Given (24 page)

“Will it?” she whispered.

“I hope so,” he replied. The honesty in his eyes made her
want to start crying all over again.

“Okay,” she replied, willing to do whatever it took to save
her child. She just hoped she hadn’t come to her senses too late.

The ambulance came. It was freezing outside. The temperature
had dropped at least another ten degrees. Mal threw her coat over her torso.
She lay strapped helplessly onto the gurney. He handed her overnight bag to one
of the paramedics. She nodded to him and the stricken look on his face stopped
her heart.

Brax
pushed Jared out of the way
and got in with her. Jared grabbed his arm.
Brax
shrugged off his friend’s hold. “I’m going with her,” he said with finality.

The doors closed. They didn’t turn on the siren, and that
made her feel a little better. She knew if they’d turned on the siren, things
would be much worse. She’d seen security waiting in their cars. Knowing they’d
be going to the hospital to guard her was strangely comforting. For the doctor
and her six to allow the risk of her leaving the compound, she knew it was
serious.

Brax
took her hand, and she looked
into his face. He didn’t look cold, an appearance she’d recently grown
accustomed to,
instead
she saw torment in his
expression. His brow creased, and fine lines radiated from his eyes that she
hadn’t noticed before. His neatly trimmed goatee, a new addition to his face
since the cold weather hit, had a few gray hairs. He suddenly looked
ridiculously aged and seeing it made her feel even worse.

“I’m sorry,
Kristannie
. This is my
fault,” he mumbled.

The paramedic took her blood pressure. “Sir, try to keep her
calm,” he scolded
Brax
gruffly.

“Sorry,”
Brax
grumbled at the man,
but he never took his eyes off Krista’s face. “I’m so sorry,” he repeated.

“Don’t be sorry. This is my fault, not yours.”

“I know I’ve been…distant.” As he said the last word he
looked away, guiltily. She said nothing. He still wasn’t looking at her. “I’ve
just been so conflicted. I’m happy it’s mine, but I’m also upset.”

“What do you mean?” she questioned, anger in her voice.

“Sir, we need you to stop talking now. You’re upsetting her.
You don’t want to make the situation worse, do you?”

“No.” He sat back, saying nothing, but still gripping her
hand.

“Butt out,” she growled at the paramedic. His eyes flew open
in surprise. She squeezed
Brax’s
hand. “Tell me,
now!” she ordered.

He grinned a little.
“Fire.
That’s
what I love about you. I love you,
Kristannie
. So
much that it kills me to know I gave you this child. If this is a girl, it’ll
destroy us both. I’ve been so worried that we’ll lose the child when it’s
older. I didn’t even worry about what might happen now. You made the doctor
swear not to tell us the gender for fear we’d tell you. It’s been eating me
alive every night. I have terrible nightmares about my daughter being snatched
away and thrown into a crowd of crazed men. I couldn’t do it, couldn’t allow
them to take her away.”

“I know just how you feel,” Krista whimpered, fighting her
tears. “That’s why I wouldn’t let the doctor tell me. I didn’t want to lose my
hope for a boy.”

The radio crackled loudly. “You need to bring her to door
ten. We have to save this baby girl. The mother is arriving under a code red,
so treat this as an emergency,” ordered the disembodied, static-filled voice
over the radio as it spoke to the driver. The radio was so loud they heard the
words clearly. The siren blared and the ambulance lurched forward as it picked
up speed. Krista’s eyes filled with tears. She noticed Braxton’s lip tremble.

“Denyse, for my mother.”
He spoke
so quietly she wasn’t sure she heard him correctly.

“All right, and Alicia for mine, Alicia Denyse,” she
replied.

He grinned, but there was sadness in his expression. “Why
does your mother get top billing?”

“Because I’m the one strapped to the gurney,” she retorted.

“Touché, my lady.
Okay, you win.
Now I have to learn to deal with the fact she belongs to the state.”

“I’ve been dealing with that for a lot longer than you, it
doesn’t get easier. I’ve known since my teens that if I have a daughter she’ll
be taken away.”

“I never thought about it before the paternity test told us
I was the father.” He spoke quietly, and she could hear the apology in his
voice.

Krista reached up and touched his cheek. “We’ll get through
this. We have ten years to love her.”

“Ten years won’t be enough.”

“We’ll have to make it enough.”

The ambulance came to a stop. Fervor erupted as the
commotion began. She couldn’t see
Brax
as he was
pushed aside for the rushing paramedics and doctors. They ran with her through
one white, sterile hall after another. Hospital security flanked the gurney,
and she heard her own private guards shouting as they caught up with the
rushing medical workers. The elevator doors remained open and the moment they
all crammed inside, she looked around frantically for Braxton.

“Where’s Braxton
Bray
?” she
questioned the paramedic she recognized.

“He’ll have to wait until we have you stabilized and roomed.
He’s been detained to fill out paperwork.”

“I want him with me, please.” She hated begging, but her
panic and terror grew to overwhelming proportions.

One of her guards, a man she knew from the compound, stepped
closer to the gurney. “I won’t let anything happen to you, Miss.”

His words brought her only slight relief. “Then get
Brax
here as quickly as you can.”

He looked at the other guard and nodded. “We’ll do our
utmost.”

She sighed. She’d take what she could get. She’d spent so
much time secluded and under guard, the sensation of being in the hospital was
disturbing. She’d come to think of her six’s home as her home, and right now
she just wanted to return there.

The expediency didn’t end after they had her transferred to
a hospital bed. She was in a private room, and each time her door opened, she
saw her guards silently keeping watch outside the room. There was a twisted
comfort in knowing they were there. She waited, still no
Brax
.
A nurse came in and took her vitals.

“I’m your nurse this evening. My name is Brad. I’ll be with
you until five AM, and then Richard will take over.”

“Where’s the man who rode here with me?” Krista asked. She
didn’t bother to introduce herself to Brad.

He gave her a nervous and surprised look. “You’ll have to
speak to the doctor about visitors.”

Krista’s heart pounded in her chest. “So I assume that means
he’s not allowed to come in here?”

“You need to stay calm. I’ll see about having the doctor
come and speak with you.”

Krista nodded, feeling ill. What would she do if she never
saw him—them—again? She hadn’t considered they’d pull her from her six so
abruptly. “Please have him come soon. I really would relax if I’m allowed to
see Braxton.” Brad put an IV needle in her arm. “Is that really necessary?” she
questioned with irritation.

“Yes, if we run into an emergency we need to know you’re
prepped. This is just going to be sterile water to keep the vein open.” He
walked around to her other arm and put an automated blood pressure cuff on her
arm. Another nurse came in and handed him a tray. “This will only hurt for a
moment,” Brad said as he uncapped the needle and flicked out the air bubbles.

“What’s that for?” Krista asked with worry.

“Steroids, for the baby’s lungs, just in case,” he replied.

Just in case…
She began to panic.
Do they think
I’ll go into labor early?
Krista wanted to ask, but was afraid of the
answer, so she remained silent. She looked at the bandage on her arm. They’d
removed her tracker as a precaution as soon as she was settled in her room. If
they defibrillated her for any reason the tracker could short circuit,
interfering with lifesaving procedures. Her heart ached. She didn’t want to
lose Braxton’s baby. She’d love any child that was hers, but knowing the
daughter she carried belonged to
Brax
made her love
for the baby even more intense.

The nurse gave her hand a comforting squeeze. “I’ll do my
best for you.”

The way he said the words didn’t fill her with hope. She
shivered. He mistook the gesture and added another warmed blanket to her bed.
It didn’t dispel the chill in her soul. Were they trying to find an excuse to
take her child away and relocate her? She’d seen enough government finagling to
believe the worst.

The doctor didn’t come. Darkness fell outside and Krista sat
staring at the window, afraid and alone. Deep down, she worried about the
drastic change her life had taken. She’d been helpless to stop the terrible
turn of events from unfolding.

Sleep was a long time in coming. When she finally fell
asleep, her hand on the swell where her child lay, she dreamed of men in white
coats ripping her baby from her womb and leaving her for dead. A clattering
noise woke her. Krista cried out as she opened her eyes.

“I’m sorry I woke you,” said a different nurse quietly. He
was a bit older than her night nurse had been, but his eyes were kind.

“When do I get to talk to the doctor?” she asked, ignoring
basic social pleasantries entirely.

“He should be here to see you this afternoon.”

Krista remembered his name was Richard. “Please, Richard, I
really need to talk to him about my visitor situation. Could you at least let
him know I’d like to see the father? Please.”

Richard looked sad. “I’ll talk to him. Here’s your
breakfast. You’re on a special diet, so you won’t be offered the menu, but if
there’s anything special you’d like, I’ll see if I can get an approval.”

She nodded, but said nothing else. Richard changed her IV
bag and left without another word. Krista looked at the tray. Yellow,
overcooked eggs and apple juice was all she’d been given. She drank the juice
and ignored the eggs. Steve’s cooking had spoiled her. She’d become accustomed
to her new life, and if she had to be
Given
, she
wanted to return to her men.

There was no TV in the room, the only sound was the dripping
IV and the low hum of the monitors. Krista lay looking up at the ceiling,
feeling hopeless.

A man entered the room with a mop and bucket. He wore a
white t-shirt and jeans. She noticed the blue sanitary booties on his feet and
a badge around his neck. Krista went back to staring hopelessly out the window.
She didn’t pay the custodian much attention until the hair on the back of her
neck stood up. When she glanced over at him, he was gazing at her in a way that
made her entirely uncomfortable. Fear made her put her hand lightly on the call
button, just in case.

“Are you here to mop or stare?” she questioned sassily.

“I’m sorry,” he replied, still gazing at her. “I’ve waited a
very long time to see you again.”

She’d almost pressed the button when the word “again” caught
her attention. “What do you mean ‘again’?” Krista knew she should just press
the call button, but curiosity stopped her.

“I’m here to help you,
Kristannie
.
I’m your father.”

Her mouth fell open and she fought the bubble of hysterical
laughter that almost erupted. “I don’t have a father,” she replied, glaring at
the interloper.

“You did, when you were little. I’m so sorry I wasn’t there
when you needed me, muffin,” the stranger said. There was true sorrow in his
voice.

Her mouth gaped open at his admission. She wasn’t sure how
to respond to him or his foodie nickname. No one had ever called her muffin.
The slightest ghost of a memory tingled in her mind, but she blew it away, like
a wisp of smoke.

“I’ll call security. Two highly trained guards are right
outside, all I have to do is scream once and they’ll be in here.”

“I know.” He spoke calmly, but she could see the fear in his
eyes. “I’m risking a lot for you, but I’ve been waiting months for a chance
like this.”

“I don’t remember ever having a father. I don’t know why
you’d make such a cruel claim, but I’m not an idiot.”

“I know you
aren’t,
muffin. You
were a smart kid. Let me show you some proof.” He took a step closer and she
held the call button up, showing him her finger was hovering above it, ready to
notify the nurse’s station she needed help. He held up his hands. “I’m just
going to get my wallet out of my back pocket and show you a picture. Okay?”

She didn’t respond. He slowly moved his right hand back,
keeping the left where she could see it. He brought a worn leather wallet out,
taking a few steps in her direction, while holding the old leather out toward
her.

“Take it, look at my information. There’s a picture in
there, just one. Take it out of the plastic and give it a good look.”

She didn’t move. He shook his arm and she glared at him, but
again, her natural inquisitiveness won and she snatched the billfold out of the
man’s hand. His ID claimed his name was Todd
Damiani
and he was a forty-five year old Canadian resident. She flipped it and there
was a picture, one that made her heart pound, the monitor attached to her made
a bleep. He glanced nervously at the door.

“I’ll be back later. Calm down. If you can’t make your body
cooperate, there’s no way we can pull off an escape. Keep the wallet for now. I
hope you’ll believe me, and if you don’t, everything I’ve worked for has been
for nothing. I failed you once. I won’t do it again.”

He hurried out of the room, keeping his head down. A nurse
came rushing in a moment later. Krista tucked the wallet under the blanket
quickly.
Escape…is it even possible in my condition?
“Are you all
right?” the nurse asked as he rushed over to the machines and began checking
settings while making adjustments.