Maybe Baby Lite (44 page)

“
How many fingers am I
holding up, Ms. Preston?”

“
One,” I answered
hoarsely.

“
Very good.”

He leaned over and took a
pen light from his pocket, turning it on and shining it directly
into each of my eyes. “Dilation is occurring, that's good.” He held
his index finger up again, asking for my eyes to follow its
movement without moving my head. He moved it east to west, then
north to south.

“
Very, very good, Ms.
Preston. It appears that you have no damage to the muscles. We’ll
do a more thorough eye exam later. You'll be here for a couple of
more days. We’ll want to run a few more tests. For now, your
immediate instructions are to get rest and regain your strength.
Your throat will be sore for a few days more as the bruising heals.
I'll check you in the morning.”

With that, he left. I had
no opportunity to ask any questions, though it was doubtful that I
could have spoken anyway. I looked over at Denise, feeling
helpless. She came over and sat in the chair next to my hospital
bed. Just like old times, I thought wryly.

“
Tylar,” she asked softly,
“do you remember what happened the night…well the night you got
injured?”

I shook my
head.

“
It’s probably just as
well, at least for now anyway. Listen, I have to go out for a
couple of minutes, but I’ll be back.”

I desperately tried to
think of the last thing I could remember. I wasn’t even sure what
day it was. I looked around the hospital room. It was just like the
last one I was in.

Denise returned. “I had to
call Trey to let him know the good news,” she said, smiling as if
she knew something that I didn’t. “He will be here shortly,” she
winked, “and I'll leave you two alone.”

I had no clue what I
looked like. I brushed my hand through my hair. It felt kind of
greasy. I looked over at Denise.

“
It’s not that bad,
honey,” she said.

Yeah, I bet!

Suddenly, Trey walked in.
His gorgeous majesty was here. I'd never tire of looking at him. I
was hoping that he hadn’t brought Charlotte along to rub it into my
face. Denise immediately vacated her chair next to my bed. She
leaned over, giving me a kiss.

“
I’ll be back to see you
tomorrow.”

Trey took a seat in the
chair, watching me as if I'd burst into flames at any moment. “I’m
glad to see you’re awake, Tylar. You had us pretty worried. Can you
talk?”

“
A little,” I
rasped.

“
I’ll try to make this so
you don’t have to talk unless absolutely necessary. Denise said
that you had no memory of what happened to you. Do you want me to
tell you what happened?”

I nodded my head. I needed
to know eventually. I’d rather hear it from Trey now than have it
return to me in a nightmare later. How bad could it be?

“
Okay,” he started, his
smooth and silky voice played like music to my ears. “This past
Wednesday night, close to midnight, Mark heard you screaming for
help from your cottage. Mark apparently was in the stable, checking
a wrapping he'd put on one of Derringer’s legs earlier in the
day.”

I remembered that Mark was
worried about a muscle in Derringer’s hind right leg when we'd
worked out earlier. Trey stood up now, starting to pace. “Mark of
course ran to your cottage. The front door was locked, but your
front window was wide open. Someone had taken the screen out to
gain entry. Mark climbed through the window. Luckily he got to your
room in time…” Trey’s voice broke off suddenly in anguish. He
turned away from me as if he didn’t want me to see the emotion on
his face. He put both of his hands behind his head, clasping them
behind his neck.

“
He saved your life,
Tylar. Charlie was on your bed, choking the life out of you. Mark
got to him, pulled him off of you, and beat the shit out of the
maggot,” he hissed.

“
You were naked from the
waist down. We didn’t know whether Charlie…”

“
No!” I cried. “He
didn’t—please say he didn’t!”

It all came flooding back
to me in that moment. I felt nauseated. Trey came right to me,
sitting down on the bed and taking my hand into his. Oh, it felt so
good to be touched by Trey again. My Trey. I had tears in my eyes.
I remembered that night all too well now.

“
No, he didn’t. We know
that now, sweetie,” he said gently. “The hospital did tests and you
weren’t sexually assaulted.”

Well, I wouldn’t say that,
but I knew what Trey meant. Charlie hadn't raped me with his
dick.

“
When you got to the
hospital, I stayed by your side the whole time. Mark stayed at your
cottage until the sheriff’s deputies arrived. Charlie was arrested
and he’s in jail now, where he belongs. Mark gave a full report to
the sheriff. Obviously it was Charlie who left those things at your
cottage. We don’t know why.”

I knew that I could fill
in some of those details, although not all of them. Trey still had
hold of my hand. His fingers brushed lightly against my thumb. He
did not meet my eyes.

“
Tylar, the initial tests
the hospital ran on you to determine if Charlie had raped
you…well…I know your secret now.”

What was he talking about,
my secret? My secret what? I looked over at him; he stared at our
interlocked hands.

“
It appears as if Mark
doesn’t know. Do you plan on telling him or have you decided to
terminate the pregnancy? I know that it's none of my business, but
you're seven weeks along. You need to make a decision one way or
another, don’t you think?”

Pregnancy? Oh my
God!

I'd suspected something
was wrong with me, but I hadn’t figured pregnancy into the
equation. My periods were late sometimes; I'd been under tremendous
stress recently. There was just the one time that we hadn’t used a
condom. It was that night in the stable, that magical night that
had suddenly turned ugly and humiliating, at least for
me.

Wait a minute…

Trey believed I was
pregnant by Mark? How could he possibly think that? Logic would
dictate that even if I'd slept with Mark (which of course I hadn’t)
the timing would still be suspect as to which of them had fathered
the child I was carrying.

Was it possible that Trey
had no memory of the night in the stable, the night our baby was
conceived? I studied his face; he was clueless. Oh no! It would
almost be funny if it weren’t so pathetic. I was insulted to think
Trey thought I'd have slept with another man so quickly after
waiting 21 years to part with my virginity. He was watching me now,
his blue eyes looked pained. What gave him such pain, I wondered?
Was it the fact that he thought I was carrying another man’s child?
Was it simply the thought that I'd been with someone else? I liked
that he felt pain right now. I wanted him to feel it. I'd felt it
that night in the stable, that night he’d drunkenly
forgot.

I whispered, “Of course I
intend to have this baby.”

His face fell. I crushed
him with those words, I could tell. I didn’t see Trey as having an
opinion one way or the other as to a woman’s choice when it came to
the subject of abortion. He'd probably never had reason to be
concerned about that volatile topic. But when the issue was about
me making that decision for myself, it certainly appeared as though
he had an opinion, and he wasn’t happy with the choice that I'd
made. He looked defeated. Good, I wanted him to feel that
way.

“
I take it that you
haven’t told Mark yet, otherwise I'd find it difficult to believe
he'd allow you to continue riding.”

I didn’t answer him. I
really didn’t know what to say.

“
Tylar, how you choose to
handle this situation with Mark is clearly your business. However,
I can't permit you to ride the horses or care for them. There's a
liability issue at stake here.”

Of course,
Counselor.

Trey stood up to leave.
Part of me wanted to blurt the truth out to him, but the other part
of me stubbornly remained silent.

“
As soon as you’re well
enough, some detectives will be here to question you, Tylar. They
have also collected evidence at your cottage. Hopefully we can
determine Charlie’s motivation in attacking you and if there are
others behind it as well.”

I was certain that there
was at least one other person behind it. I hoped the detectives
were grilling Charlie thoroughly. I needed some answers
too.

“
Take care, get some
rest.” He left the room.

I was released two days
later from the hospital with strict orders to remain on complete
bed rest for the next several days. My pregnancy wasn't at risk.
True to Trey’s word, two detectives had come to the hospital to
take my statement. I told them only what had occurred that night. I
didn’t tell them that Charlie had attacked me when I was 13; as far
as I knew, Trey had not put that together yet either. I didn’t want
to delay my departure by having to stick around Bristol. I'd made
plans and was eager to leave town.

Denise had picked me up
from the hospital. She offered to let me stay with her and Ray, but
I really didn’t want to impose. I'd be fine back at my cottage.
Denise had cleaned up the aftermath of the assault as well as the
investigation where they had dusted for fingerprints all over the
cottage. She saw to it that my bed had clean sheets and blankets on
it. My front window had been repaired with a new screen. Everything
was in order.

“
Who’s going to take care
of you there?” she asked.

“
Denise, I’ll be fine.
I'll rest like I’m supposed to.”

“
Why didn’t you tell me
you were pregnant, Tylar?”

“
Because I didn’t know,
Denise, and that's between you and me, okay?”

She nodded; I could see
her mind working. “Is Mark the father?”

I wasn't going to confirm
or deny anything to Denise. Her allegiance to Ray was much stronger
than any allegiance she might have to me. Ray’s allegiance was to
Trey, period. I ignored her question altogether. She walked me to
my cottage. As soon as I climbed up onto the porch, the front door
opened.

“
What kind of a mess did
you get yourself into this time, girlfriend?”

“
Oh my God, Gina!” I
exclaimed, giving her a huge hug.

“
I’m here for the week,”
she announced, “and I'll be staying right here with you to make
sure you follow the doctor’s orders, understand?”

“
That's fantastic,” I
replied.

Gina was showing Denise
that she'd stocked my small fridge with healthy fruits, juices,
dairy, and veggies and my cupboards were stocked with cereal,
granola bars, macaroni and cheese, and assorted soups and crackers.
Denise seemed satisfied that Gina would see to my health and
recovery. She gave me a quick hug, telling me she would check on me
later. I thanked Denise for all that she'd done for me, once
again.

After she left, Gina
ordered me to lie down on the couch. She got a pillow and blanket
for me, and I allowed her to help me get comfortable. She asked if
I was hungry or thirsty but I wasn’t. I knew that she wanted to
talk, and I was ready now. I filled Gina in on what had happened
the night when Charlie assaulted me. I let her know that Charlie
was the one who'd left the jewelry, the ripped up silk pajamas, the
notes, and he was most likely the one who’d taken the picture of
Mark and me kissing and sent it to Trey.

I told Gina everything
about what happened when I was 13; that Charlie had been one of my
mom’s “boyfriends” and that he’d assaulted me back then. I hadn’t
recognized him because it had been dark in my room that night,
eight long years ago. Gina asked why I hadn’t told the detectives
everything that I was telling her. I really didn’t know why, and I
said as much. I said that part of me just wanted it to end with his
arrest for assaulting me and be done with it. As long as he was
locked up and stayed locked up that was all that I cared
about.

There was just one more
revelation I had to share with Gina. I wasn’t sure how much she
already knew. “Gina, I’m almost two months pregnant,” I said very
matter-of-factly.

“
Oh. My. God!” she
screamed, hugging me closely.

I guess she hadn’t been
told this already. Perhaps everyone and their brother didn’t know
my business yet. “That's so fucking fantastic, Ty. You know your
baby is gonna be beautiful, don’t you? I mean look at you; look at
Trey? I can think of only one other couple who might have a baby
that comes close.”

“
Let me guess,” I laughed,
“Ian and Gina?”

“
You got it,
girlfriend!”

“
There’s just one thing:
Trey doesn’t know he’s the father.”

“
What the fuck do you
mean, ‘he doesn’t know’?”

I knew she was going to go
all east coast on me with that last revelation. I explained to her
in as much detail as I was comfortable with what had happened the
night in the stable.

“
You mean to fucking tell
me he doesn’t remember that you and he, you know, did
it?”