Chapter 32
32
MIRANDA
M y head ached, and my eyes felt like someone had sewn them shut with rusty sutures. I tried to crack one open, but when the bright light pierced my retina and sent spikes of pain through my already throbbing head, I slammed it shut.
Low voices muttered around me. “I’m telling you, I saw her foot move.” Patrick.
“Her eye opened.” Duncan.
“Give her a minute, guys. She took a hard hit.” Charlie.
My heart swelled. They were all here. “What happened?” My voice croaked out, my throat dry as cotton and my tongue three times too big for my mouth. I smacked my lips a few times, and something hard poked me in the lip.
“Here. Take a sip.” Charlie’s voice again. It came from nearby, close to my head.
I opened one eye and found him right in front of me, the ever present concern melting across his face when I blinked the grit away. My lips closed around the straw automatically and I took a deep drink. The icy water burst through the fog and righted my memory of us skating. I released the straw and touched the back of my head. “I fell.”
“You did.” Charlie took my hand before I probed any deeper. “We brought you to the hospital.”
“That explains the smell.” My nose wrinkled. “And the horrible curtains.”
Charlie laughed, but I caught the fear threading through the sound. I’d heard it a few times through the years. It was an awful sound, one I never expected to hear him associate with me. “You wouldn’t wake up. I was about to call Austin.”
“No.” I burst into a sitting position so fast the room spun around me. I gripped my head and leaned forward, closing my eyes until the nausea subsided. “Don’t tell Austin.”
“Did you press the button?” Duncan spoke from the foot of my bed, and a hand settled on my calf.
“Yeah,” Patrick answered. “The nurse could walk in any second.”
“Nurse?” I worked both eyes open this time. “I don’t need a nurse.”
“They want to do a concussion test before they let you go.” Duncan shifted into my line of sight. “And you’re going to do it, because none of us are letting you leave until we know one hundred percent that you and the babies are okay.” He said it slowly, carefully, like he expected me to deny it and wanted to make sure I understood that they knew and were not backing down.
I picked at the blankets covering me and peeled off the first few layers.
“Duncan claimed to be the father so they’d let us back here.” Patrick stood to my left, his hands gripping the hospital bed’s railing in tight fists. “What’s going on?”
“Kind of obvious, isn’t it?” I couldn’t say why tears threatened to fall, but I sucked them back with a silent sniff. I refused to cry out of fear they’d think I was ashamed or trying to manipulate them. “I’m pregnant.”
“Who’s the father?” Was that hope I heard in Duncan’s voice? He sank onto the foot of the bed, both his hands light as feathers on my knees. “Please talk to us, Miranda.”
“I don’t know.” The tears I’d worked so hard to hold back burst out, causing the headache to intensify. “I’ve been terrified to tell you.”
“What? Why?” Charlie collapsed into the only chair in the room. It sat close enough to the bed that he managed to stroke my hair back from my face without leaving his seat.
“Because.” I hiccuped and attempted to corral the tears before they sent me into another nauseous whirl. “Because one of you is the father, but I don’t know who. It could even be two of you. They’re fraternal twins. Two eggs. Two sperm.”
I waited for the explosion with breath held tight in my lungs.
Duncan lowered his head toward me. “Then we will all take responsibility.”
Patrick and Charlie jumped in with nods and smiles that eased the bands of aching pain around my heart. I took a shallow breath, taking precautions not to upset my stomach or my head, and dried my face on the blankets.
Charlie tore a tissue from the box beside the bed and blotted beneath my eyes. “You should know better by now.” His chiding tone held more warmth than I deserved. “We’re not going to abandon you. Not ever.”
He’d admitted he loved me. Patrick and Duncan had made similar statements that I’d kind of brushed aside as heat of the moment exclamations but now I realized were more real than I’d given them credit for.
“I love you.” Patrick bumped into Duncan when he sat on the other side of my bed. “I want to build a family with you. Each of us does.”
“Which means we need you to decide.” Charlie held my tear-soaked tissue in his fist, his face close enough for me to see the tiny scar deep in his eyebrow from a hockey game where he took a stick to the face. Duncan’s split brow had healed without stitches, but Charlie’s had needed three, and the resulting scar lifted that eyebrow just a tiny bit higher than the other. I focused on that, on the memories of each of us together, and fought my way to an answer.
Minutes ticked past, each one dragging longer than the previous one. Just when the tension built so taut that my soul threatened to crack, the door opened and a petite woman bustled in.
She set her hands on her hips and glared. “All right. All three of you, back up. Give her some room to breathe and let me do this test.”
I’d had a concussion test before, so none of her questions surprised me. I answered honestly. Yes to the headache and nausea. Yes to light hurting my eyes.
“Light concussion.” She ticked a few things off on a tablet. “Mmm-hmm. Yep. Right on the money. You’ll be going home today, but you’ll have some restrictions.” She rattled them off. Things like no watching TV or reading books. No prolonged access to my phone. I nodded with each directive, grateful for the reprieve from answering Charlie’s question. Who did I choose?
They all wanted me. None of them rejected me. The relief of it sent me back into the soft comfort the pillows provided. The nurse walked out, saying something under her breath about my guys. I fought down the smile that threatened. She had no idea how much I loved all three of them. “That’s the problem.” I spoke out loud even though none of them knew what I’d been thinking. “I love each of you for different reasons. But I love you equally. Choosing one man…”
I bit my lip and sank deeper into pillows. The sheets rustled, and I turned my head to look at the monitor where images of our babies covered the screen. Why did life have to give me a problem like this? “Choosing between you is just another way to break my heart.”
“What if…” Charlie tipped his head to the side, causing his hair to flop over his forehead. He scanned the room, his gaze finally coming to rest on the monitor. His face softened, showing off the boyish expression I’d first fallen in love with. “What if we dated as a foursome?”
“What?” Duncan’s head whipped around so fast his neck popped. He ignored what had to be a painful knot in his muscles and concentrated all his attention on Charlie. “What does that mean?”
“He means we stop competing to get Miranda to choose one of us and we all love her as she’s meant to be loved.” Patrick’s smile held hints of pride in the curves. “Good idea, Charlie.”
“I’m still confused.” Duncan held up his hands in a gesture meant to tell them to give him a minute.
Charlie brought the water cup over and held it out to me. I took another deep drink and set my hand on his shoulder, squeezing in thanks.
“A foursome.” Duncan picked up the conversation after several minutes of silence.
“Yeah. Like that first night.” Charlie set the cup on the adjustable bedside table and took my hand between his. “No competing for time with Miranda. Sometimes we’ll all be together, but we don’t get jealous if she wants one on one time.”
“Charlie, it’s a great thought, but is it really possible?” I asked. I wanted it to be real. I pinched my thigh to make sure I wasn’t dreaming.
Duncan followed the movement, his lips quirking in a tiny smile when he realized my intentions. “None of us want to give you up.” The other two agreed with severe nods.
“We’re teammates. We grew up together.” Charlie warmed to the conversation, his body slouching as he stretched out his legs beneath my bed. “We’re as close to family as it gets without an actual blood relationship. I’m willing to share if it means being with Miranda.” The passion in his voice stirred my heart into a frenzy. My stomach swooped with joy, eliminating the nausea and bringing hope into the bleakness I’d anticipated this conversation would bring.
“Who’s ready to go home?” A slim woman entered the room, a stethoscope around her neck and a smile flashing perfect white teeth.
“Me.” I raised my hand and waved it back and forth.
“Great.” The doctor read over my chart one last time, gave me a quick once over, and proclaimed me fit. “You can take Tylenol for the headache if needed.”
I rolled my head side to side, grateful to realize the headache had disappeared sometime during the conversation. Maybe releasing the stress of having to choose chased it away. “Thank you.”
“Oh, one more thing.” She dug into her pocket and pulled out a sheet of ultrasound photos. “Thought you’d want these.”
Duncan took them before I had a chance. The gruff, tough, macho man turned into a puddle of goo when he traced the outlines with his thumb. “They’re perfect.”
“Well said, Dad.” The doctor thumped him on the back. “Here are her discharge papers.” She faced me. “No restrictions on physical activity unless it’s strenuous. As in, say hockey.” A smirk graced her face, and she raised her brows at my guys. “If the headache worsens, your vision changes, etc, come back to the ER.”
“Sure.” I had no intention of experiencing a relapse. Minor concussion or no, I wasn’t getting pinned down any longer than necessary.
She left and the four of us stared at each other.
“So.” Duncan, always impatient and in need of answers, broke the silence. “Are we agreed?”
“Yes. If it’s what Miranda wants.” Charlie never released my hand, and I gripped his fingers tight.
“If you all think it can work, yes, it’s what I want.” I had to hold them to the promise that there would be no jealousy.
“It will work. We love you enough to make it work.” Patrick flung the blankets back and helped me slide to the edge of the bed.
Charlie stepped out into the hallway, coming back with a wheelchair. “Doctor’s orders.”
I scowled but complied. They loved me. It blew my mind and made me giddy with relief. I didn’t have to choose. Their love and support overwhelmed me. How could this be real life?