Chapter 56
***Memphis***
Doctor Braddock looked down at me with a kind smile on his face. “The ER doctor did several scans before I got here and then I ordered my own set. The baby is fine. Doing great, actually. On the ultrasound, it looked like they were kicking up a storm in there.”
I tried to sit up and my head throbbed, reminding me that it was a bad idea. “They? What do you mean, they?”
“Don’t worry, you’re not having twins. I just didn’t know if you’d want to know the baby’s sex.
” He squeezed my hand. “Doctor Reyes already told you about keeping you overnight and watching you. I agree. You have a pretty good bump on the back of your head and your elbow is probably going to hurt for a while. Might as well stay and be taken care of.”
I looked down at my hands. Did he know? When I’d woken up alone in the hospital room, I didn’t have that hazy confusion.
I’d understood immediately why I was alone.
The guys were not going to stick by my side after finding out about my lies the way they had.
My staying at the hospital was probably the last I was going to be taken care of for a long while.
“Don’t look so down, Memphis. You and the baby are healthy and this is just a bump in the road. You’ll be back home tomorrow and be getting spoiled by the guys.” He released my hand and stepped back. “I have to get home, but you have my number. Call me if you need anything, Memphis.”
I nodded. He was almost out of the room when I called out to him, needing one more thing. “The baby. Boy or girl?”
He grinned back at me. “The Hawke family is getting a little more feminine blood, thank goodness.”
A girl. I was carrying their daughter inside me, growing her and feeling her little flutter kicks. The first daughter in a family of so many men. She was going to be smothered in love and overprotected until she wanted to scream, probably.
A sob had just managed to break past my control when the door opened again. I wiped my eyes quickly and looked up, hoping that I was going to find the guys standing there, angry but willing to forgive me.
Jake saw the crestfallen expression on my face as he walked in and swore. “I’m sorry, Memphis. It’s just me.”
I bit my lip and nodded jerkily, the motion making me nauseous. “It’s never just you, Jake. I’m glad to see you.”
“Don’t be sweet right now. You’ve been through a lot tonight and you deserve the night off. It’s okay if you’re not happy to see me.” He leaned against my bed and sighed. “I know I’m not who you want to see right now.”
I gripped his arm and let out a frustrated laugh as another sob escaped. “I am happy to see you. And I don’t think what I want matters anymore, Jake. Not after tonight.”
“It matters. I’m sure this will blow over, Memphis.” The tone of his voice said otherwise. He sounded as hopeless as I felt. “Right now, you just focus on feeling better.”
The door opened again and when I looked up, I saw it was Remy. My heart raced instantly and the sound of the monitor beeping next to me went into double speed. Remy was there. Maybe he’d listen to me and forgive me. A small ray of hope was all I needed to cling to.
The look on his face was flat, as unemotional as I’d ever seen him. He looked at Jake and held out his hand when the other man started to leave the room. “This won’t take long. Stay.”
His words crushed that little ray of hope. My breath came faster as anxiety made my body tingle with awareness. Danger approached, but no one told my body that it wasn’t the physical kind. While it braced for impact, my poor dumb heart plopped to the floor like a water balloon, bursting on impact.
“I just wanted to update you on your brothers.” He stayed as far away from me as possible. “Jackson is already being taken to a rehab that he won’t be able to check himself out of. Unless he’s medically cleared, he’ll stay there.”
I should’ve been relieved. I should’ve felt anything other than crushing depression. Jackson hadn’t been arrested. They’d taken care of him for me.
“We let Knox know what happened. He’s up to date and if you don’t call him tomorrow, he knows why.”
Confusion chipped at the edge of the darkness consuming me, but I couldn’t think of anything else until I knew for sure that they were done with me. “And you? Are you okay? And Boone? Wells?”
He met my eyes with a coldness I’d never seen from him. Instead of saying anything, he shook his head like he couldn’t believe I’d even ask. His disgust with me was almost palpable.
I shied away from his anger. I made myself as small as possible and wiped away the stubborn tears that wouldn’t stop. “I’m—”
He was already gone, my apology meeting empty space where he’d just been.
I lost it then, sobbing into my hands like I never had before.
They were gone. I’d lost them before I got to tell them I loved them.
Jake tried to comfort me the best he could and when it was clear that I was just going to cry the whole night through, he made me scoot over and crawled into my hospital bed with me.
He held me against his chest and stroked my hair while talking to me about anything and everything.
It was his comfort and the gentle drone of his voice that let me sleep finally.