Total pages in book: 77
Estimated words: 70092 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 350(@200wpm)___ 280(@250wpm)___ 234(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 70092 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 350(@200wpm)___ 280(@250wpm)___ 234(@300wpm)
"She's being monitored," she shares, and I take a step toward the hallway, and I'm stopped.
"Clarabella." I say her name, almost hissing. “You can tell me where she is, or I go to jail finding out where she is. I'm at my fucking wit's end right now."
She holds up her hands. “I know," she says softly. “I'll take you to her." She turns, and I follow her, not saying another word.
As I walk down the white corridor, I scan all the rooms looking for her. My head is going around and around with all these questions, but no answers are given. When Clarabella stops, she looks over at me. “I know you are freaking out, but go easy in there."
I just nod at her, not sure how my voice is going to come out. I'm also not prepared for what I'm walking into. I step into the room after Clarabella, seeing Presley sitting up in the hospital bed. "Hey," Presley says when she looks at me. I can see the dried tears on her face. She looks pale, and her hand is on her stomach, and I have to wonder if everything is okay.
I stop mid step looking at her. She's even wearing a hospital gown. “I would have come sooner," I tell her, still not going to her. Not sure I can.
"I'll give you two a minute,” Clarabella says, looking at Presley and then giving me a sad smile on the way out.
"Why didn't you call me?" is the first thing that comes out of my mouth. The pressure on my chest feels like an elephant is sitting on it while a tiger comes by and rips my heart out.
"It was no big deal." She tries to smile but nothing comes. "I was spotting a bit, so I came here to make sure that I was okay." My stomach that was in my throat has now sunk to my feet.
"You were spotting a little bit." Not sure I understand what is happening. "You were bleeding."
"Yes," she answers and wipes the tear off her cheek. “But the baby is fine." She answers the question I've been dying to know. "The doctor came in and checked me before and we heard the baby's heartbeat." She puts her hands on her stomach. “He's going to monitor me for a couple of hours." She shrugs, trying to pretend that it's nothing. “So like I said, it was no big deal."
"It wasn't a big deal," I repeat her words, my voice staying monotone. The picture of her coming here scared out of her mind flashes before my eyes. The other picture that flashes before my eyes is me not being here with her. The thought is almost too much to bear. I should step out of the room and calm myself before we talk about anything else.
"Yes, there wasn't a reason for us both to freak out." She avoids looking at me and looks down at her stomach.
"I thought we were doing this together.” When my voice comes out almost broken, her eyes fly up to mine as she looks at me in shock. Her eyes look into mine, and I don't think I'll ever love anyone as much as I love her. I also know that she will never love me like I want her to.
"We are doing this together," she reassures me, but the only thing I can focus on is that she went through this without me.
"But then this happens, and you don't even call me." The tears fill my eyes. “You don't send me a message." I shake my head. “I drove around looking for you, worried. I had no answers. I had no idea that all this time you were here going through all of this, and I was none the wiser."
"I didn't think…" she says, and I hold up my hand to stop her from talking. The more she talks and tries to make this not a big deal, the angrier I get.
"Unless you did think and didn't care." I laugh bitterly, knowing that this moment is the moment I've been dreading. The moment that I knew would somehow come, yet didn't want it. The moment that makes my heart shatter in my chest. "I've been a fool all this time."
Chapter 18
Presley
"Unless you did think and didn't care." He laughs, and I can tell it's a sarcastic laugh. My heart beats in my chest so hard and fast I feel like I'm going to throw up. My hand on my stomach grips the sheet with nerves. “I've been a fool all this time."
"Bennett." I say his name as the stinging of tears rushes to my eyes. I blink them away as fast as I can, but nothing can prepare me for what comes next. My mouth goes so dry that swallowing hurts, and all the words get stuck at the back of my throat not able to go past the lump that is there. "Everything just happened so fast," I finally am able to croak out. “The doctor came in." I don't tell him the truth. I don't tell him that I didn't want to call him because I couldn't face him if something had happened. I don't tell him that the only thing I wanted was to have him here with me. I don't tell him that even though Clarabella was here with me, the only thing I wanted was to look into his eyes.