Chapter Twenty-Eight
Morgan
Wednesday
“Oh, hey, you,” I cooed as Braxton’s eyes finally flickered open. “How are you doing?” I expected this to happen, I could tell from his stats that his body was waking up from the medically-induced coma, which was why I hadn’t left his side yet. “You just missed your girlfriend; she was here a while back.”
“Huh?” he mumbled a little incoherently. “What? Where am I?” He was confused...they always were.
“You’re in the hospital.” I took his hand in mine and leaned over the hospital bed enough so that he could hear me clearly. “You were out with Terrance, and you ended up getting shot.” Better not get into too many details just yet, false or otherwise. Braxton only needed the bare bones until his own memories started to come back around. “Now, do you need anything? Are you in pain? Would you like a drink?”
“T... Terrance,” he stammered, only caring about his best friend. “Terrance, is he okay?”
“He’s absolutely fine,” I reassured him with the brightest smile I could muster. “He came in with you, not as a patient, but as your support. However, I sent him home for a sleep and to get changed.”
Admittedly, I was a little worried inside that he hadn’t yet come back, even if he had told me that the problem was done now, but I couldn’t let that show. “I’m sure he’ll be back very soon. He’s going to be disappointed that he wasn’t here to see you wake up, I can assure you of that!”
“He’ll be here.” Braxton tried to nod his head, but the drugs were making him sluggish. Still, they were preventing him from being in agony, so there was nothing I could do about that. “Okay.”
“You know,” I leaned in and lowered my voice to a whisper. “Terrance is very grateful for what you did. I know he feels guilty for you getting hurt; he showed today how much he loves you. I know that doesn’t compensate much for that pain you’re in, but I hope it helps a little bit.”
It was at that moment a flicker of recognition lit up behind Braxton’s eyes. “M... Morgan,” he stammered. “You’re her. Terrance’s girl.”
Hearing myself described in such a way by his best friend made me feel all kinds of special inside – even if things were very confusing and I had no idea how I felt, or how he felt about me. It brought a smile to my face regardless of all of it. “Yes, I suppose so.”
“He really likes you. R...really likes you. I’ve never seen Terrance this way over a woman before.” There was something so genuine in Braxton’s eyes that it was hard not to get sucked in. I believed him, even if it terrified me to do so. “He talks about you all the time. And...and I can see it in his eyes.”
“Shh, don’t you worry about talking too much.” I shut him down, even if I wanted to hear more, just because it looked like it was causing him pain to talk. It didn’t work. It seemed he wanted to get all of this off of his chest.
“I know it doesn’t always seem like it, especially at the moment with what he’s been going through, but Terrance... Terrance is a good guy. He’s been through a lot, he’s suffered a lot of pain which is why...” He winced and tried to sit up before recognizing that wasn’t such a great idea. “Which is why he usually has walls up around him. But something about you has changed that. I guess I never had a chance alone to tell you that, so now I really want to.”
My eyes welled up. I felt emotion ball up thickly in my throat. All my fears were dissipated by the power of Braxton’s words. Clearly, Terrance’s odd behavior could all be put down to what he’d been going through with these terrible men. It was just my overactive imagination jumping to conclusions.
“I’m pregnant.”
Selfishly, considering what this poor man stuck in the hospital bed was going through, my problem spilled past my lips without even thinking about it. I wasn’t even really thinking about my baby, not consciously anyway, it just sort of...came out. Still, with Braxton’s wide eyes looking at me, I figured I had to finish my story now.
“I’m pregnant, and Terrance is the father. He doesn’t know yet. I haven’t worked up the courage to tell him, but I am.” I fixed my eyes on the ground for a second. “I guess I’m scared of how he’ll react, you know?”
A hushed silence filled the room while Braxton set about digesting this. I cursed myself for spilling this out at the worst possible time, but unfortunately, it was far too late to take it back now.
“You know Terrance really is a good man, don’t you?” Braxton’s voice was measured, like he was doing his best to get every word out in the calmest way possible. “If you told him what you just told me, then he will be there for you. I meant what... What I said, he likes you a lot. He will do the right thing by you.”
“But what if he runs?”
“He won’t run, I can assure you of that. I wouldn’t be friends with the sort of man who could run at such wonderful news. You’re working yourself up over nothing.” He took in a few deep and ragged breaths, reminding me of why I should be guilty. “So, don’t you worry. You tell him – he will want to know.”
If Braxton hadn’t been strapped down to the bed, I would’ve reached over and hugged him at that moment. He probably didn’t realize it, but his words had just set me free from the mental prison I’d trapped myself in. If Braxton assured me that Terrance would stick by me no matter what, then I could tell him. I would tell him, and everything would be okay.
“Thank you, Braxton. You’re an angel,” I smiled and patted his shoulder. “Now, before I go and get the doctor to check up on you, I just want to talk to you about the gang shooting you stumbled across.” I winked, but he continued to stare at me with furrowed eyebrows like he didn’t totally get it.
“Terrance went to the police station and told them all about how you to accidently got in the way of a shoot out. I’m sure the cops will be in at some point to speak to you about it, too.” Finally, the light switched on in his expression. “So, if there’s anything you want to discuss with me, please let me know.”
“You said Terrance would be back soon, right? So, I can speak to him?” He wanted to check that his friend really was at home, not locked up somewhere. Luckily because I didn’t have pain killers being pumped into my system, my brain was firing on all cylinders.
“Yep, that’s right. I can give him a call if you like, to see when he’s coming back in...”
“Oh my God, Braxton, you’re awake!” At that exact moment, relief flooded my chest as I heard Terrance’s voice ringing out from behind me. “I’m so sorry I wasn’t here when you woke up. I went home to get showered, and Emily said she was coming in. I must’ve fallen asleep.” He was speaking so quickly that he kept tripping over his words, which made Braxton attempt laughter. “Oh God, I’m an idiot. I’m just so glad you’re awake.”
I automatically took a step backwards as Terrance raced to be by his friend’s side. I didn’t want to be in the way of their moment.
“Actually, I’ve been okay, boss. Morgan has been taking such good care of me.”
Terrance turned to look at me with shining grateful eyes. “Thank you so much for doing that. I really appreciate the fact that you have been there for Braxton.”
“Oh don’t worry, it’s no trouble.” I felt embarrassed by the focused attention, a little overwhelmed by the happy look on his face. “I don’t mind. Maybe I should just...get out of here now.”
I knew that they needed a moment alone, and to be honest, I was quite look forward to getting back home myself. I was getting tired as the night of work finally caught up with me.
“Yeah, sure, and thanks again.”
As I backed towards the door Braxton gave me a knowing wink, which made me burst into a smile. He was a great guy, definitely not a criminal. I felt bad for even assuming that. He was just a nice person who looked after his employer and friend well.
While I backed into the hallway, I let out a breath I hadn’t even realized I was holding. There was so much that could’ve gone wrong. Terrance could’ve ended up locked up, or in more trouble, Braxton might not have pulled through... It was only now that all that stuff hadn’t happened I felt ready to admit to myself how scared I was about it all.
“Wait, Morgan.” I jumped as Terrance’s hand wrapped around my arm. “Can I take you out to dinner tomorrow night? Or maybe make you something at my place? I feel like I’ve been neglecting you since all this mess happened, which was never what I wanted to do.”
My heart warmed, and Braxton’s kind words about his friend flowed back into my mind. Terrance seemed to really be a good guy, and I needed to give him a chance. At dinner, I would tell him everything – nothing would get in the way of me getting the truth out this time. He deserved to know, and I needed a rest from the way this was all making me feel. I desperately wanted to get this massive secret off my chest. “Yes, that sounds lovely.”
With that, Terrance leaned in and kissed me lightly on the cheek, showing me his softer, gentle side – the side of him I really adored – then he clicked the door shut behind him to be with his friend.
On my way out of the hospital, another person grabbed onto me stopping me from leaving. “Hey, Morgan, what’s going on? What are you doing here?” Nickie asked with concern in her eyes. “You look really exhausted.”
I sighed deeply, realizing that I wasn’t going to get the rest that I so desperately needed quite yet. I needed to catch my friend up on everything that was happening... although the slightly edited version. I couldn’t tell her the truth just yet. It wasn’t that I didn’t trust Nickie, I was just terrified of being overheard.
“Terrance and his friend got in the way of a gang shoot out,” I told her in a near whisper. The more I could keep a secret, the better.
“Oh my God, so they are criminals?” I couldn’t blame Nickie for jumping to the same conclusions as me.
“No, it isn’t like that at all. It was just one of those things. Anyway, his friend is alright now, but he was in a medically induced coma, so I offered to sit with him while Terrance popped back home.” She gave me a warning look, which I instantly felt compelled to dispel. “It’s okay, honestly; trust me.”
“Have you told him yet?” She slung her hands on her hips, knowing that this was the kicker. If I really felt okay about everything then he would know about the pregnancy.
“I’m telling him tomorrow at dinner, so time will tell how this is going to turn out. Now, I need to get home. You’re right, I’m absolutely exhausted. I’ll see you tomorrow, okay?”
“Yeah sure.” She gave me her genuine smile. “And, I’ll let you know if anything happens, alright? Just...take care of yourself; you know I care about you.”
“I know, and I appreciate it.”