Giving In (The Sandy Cove Series Book 1) (19 page)

There’s only a few weeks left of summer, and I
will admit it’s been the best. Refreshing and relaxing… For the
most part. I never did see Chad again, thank God. I think he knew
to stay clear of me, which is unusually surprising. His
relentlessness towards me when we are back in Princeton is
immeasurable. Since his father and mine are golf buddies, when they
all play together, he’s always approaching my father about me. When
he is questioned about our breakup from my father, his response was
always that we were taking a break for a while. Break, my ass. Try
broken, as in what it did to me. Dr. Goldberg and I still have our
weekly conversations, but the more time passes, the more I find
comfort in my other form of therapy, which, in fact, is coming down
the dock as we speak. Well more like sprinting.

What the hell?

“Turnip, Turnip, it’s Bella, she’s… She’s in
labor.”

The look of sheer panic is displayed on Cruz’s
face, so I stand up to greet him.

“Wait, what? She’s not due for another month,
Cruz. What’s going on?”

He’s panting and running his fingers through his
hair fiercely.

“My brother called and he said something about
her bag breaking and then the water came out of it and I was like
what the fuck is that, then he said she was having contradictions
and shit, and oh, God, I don’t know.”

I grab his shoulders and caress them and then I
run my hands down to his forearms, as I tell him to take a deep
breath.

“Ok, sweetie, relax. First of all it was her
water that broke. Her bag of water, not her purse or anything like
that and she’s having contractions. It’s when the uterus contracts
and pushes the baby down the birth canal. It happens during
labor.”

When I’m telling Cruz what Bella is going
through and how it’s perfectly normal, he relaxes.

“Listen to me, the baby is just a little early.
That’s all and everything will be fine.”

I smile at him and stroke his cheek. He leans
into my hand, and he closes his eyes.

“Are you going to go see her, be there for your
brother?”

He hesitates and looks out onto the water. It
appears he’s struggling with some kind of decision, and I’m not
really sure so I ask. I take my hand from his cheek and use one of
my fingers to bring his attention to my face.

“Hey, what’s the problem? This is a no-brainer.
You need to go. You told me on more than one occasion that Bella is
one of your best friends, so don’t be so hesitant about going. She
needs you to be there, Cruz. They both do.”

The look in his eyes tells me he knows I’m
right.

Cruz lets out a sigh, and I see his body appear
to be less tense. He takes a seat on one of our chairs, clasping
his hands together and resting his elbows on his knees. His head is
down between his knees so I can only see the top of his brown
waves.

I bend my knees and get down to his level. My
hands encircling his.

“Hey pal. Look at me.” He doesn’t, so I use my
teacher voice on him.

“Raphael Cruz, look at me right this instant.”
He peers up at me, shocked and horrified at my tone.

“You are an Officer of the law, an ex-Marine,
and my favorite man-whore in the world. If you’re afraid of what’s
happening, don’t be. It’s ok to be afraid, but you are by far the
strongest person I know so failure in this situation is not an
option. Bella will be fine, and so will the baby.”

He looks at me with his piercing blue eyes and
marvels at my words like they are scripture. He believes what I’m
telling him. I like this vulnerable side of Cruz. Big, strong
tattooed men don’t always need to show their rough exterior.
Sometimes showing the other side is quite… Sexy.

Surprise, surprise.

“Babies come into this world early every day and
medicine is so far advanced that God forbid if there is anything
wrong with the baby…”

He gets a panicked look in his eyes.

“Cruz, I never said there was anything wrong
with the baby, I’m just making a point that there are highly
trained medical professionals who will make sure the baby will be
ok.”

He grins solemnly at me.

“Do you trust me?” I ask. He nods, looking
directly into my eyes.

“Well then good.” I stand up after being in the
crouched position for more time than expected, but he pulls me back
down towards him, and I’m taken aback.

“Come with me… Please?”

His question is a plea, almost sounding
desperate, and if I didn’t know better, I’d say it’s one for help,
but one that says ‘don’t let me do this alone.’

So I won’t.

“Should I pack an overnight bag?” He smiles.
That’s all that’s needed for me to get my answer.

An hour and a half later here we are at a
hospital called St. Mary’s, but I’m pretty sure we are nowhere near
Cherry Hill where Cruz said he was from. Actually, it’s a pretty
run down area. I had dozed off for most of the ride so I didn’t pay
much attention. I yawn and stretch my arms up above my head.

“Mornin’ sleepyhead.” I turn towards Cruz and
smile.

“Did you just call me sleepyhead?” I laugh at
him because it’s just not like him to use those terms of
endearment.

He rolls his eyes at me and pulls into the
parking garage of the hospital.

“Yes, I was referring to you. I have to get used
to using words like that since I’ll have a niece or nephew running
around.”

Who would have thought Raphael Cruz could be…
Sweet.

Cruz shuts off the car, but remains with his
hands tightly around the steering wheel, almost displaying white
knuckles.

“You ready to go?” I ask.

“Um, yea, but there’s something I need to tell
you first, Turnip.”

“Ok, shoot.” I hear the sound of his phone
ringing and see it’s his brother Antonio on the caller ID. He keeps
allowing it to ring, and ring again, until finally I hand it to him
and tell him to answer it.

“Yea, Antonio. We just pulled in. Yes, we. My
friend Harlow is here… Yes, that one.” He shakes his head and
covers his eyes. I feel my cheeks warm, and I don’t know why.

“Yes, ok. How is she doing? Seven centimeters?
What the hell does that mean? Ok fine, never mind. We’ll see you in
a sec.” He hangs up and looks at me.

“Sorry about that.”

Knowing exactly what he’s apologizing for, I
turn smart ass on him.

“Sorry for what? I have no idea what you’re
talking about, Officer.” I wink at him and open my car door,
dismissing the fact that he was about to tell me something. I’ll
remind him later to finish.

We leave our overnight bags in the car, but I
grab my canvas tote with my laptop in it. I have to register for my
grad classes and what a better time to do it than sitting in a
hospital waiting room. Baby’s arrivals are very unpredictable. Just
because she’s seven centimeters, doesn’t mean a damn thing. It
could be hours.

Cruz is very quiet, which is odd. The man never
shuts up, so when we get to the floor and the elevator doors open,
he steps out, but I tug at his arm.

“Remember what I said. Don’t be afraid.
Everything is going to be perfect.”

He takes my hand in his and we walk down a
hallway towards a nurse’s station.

He took my hand?

Cruz stops at a desk to ask a nurse where Bella
is.

“Excuse me. I’m looking for Bella Cruz. She’s
been admitted with pre-term labor.” The nurse looks at a whiteboard
behind her and we see Bella’s name.

“Yes. She’s in room 222.” The nurse points in
the direction for which we need to go.

Cruz thanks her and tugs me along down to
Bella’s room. When we open the door, I see a man standing at the
head of the bed, an almost replica of Cruz, but with much more bulk
to him. In the bed is the prettiest and tiniest raven-haired,
dark-complected woman with the biggest belly I have ever seen.

Cruz lets go of my hand and swiftly walks
towards his brother, engulfing him in a hug. They pat each other’s
backs and their foreheads pull together to rest on one another.

Cruz goes to the woman lying in the bed, who is
obviously Bella. He kisses her head and strokes her hair.

“How you doing there, mama?”

“Well they gave me an epidural, so now I’m ok. I
can’t believe you came, Raph.”

“I wouldn’t miss it. But why did you go into
labor so early? You’re not due for another month.”

“We are fine. The doctor did an ultrasound and
the baby’s lungs are fine. Strong and healthy. It may be a little
smaller than we wanted, but when it’s time, there’s no stopping him
or her from coming.”

Cruz smiles at Bella, and I lean against the
doorway to the room.

“And this must be Harlow.” She motions for me to
come forward, and I feel a bit awkward, but her smile says not to
be. She extends her hand out, and I take it, a bit subdued.

“I’m Bella. It’s so nice to meet you, Harlow.
I’ve heard a lot about you.”

“Bella!” Cruz’s voice rings out in a
warning.

“Oh, never mind him.” She shoos her hand at him
and winks.

“Likewise. Congratulations. How are you
feeling?”

“I’m very ready, in case you couldn’t tell. Oh,
and this is my husband Antonio. The more handsome of the Cruz
men.”

Cruz takes a seat next to Bella’s bed.

“Ha, ha. Very funny.” I like their banter.

“Harlow, nice to meet you. And I will also say
we have heard a lot about you, so forget what my little brother
says.” I shake Antonio’s hand, and then take a step back from
Bella’s bed, feeling a bit out of place even though they aren’t
making me feel that way. A nurse walks in, checks the monitors that
are attached to Bella, and then asks all of us to leave the room,
so they can check to see if she is any more dilated. We step out
into the waiting room, Cruz looks nervous, his head turning to look
over his shoulder every once in a while. I’m assuming it’s because
he’s worried about Bella. I sit across from him, checking my email
and getting back to Willow via text with updates. Of course, the
woman can even scold me through text about how could I have gone
with him all the way here for someone I don’t even know, especially
for the reason we are here. I’m trying to keep that out of my head,
but leave it to Willow to give me a subtle reminder of it.

I hate hospitals. I hate the smell. I hate the
yellowed, peeling wallpaper. I hate the old, worn-out chairs in
this waiting room. I can count the frayed threads on this chair I’m
sitting in. I hate the muffled beheaded voices calling for doctors
over the intercom systems. Code blue, code red, code whatever.

I hate watching the nurses and doctors walk
around in their green, thinly-clad scrubs. What’s the point of them
anyway?

I hate this floor. The thought of a million
shoes being walked on in the very spot my eyes are focused on now
makes me shiver. The shine from the linoleum doesn’t make a
difference. I know what’s there. Dried blood from the bottom of
shoes, dirt, germs, pieces of life. It’s worse in Bella’s room. I
guarantee that fact.

I need to breathe. I need to focus on something
besides the dirt-ridden, germ-infested floor below my feet.

I raise my eyes to him. He stares in my
direction, our eyes meeting for a moment, and a slight smile
appears on his face. Not his normal smile. One of uneasiness. I
look at him puzzled, but then my anxiousness is replaced with
calmness because he now looks like how I feel. His eyes tell me he
needs me. I don’t know why I feel the pull of his stare. It
confuses me that look in his eyes, so I throw caution to the wind
and get up to sit beside him.

The elevator dings as I make my way to the seat.
Before I can even sit beside Cruz, he’s up out of his seat, his
face looking strained, and somewhat uneasy. The tapping of his foot
tells me his anticipation as to whom is about to get off that
elevator will not diminish until the doors open. I find myself
doing exactly what Cruz is doing, staring at the elevator doors
like a child waiting for the jack-in-the-box to spring free. I’m
not sure why we are staring at it, but as I look at Cruz, I know
there must be something to it. The doors finally open, a couple
rushes out and into the arms of Antonio. The woman wraps her arms
around him, her handbag flopping to the floor. She is crying, but
it doesn’t appear to be tears of sadness, possibly just worry, and
that’s when it hits me, this is Bella’s mom.

“Oh, Antonio, how is my baby girl? What did the
doctors say? How is the baby? Is she pushing yet? We tried to get
here as fast as we could mijo. Traffic was horrible.”

The woman couldn’t be more than five feet,
beautiful dark hair, and a lovely complexion like Bella’s. Her
father, not much taller than his wife, hugs Antonio as well and
apologizes for his wife’s over exaggerated rant.

“Tony, please excuse Marcella, she is so
nervous, first grandchild and all.”