Enlightened (Red Flags) (32 page)

My phone rang and I looked down at the caller ID. Chelsea was calling and for a minute I thought about ignoring it, but with the amount of stress that she had been under lately, I knew if I ignored her, she'd just keep calling.  I took a deep breath and answered.

"Hello."

"Cara.  Where are you?  Mila and I were going to see if we could pry you away from Jason for a girl's night.  I need it."

I closed my eyes and took a deep breath.  I really didn't want to fill Chelsea in on where I was headed.  She could be so overbearing and judgmental and right now, I really didn't need it.  "I can't.  I'm busy right now."

She laughed.  "Okay.  Look nympho couple, you have the rest of your lives for that.  Come out with us.  I need to relieve some stress."

"Chels, I can't," I said hurriedly.

"Whoa!  What's the matter with you?  Are you and Jason back to fighting?"  I kept quiet, hoping she'd get the hint.  "Cara!  Cara, seriously, if you two are fighting, just leave."

"We're not fighting, Chelsea!" I yelled.  "We're on our way to the hospital.  Stacey is in labor." 

She gasped and then went silent.  Chelsea at a loss for words was definitely different.  Unfortunately, it didn't last long. 

"Cara, you must be some sort of masochist.  Why the fuck would you go to the hospital to watch Satan's sister have her baby?"

"Because, Chels, it'll kill me to sit around knowing that this is happening and I'm off somewhere else, having it take over my thoughts.  I'll call you when I know something."

"Cara--"

"Bye, Chels."

I hung up the call and sat back in my seat, watching as we zoomed past the other cars on the freeway.  Jason looked over to me with stern eyes, but he didn't say anything.

Pulling into the parking lot of the hospital, Jason parked in the first open space that he saw.  He jumped out of the truck, and I did the same, not waiting for him to come around to my side and let me out.  We didn't wait for his parents. Instead, he took my hand and quickly walked us into the hospital.

"Labor and Delivery," Jason spat out at the front desk receptionist.  She gave us directions with a cheerful smile on her face, but our panicked expressions, and deep breathing didn't match, making her pull back on her glee.

We hurried up the elevators and through two sets of double doors, finally making our way into the Labor and Delivery ward.  A middle aged nurse, wearing stork covered scrubs greeted us at the desk.  She had the same level of joy on her face as the receptionist from the ground level, but after taking in the expressions on our faces, she quickly turned serious. 

"How may I help you?" she asked, looking back and forth between both of us.

"Stacey Miller," Jason said.  "I think she's here and in labor." 

"Are you family?" the nurse asked, looking at us both with a concerned look etched on her face.

Jason looked over to me and then back to the nurse.  "No.  We're not."

"Okay.  Well in that case, you'll have to wait in the waiting room.  Please follow me."  The nurse led us down the hallway and stopped just before the last door on the right.  Go ahead and take a seat.  As soon as family or the mother okays you into the room, we'll come by to get you."

I looked at Jason and shrugged my shoulders.  He pushed open the door and my earlier dream came flooding over me, numbing my legs and causing me to slightly stumble. 

"You okay, Cara?" he asked as he helped me up.

"Yeah, I'm fine," I replied, not sure if it were true or not. 

The bright florescent lights glowed, causing me to scrunch my eyes upon entrance into the room.  There were informational posters plastered to the walls, but there was one main difference--we weren't alone.  Amy, Stacey's stalker friend, was sitting in the room, playing on her phone.  She looked like a deer caught in headlights when she looked up and saw Jason and me standing there.  I led the way into the room, pulling Jason behind me, and sat down in the seats directly across from her.  She nervously sat in her chair, unsure if she should say anything or not.  The awkwardness filling the room was beginning to give me a headache, and rather than sit there and torture myself, I cut through it, surprising the hell out of her.

"Did you bring Stacey in?  Is she okay?" 

Amy's breath hitched in surprise and she cleared her throat.  "Um…" she swallowed, "Yeah.  She was cramping really bad so I brought her to the hospital and they admitted her."

"How long has she been here?"  I asked, trying to get any information that I could.

"At least a couple of hours.  The doctors are watching all sorts of stuff, so I called her dad and I guess he's on his way."

Jason looked up at Amy, but didn't say anything.  Just as he stood and began pacing the room, his parents walked in.  He and his dad made eye contact, but didn't say anything to one another.  I watched his mom move over to him and gently rub his back, but she didn't take him in her arms like she normally did.  This scene was all sorts of fucked up.  Here I was, standing in the waiting room with my boyfriend, as his ex-fiancé lay in a bed, about to deliver a baby that I wasn't sure if my boyfriend had fathered or not.  His parents might as well have been strangers to him because the tension that came with their arrival sucked the air right out of the room.

I let out a deep breath and sat back in my chair, throwing my head back and hitting the wall.  Time felt like it was standing still, and the longer I sat in the room, the more claustrophobic I felt.  The somersaults taking place in my stomach forced me to lie down, so Jason sat with me and held me in his arms. 

Waking up to the sound of the creaking door, I sat up out of Jason's arms and found Chelsea, Hunter, Mila, and Ryan walking into the room. 

"What are you guys doing here?" I asked, genuinely shocked to see them.  Chelsea pulled me up and into her arms.  Mila came to her side and they enveloped me into a group hug. 

"You didn't think we'd let you go through this alone, did you?" she asked with a look of consternation on her face.  "You may be crazy as shit, but we love you, and we'll be here for you, Cara.  Always."

Mila nodded her head and then pulled me in tighter.  I let out a couple of tears.  Chelsea and Mila, whether they agreed with my decisions or not, were there for me.  It felt amazing to have unconditional love showered over me, and for a brief second, I looked over to Jason's parents who were sitting together on the other side of the room and wondered why they couldn't feel the same thing for their own kids.

Jason, Hunter, and Ryan huddled together near the door, chatting quietly.  A smile passed over Jason's lips and it felt good to see him look relaxed and carefree.  Our day had started out so beautifully, but in a matter of hours, it had gone from carefree to calamitous. 

Ryan and I made eye contact and he excused himself from the conversation and pulled me away from the girls. 

"How ya holdin' up?" he asked, pulling me into a hug.

I wrapped my arms around his chest.  "I think I'm okay," I muttered.

"You don't have a damn thing to worry about, Cars.  I know you still have a slight doubt about Jason and the baby--" I looked up at him, causing him to stop.  "Jason told us."  I put my face back into his chest.  "That's normal and fine.  But he is one hundred percent confident that it isn't his and I believe him.  Just try your best to relax." 

Ryan stood holding me with his chin resting on the top of my head.  With our new lives, I didn't get to see as much of him as I used to, and this moment reminded me of why I loved him so much.  He was always there for me through the good, the bad, and the ugly.  He was always going to support me no matter what I chose to do, and to have him standing in the cold, lifeless waiting room, meant the world to me.

We all finally sat down and tried to relax.  Hunter and Ryan took turns going to the coffee and vending machines, leaving the rest of us to attempt sleep.  Jason pulled me into his chest and nuzzled his nose into my hair.  I looked up at him and managed a smile, even though my stomach was still turning on itself. 

"Thank you," he whispered, and kissed my head as he pulled me even closer.

"For what?"  I asked.

"For being you.  For being so incredibly selfless--" he paused, and I looked up at him.  "For loving me."

I sat up and took his face in my hands and kissed him passionately.  I didn't care who was in the room.  I just needed to feel the connection that only came from Jason--that connection that made me feel alive. 

The sullenness that Stacey and her impending arrival brought over me was hard to overcome, but Jason and his touch helped me to erase bits and pieces of it.  Even if it didn't erase all of it, it erased enough to put life back into me. 

"I love you, Jason.  Now we just need to clear this last hurdle so we can have our happily ever after."

He smiled his amazingly beautiful smile that I was accustomed to seeing.  "Gorgeous, that hurdle has already been crossed for me.  But if you need help getting over it, I'm here for you."

I kissed him again and lay back down on his chest.  He ran his fingers through my hair, effectively relaxing me and sending me to a much needed, deep sleep.

<>

A loud, thundering voice full of southern drawl awoke me a couple of hours later.  I blinked my eyes furiously, trying to adjust to the bright, florescent lighting of the waiting room.  When I finally focused, my eyes landed on the large bellied man who wore the cowboy hat to what seemed like every place he went.  Mr. and Mrs. Bradley stood and greeted him.  He turned away from them and zeroed in on Jason. 

"Hey! Boy!  You gonna give me a hug or what?" 

Jason reluctantly let me go as he stood and walked over to Mr. Miller, spreading his arms wide and giving him a hug.  He hesitated for a minute after pulling away, not entirely sure of what to say, but knowing that there was something that needed to be said.

"Don't be tip-toein' around me, Boy.  I still got all the love in the world for ya."

Jason's lips stretched into a coy smile.  "Thank you, Mr. Miller." 

The door swung open again, breaking the beautiful moment, and in strolled the other half to my worst nightmare, Jacob Bradley.  Heather walked in after him, holding little Abby.  The little girl fixed her gaze on Jason and squirmed to get out of Heather's arms yelling, "Uncle Jason!  Uncle Jason!"  Heather put her down and Abby ran into Jason's arms.  He turned her around, making her giggle as she tried to shower him with kisses. 

"Why is everybody sitting in here looking so pathetic?"  Jacob scanned the room, fixing his salacious grin on me.  "We should be celebrating. Stacey and Jason are about to have a baby."

My breath caught as the overwhelming need to puke overtook me.  Mila looked over at me and noticed my paling face.  She leaped into action with her empty coffee cup, prepared to catch any vomit should I succumb to the feeling.  Luckily, nothing came, and I settled on holding my churning stomach instead.

Jason whirled around at the sound of my gasp.  He calmly placed Abby down on the ground and stalked over to Jacob, stepping into his face and backing him up a bit.

"You ain't comin' in here starting a bunch of shit, Jacob.  I ain't havin' any fuckin' babies today.  You, on the other hand,
you
might be introducin' Abby to her sister or brother/cousin."  The southern drawl in his voice was so thick that I had a little trouble following what he was saying.

Heather hurried over to Abby and picked her up, shielding her away from the brothers who were near blows in the corner.  "Knock it off, you two.  My baby is in here.  She doesn’t need to see your shit."

"Do you mind if I take her down to the vending machine?"  Chelsea asked.

Heather looked over to her with surprise in her eyes.  "No.  I don't mind.  No candy though.  She'll be wired."

Chelsea nodded and took Abby by the hand, leading her out of the room.  Amy looked completely uncomfortable and excused herself, leaving all of us that were somehow connected to this mangled web in the room together.

"Are you two back together?"  I asked Heather tentatively. 

She spun around to face me.  "Hell no!" she yelled.  "We took the same flight with my dad, but got held up downstairs with Abby.  I meant what I said, Cara.  I'm through with his bullshit. I'm making a better life for Abby and me."

Relief flooded me.  I was so thrilled to hear that Jacob hadn't worked his malicious charm on Heather and somehow weaseled his way back into her life.  He was lower than scum, and she deserved a hell of a lot better than what Jacob could ever offer her. 

Mrs. Bradley stood and walked over near her two feuding sons.  Exasperation spread across her face as she looked at both of her boys.

"Do we really have to do this here?  When will it end?" she asked. 

Neither of them answered.  Instead, Jason walked away from Jacob and over to me.  He wrapped his arm around my shoulder and stood, glaring at his brother.

The room had an eerie silence to it.  Everyone was tucked away in their own respective corners, lightly speaking to one another.  Then, all eyes darted towards the door as it swung open with the doctor walking in from the other side of it. 

"I'm looking for the family of Ms. Stacey Miller."  Mr. Miller and Heather quickly made their way to the doctor.  "Are you family?" 

"Yes.  I'm her father and this is her sister." 

"Okay.  Will you please step out in the hallway with me so that I can fill you in on Ms. Miller?"

"That's okay," Heather chimed in.  She looked around the room at all of the peering eyes fixated on the three of them.  "Everyone here is here for my sister.  You can go ahead and tell us."

My eyes flashed over to Jason who hadn't budged.  Heather was making sure the rest of us were aware of the situation, since in a way, it
did
involve almost all of us.  

"Ms. Miller did go into premature labor, but the cause we have yet to pinpoint.  Her and baby are doing just fine.  She delivered a healthy, premature baby girl.  You'll be able to see her shortly, but we are asking that you keep it to family only.  This can often times be a traumatic experience for new moms."