22. Twenty-One
Twenty-One
Kayleigh
“U gh,” I groan as I wake up. Fuck, my stomach hurts.
“Easy sweetheart, you just had surgery.” I open my eyes and get tense when I see I’m in a hospital and a nurse is at my side.
“How are you feeling?” she asks after she hands me a cup of water. I take a few slow sips.
“My stomach hurts,” I say quietly.
“Yeah, they had to remove the bullet from your stomach, but I already paged the doctor. He should be here in a couple minutes. I need to go check on my other patients. Do you need anything else before I go?”
“No, I’ll be okay.”
“Alright, sweetheart. If you need anything else, don’t hesitate to hit the nurse button.”
“I will. Thank you.”
She gives me one last smile before she leaves the room. I wince as I shift in the bed. I lay here and think back to what happened. The date with Lennon, Erik showing up and ruining it until I had enough and kicked him in his nuts then stormed out, only to be met by Andrew’s mother and her shooting me. How did she know I was going to be there? Had she been following me? Did someone tell her? But who could have told her? Emilia knew I was there, but I know she wouldn’t tell anyone, especially since she helped me sneak out. I hope my family doesn’t find out she had a part in this. I need to call her and tell her not to say anything. Blaire, Lennon’s younger sister who I have classes with, knew, and then there’s Lennon. I suppose they could have, but what would they gain if they told Elizabeth?
“Hello, Miss O’Sullivan,” a doctor says as he knocks on my door before he walks in my room.
“Hi, doctor.”
“The nurse said you were feeling some pain in your stomach.”
“It’s a bit tender, not surprising, since I shot and had to have surgery.”
“I can give you some Tylenol if you want, but I can’t give you anything stronger because the risks it could have on the baby.”
“Baby?” What baby? Did they not do the abortion right?
“You weren’t aware you are ten weeks pregnant?”
“No.”
“A surprise then?”
“Yes.”
“Okay, let me look at your incision, and when you’re ready, your fiancé and family are in the waiting room.”
“Fiancé?”
“Yes, an older Scottish man.” Typical of fucking Erik.
“Oh yes, Erik. It’s new.”
“Well congratulations.”
“Thank you,” I say quietly as he lifts my gown, peels part of my bandage back, and gently touches my incision. I can’t hold back the hiss from pain.
“I’m sorry. Good news is, it looks good,” he says and places the bandage back.
“Can I see my fiancé first? I want to break the news to him before I tell my family.”
“Of course, I will have one of the nurses go get him.”
“Thank you,” I say, and not even a minute later, Erik is opening the door.
“Seamrag bheag,” he whispers. I see him scan my body from head to toe.
“I’m okay,” I say softly. I can see how stressed he has been; his jaw is clenched so tight I’m surprised he hasn’t cracked a tooth.
“Thank fuck you are,” he says as he leans down and holds me in his arms, his head buried in my hair. I don’t say anything and let him hold me, and I can’t stop the tears that leak from my eyes. No matter how mad I am at him for the bullshit back in Scottland and him ruining my date with Lennon, I’ve always felt safe in Erik’s arms. We stay like that for a few minutes before he slowly pulls back and kisses all over my face and kisses my tears away.
“Erik, I need to tell you something,” I say, nervously picking at the blanket in my lap. He gently sits down next to me and grabs my hand.
“You can tell me anything.”
I take a deep breath. “The doctor just told me I’m pregnant.”
“Pregnant? Is the baby okay? Did the baby get hurt by the bullet?”
I stop his questions with my finger to his lips. “The baby was unharmed.”
“Thank God I’m still going to fucking kill that bitch.”
“Erik. You don’t have to do that.”
“Of fucking course I do. She shot you and hurt you and could have hurt or, even worse, killed our baby.”
“You don’t have to be part of the baby’s life. I don’t want to come between you and Eva.”
“First of all, I haven’t seen that cunt since the day I kicked her out when she let you leave our home, so there is no Eva and me. Second, there is no way in hell I will not be in your life and my baby’s. I’m going to be there for every milestone, and I will be at your side throughout this pregnancy.”
“I’m trying not to ruin your life. You stubborn ass,” I say, letting my anger leak through my voice.
“I dare you to try and keep me away from you or my child.”
I open my mouth to argue with him but my Daid comes into the room like a bull in a china shop. By the look on his face, he is planning to destroy something, and that something is Erik.
“You got my daughter fucking pregnant?” Daid snarls before he punches Erik in the face.
“DAID!”
“Peter!” Mama says at the same time. Instead of saying anything, Erik lets Daid punch him not once, but three times.
“Fight back, you piece of shit.,” Daid snarls.
“No. You’re pissed at me and rightfully so.”
“Why couldn’t you just leave her alone? That’s my baby.” Daid’s words come out sounding like a plea.
“Because she is so special, and no matter how hard I tried to stay away from her, I just couldn’t.” Daid punches him again, but Cillian and Oscar hold him back from hitting Erik more.
“Peter, you need to calm down so we can talk about this like rational adults before you get kicked out. The last thing Kayleigh needs is to be stressed out. It is not good for her or the baby,” Mama tells him.
“Daidí.” He looks away from Erik to me and all his anger melts away. He walks up to me, cupping my head in his big hands and kissing my forehead.
“How are you feeling, my stór beag?”
“Tender but okay.”
“Kayleigh, did Erik force himself on you?” Mama asks.
“Grace, I would never,” Erik states, but Mama puts her hand up.
“I need to hear this from Kayleigh,” she responds, and he nods.
“No, he didn’t,” I tell her.
“So these two consenting adults that had sex can decide what to do about the baby,” I nod agreeing with Mama.
“I won’t let another man hurt her,” Daid says.
“I would never hurt her,” Erik says.
“Daidí, I’m an adult now.”
“Doesn’t matter to me, you will always be my baby, my stór beag.” Dad takes a deep breath before asking me, “What do you want to do?”
“I need to discuss things with Erik and see where we go from here.” Daid nods and gives Erik one last hard glare before escorting everyone out of the room.
“Did they say when you would be released?” Erik asks me.
“No, the doctor didn’t say anything about that yet.”
“We will ask when the doctor comes back in, then we can plan when I can take you home.”
“My family can take me home,” I tell him.
“If they want to fly back with us, they are more than welcome to, but I don’t want you to strain yourself.”
“I don’t need to fly to get home.”
“Yes you do. Our home is back in Scottland.”
“When did I agree to go back to Scottland with you?”
“Kayleigh, you are pregnant with my child. You are not staying in another country.”
“Yes, we have established I am pregnant with your child, but I’m not going back to deal with Eva, Brodie, and their bullshit.”
“I already told you, but I will say this again: you have nothing to worry about. They have been banned from all my homes and companies.”
“Sure,” I say rolling my eyes, which obviously was the wrong response because his hand wraps around my throat.
“Pregnant or not, don’t think you can act like a brat and I will let you get away with it.” I glare at him; he just keeps his own glare on me.
“You can fuck off. I’m only your baby mama, nothing more.” He starts to say something but when I yawn, he loosens his grip on my neck.
“We will discuss this later; you need to lay down and rest right now,” he orders as he gently helps me lay down. He sits in the chair next to my bed.
“Erik, you can go. I’m okay.”
“I’m not leaving until you are released from the hospital, and we will either be going home to Scotland or I will be coming back to your family’s estate. Now close your eyes and go to sleep.”
“Bossy asshole.”
“Your bossy asshole. Now sleep, I will be here when you wake up.”