Final Surrender (23 page)

Chapter Twenty-Four

Angela was sick off and on all week and kept telling the overprotective Clay it was the stress of the upcoming show and the incidents piling up day after day. Creepy letter, after creepy photo, after electronic phone call.

The last thing she needed was to have Clay tagging along.

Maybe I’m wrong
, she thought for the millionth time as she stared around her doctor’s office waiting room.

She had lied to Clay, which she didn’t like at all, but he would have asked too many questions otherwise. He thought she was at Maddy’s apartment going over some new ideas for the show. She’d even had him drop her off there while he went down to the police department to see Detective Wyatt and discuss the case. So here she sat, alone. Talk about familiar.

Her doctor was a friend and she knew she could trust her with her private life, including her secrets. All of her normal visits and tests were done in the in-house lab, and anything else she needed done could be done right next door at the hospital under a different pseudonym.

She stared out the window, looking at the parking lot, trying to sort through a heck of a lot of complications, as she refocused her eyes on a very miffed, extremely gorgeous man getting out of a taxicab.

Stunned out of her brooding, she ran up to the counter and told the receptionist, “I need to use the restroom immediately.”

The nurse buzzed her into the back area, which she ducked into in just enough time to close the door after catching a glimpse of Clay entering the lobby.

She hoped his eyes hadn’t adjusted to the change in light, but she wasn’t taking any chances.

It had taken Clay nearly an hour to get Maddy on her cell phone when he went back to her apartment and no one answered the door. She told him Angela had a doctor appointment.

He had tracked her down with pure damn luck. Pissed him off he didn’t find her on his own.

She had been in pain for a week, and something was going on. More than just the lame excuses she kept giving of bad fish and stress.

He tracked her to her doctor’s office, which had not been an easy task, and he saw her duck into the back as soon as he entered.

Stealthy she was not.

Strolling up to the front counter, keeping his voice low and soothing, he tried to keep the anger out of his sweet-talking. Why was she running from him? They had been getting closer and he didn’t want to lose what they had growing between them.

He made small talk to the receptionist.

“How may I help you?”

“I’m looking for someone.”

“Aren’t we all,” she said, as she batted a very heavily mascaraed pair of eyelashes at him.

“Well, I’m actually looking for Ms. Meyers? You see, I’m her security and she forgot to inform me of her appointment time, so I thought I’d come by and see if she was already here,” he used every ounce of Texas drawl that he never took advantage of and stared at the receptionist, who was turning red in the face.

She seemed to snap out of it finally as another nurse accidentally bumped her chair setting down a message.

She came to slowly and looked at the message in front of her.

“Oh, Mr.?”

“Waters, Clay Waters,” he answered helpfully.

She fanned herself with the message and said, “Yes, Mr. Waters, Ms. Meyers was in, but she cancelled her appointment and I believe she left through the hospital entrance.”

“Well, I guess I’ll go see to her and make sure she’s okay, thanks, darlin’,” he added. He hated resorting to such low tactics, but at least he knew she was bolting.

He tried her cell phone again, which he was pretty sure she had left on her side table upstairs in her loft and wasn’t surprised at all when it went straight to voicemail like before.

As he made his way outside, wondering which way to go, he caught a glimpse of someone nearly running the other way from the building.

There was no doubt in his mind it was Angela and, by God, she was going to tell him what the hell was going on.

Angela darted inside the next building, but she knew Clay saw her. He was chasing her and he was going to gain on her fast if she couldn’t hide. Her side was hurting again, so running wasn’t really an option.

She heard him calling her name and she ducked in the next open hallway.

She chastised herself for not staying put and facing him in the doctor’s office waiting room. At least there would have been witnesses there so he didn’t get too mad. She could have had the flu for all he knew, or simple food poisoning, she added to herself. A lot good common sense ever did for her when it came to Clay.

After taking several deep breaths to calm her nerves, she rubbed her stomach and decided to sneak out the other way and get a cab to take her home.

I’ll pass it all off as some big miscommunication later.

After taking a step out into the hallway and looking to the right, she figured the coast was clear.

She exhaled, finally feeling home free, and turned back around to go left and bumped right into a very tall Texan man, with a scar on his cheek and a very pissed-off expression.

Angela opened her mouth to talk and Clay piped up with, “What the hell are you doing?”

Her inner Captain Obvious coughed up,
Oh yeah, he’s pissed
. She tried to come up with something believable on the fly. She decided to be vague instead.

“This doesn’t concern you at the moment,” she lied emphatically, her body already shaking from the effort and the fear rocking her to the core.

“The hell it doesn’t!”

Someone else from the hospital walked past the hallway they were in and Clay grabbed her by the upper arm and half dragged her over to one side.

“I’m supposed to be protecting you and if you jump ship without telling me, obviously I can’t do my job.” He finally released her arm and paced back and forth in front of her.

A cold sweat broke out down Angela’s body, and the fear of vomiting on his shoes became quite real.

Clay tried unsuccessfully to get a hold on his temper. He was so mad he missed Angela slump against the wall.

“Clay, I don’t think I can…” she whispered.

“What?” he asked, oblivious, still pacing. “You don’t think it should concern me, well, you’ve got another thing coming. If…” he finally trailed off as he pulled his head out of his ass long enough to catch a glimpse of Angela’s pale face against the wall, with sweat running down her temple.

Shocked out of his temper tantrum, he reached her side just as she grabbed her abdomen and groaned in pain. He scooped her into his arms just as she collapsed.

He started moving with her through the hallways. “What is going on?”

She panted for breath, clutching at his collar. He started running with her as he realized she was going in and out of consciousness, every inch of her relaxing, and then edging away from him or pain when she came to.

She came to again with Clay yelling at her, “Angela! You stay awake do you hear me! We’re almost there, just hang on,” as he hit the doors to the Emergency Room Entrance.

Her eyelids fluttered back open and he sighed in relief.

“I can’t be here,” she mumbled, trying weakly to push him away.

“Stop struggling. I’m taking you to the emergency room. You’re really sick and we’re not leaving until someone figures out what’s wrong with you.”

Clay adjusted her in his arms again, as she stopped fighting. “I already know what’s wrong.” A pause that seemed to last a lifetime ensued and several panicked staff members rushed towards them, as Angela’s eyelids closed.

“What’s wrong, baby, what’s wrong? Tell me so I can help you fix it,” he begged as she clutched her abdomen again.

An ER nurse brought a bed on wheels and Clay helped lay her limp body on it before they started wheeling her down the hall. “Tell me, honey, tell me what’s wrong.”

The hospital staff began peppering Clay with questions.

“Who is this woman?”

“Angela Meyers.”

“What’s wrong?”

“I don’t know.”

“How long has she been like this?”

“Around a week. She thought she got food poisoning or something a week ago but she’s felt bad ever since. She’s hiding something and I think she’s really sick,” he answered.

“Is she allergic to any medicine?”

“I don’t know,” he answered once more through gritted teeth.

Angela blinked several times like she was looking through fog. She was cold, clammy, and moaning as she moved on the gurney.

“Angela—what’s wrong?” Clay asked one last time.

She struggled to find his face as tears ran down her cheeks. “I’m pregnant,” she whispered before passing out cold.

A nurse pushed a stunned Clay out of the way and told him he couldn’t come any farther and that a doctor would be out to see him as soon as he could.

Clay watched the automatic doors close behind her as her limp hand still hung off the side of the bed.

Pregnant?
He repeated out loud, and person after person shuttled past him at top speed.

He must have been elbowed or nudged a dozen times, but he couldn’t concentrate on anything. No other thought entered his mind, for who knows how long.

He finally came to, sitting in a chair a couple hours later, with a doctor in a white coat shaking his shoulder.

“Sir? Sir, are you Angela’s husband?”

Clay blinked a few times and said the only thing that came to mind, “I’m the father of the baby.”

“Well okay, that’s close enough. Why don’t you come with me and we’ll talk a bit more privately,” the doctor said as he led Clay down the hall.

Chapter Twenty-Five

Dr. Eli, the man with a worried face, led Clay down a hallway and stopped outside of what he assumed was Angela’s room.

Both men stood next to the door and the doctor asked, “Did you know, Mr. Waters? About the pregnancy?”

“Not a clue. Not a friggin’ clue. She was on birth control so we thought we were covered.”

“Ms. Waters is a bit thrown as well. The antibiotics she was given after the bombing made the birth control ineffective. She forgot to tell the ER she was taking it, since she wasn’t on it to avoid getting pregnant. We have confirmed the pregnancy by ultrasound. She’s about six weeks along.”

“I didn’t think. Damn, I just didn’t think,” Clay admitted as he ran a hand through his hair. “Why is she in so much pain? I can understand the nausea and all that, but what about the pain?”

“Well, we’re still trying to pin down what’s going on especially in light of the complications with the first pregnancy. But after checking the sonogram, everything looks fine. It could be muscular reactions.”

Clay stared at the doctor and his eyes grew dark and dangerous.

“What. Other. Pregnancy?” Clay asked as all the blood started pumping through his body in a torrent.

“Her first pregnancy ten years ago. She said you were the father, so I assumed you knew.” The doctor looked chagrined and added, “I’m sorry, Mr. Waters, it wasn’t my place to inform you.”

“I’m glad someone’s filling me in, since obviously she’s not. What happened to the first child, where is it now?”

“Mr. Waters you’ll have to ask Ms. Meyers how the first pregnancy ended. I can’t disclose that information.”

Clay wanted to punch the nice doctor, or throw a chair through a window. It was all he could do to stand there and not roar in his face.

“Is she awake?” he managed past his anger.

“We gave her something for the pain and the nausea and she was asleep when I left a few minutes ago.” Dr. Eli looked at his watch and excused himself. “We’ll be running more tests when she wakes up to rule out a few more complications, but I think she’ll be fine to go home tomorrow.” As he turned around he added, “Once you guys talk, if you have any questions, have the nurse page me.”

Clay stood there for a moment longer before entering her room.

He opened his mouth to start yelling, but then he saw her hooked up to all the wires and IV and she was curled up on her side sleeping. She looked so small and unprotected.

His mouth snapped closed and he stared at her, until his heart would surely burst.

What had she done?

Angela finally opened her eyes and she could tell it was dusk. It was getting dark outside and all she could hear was the heart monitor beating away.

Struggling to sit up, she looked around the room and finally spotted Clay standing at the glass looking out the window.

She relaxed, opening her mouth to talk about the baby when she caught sight of his reflection in the glass. He was watching her, seething. He looked so angry, and her face fell.

He held her gaze for several seconds. She was unable to look away, until he finally turned to face her.

“You’re pregnant. How long have you known?” His voice was icy and she felt cold and afraid. It sounded like he was accusing her. As if he didn’t have just as much to do with it.

She released a breath, searching for calm since they already told her she didn’t need to be agitated right now. “I took a pregnancy test yesterday when I realized I had missed a period. It was positive, but I couldn’t believe it,” she added as her voice grew shaky.

“When were you planning on telling me? I am assuming it’s mine, or should I ask you that as well?” he added with a sneer.

“Of course it’s yours. There’s never been anyone else.” Her heart ached at the acid in his words. She was just as stunned as he was and didn’t understand why he seemed so angry.

He leaned against the windowsill, his arms folded across his chest as if he didn’t have a care in the world. The continual flex of his jaw was the only thing that gave him away.

“And the other child, when did that…
happen
?”

Angela’s neck snapped up and she eyed Clay with a slack jaw.

He pushed himself from the half wall and sauntered over to the bed, leaning close, trying to intimidate her.

“Yup, I know about that one, too. How many times have you lied to me, Angela? What else haven’t you told me about?”

She squeezed her eyes shut. She would not cry.

“Ten years ago,” she said with a whisper. “That night we were together. I got pregnant but didn’t know it until I got to New York.”

“So you want me to believe that I got you pregnant ten years ago?”

She looked up at him again, tears filling her eyes.
Why was he being like this? As if she had done something horrible. Was he angry because she hadn’t told him?

“Since you’re the only man I’ve ever had intercourse with, I’d say one plus one definitely equals two in this situation.”

“You said you loved me and you want me to believe that I got you pregnant and then you didn’t tell me?” he scoffed. “What kind of love is that?” The word love sounded so vile coming from his mouth. It ate at her insides. Corroding everything that had grown between them in the months they had been together.

“I did love you but it wasn’t enough. You couldn’t love me, so why would I have thought you could love us?” she asked simply.

“Don’t you think that should have been my choice?” His fists were now clenched by his side as he faced her down.

“Maybe so—” she started, but he cut in before she could finish.

“
Maybe
?” he yelled. “I didn’t love you, so you decided to get even? How could you do that? How could you punish me like that, because I wouldn’t give you what you wanted?”

“I wasn’t strong enough and I just couldn’t do it,” she replied as her heart grew tired. Tired of loving a man that would…
could
never love her back.

“You weren’t strong enough?” he snorted with a toss of his head. “Only a true coward chooses…that. Only a person with no heart could make that decision for both of us.”

He eyed her with cold blue eyes, as dark as the deepest ocean.

A tear slipped free when she finally understood what he thought she had done.

“It’s not what you think, Clay, I didn’t…”

“You didn’t, what?” he spat. “You didn’t run off to New York to avoid me? Your family? You didn’t stay so I wouldn’t find out what you did? How could you?” he yelled again.

Her heart lay in pieces in her chest as she closed her eyes and let the tears flow.

What did it matter what he thought? What did it matter that he believed a lie? Wouldn’t it be easier this way?
He could think the worst and then he would leave and she could get her life back. Her lonely life she had built for herself so she didn’t have to feel the pain every day she looked in a mirror. Remember what she couldn’t have.

She looked down at her hands and said, “I’m sorry, Clay, I’m sorry I never told you. You had a right to know.”

“Yeah I did,” he said as he stood there and watched her cry. Her heart ached as if it would split right open. It was as if he didn’t even know who she was.

“Campbell will be here tomorrow to take my place, or until you decide on another firm. You can have your attorney contact me on child support and custody, unless you’re planning on terminating this pregnancy as well?”

His accusation hung in the air and she opened her mouth to speak again. To refute his horrible claims against her, but she knew this was the only way he would leave. Thinking her a monster.

She only shook her head, and he nodded.

A big, burly nurse walked in the door and eyed Clay suspiciously. “We heard shouting. Is everything all right, Ms. Meyers?”

Angela couldn’t look up. She couldn’t bear to see the regret in Clay’s face. She survived it once but didn’t think she’d be so lucky again.

“Take care of the baby, Angela,” he ordered as he walked out of the room and never looked back.

A few seconds later, a warm hand settled on her shoulder. “Are you all right, honey?” the nursed asked again.

“No,” was all she got out before dissolving into tears. Sobs so hard she thought her chest had cracked right down the middle, exposing her to the world as the empty shell she now was.