Aggie

 

Beep… Beep… Beep

What the hell is that annoying ass beeping? I’m trying to sleep, why won’t Grant shut his alarm clock off? I try to open my eyes to no avail. Trying to move my limbs is just as tough.

“How’re you doing?”

I hear a sniffle. “It was the hardest thing I’ve ever had to do. The paparazzi didn’t make it any easier for us. The cops had to show up at the grave site and kick them all out. You would think they’d have some common decency left in them!”

Then the voice is mumbled and I can’t decipher what the persons saying. Come on Aggie, wake up!  I strain and try to move my hand as hard as I can.

“Oh my god! Her fingers just moved!” I hear a voice cry. If I’m not mistaken, I’d say it sounded like Mimi.

“Are you sure? I’ve sworn I’ve seen the same but it was all in my head.”

“Grant, I’m not crazy. I saw her fingers move!”

Warm hands grab one of mine and they feel nice. For some reason, my hands are freezing.

“Baby, can you hear me?”

Yes! I want to scream so badly but everything’s starting to hurt. Especially my head. I concentrate every thought into moving my hand again.

“She just squeezed my hand.” I can hear the smile in Grant’s voice and it spurs me on.

I feel like I’m on the brink. Right on the line of consciousness and I’ll be damned if I get pulled back into the dark abyss again. Light invades my vision when I manage to barely crack an eye open.

“Go get the doctor! She’s waking up.”

“Be right back.” Then I hear something click.

“Aggie…” Grant takes a deep breathe. “Baby I need you so bad right now. This morning was…” I feel my hand shaking in his when he brings it closer to him. “This morning was… difficult, and I need you to wake up.”

My eyes shoot open. Grant sounds broken and defeated and I need to figure out why. But I can’t find out if I’m asleep. Everything’s blurry and I blink a few times trying to right my eyes.

“Aggie!” After a few more blinks I see Grant with tears in his eyes hovering over me.

“Gr… Grant…” That felt way too foreign. When’s the last time I talked?

I slowly scan the room and realize I’m in the hospital. Then it hits me, Grant has tears in his eyes and I’m in the hospital! The baby!

“B… bab… baby…” I stutter out as a tear slides down my cheek.

“No Aggie, the baby’s fine! She’s a fighter just like her mommy.”

“Sh… she?” I smile but it hurts too much.

“We’re having a girl, baby. A little princess.” Tears work their way from the corner of his eyes leaving me confused. If I didn’t lose the baby what has him so worked up?

My hand feels like it weighs 100 pounds, but I lift it and wipe his tears away. “What happened?”

“You were in an accident… with Ry.”

I try to search my brain but I come up blank. We were in an accident?

“But…” Then it all comes back to me. Driving away from the realtor’s office, the brakes, the hill, then the truck heading straight for my door.

I can’t breathe as the memories invade my mind. The terror from that moment takes over as if I’m still sitting in the car next to Ry. We were barreling down the hill dodging cars when the light turned red. I looked up towards the right and saw a huge pick-up truck heading straight for us. When I screamed Ry maneuvered the car so it would hit him instead of me.  He put himself in danger to save my life.

“Where’s…” I take a deep breath wishing I had some water. “Where’s Ry?”

Grant’s face falls as tears streak down his cheeks before he tries wiping them away.

“Grant… where’s Rylan? I need to… thank him.”

“Thank him for what Aggie?”

“He saved us. Me and the baby.”

“What do you mean?”

“Water?” If I’m going to tell him what happened I need my throat to be moist.

Grant heads for the table next to the bed and picks up a cup with a straw poking out. He brings it to my lips and I take a healthy gulp. With a relieved sigh, I let my head fall back against the pillow.

“So…”

The door opens and Mimi runs through the door with a doctor. “Oh, praise Jesus! You’re awake!”

She runs up and throws her arms around me. When I wince from the pain Grant gently pulls her off me and whispers in her ear.

“Sorry Aggie, I’m just over the moon you’re awake!”

I give her a slight smile, it’s all I can manage at this point. The pains consuming me and I’m ready for another nap.

“Hey Agnes, I’m Dr. Jacoby. You gave us all quite the scare when you wouldn’t wake up.” He does a couple tests including checking my eyes with a flash light.

“Everything with the baby looks okay, but we still want to monitor her because a trauma like you experienced can cause problems.”

I nod my head. “Am I okay?”

“You have a nasty concussion and some bumps and bruises. The most noticeable is your broken foot. It must have taken the impact just right and broke several bones in your ankle. There’s a cast on it right now and you should have it off in six to eight weeks.”

“This girl is a klutz on a good day doctor, you might wanna think about a wheelchair instead of crutches.”

“Thanks Mimi.” I mumble.

After a few more rounds of questions and tests, the doctor leaves saying a nurse will be in shortly with some pain meds. I tell him I don’t want any and that I’ll deal with it. I don’t want to take anything that could be potentially harmful for the baby.

“You’re in pain Aggie, take the pills. They already said it’s the best one to give you while pregnant.”

I level him with a glare that has him shutting up and holding his hands in front of him. “I was just in a car wreck which could cause problems, and god knows what else they’ve pumped into my body. I can take a little pain to ensure nothing else is going to harm her.” I cradle my belly like a mama bear ready to strike.

“It’s just, I hate seeing you in pain.”

“Get used to it, we haven’t gone through labor yet.” I laugh which turns into a groan when my head starts throbbing.

Then I remember our earlier conversation. “Can you get Ry? I want to thank him for saving me.”

Grant and Mimi look at each other with concern. Something’s not right.

“Grant, where’s Ry?”

When he looks at me with sad eyes I know. “No! Don’t say it! I was just in the car with him a few hours ago, don’t say it!”

Grant cups his hands around my face and looks into my eyes. “Aggie, it’s been a few days. You’ve been out for four days. But… what did you mean when you said he saved you Aggie?”

I take a shaky breath. “When we got to the bottom of the hill the light turned red. A truck was coming straight for me so he spun the car around so it’d hit him and not us.”

Grant gasps as he lets go of my face. He backs up and buries his face in his hands. His shoulders begin shaking and I wish that I could pull him into my arms and comfort him.

“Grant… tell me.” I whisper through my tears.

He looks up and I’ve never seen him look so tortured before. Grant’s my rock, my love and I can’t believe he’s falling apart in front of me. It must mean…

“He didn’t make it.” He grabs my hand before placing his head next to me and sobs.

He didn’t make it? Rylan, a man that I’ve grown so close to over these past several months is gone.

I wish I never woke up.

 

 

***

 

“Are you ready to go home baby?” Grant smiles but it doesn’t reach his eyes.

“Get me out of here.”

He helps me off the bed and into the waiting wheelchair the nurse is holding steady. I’ve been stuck in this hospital for over a week since I woke up and I’m so ready to go home.

Jill’s been by almost every day to keep me company along with Grant’s family and Mimi. I just need out, I’m going crazy confined to this room! They can visit me at home if they’re still worried about me.

We get in the car at the loading dock so we don’t have to deal with all the photographers that have been camped outside while I’ve been here. When Grant told me about Ry’s funeral it killed me. It gutted me that they couldn’t give them the privacy they deserved to grieve the loss of their loved one. There should be more laws protecting people from those types of problems. To have to deal with it at your brother’s funeral… it’s just not right.

I can’t even begin to fathom not being there to say goodbye to him. It still hasn’t fully sunken in and if I go there I fear I’ll never come back. I’ve been trying to keep my thoughts positive for the sake of the baby. She doesn’t need to feel my added stress on her right now.

Once we’re in the car on our ride home I remember that Rylan won’t be there when we get to the condo. I try to hide my sniffle, but can’t.

“What’s the matter?”

“Nothing.” I don’t like talking about Rylan’s death. It hurts too much and I don’t want to upset Grant. He’s taking it extremely hard thinking it’s his fault. I’ve told him numerous times that his actions have nothing to do with Carissa’s choices. That he didn’t make her cut that brake line.

“Aggie…” He warns.

“He won’t be there when we get home.” I wipe the betraying tear from my eye before he sees it.

“No, he won’t.” His voice takes on a sad tone.

“He was so excited for this baby and now he’ll never meet her.” I sob unable to keep it back any longer.

Grant takes a deep breath. “Let’s try to focus on some positive things today. The stress isn’t good for the baby.”

“Okay.” I look out the window and don’t recognize where we are. We should have been home by now. “Where are we going?”

“Home.” A hint of a smile quirks up his lip. “We got the house.”

“Are you for real?” I whisper.

“I’m for real.” He laughs, then stops immediately. “I haven’t laughed in over a week and it feels wrong somehow.”

“Because you’re happy and he’s not here?” Grant nods his head. “You know what? Each day will get a little easier. One day at a time.”

“I’ll try.” He turns his head towards the car window and wipes his eyes.

A few minutes later we pull up to our forever home. The last time I was here I was truly happy. Grant helps me out of the car and into the wheelchair.

Mimi wasn’t lying when she said I was uncoordinated. Crutches with this belly would have been a disaster!

Grant decides scooping me into his arms will be easier than trying to get the wheelchair up the front steps, and I don’t mind. At all.

He unlocks the front door and is about to carry me through the front door when I stop him.

“I feel like it’s bad luck and we’ve had enough of that lately. You can’t carry me through the door like we’re newlyweds.”

“What do you propose I do?” He tips an eyebrow in question.

“Let me put my good foot down. If you drag it through the door it doesn’t count.”

He shakes his head and laughs. “Baby, you’re insane sometimes.” But he still lets me drag my foot through the front door. We probably look ridiculous, but like I said, we don’t need any more bad luck.

When we clear the door, I gasp. I thought I’d be walking into a home with no furniture and so much work ahead of us. Somehow while I’ve been in the hospital Grant’s gotten our whole house furnished!

“But, how?”

“That’d be us! Surprise!” Grants family and Mimi come running around the corner at us giving me a damn heart attack.

Grant places me on the couch in the living room so everyone can come up, say hello and fuss over me. They’ve all stopped in the hospital to see me and make sure I was okay. Even with the tremendous grief they’re all going through they made time to stop in and make sure me and the baby were okay.

“Thank you so much. You didn’t have to do this.” I hug Vicki and squeeze her.

“We did, this family needs something to look forward to right now and this baby… she’s it.” She pulls back and wipes tears from her eyes.

“Grant come here.” She beckons him to sit next to me.

“What’s up mom?”

“Well, what’s up is me and your father are making a change. I can’t stand to be away from half of my kids anymore so we’re moving here. All of us.”

“But what about…”

“We’re all coming!” Cally shrieks. “As a matter of fact, we’ve grabbed some of the houses for sale right here.”

“You’re all moving into this community?” Grant smiles. Family means a lot to him and it makes me so happy they’re all coming out here.

“Your father and I bought some land that was for sale in here before they could start building on it. You know how your father loves being a part of the building process.” She dabs at the tears falling from her eyes and I can’t imagine what she’s going through right now.

“Son…” Eli walks up behind Vicki and places his hand on her shoulder. “Life’s too short. We don’t want to miss a moment or take anything for granted. We want to be a part of this baby’s life.” The tears well up in his eyes and when I look around everyone has the same look. Pain.

“Together, someday… maybe we’ll all heal. Family is what’s important in life.” Vicki nods her head and gets up leaving the room.

I’m overwhelmed. The Donovan’s are moving across the country to be near us, it’s almost too much. A tear leaks from my eye and a smile lights up my face.

Even in the dark there’s a bright light.