Dean felt his gut twist and he turned from the accusing stare of the man younger than him. He walked back through to his kitchen and took some pills to ease his head.
“Laura, deserves something better and that something that isn’t me,” Peter told him, pointing to his own chest.
Dean snorted and swallowed his cof
fee. His head was easing in a matter of moments.
“If you could see her, you wouldn’t be arguing with me right now," Peter continued. "She’s dying, Mr Riley.”
He stopped and looked at the younger man who stood back from the table.
“What the fuck are you talking about? You told me to stay away from her, remember? I was a perverted bastard using her for sex,” he reminded Peter.
“Well, were you using her?” Peter asked.
“I fucking wasn’t. I loved Laura. I still do, but you told me she could get better. This is me staying away. I don’t even want to talk about the amount of times I’ve gotten in my car, ready to drive back to her. I promised I’d stay away.”
“Laura’s pregnant.”
Dean stared at him. “What did you say?”
“She’s pregnant, Dean. She’s in the hospital after collapsing. The doctors don’t think the baby’s going to survive. The stress and all the additional work she’s been doing has made her weak,” Peter informed him.
“Work? She should be back in college.”
“She dropped out, Dean. She’s been living with me and trying to save money to be ready for the baby’s arrival. It’s funny. I warned you that she’d be the brunt of all the gossip with you in town. Now with you away, she’s the brunt of gossip for being pregnant.”
Dean stared at the table. Laura was pregnant with his baby and she was in the hospital.
“I’ll step aside. Laura needs you and I didn’t see it before. I loved her and thought I could do the better loving. I was a fool,” Peter admitted.
Dean grabbed his coat and followed the younger man out of his apartment. He hadn’t moved far from Cape Falls because the thought of not being a quick drive away from Laura had frightened him.
Peter drove and was probably breaking every speed limit. An hour later they pulled up at the hospital. Peter quickly found a parking space and together they walked inside the hospital. Dean followed Peter to the maternity wing.
“She doesn’t know you’re here. Just give me a minute,” Peter told him and went ahead into a room.
Dean watched the room. Laura’s in there, the woman you love and who you gave up like the asshole you are. She's laying in the bed, scared and alone.
He knew then that when he entered that room he would have to make a decision. He glanced down at his finger where Carla’s wedding ring still sat.
“I’m sorry, baby. I’ve got to move on,” he said quietly. He removed the ring and fisted it in his hand. Peter came to the door and nodded for him to come in.
“I brought someone for you to see,” Peter said to Laura.
Dean walked round the door and his world collapsed. Laura was sitting up in bed. She looked terrible and beautiful at the same time. She gasped and they stared at one another.
“You said you didn’t want me,” she whispered.
“I’ve got something to tell you, Laura. I was the one who told him to leave. I thought I could love you more and give you everything that he couldn’t,” Peter admitted.
Laura remained silent and Dean nodded for Peter to leave. The door closed and Laura and Dean stared at each other.
“You’re here,” she said.
“I’m here and I’m not going anywhere,” he told her as he moved to the bed. “I’ve been an idiot. I made a promise to my wife that I would never love another woman they way I loved her.”
“And you do?”