CHAPTER 13
Gentry
T wo weeks had passed since that afternoon in the back of my truck. She seemed lighter. Freer than she’d ever been. We spent our days taking care of the horses and giving tours of the land. Our nights were spent with her in my bed. Each morning when I woke up with her in my arms, I felt more blessed than I had in my life.
Today when she woke up, she wasn’t feeling well. She had a migraine and as much as I wanted her to stay in bed all day and rest, she refused. She got up and went straight to work in the barn after she’d gotten her morning coffee. I hated knowing she was sick and I wasn’t there to help her feel better. I didn't have time today to physically check on her, but I messaged her a few times to make sure she wasn’t over doing it. She swore she wasn’t, but I knew better. She was more stubborn than ever before.
At four o’clock the last tour ended, and I rode my horse to the house. I couldn’t get there fast enough. I put my heels into the side of the horse to make him go faster. I couldn’t describe it, but I knew she needed me.
I made my way to the barn and put the horse into the stable. I’d return later to brush him down and make sure he was okay. Right now, I needed to make sure Ainsleigh was okay. I rushed up the stairs to my room. I had no idea where she would be, but something told me to check there first since she wasn’t in the stable where she should’ve been.
Pushing the door open with more force than necessary, I stopped in my tracks momentarily.
Ainsleigh was laying on the floor. A broken glass right beside her hand where it had fallen. I broke myself out of my trance and rushed over to her. She was on her side, her head laid at a funny angle on top of her arm.
Kneeling beside her, I gently rolled her over and checked her pulse. I needed to know if she was still breathing. If life still flowed through her veins. I felt the side of her neck and sighed with relief when I felt the strength of her pulse beating beneath my fingers.
I shook her to try to rouse her, but nothing worked. I picked her up and made sure her head was supported. She needed my help, and I had to make sure that nothing was seriously wrong with her. There were no other horses in the stables aside from ours, and I knew her brothers and father were still at the ranch. Her mother’s vehicle wasn’t in the driveway. I’d alert them once I got her to the hospital. That thirty-minute drive would be the longest drive of my life.
I laid her on the front seat of my truck and shut the door. Racing around the other side of my truck, I jumped inside and rushed toward the hospital.
This couldn’t be happening to me.
Not again.
Fear crept inside of me as I tried to remain calm.
I couldn’t lose her.
If she’d just wake up, I’d feel better. Every few seconds I glanced down to make sure her chest still rose and fell.
I pushed every speed limit I could not caring if I got pulled over. Making sure she was okay was my priority. I knew I should’ve insisted that she stay in bed.
I pulled under the bay of the emergency room and slammed the truck in park. I didn’t care if they towed it. I didn’t have time to search for a parking spot.
I got out of the truck and kicked the door shut with the heel of my boot and ran over to her door.
Gently, I picked her up and rushed to the entrance.
The automatic doors opened, and I ran up to the nurse sitting behind the desk.
“She needs help. I can’t get her to wake up,” I told her.
Everything that happened after that moment was a blur.
They wouldn’t let me go into the room with her. A curtain separated me from the love of my life as doctors and nurses entered and exited the room.
“Is your truck parked out front, sir?” a young woman in scrubs asked. I nodded as I brought my thumb up to my lips and bit the nail that was barely there.
“Why don’t you go and park it while they work on her? I’ll stand by the door until you get back so I can let you in,” she suggested as she rested her hand on my bicep.
I didn’t want to leave her, but I did as the nurse suggested.
Luckily, I didn’t have to go far to find a spot. Once I parked the truck, I ran toward the doors the nurse buzzed me out of.
She did exactly what she said. I could see her face behind the window of the door. Once I was close enough, she opened the door so I could return to standing outside of the room where Ainsleigh was.
“Is there anyone we can contact for you?” she asked.
Shit.
I’d forgotten to call her mom and dad. I shook my head. They deserved to hear this from me. I took a few deep breaths to make sure I wouldn’t break down when I called them. She needed me to remain strong.
I unlocked the screen and scrolled down to Sawyer’s name and pressed send. After the third ring, he answered.
“Gentry, where did you and Ainsleigh go? Lillian has dinner almost finished,” he said before I could speak.
“I’m at the hospital. I got back from the last tour I was on and found Ainsleigh collapsed in my room. The doctors are checking her out now,” I told him.
He screamed into the phone for Lillian and her brothers then told me they’d be there as soon as they could before he hung up the call.
All I could do was wait.
Worry and wait for them to give us some answers.
A half an hour passed by without any word. I was about to march through that curtain and demand answers when a man wearing a white coat appeared.
“Are you here with Ainsleigh Courtright?”
All I could do was nod. A knot appeared in my throat as I waited for him to speak again.
“Are you family?”
“She’s my girlfriend. Her family will be here any moment.”
“We’ll have to wait for them to get here. I can’t give out any information unless a family member is present.”
What. The. Fuck.
I knew why he did that, but damnit the love of my life was in trouble and I needed answers. Before I could demand them, I heard her father’s voice demanding the nurses to let him back here.
“They’re here, and I suggest you let them back here. Her father won’t stop until that happens.”
The doctor rushed off in the direction of the commotion and let her mom, dad, and brothers in the emergency room. Smart man.
He led us all into a room off to the right so he could give us the news.
My heart rate quickened for fear that something was really wrong.
“She’s a bit dehydrated. We’ve got her on fluids. I’ve drawn some blood to see if there’s anything else going on. I’ll put a rush on the results.”
“Is she awake?”
“Not yet. But she should wake up soon once the fluids have time to hydrate her. I’ll check back once I have the results. Shouldn’t take too long,” he assured as he left the room.
I hung my head in relief as I reined in my emotions.
“Thank you for taking care of her,” Lillian said as she pulled me in for a hug.
She knew exactly what my thoughts were. Exactly what I felt in this moment without words being said. Her arms wrapped around me tighter, and I lost it. I sobbed into her shoulder and feared the worst. All of my emotions came rushing back from that day. Tomorrow would be four years since I felt a loss so painful to me that there were no words to express it. And right now, a sense of de je vu hit me being back in the very same emergency room where I lost a piece of myself.
“She’s going to be fine, son,” her father spoke, causing me to lift my head. I needed to pull myself together for her. She didn’t need to see me like this.
“I want to sit with her. I need to be close to her,” I said out of desperation. I didn’t care what it took to get me in that room, I’d cross the ends of the earth to make sure she was okay.
Her father walked around me and went in search of a nurse. A few minutes later he returned with the okay that I could be with her. I let her family go in to check on her first. They deserved to see her just as much as me.
They came out one by one, somber marks veiling the fear we each felt. Her mother had tears in her eyes, and she patted me on the shoulder and walked out into the waiting room.
I held my breath as I pulled the curtain back and entered the space. She laid in the middle of the bed still not awake. There was an IV in her arm and a clip on her finger that registered her heartbeat on the machine beside her. I’d never been happier to hear the beeping sound coming from the machine letting me know she was still alive.
There was a chair on the right side of her bed. I brought it closer and sat down, scooting it forward the rest of the way.
I picked up her fragile hand and kissed the top of it as I pressed my fingers into the side of her wrist. The machine let me know her heart was beating, but I needed to feel it.
“I love you, sweetheart. Just wake up and show me those beautiful eyes,” I begged as I rested my head on top of her hand. I’d give anything right now just for her to wake up. I’d trade myself with her in a heartbeat just to make sure she was okay.
A groan filled the space twenty minutes later, breaking me out of my trance. My head flew up and looked over at her. Her eyes were open and the confusion to where she was, was apparent in their depths.
“Gentry,” she called out for me as she took in her surroundings.
I stood hastily, the chair tipping over at my sudden movements.
“I’m right here,” I told her as I leaned down and kissed her forehead. Inwardly, I thanked God for her coming back to me.
“Where am I?”
“You’re at the hospital. Do you remember what happened?” I asked as I sat down on the edge of the bed.
“My migraine got worse, so I put up Sparkle and went upstairs to your room. I had just taken some medicine to hopefully help with it and gotten a glass of water. That’s when everything gets fuzzy,” she said as she looked over at me.
“I found you passed out on my bedroom floor. You wouldn’t wake up, so I brought you here. They’ve given you some fluids since you were dehydrated and did some bloodwork. We don’t know what caused you to pass out just yet though,” I informed her.
“Gentry,” she went to say as the movement of the curtain caused her to stop.
The same doctor from before walked in.
“I’m glad to see you’re awake, Miss Courtright. We put a rush on your results. They should be back any time now. I heard voices in here when I passed the room and just wanted to check on you. How are you feeling?”
“Tired and my head hurts. I took some Ibuprofen for my migraine, but it hasn’t helped much.”
“Once we get your results, I’ll give you something for the pain. I just want to see what’s going on before I give you anything.”
He seemed as if he had a clue as to what could be wrong, but he kept it to himself. I had the urge to walk over and beat it out of him, but I remained seated for Ainsleigh’s sake.
“Thank you,” she said in a weak voice.
“You’re welcome. Get some rest, and I’ll be back shortly.”
“I’m scared, Gentry,” she said as she gripped my hand.
“You’re going to be fine. I promise. You just overdid it today. I’m sure that’s all this is.”
I hoped that’s all it was. I couldn’t take getting bad news about her. She was my lifeline. I needed her.
“I hope you’re right,” she whispered as she laid her head on the pillow and closed her eyes.
I did too.
She rested for the next hour. I felt like I could climb the walls with the anticipation of getting the test results. I’d texted her parents to let them know she’d woken up and was now resting, just to keep them informed. I was grateful to them for allowing me to be in here with her. They could’ve stayed and made me wait outside, but they didn’t.
The doctor and a nurse walked into the room, and Ainsleigh lifted her head at their arrival.
The nurse walked to the side of the bed to check on her IV-fluid bag that was nearly empty.
The doctor stood at the foot of her bed with her chart in hand with a smile on his face.
What the hell was he smiling for?
“What is it, doctor? What’s wrong with me?”
“You’re HCG levels aren’t very high, but they are elevated enough to tell me know what I needed to know.”
English. I needed him to speak fucking English and tell me what that meant.
Looking over at Ainsleigh, the color drained from her face indicating that she knew what that meant. Well, could someone fucking clue me in?
“What the hell does that mean, Doc?” I asked harshly. What the hell was wrong with her and how could we fix it?
“When was your last menstrual cycle?”
My knees grew weak, and I reached for the chair that was still knocked over in the floor.
After I sat it upright, I planted my ass firmly in the seat.
This couldn’t be happening right now.
“Two weeks before I came home. I’ve been home for three weeks now.”
“It’s very early on, but the tests have confirmed that you’re pregnant, Miss Courtright. Congratulations.”
Her breath caught in her throat as she looked over at me with fear in her eyes. Her hands went to the lower part of her stomach as she rested them there.
“I’ll give you a prescription to start prenatal vitamins. Make an appointment with your doctor, and make sure you drink plenty of water from here on out. I’m sure this along with the migraine caused you to pass out. That’s common during the first trimester.”
He wrote out the prescription and handed it over to me since Ainsleigh still seemed to be in shock at the news. I nodded as I took the piece of paper from his hands. He told us that he’d send the nurse in to discharge her, but I barely heard a word he said as he shut the curtain behind him.
A baby.
We were having a baby.
Holy shit.
An hour later, we were headed to her house. She’d yet to say a word. Her hand still rested on her stomach and her expression was still one of shock.
I told her parents she was fine. That she’d just passed out from exhaustion and dehydration. She didn’t need to be bombarded with anything they had to say at this time. Right now, she needed to let the news sink in.
I feared the silence she still gave when we arrived at her house and she walked toward the barn. I left her alone and went to make us something quick for dinner. She needed to eat even if she didn’t want to.
After I made us each a sandwich and grabbed a bag of chips, I walked over to my room. I had a mini fridge that held drinks that we could grab.
I cautiously opened the door. I found her sitting on the bed staring at the wall.
“I got us something to eat,” I told her as I walked inside.
I sat the sandwiches down beside her and got us each a bottle of water from the fridge.
Sitting on the bed, I scooted myself backward until my back met the headboard. I pulled her back with me so she sat in between my legs and pulled the plate toward us. I’d feed it to her if I had to. Luckily, she picked up half of the turkey and cheese sandwich and took a bite. Her mom didn’t buy lunchmeat, she always made sure to get everything fresh and not prepackaged.
We ate in silence, but we both needed it to think. I was elated that we were having a child. She seemed worried, and I had to let her process her emotions. As much as I wanted her to talk, I had to give her time. After we finished eating, she slid from my grasp and changed out of her clothes and into one of my shirts. She crawled into bed, facing away from me.
I hated the distance between us. I wanted her by my side so we could face this together.
I took off my clothes and slid in beside her in nothing but my boxers. I wanted to pull her into me, but I refrained.
This baby was a blessing. I just hoped it didn’t push us further apart.