Chapter 17
Sailor assumed he would put her to bed and leave, but he got in bed with her after stripping down to his boxers. She curled up on the far side, away from him, but he didn’t say or do anything. He just laid on his back and let a long breath out, then went still and quiet.
Sailor lay there a long time, listening to the noise from out front that she could barely hear now.
Why was he sleeping here? Was it because of her? Was it because he didn’t want to go home? Was he going to hurt her or go to sleep? How could she sleep with her nightmare sharing a bed with her?
“Close your eyes and sleep, Rue,” he murmured, his voice gravely with sleep.
“Are you…”
“Sleep. Now.”
She sighed but curled up in the blankets, closed her eyes, and immediately opened them again, terrified. Still, sleep refused to come for her. She knew he’d fallen asleep, she could hear his steady breathing. She knew when the party ended, the building going silent and still. She lay there alone, next to her nightmare, and refused to consider sleep.
An hour turned into two, then three, then four .
Geo woke up, slipped out of bed, and then out the door just as quietly. Sailor saw a man standing in the hall when the door opened, and he gave Geo a nod.
Geo came back in a minute later and got back into bed. The room lit up blue, and she stayed perfectly still as she listened to him barely moving.
He snorted suddenly. “You ain’t been to sleep yet,” he accused angrily, then the light went out.
Shit! She’d forgotten about the night vision camera and showing the reflection on open eyes.
“Can’t sleep,” she mumbled.
“Nightmares?” he asked irritably.
“Yeah.”
“Come ‘ere,” he demanded, then pulled her close.
Sailor whimpered, but he wasn’t trying to pull her clothes off or do anything, he just pulled her in close and spooned her from behind.
“Sleep,” he ordered her. “You don't fuss or have fits when I have a hand on you. No nightmares. Sleep.”
“You are the nightmare,” she whispered.
“Fuckin’ right I am. I need more sleep, so unless you want me given’ you more nightmares, you bes’ be closin’ your damn eyes and goin’ to sleep too.”
Sailor closed her eyes, clutching his arm fearfully. He fell back to sleep almost immediately, but it was a lot longer coming for Sailor. She didn’t know how long it was before her thoughts began becoming fragmented, and she drifted off.
Sailor groaned when Geo shifted, turning to look over his shoulder.
“You said wake you this mornin’?” Mig spoke softly.
“Yeah. Fuck. This lil’ bitch wouldn’t fuckin’ sleep,” Geo grumped, letting her go and rolling out of bed. “Get up, Rue. Get dressed. You get her them clothes?”
“Yeah, right here,” Mig agreed, brandishing a bag from her house. Probably the one Davon had gotten for her.
“You got mine? ”
“Already in the bathroom.”
Geo stood up and left without looking at Sailor.
She got up more slowly, reaching for her bag sleepily.
“Nah, go get a shower,” Mig demanded. “I’ll get you some clothes out.”
“Are we going somewhere?” she asked, yawning and stumbling out of bed.
Mig didn’t answer, following her to the bathroom.
Sailor hesitated at the door, staring wide-eyed at Geo as he stepped into the shower with absolutely nothing on.
“Hurry up!” Mig demanded, pushing her into the room. “Get your clothes off and get in the shower! You make us late, and he’ll gladly motivate you, bitch.”
Sailor pulled her clothes off, her face red. Even more than the shame of Geo seeing her, it was Mig staying in the room like he was making sure she didn't try to club Geo with something. Slipping into the shower, she huddled back, but Geo moved so the water would reach her and handed her the soap.
She took it, turning away and hurrying with it.
No one said a word, even when Geo got out before her, dried off, and dressed. He seemed to be waiting on her as she turned off the water and peeked out. He threw a towel at her face, and she barely caught it, pulling it behind the frosted glass with her, then came out wrapped in it and dressed.
“You gon’ be good today, or we gonna have issues?” Geo asked as he gripped her upper arm and led her out front.
“Where are we going?” she asked softly.
“Does it matter, Rue?” he asked darkly, looking down at her with darkness in his features.
“No… I’ll behave.”
He snorted but led her out to the black SUV.
He got in the back with her this time, and Mig got up front to drive.
Geo immediately got on his phone, ignoring her as she curled up.
When they pulled up to a vast hospital, she was confused when Mig dropped them off at the front entrance. Geo pulled her in, and she looked around hopefully, praying she saw security or a cop or something.
She saw a man right off as Geo waited behind an older man at the information desk. He was a giant Samoan man in a security uniform, sitting behind a desk and looking at his computer in front of him.
‘Look up!’ she willed at him, staring at him as she pressed into Geo so he wouldn’t see her.
Geo looked down, then followed her gaze just as the giant man looked up. Hope surged even as fear did, but confusion took over immediately. The giant grinned and jumped up, closing the distance rapidly for his size.
“Geo! Geo, man, it’s been years, my brother, how you been?”
“Good, Lew, real fuckin’ good. We miss you, man, you know you got a place with us if you wanna come back.”
“I know, man, I swore to my old lady, though.”
“Shit, she know some crackhead is more likely to shoot you here than you was likely to get hurt workin’ for me?”
“Yeah, I know, but it’s legit. So this is her, huh? Yeah, I got you all hooked up. Third floor, room 204, Doctor Nagy.”
“Thanks, man. You good, you need anything?”
“We’re makin’ it, man, you know. Grind ain’t too satisfyin’, but it works.”
“I got somethin’ new comin’ down, lemme me know if you want in on it. Zero danger. No runnin’.”
“I’ll mention it to Olah… we been tryna figure on how to replace that busted washer.”
Geo snorted a nod. “Yeah, I feel you. Lemme know. Thanks, man,” he told him, then did the half hug, half arm-clasp thing she’d seen Geo do with other men.
Turning, he pulled Sailor to the elevators, pulling his phone out. As soon as the elevator doors closed, he put the phone to his ear. “Mig, order Lewis a new washer ’n dryer set. Have it delivered to his house. Tell ’m to haul away the old, too. … Yeah, ai ght, man. … Yeah, for both of us,” he told him, then hung up. Pocketing his phone, he looked Sailor over again. “I mean it, Rue, you best behave. Ain’t no one here gon’ help you.”
Sailor nodded and looked down at her feet, feeling miserable.
The OBGYN office he pulled her into was empty, with a sign on the window saying they opened at 9. The clock on the wall said 8:14.
As soon as they approached the window, a woman stood up and nodded at them, then opened the door, looking nervous. She was an older woman with short, no-nonsense hair and looked like she’d been doing this her whole life.
“You must be Geo. Lewis told me to expect you. Come on back… ahh… is this your daughter?”
Geo snorted, anger flaring up. “Nah, bitch,” he snarled. “She’s over 18. Check your fuckin’ judgment.”
“Oh, no, I didn’t mean to judge! Lewis said it was an emergency, and you needed privacy, I just thought maybe… other times when I’ve had similar situations, the dad just found out after she tried to hide it, you know? Come in here and have a seat, Sir. Miss, can you slip those sweats off and get under that blanket for me? Your undies, too. Lewis said you needed a full checkup? She conceived in December?”
“Thereabouts. I want you to tell me when she gonna drop it and if it’s mine.”
“Of course… Yes, I can run a test. I’ll need your DNA. I can swab you before you leave and expedite it. Let me pull the bottom out for you, sweetheart, it works like a stool. There you are, hop on up there… you’re just a tiny thing, aren’t you?”
“That gon’ give ‘r issues? Droppin’ the kid?” Geo asked, moving closer to stand on the other side of the table as Sailor laid back.
“We’ll find out,” the woman smiled professionally at him. “Now, I’m Doctor Nagy, but you can call me Jill. What can I call you?” she asked Sailor soothingly.
“Sailor,” she answered, wishing she could ask for help. The woman was here alone before the rest of the office opened. Was Geo going to shoot her, too?
“Sailor, that’s cute. How old are you, Sailor?”
“18? 19 soon. I’m about to graduate.”
“Oh? Lay back and relax for me, okay, I’m just going to feel around your tummy right now, okay? You just don't have an extra ounce of meat on you, do you, Sailor?” she asked, half stressed, half teasing. “I’m going to need you to try and put some weight on for me, alright? I need you to eat three full meals a day, all healthy, with snacks. I know you may not feel very up to it, especially since it seems like you haven’t known a full meal in a few years.”
“I have a high metabolism,” Sailor muttered, her face red.
“Hold on to that as long as you can!” Jill chuckled, but it was forced. “Ok, Sailor, I’m going to feel inside of you for a moment, okay? It may feel uncomfortable, but I’ll try to be quick and painless,” she promised, putting on gloves and lubing two fingers as she moved down between her legs.
Sailor closed her eyes and didn’t object when Geo took firm hold of her hand.
“Relax now for me,” the doctor called, then eased her fingers in. Sailor felt her poking and prodding, pressing and feeling around, then she slid her fingers out and nodded. “Alright, I have a few more things I need to do,” she told her, pulling out a pink strap and attaching a little disc. “I’m going to find the baby's heartbeat, okay? This belt will hold the monitor in place, and I’m going to monitor the heart rate for about 10 minutes, okay?”
Sailor nodded, watching as the woman slid the belt under her and around, then moved the monitor around after pouring goop on her tummy. The woman smiled, then turned up the monitor so Sailor could hear.
Her eyes went wide as she listened, then tears welled up. “That’s it? That’s the baby?” she asked wondrously.
“That’s the baby!” the doctor agreed, smiling at Sailor.
“Why’s it so fast? ”
“That’s normal! It’s good, actually. I’m going to check on you now, Sailor, okay?” she asked, then put a blood pressure cuff on her and an O2 sensor on her finger.
She did other things, but Sailor hardly noticed as she listened to the fast heartbeat and wiped away tears.
“How long till you know if it’s mine?” Geo demanded.
“I’ll have to take blood,” Jill told him. “I can send the results overnight and get them to you as soon as possible. I can probably call with the results tomorrow at this time.”
“You do that,” Geo scowled, looking down at Sailor. She was crying and smiling sadly while staring at the monitor.
Sailor was still staring off dreamily when the doctor spoke up several minutes later. “Dad, can I see you outside?” she asked him, standing up with her clipboard and looking stressed.
“What’s wrong?” Geo demanded.
“Can we speak outside?” she asked him again, opening the door.
Geo looked at Sailor, who looked alarmed but stepped out with the doctor as she shut the door.
Sailor sat up, afraid now. What was happening?!?
When they returned a few minutes later, Jill's face was red with anger, and Geo had a cool, calculating expression as he glared at Sailor.
“What is it?” Sailor asked Jill.
“Nothing you need to worry over, sweetheart, okay? All you have to worry about in this world is that little life growing inside you, alright? Eat like I told you, stay hydrated, get light exercise but nothing strenuous, okay? I don't want you lifting anything over 10 lbs, okay? No running or jumping, motorcycle riding, horseback riding, nothing, okay?”
“Okay?”
“I have a printout here of things you can and can’t do, okay? And good ways to gain weight to help protect the baby. Dad, she looks good as far as carrying, she’ll have no issues with that, though we may have to look into doing a c-section if the baby grows too big. Not a big deal at all, okay? Sailor, I want you back here next week, same time, okay?”
“Is everything alright?”
“Just fine. Just do everything as instructed, and everything will be fine, alright? Let’s clean this off you and you can go ahead and hop down. I’m going to have Emmy come in early next week for a sonogram, alright? We’ll take a good look at baby, and if everything is just right, we might get indications on sex if you want it. Do you? Want to know if it’s a boy or girl?”
“Yes!” Sailor agreed, a little excited now.
“We’ll get it set up. Dad, remember what I told you, okay?”
“Yeah, I fuckin’ heard you,” Geo scowled, not taking his eyes off Sailor. “C’mon, Rue, get dressed. She done did what she needed to for me.”
Sailor hurried and pulled her pants back on under the blanket, then was surprised when Geo bent and picked her shoes up to help her with them.
“Thanks!” she called to the woman as Geo pulled her out of the office. Sailor watched Geo’s face as he got on the elevator with her and pulled his phone out to start texting. “What is it?” she asked him.
He snorted. “I ain’t allowed to hit you no more.”
Sailor swallowed hard, wondering if that would just goad him to hit her more.
“I told her to fuck off, I’d check you when you needed checkin’. You ‘member that, Rue. Watch yourself,” he told her, pulling her out to leave the building. He nodded at Lewis, who was on the phone, and Lewis gave him a nod back.