30. Jeremiah
Chapter 30
Jeremiah
I ’m pacing in the hallway outside her room, trying to figure out what in the world just happened. All I care about is Amberlee, yet she kicked me out, didn’t want me around her.
“What the hell, Jeremiah?” Ryan shouts as he storms toward me, hands fisted.
“What are you talking about?” I spread my feet, standing firm against him. Amberlee told him something and whatever it is, has him pissed the fuck off at me.
“How could you? You told me how much you loved Amberlee, even risked our friendship.”
This is getting weird and I’m totally lost. Ryan stops in front of me, standing toe to toe with me. I see the nurses glancing in our direction and I’m afraid security is going to be called any minute and Amberlee doesn’t need her brother getting kicked out of the hospital.
“Ryan, you need to calm down. The nurses are watching and you don’t want to be escorted out. I don’t know what’s going on or what you’re talking about.”
He glances over his shoulder in the direction I’m looking, raising his hand and waving, before turning back to me.
“My sister just told me how she saw you kissing another woman at your house. That you were practically naked. What the fuck, man? How could you?”
I can feel the color drain from my face. She fucking saw me with Sylvia and she thinks I cheated on her. The furthest thing from the truth. I get dizzy and my body starts to sway causing me to have to step backward. Ryan’s gaze lasers in on me, watching my every movement and I fear he may think my reaction is one of guilt.
It’s not.
“It’s not what she thinks. I’m going to fucking kill her!” I spew, not even thinking about how my words sound.
“Jeremiah, you put one hand on my sister and it’ll be the last person you ever touch.” He steps into my face now, and I can feel the anger radiating off of him.
“No, shit, that’s not what I meant. Nothing is going the way it’s supposed to, today. I don’t want to hurt Amberlee, I’m talking about Sylvia.”
Ryan’s eyes go wide as he steps back in confusion. “What does she have to do with anything?”
I reach in my pocket pulling out my phone and open the app on it to view footage from my door camera. Before I left the house, I made sure to save the recording.
“Sylvia has been messaging and calling me, and I’ve been ignoring them. Amberlee doesn’t know. I was hoping that Syvia would grow bored of not getting an answer and stop. But she didn’t, and showed up at my door today.”
He’s quiet, listening to every word I’m saying with rapt attention. I expect him to say something, but he doesn’t.
“I was just getting out of the shower when the doorbell rang. When they kept pushing the button, I thought it was something important, an emergency, so I wrapped my towel around my waist and went to answer it. I opened the door without checking who was there. In hindsight, it was a bad judgment on my part.”
He crosses his arms over his chest, his piercing eyes still focused on me. He’s fuming still, and I know he’s not sure if he’s going to murder me at the end of this conversation or help me convince Amberlee of my innocence. I pray it's the latter.
“As soon as I opened the door, she kissed me. I was in a daze. It wasn’t until the shock wore off that I pushed her away. Here, watch for yourself.” I hand my phone over to him. “It’s set to start right before she pulls into the driveway. Just hit play.”
He takes the phone from me and taps the screen. I have the volume down where he can hear, but not everyone in the hallway can bear witness to the moment of my downfall. The nurse's are still watching us intently, but Ryan’s contained his temper enough after my warning that security hasn’t shown up yet.
I watch his face, his scowl drifting to a frown as the scene plays out before him. My eyes nervously roam while he watches, waiting for him to take in everything he’s seeing.
“That fucking bitch!” He hands the phone back to me before glancing over his shoulder to Amberlee’s room.
“She’s my sister. I understand how upset she is from what she saw before leaving.”
“Don’t,” I tell him, pausing as he locks eyes with me. “I never expect you to have anyone’s back other than hers. If you didn’t, I’d be beating the shit out of you right now.”
He sighs heavily. “Come on, we need to show her the video and tell her everything.”
Ryan turns and heads down the hallway to her room, while I stand there frozen. I want her to know the truth, but a part of me fears seeing her gaze at me with that pain and hurt again. Worse that even when she knows the truth, she’ll still hold anger at me for my small transgression of allowing Sylvia to get her lips on mine, that I didn’t tell her she’s been messaging me.
Ryan stops, looking back at me. “Come on.”
Hesitantly, I begin moving toward him, focusing on putting one foot in front of the other, it’s the only thing that’s keeping me from freezing in place.
Ryan opens the door and steps inside, with me right behind him. Amberlee’s rolled onto her side, facing the wall across from us. She’s sobbing and my heart crumbles. I’m the cause of the tears she’s shedding.
“Amberlee,” Ryan calls her name. She slowly rolls over, her eyes lock on mine and she opens her mouth to speak. “No, it’s not what you think. You need to let him explain and show you something.”
“No,” her voice comes out hoarse and weak.
“I love you, Amberlee, you’re my sister and I’d never let anyone hurt you. I’m also not going to let you ruin something over a misunderstanding. Now, you are going to listen as Jeremiah explains to you what you saw.” He shifts his gaze over to me. “Although, it could have been avoided, if he was honest with you sooner.”
I take that as my cue to step forward and take a seat in the chair beside her. Taking a deep breath, I begin to tell the story to her. Telling her everything as she listens. I start with admitting to her that I lied about the calls and messages I’d been getting, that they were from Sylvia.
“Do you still love her? Do you want to be with her?” Her voice cracks.
“No, I can’t stand her. I was stupid and thought if I ignored her, she’d just grow bored and stop. Her showing up at my door was something I never expected.”
“Then why didn’t you tell me? Why not just be honest with me instead of lying?”
“I was scared of what you would think. I even debated telling you, but after she showed up today I knew I needed to, and I was planning to tell you tonight. But when I showed up at Ryan’s you weren’t there and then we got the call about your accident.”
“Why did you answer the door in a towel?” Her eyes squint as she looks at me. Fuck, none of this looks good for me.
“Again, stupidity. Someone kept ringing the doorbell nonstop, I was in the shower, and I thought something bad had happened. I put a towel on and rushed to the door, not even checking to see who it was first. If I knew it was her, I wouldn’t have answered.”
“But you were kissing her. I saw it.” Her sobs become heavier and the words come out a jumbled mess.
“She kissed me. I was stunned, not expecting it. I wasn’t even looking at who it was when I opened the door and then I heard her voice and went into shock. As soon as I knew what was happening, I pushed her away.”
“Show her the video,” Ryan speaks up.
I pull my phone out again and bring up the saved video from the camera and hand it over to Amberlee, making sure to put it where the camera catches her pulling in the driveway.
“Just hit play.”
I sit, my head down, as she watches it. Just hearing Sylvia’s voice has me seeing red. It’s all because of her that my girl is in the hospital right now. Amberlee was in an accident because Sylvia came to my house.
But that’s not completely true. I’m to blame as well. If I had been honest about the messages and calls, then she wouldn’t have automatically jumped to the worst conclusion and she wouldn’t have left so upset.
“You didn’t cheat on me,” she sobs, dropping the phone into her lap.
“No, I’d never cheat on you. I love you, Amberlee. I even asked Ryan for his blessing to marry you. I’ve been carrying around a ring since the day you said you’d be my girlfriend. I was going to ask you tonight.”
Her eyes shoot to Ryan, looking for confirmation. “It’s true, sis.”
A door opens behind us and we all turn to see who it is.
“Hello Amberlee, we have your test results back. Would you like them to leave while we speak with you?”
“No, umm they can stay. Is my baby okay?” she asks and I go still, a gasp coming from Ryan.
“Your baby’s fine. Strong heartbeat, as we told you earlier when we did the ultrasound. All your bloodwork came back good. Your wrist isn’t broken but severely sprained, so you’ll need to wear the splint for a little while.” He pauses looking down at his chart. I want to say something, but I stay quiet. I need to know if she’s okay and what I need to do to take care of her.
“You did suffer a concussion, so you’ll need someone to watch over you for the next couple days. No work for the next week and I recommend going ahead and contacting an OB. You’re a very lucky girl. It could’ve been far worse.”
“Is there anything special we need to watch for?” I ask.
“She’ll be given discharge instructions with all that information. I’m going to start it now so you can go home and rest in your own bed.”
“Thank you doctor,” she says softly as Ryan steps over and shakes his hand. My eyes drift to where her hands lay, cradling her belly.
The door shuts, leaving us alone.
“You’re pregnant?” I ask.
“I’ve been feeling sick, and I didn’t get my period. I actually took a test this morning, confirming it. When Maddy messaged me you were home and then I got your message you were going to your house to shower, I decided to come over and tell you. Do you hate me? Are you mad?”
“No, I’m happy. You’re having my baby?” Tears are sliding down my cheeks as I lean over, hugging her gently as I kiss the side of her face. “I love you so much.”
A throat clears from behind us. Ryan. Fuck, he’s going to kill me.
“I think it’s time you ask my sister something and make an honest woman out of her,” he says sternly.
“Does that mean I have your blessing?” I ask, since I never got an answer. Whether he says yes or no, I’m still asking. It’d just be nice if he’s okay with it.
“You have my blessing. But if you ever hurt her, or keep something from her again, I’ll beat your ass to a bloody pulp.”
I smile. Because I know he means it.
Reaching out, I take Amberlee’s hand in mine.
“Amberlee, I’ve loved you since the moment I met you. There’s never been anyone who could hold a candle to you and there never will be. I want to spend the rest of my life loving you, growing not only our family, but old with you. Will you marry me?”