Chapter Sixteen

Rue

What the hell did I just agree to?

I watched Richard walk out of the room and let my head fall back against the pillows, reaching up with the hand that wasn’t attached to the IV to rub my forehead.

Why did it seem like every time this man opened his mouth I went along with something that I knew for damn sure was a bad idea?

I closed my eyes, trying to concentrate on relaxing and letting my body absorb the fluids gradually dripping into me. I felt ridiculous ending up in the hospital because I hadn’t had enough to drink and had gotten myself so worked up about the whole situation that I passed out. At the same time, though, the fear that I had felt when I started to get dizzy and then when I saw the blood was unlike any fear that I had ever experienced. It was a sense of terror and dread that reached all the way inside me and made me feel like I was turning inside out. I couldn’t describe the emotions that coursed through me or the thoughts that raced in my mind as Tessie herded me into her car. My fingers were shaking so hard that I couldn’t dial the phone and my brain was so frantic that I couldn’t remember how to find his number even if I had been able to dial, so she had to call Richard. All I could do was sit by and listen as she tried to form the words, tried to tell him what had happened and ask him to get to the medical center.

It had been only days. Only days since we found out that I was pregnant, and I had seen that look of joy on his face, and I was terrified that something horrible had happened. Now as I lay in the medical center trying to let my body recover, I felt a tremendous sense of gratitude, both toward the doctor and nurses that had been here for me to help me through this situation, and for Richard. I could only imagine the chaotic, hectic environment that I would have found myself in had I had to go to a normal hospital. This medical center meant that I didn’t have to wait, I didn’t have to contend with the prying eyes and straining ears of anyone else around me, and I got the full, undivided, and unrushed attention of literally everyone in the building. Though the entire concept of building a private medical center for me to use during my pregnancy had seemed outlandish when I first heard about it, I was indescribably thankful for it now. This baby deserved nothing short of the best, and that is what this center would provide for it.

Now all I had to do was figure out how I was going to handle being in Richard’s home.

I couldn’t believe that I had accepted his offer. I knew when Tessie brought me to the center that she wasn’t going to be able to stay with me, even though she wanted to. It was already late, and she needed to get some sleep so that she could go to work the next day. I had insisted that she leave, and she had reluctantly complied, though I had felt a hint of regret almost as soon as she walked out of the door. This wasn’t something that I wanted to go through alone, but at the same time I didn’t really feel like it was appropriate to be sharing it with Tessie, either. I was stuck in a strange, awkward position and didn’t really know how to move forward until Richard arrived. Now he wanted to bring me back to his house to rest and though I knew that Tessie going back home had left me without my own transportation and that I was not up for the hour drive back to Grammyma’s house, the tingling of my fingers where Richard had held them was still enough to make me question whether entering his private world and spending even a few hours in it with him was a good idea.

Just as he had promised, Richard was back at the medical center as they were discharging me. The doctor handed me a sheaf of instructions and a reminder about my appointment with the midwife. He emphasized that I should be absolutely fine, but that I might want to take it easy for a day to let my body and my mind get over the experience. Plenty of fluids. Plenty of rest. Good food. All those things that doctors tell you when you are dealing with virtually any type of health issue. It was another reminder that pregnancy was, in the greater scheme of things, a run-of-the-mill event and that it only held the white-knuckled intensity for those going through it.

Richard asked if I wanted to use a wheelchair to get to the car, but I begged off of it. He probably already thought that I was two shades short of inept. The last thing I needed at that moment was a further blow to my self-confidence. We walked along the hallway toward the car slowly and silently. My hand hung between us and I found myself wishing that he would reach down and hold it again. The warmth and comfort that he had given me as we looked at the tiny speck of a child on the computer monitor was unexpected and thrilling, but at the same moment unnerving. I didn’t want to have these feelings. They weren’t mine to have. Yet every time that I got near Richard, every time I even thought of him, they seemed to get stronger and there was nothing that I could do about it.

His house was just as extraordinary as I would have thought it would be. Possibly even more so. The car pulled up to a massive wrought iron gate and paused for only a moment before the gate slid open and we entered. The meandering driveway was like something out of a sweeping family saga movie and I had the sudden mental image of a woman standing on the balcony in a hoop skirt gazing out over the grounds waiting for her man to come home.

Or the land to stop burning. Or the ice cream truck. Not a real woman. An actress there for ambience.

As we curved around the driveway the house came into sight, rising up out of the horizon so that it towered against the first hints of early morning sunlight. I couldn’t help but gasp at the sheer size and beauty of it. This was a home from another era, not like the other era that had brought the birth of Whiskey Hollow and Grammyma’s house. Yet all around me I noticed subtly integrated hints of modern technology that spoke to a cutting edge quality of life and enormous wealth that only grew each day.

The car brought us directly up to the bottom of the steps that led up to the front door and Abraham got out to open the back door. Though Richard had driven to the medical center when he first came, he told me that he had Abraham bring him back so that he would be able to sit in the backseat with me. It gave me a warm feeling in my chest, yet part of me wished that he had driven. It would show me a part of him that I could almost relate to, something that wasn’t so far out of the realm of my reality.

And keep me from wanting to cuddle with him and fall asleep in the backseat.

As soon as we stepped through the front door Flora came stalking down the stairs toward us. It was still so early that it could barely be considered morning, yet this woman was up, coiffed, perfectly made up, and wearing more spandex than the cast of Cats. A leotard with legs cut all the way up to her waist and matching tights were from another time, yet their intensely retro feel made them somehow totally contemporary. She wore a sweat band around her head, though I somehow doubted it saw a tremendous amount of sweat, and she had pared down her jewelry to just a pair of diamond studs in her ears and a delicate gold watch.

Practically one of the people.

“What are you doing?” she demanded. “I woke up and you weren’t here. What is she doing here?”

“You didn’t tell her where you were going?”

“I didn’t have the time,” Richard said. “It was an emergency.”

“The second time?” I asked.

He looked down at me and started to say something but a plump woman with shimmering silver hair and a smile that made me feel like if she was around nothing could go wrong in the world came scurrying into the foyer.

“Good morning!” she boomed in a voice that was sweet but far louder than I was really prepared for that early in the morning.

“Good morning, Hannah,” Richard said. “Will you please bring Rue to the guest wing and make sure that she’s comfortable?”

“Of course. Come along, Sweetie. Let’s get you some rest.”

I glanced at Richard and then fell into step beside Hannah, who rested a comforting hand on my back as we climbed the wide, winding staircase toward the upper floor. I could hear Flora and Richard start arguing as soon as we reached the landing and immediately felt guilty. Hannah must have been able to see the emotion on my face when she finally led me into a sprawling, elaborate bedroom and guided me toward the bed.

“Now, don’t you feel bad about this for an instant,” she said.

“But I shouldn’t be here,” I said. “I should be at my own house. I’m intruding, and Flora is obviously upset.”

“You are right where you are supposed to be,” she said. “If you weren’t supposed to be here, then you wouldn’t be here.” It was the type of logic that made my head spin slightly, but I tried to go along with it. “And don’t you pay Flora any mind. Mean as a rattlesnake that one is. But I think down deep in there, there’s a good person. Somewhere. It’s just hidden real good. Somebody will find it one day.”

I laughed, and Hannah gave me another warm smile before walking over to a large wardrobe positioned against one wall. She opened the doors and reached in to take out a basket.

“Now, I wish I had something better to offer you for pajamas than this, but Richard didn’t give me enough warning to go find you anything decent. I hope that it will at least be comfortable. You just leave your clothes in this basket outside the door and I’ll make sure that they are washed before you even get up.”

“You really don’t need to do that,” I said.

“Of course, I do. Growing babies is hard work. You’re bringing a little drop of sunshine into this house and you need your rest to make sure that you can do it. When you’re ready, just draw the curtains and it will get nice and dark in here. Sleep as long as you like, and I’ll be ready to make breakfast for you as soon as you get up.”

She looked at me for a moment and I saw a tenderness in her eyes that made me wonder just how long she had been with Richard’s family. Hannah reached out and cupped her hand against my cheek, then leaned forward and kissed my forehead. I was surprised by the gesture, yet comforted.

“Thank you,” she said before patting my cheek and heading out of the room.

As soon as the door closed, I looked in the basket. Inside were two white undershirts, a pair of sweatpants, and a pair of socks. It was obvious that they were all Richard’s. I stripped down and stepped into the pants, tying the drawstring tightly to keep them in place on my hips, then let the shirt drop down over my head. It surrounded me with the fresh smell of warmth and bleach that had lingered in the tight hug that Richard had given me the day that we found out I was pregnant, and I sighed into it, wrapping my arms around myself to enjoy just a moment of it.

Doing as Hannah said, I put my clothes in the basket, tucked it outside in the hallway, and drew the curtains, immediately ensconcing the room in darkness so thick I had to feel my way to the bed. I climbed up the platform onto the mattress and slipped between the covers, knowing nothing after my head rested onto the pillow.