29. Amberlee
Chapter 29
Amberlee
About an hour earlier
M addy sent me an email as soon as she heard from Ryan that they were coming home early. I’ve been getting sick at random times over the last month.
My thoughts drift to this morning.
I stopped in the house to eat breakfast with Maddy before heading to school and had to rush to the bathroom. The smell of bacon caused my stomach to revolt.
“Are you pregnant?” Maddy asked from the doorway.
“I don’t know. Maybe,” I say through gasps.
I’ve been suspicious, but I’ve also been ignoring the symptoms, thinking I’m just nervous with the new job. But when my period didn’t come last month or this month, the thought became more of a real possibility. I bought a test two days ago, but I haven’t had the courage to take it yet.
“Oh, sweetie.” She steps into the bathroom, sitting down gingerly on the edge of the bathtub, and starts rubbing my back. “I think you are, and you need to take a test.”
“I have one,” I confess weakly.
“Where?”
“In my laptop bag, in the living room.” Yeah, my plan was to tell Jeremiah and take the test together. But he’s been busy, and I’ve been too scared to tell him, afraid he’d think I was trapping him like Sylvia did.
“I’m going to get it and we’re going to find out together.” She stands and waddles out of the room. A few minutes later, she returns with the paper bag in hand. Standing up, I take it from her, and she steps out, giving me some privacy.
Opening the box, I pull out the stick and read the directions. Here goes nothing. Three minutes is how long I have to wait to see if I’m pregnant or not. Three minutes, before I know if my life is about to change forever.
Not even five minutes after Maddy messages me, Jeremiah does, letting me know he’s going to shower before heading over to Ryan's house. But I need to talk to him, and this gives me the perfect chance to do it in privacy before we face my family.
I pull onto his street, but as I get closer to his house, I see an unfamiliar car in the driveway. As I get closer to the front of the house and get a better view, my heart drops at the sight before me. Jeremiah’s at his door, in a towel with a woman who’s kissing him. I can’t see her because her back is to me, but my stomach lurches, and I feel as if I’m about to throw up, but for a whole other reason.
I wait a moment for him to push her away, but he doesn’t. My vision becomes blurry, as tears stream down my face. I can’t stay and watch this. I can’t think straight. Before they have a chance to notice me, I quickly pull away, continuing down the street.
My mind keeps replaying what I just saw. He was kissing another woman? Why? Who is she?
Memories of all the times over the last week when he was secretive about messages and calls he received rush to the forefront of my mind. Jeremiah played them off as work calls, but what if they weren’t?
Pain shoots through me as I become a sobbing mess. I’m so distracted that I don’t even notice the car speeding through the intersection until it hits me from the side. My head slams against something hard, as my seat belt jerks me backward.
My baby is the last thought I have before everything goes black.
I fade in and out of consciousness, remembering briefly being removed from my car and being placed in the ambulance. My head is pounding so much that it hurts to even keep my eyes open—to stay awake.
I can hear the paramedics talking as they work on me, but I don’t care about me. I'm only worried about my baby.
“Is my baby okay?’ My throat hurts with each word.
“You’re pregnant? How far along are you?” the light-skinned man asks.
“I don’t know, maybe two months. I just took a test this morning. Where am I going?”
“To Cape Fear Valley Hospital,” he tells me.
“My brother. I need my brother.”
“We’ll have the nurse contact him when we get to the hospital. What’s his number?”
I rattle off the number just as a sharp pain hits me in my stomach. No, this can’t be happening. I can’t lose my baby. Not after I just found out about it.
My heart races, and the beeping increases, pounding along with the beating in my head.
The sirens do nothing to help my anxiety. I just need to have faith that everything is going to be okay. That me and my baby are going to be fine. Jeremiah, I can deal with later.
“We can’t give you anything for pain until you’re checked out first, due to being pregnant,” the paramedic explains, but I already know that.
Right now, all I want is to know is that my baby is okay, and I want my brother.
As soon as they get me in the room, the doctor does an ultrasound. My baby’s heartbeat is strong and healthy, filling me with relief. The nurse tells me she called Ryan as soon as I got here.
X-rays of my wrist and an MRI of my head are performed. The doctor is concerned about me having a concussion, due to the impact of my head against the driver's window. Now I’m just waiting on the results. Bruises are already forming across my chest from the seatbelt, but I don’t care, they’ll fade, unlike my broken heart. I fear that pain will linger for an eternity.
The door opens, and Ryan rushes to my side, hugging me gently as he kisses the side of my face. My eyes lock on Jeremiah behind him. Tears are forming in his eyes, similar to my own.
“Get him out of here,” my voice rises.
“What?” Ryan and Jeremiah ask at the same time.
“I want him out of my room now!” I scream.
“What are you talking about, Amberlee?” Ryan turns to face Jeremiah, who’s stepping closer to me.
My body jerks, trying to get further away from him, a jolting pain causes me to cry out.
My nurse picks that moment to step inside my room, seeing my outburst. “What’s wrong, Amberlee?”
“I want him out of my room.” I lift my hand, pointing at Jeremiah. “I don’t want him anywhere near me.”
“Sir, I’m going to have to ask you to leave.” She takes Jeremiah by the arm, ushering him toward the door.
“Amberlee, what’s wrong? Why are you saying that?” Jeremiah asks as Ryan stands there in shock, I turn my head away from him, breaking down in tears.
“Amberlee. Do you want this gentleman to leave as well?” I shake my head, unable to speak.
“Okay we’re waiting on the test results, then the doctor will be in. If you need anything just push the button. Sir, please do not upset her.”
My brother nods. He’s trying to figure out what’s happening, and I don’t know how to tell him that his best friend is a lying snake.
Ryan pulls the chair up next to my bed and sits down in it.
“Amberlee, what’s going on? Why did you kick Jeremiah out?” He’s fighting to keep his cool, but he’s clenching his jaw so hard I can hear his teeth grinding.
“I left work to talk to him about something.” I’m sobbing so hard, my words are coming out choppy. “When I got on his street, I saw a car in his driveway. When I got closer, I saw him standing in his door, with a towel on, kissing some woman.”
He doesn’t utter a word, just stares at me. He opens his mouth and I’m thinking he’s about to ask me more but he doesn’t. Instead he’s out of his seat and across the room to the floor, flying out of it before I can even call his name to stop him.
This isn’t good. Ryan getting in a fight isn’t what I wanted.