“Yes, she could. But we’re not going to let her get that low. We’ll get her level up and then put her on a strict eating and monitoring plan.” I sat down on the chair beside her bed with a thump. This was serious. And I’d been fighting with her again.
“On top of it, I think from what you described, she had a panic attack. That combined with the low blood sugar is causing her to do this. I know it’s useless to ask you to step out, but stay out of the way while we work on her, please.”
“Of course. Thanks, Zara.” I called her by her first name like Jess did. She gave me an encouraging smile. The young nurse rushed back in with a bag of fluids and a tube. Zara opened the tube and squirted a paste into Jessica’s mouth under her tongue. I watched her closely. I wanted to know what to do if this happened again when I got her home.
Because make no mistake, she was coming home, and I was going to have her watched every second of the day. Nothing was going to happen to her or my daughter. Not her fucking family or her own body working against her.
She slowly began to move around not long after she was given the paste. Zara explained what it was. I leaned down over her. When she opened her eyes, they were cloudy with confusion. I didn’t wait for her to say anything. I kissed her. I made it tender and full of love. When I drew back, she was looking at me in wonder.
“I love you, Jessica. And when you’re feeling better, we’ll talk. Right now, I need you to do everything they tell you, and I want you to tell that lawyer of yours to tell me everything. I can’t protect you if I don’t know everything that’s going on. You’re my life, woman. You and this baby. Don’t ever think otherwise, Nymph,” I whispered to her. I waited for a moment or two, then saw a tiny smile take over her mouth.
“Okay, send in Mr. Hudson. I don’t know how he knew I was here. We will be having that talk, Kellan. As soon as I can get out of here,” she warned me.
“I promise, as soon as Zara says you’re okay, we’ll talk. Now let them take care of you and I’ll go take care of him. See you in a few.” I gave her one more kiss then went out to the waiting room. In no time, I had him back, speaking to her briefly. She gave him permission to talk to me about her affairs.
I left her side long enough to talk to him and get the lowdown on what she’d called him for, but he didn’t know much. He did share with me more information on her assets and how he’d been managing them. He told me what he’d need from her in order to process her inheritance over to her on her birthday. I assured him I’d make sure she did it. He left after making sure I had his contact information and would call him if anything changed with her. I made sure he had mine as well.
With him out of the way, I went back to her side. I’d been away long enough. Though Zara had been with her, I still couldn’t breathe easily unless I had eyes on her. Thankfully, she seemed to have come out of the panic-slash-hypoglycemia attack. The guys all had headed home after making sure she was okay. I had orders to call if anything changed. Some of them would be back later.
They eventually transferred her to a room for the night. I seated myself in the reclining chair beside her bed and dozed off as she slept. She’d tried to get me to go home. I’d stared her down. Zara was staying somewhere at the hospital as well. She’d become a really good friend to Jess in the little time we’d known her. I was so damn thankful we had someone like her in times like this.
They kept her for two days, and I never left her side. I slept there in her room. When she needed to go to the bathroom, I was the one to help her. I didn’t want to chance her falling. The guys took turns staying as well. They’d go get me food and bring me clothes so I could shower and change. After the first day, she was dying to bathe. I told her I’d help, but she said she wanted Zara. I was left worried about why she wouldn’t let me help her.
Though we’d talked about mundane things, she was quieter than usual. I stayed away from any topics that might upset her. Madisen and the other two old ladies came and visited her both days. We spent a lot of time watching television and her sleeping. I knew the rest would do her good.
On a positive note, she hadn’t had any more panic attacks or low blood sugar. The baby’s heartbeat was a reassuring sound from the monitor they had strapped to her belly. I was alarmed to have her on the maternity ward. Zara explained after someone hit as far along as she was, they liked to keep them on the maternity ward as a precaution. She was now twenty-four weeks along.
While she slept, I spent my time reading up on pregnancy, hypoglycemia, and panic attacks. I wanted to be armed with all the knowledge I could get. I would be making sure nothing like this happened again. It scared the shit out of me.
It was early afternoon on day two of her stay when we got the good news she could go home. Zara had returned to work in Hunters Creek. Jake had brought me a car so I could bring her home. The guys said my truck would be fixed in no time. The damage wasn’t as bad as they had thought. I couldn’t care less about my truck. The important thing was Jessica and the baby were okay.
On the drive home, I kept an eye on her. She seemed to be lost in thought. When we pulled into the compound a little over an hour later, I took her straight to our house. As I helped her out of the car, I swung her up in my arms.
“Kellan, what in the world are you doing?”
“I’m carrying you into the house.”
“I can see that. The question is, why? I can walk just fine.”
“Maybe you can, but I don’t want you tiring yourself out. Don’t give me any grief.” I had plans tonight. The first thing was to get her mind straightened out about us. Zara had said as long as she didn’t get overly upset, I could talk to her about what had set her off the other day. I didn’t want it looming over us. Then once that was cleared up, I had plans to make love to my woman. It had been too long. That too had been cleared with Zara. Again, she cautioned me to go by how Jessica was reacting.
Inside, I took her to our bedroom. The ladies had been there and set up our room with her favorite DVDs, stocked the refrigerator in the kitchen with her flavored waters, and even had dinner made and ready to pop into the oven to reheat when we were ready. Damn, did my brothers have some great women or what? Hours later after visitors left, she took a long nap, then we ate dinner. Afterward, I lay down with her. She gave me a nervous look. I caressed her face.
“Baby, I think it’s time we talk. I don’t want to upset you, but we can’t let this hang over us. I can tell it’s making you uneasy with me. That’s the last thing I want. Will you listen and let me explain why I’ve been acting the way I was?” She gave me a hesitant nod. I held her closer and kissed her hair.
“What I told you when you came back is true. I love you, Jessica. More than I can ever tell you, and finding out you are pregnant made me even happier. But having you here in our house day in and day out, not being able to do what I wanted was driving me crazy. So, every evening when it got to be too much, I went to the clubhouse.” She stirred and tried to move away from me. I could feel the tension increasing in her body.
“Don’t. It’s not what you think. I couldn’t believe when you accused me of cheating on you at the bakery that day. I was in shock. I admit, I got pissed. That’s why I didn’t come with you to the house. I needed to clear my head, so I went on a ride. It was when I was coming back to talk to you that I got the call about the wreck.
“Babe, I swear I have not been going to the clubhouse and hooking up with anyone. I sit and talk to the guys and have a beer. Sometimes, we played pool or darts. I never looked at or touched any of those bunnies. I wouldn’t do that. I love you. You’re the one I want, not them.”
“Then why did you leave? What has become too much? What was it you wanted to do that you couldn’t?”
“I was dying to make love to you.”
“I don’t understand. If you wanted me and not them, why didn’t you say something or do anything?” she asked with a frown on her face.
“Because I wanted you to be sure. That meant you made the first move, but you didn’t. I was waiting for you to be comfortable with me again. But it was driving me crazy. I wanted you so much, it was all I could do not to haul you to bed and fuck you until we were both too exhausted to move.”