood, pacing several feet away, scrubbing his hand down his face before turning to fix her with a chilling stare. “This changes nothing? You don’t think the fact that you’re carrying my baby changes anything?”
“No,” she snapped. “I don’t see how it changes anything.”
Making a quarter turn away from her so she was staring at him in profile, he tilted his head up to stare at the ceiling before turning again to stare at her. “You’re coming on the road with me, so I can take care of you. We’ll get married.”
Shaun’s eyes widened and she sat upright in bed, gasping sharply in pain. “Like hell we are.”