A Kiss of Color: The Complete 3 Book Collection (35 page)

Susan’s expression was grave, but far from panicked. Carefully, she straightened, taking hold of Helena’s forearms. “Helena, can you stand? We need to get you to a hospital right away.”

When she tried to stand up, another pain ensued and Helena groaned, sinking slowly to the floor. What was wrong? She’d had a perfectly normal pregnancy up to this point. Her last check up two weeks ago had been golden. So, what could have gone amiss between then and now?

Helena trembled until the pain finally passed before gasping for breath, bracing herself on the solid wood flooring. Susan quickly helped her up, this time more slowly, before easing her back into a chair. Her expression frustrated, the physician gazed out of the window at the multitude of squatters on the front lawn. “We’ll never get through all of them. They’re like wolves….”

Glancing back at Helena, who was trying to breathe as her son squirmed almost frantically inside of her, she made a split second decision. “Helena, I’m going to call an ambulance. I’ll be right back.” She hurried for the kitchen, which contained the house’s only land line. Susan had long been adamant that she didn’t need a cell phone, and operated just fine without one – but of course, she’d made it a priority to discover where the land line was in their house one of her many visits.

And now, Helena was glad she had.

She clenched her teeth in discomfort as she prayed for Xavier to return soon. If he came home and she was gone, he would panic, and she had no idea if she’d be in any state to answer the phone later.

“It’s on its way.” Susan returned to her side briskly, clearly anxious as she touched Helena’s stomach once again. “Everything’s going to be fine, Helena. I just need you to breathe.”

But Helena knew the truth – and it was very much the contrary. Though her specialty wasn’t gynecology and obstetrics, in her training she knew enough about the human body to know that something was going on in her womb. There was a chance something had ruptured, or that the baby had been hurt, or worse…that she and the baby had both started hemorrhaging. Whatever the issue was, she knew her best option was to try and remain calm.

The ambulance was coming and there was nothing she could do until then.

The next twenty minutes blurred together in an agonizing haze. While her contractions didn’t seem to be coming terribly close together, the sharp, stabbing pain between each one was enough to make her gag. Ultimately, she had to settle for lying on the couch with her head in Susan’s lap, trying to keep from screaming in pain.

When the doorknob rattled, however, she sat up, biting her lip as she took a deep breath against the pain. Seconds later, there was a brief din as Brandy and Xavier slipped into the house before quickly shutting the door behind themselves. Xavier cursed lowly, tossing the folder on a nearby table, and despite the predicament that Helena was in, she felt her heart sink. Something had gone badly at the bank.

Everything was going badly.

“Xavier.” Susan called to him before she could, making the dark-haired man spin around in surprise.

“Doctor Forge? What are you doing here?”

At that precise moment, Helena stiffened as another pain lanced through her, crying out. The sound was like a magnet that immediately drew Xavier, white-faced, to her side. Before he could even inquire, Susan answered his question. “She’s in labor, and it’s going badly. I’ve called an ambulance.”

As panic once again welled in Helena’s throat, she tried to concentrate on Xavier’s face. He was pale, his hand gripping hers tightly as he took in the sight of her stretched across the couch, her thighs slicked with blood. If she looked anywhere near as bad as she felt, she was sure Xavier was in turmoil. He knelt next to her, his eyes never leaving hers. “How long ago did you call the ambulance?”

Not for the first time, Helena realized she couldn’t have gone into labor at a worse time. Whatever happened at the bank couldn’t have been good, and their baby was choosing now to arrive, in all this turmoil. A contraction clenched her lower stomach, and she groaned, squeezing Xavier’s hand for all she was worth. Before Susan could answer Xavier’s question, the sound of sirens drifted to them and Helena allowed herself a sigh of relief. At least she would soon be in the hospital, where they would be able to find out what was wrong with her baby.

“They’re almost here, honey.” Xavier leaned down to brush his lips across her forehead as Brandy hovered over them, her blue eyes anxious. She hadn’t said a word since returning with Xavier, but no words were needed to convey the tension in the elder woman’s limbs.

She was about to tell Brandy that she and the baby were going to be fine when a strange, sickening sensation began in her gut and she inhaled sharply. Then, all at once, her breath was gone. She couldn’t breathe, couldn’t move, and couldn’t speak. Her entire world was enveloped in white hot agony and she barely registered Xavier calling her name desperately before her entire world faded to black.

For a long, long while, Helena floated in and out of consciousness. She struggled her way out of the darkness only to be enveloped once again as pain rolled over her in waves. She was vaguely aware of being moved – of leaving home – but other than that, all she could concentrate on was trying to get a sense of herself.

And her baby.

What was happening to her
baby?

She couldn’t gather the strength to ask. It felt as if her head weighed a million pounds and her limbs were like lead.

And it still hurt.
Oh,
did it hurt.

The pain seemed to go on for an eternity, torturing her with its intensity. And just when Helena thought she couldn’t take anymore, it finally began to fade. Slowly, steadily, she began to relax and finally, she slept.

When she opened her eyes, the first thing she caught sight of was a stark white ceiling. It was still very difficult to move, and so she merely glanced over the room, quickly realizing that she was in the hospital. The room was white and gray, with the sounds of various machines running together in a soft hum. Almost immediately, the young woman caught sight of her lover’s rich, dark brown hair near the foot of the bed. He appeared to have fallen asleep against the sheets, and was breathing softly, his face pillowed upon his arms.

It took a great amount of effort, but Helena managed to sit up onto her elbows, making the room spin around her. The motion was accompanied by an uncomfortable pulling sensation in her lower abdomen. She winced slightly in discomfort, taking a breath, before she realized that she had two IVs in her arm and lay back down, exhausted.

Through the large window, she could see that it was either very early morning or late evening. Closing her eyes briefly, Helena tried to remember what had happened.

Xavier told her that he was going to the bank with Brandy. They’d been gone for a long time…
too
long in fact…and then…

“
The baby!”
The words left her immediately in a low, almost inaudible gasp as she reached for her stomach. The moment Helena touched the much flatter expanse of her tummy, she felt her heart sink. What had happened to her baby?

Even though she’d spoken almost to herself, her soft tone was enough to wake Xavier. The dark-haired man blearily sat upright, shoving hair back off of his brow to look towards the head of the bed. His eyes caught hers, held, and for a moment, Helena thought she saw them shine with unshed tears. The raw emotion in the look he gave her – relief, love and terror – was enough to make her heart stumble in her chest.

“
Helena
. Thank God.” Xavier immediately took her into his arms, holding her tightly against his chest. He was the first solid thing she’d felt since coming to and Helena buried her face in his chest, inhaling the scent of him and reveling in his warmth. For a moment, she forgot the deep emptiness she’d felt when she realized her child was gone, and simply clung to Xavier as if her very life depended on it.

It was a long, long while before she found the wherewithal to speak, but once she did, there was only one question she wanted answered. “Where’s our baby, Xavier?”

For a moment, Xavier said nothing. Helena felt every muscle in her body tensing. She wanted to scream but couldn’t draw the breath to do so. No, it couldn’t be. She’d known that everything was going to be alright…that the baby would be
fine.

In that moment, the door swung open and Helena stiffened, her fingernails digging furrows into her lover’s forearms. She didn’t want to face anyone now. She
couldn’t
…

Then, the air was split by a tiny, wailing cry.

A loud sob escaped the young woman, and Xavier drew back from her to reveal Doctor Forge entering the room. The moment her gaze landed on Helena, her grim expression changed to one of supreme delight. The young woman herself, however, could hardly concentrate on her Doctor for the small, squirming bundle in her arms. For what seemed like an eternity, all she could do was stare.

The baby’s skin was red and ruddy, and she could make out a head of soft, honey colored hair. Without a word, Xavier moved to the bedside to help her prop herself up so that Susan could gently place the small bundle in her arms.

He was soft…

The squalling baby’s eyes were a deep gray color, mirroring her own, and he had the most beautiful, perfect nose that Helena had ever seen. She raised a hand to trace over his tiny lips, soft forehead, and small thatch of hair. He had ten lovely fingers and ten miniscule little toes…and he was absolutely gorgeous. His crying was the sweetest noise she’d heard in a long, long time, and she held him tightly to her chest as she breathed deeply. He was here. He was in her arms.

He was
beautiful
.

“He’s
gorgeous
.” The words escaped her on the edge of a sob.

Susan laughed, the sound filling the room with life where there had been none. “He’s hungry.”

“He’s been on formula for a while, but it’s better if you feed him.” Xavier added gently, brushing a strand of unkempt hair from his lover’s brow as he looked adoringly down on his family. Susan stepped over to the family to touch Helena’s shoulder gently before making a quiet exit to give them the alone time they needed.

Helena couldn’t help but take a few moments to stare at her son in awe before she actually managed the strength to arrange herself to start breastfeeding him. Though she had no prior experience, she had a relatively easy time getting the baby to latch on, and the feeling of him nursing from her was beyond compare.

The young woman stroked his small, downy head reverently as Xavier looked on, trying to blink back the tears that blurred her vision. “Hello Isaiah. My
sweet
Isaiah.”

Helena spent the rest of the day getting acquainted with her son. For a couple of hours, she relished in committing his every expression to memory, to lounging with Xavier and their child in bed, and feeling the baby soft warmth of Isaiah’s skin. Susan taught her easier ways to prop him up when she breastfed, and she didn’t let them take the baby away from her until she was too exhausted to move. In truth, she was half-asleep by six o’clock that evening, when Susan returned to gently pluck the child from her arms to return him to the nursery.

Xavier climbed into the bed next to her, pulling her close as she dropped into an exhausted slumber, her son’s smile at the forefront of her mind.

It wasn’t until the next day that they had to face reality.

When Helena awoke, Xavier was holding their sleeping child, rocking the infant back and forth in a chair by her side. They made such a lovely picture that the young woman remained motionless in her drowsy state to watch them. This was her family – her
new
family. The one she had always wanted.

“How long has he been asleep?” She finally whispered quietly, drawing Xavier’s attention to her. When he saw that she was awake, he smiled fondly. “About an hour or so. I fed him some formula to help him.” The way that he gazed down at the tiny bundle in his arms made Helena’s heart ache with love for the both of them. She couldn’t believe she had ever doubted that she would love her own child.

After a moment of silence, however, the young woman took a deep breath, forcing herself to address the first of many issues at hand. “Xavier…what happened to me? To the baby.”

The CEO’s expression darkened as he exhaled a heavy breath. He leaned down to touch his forehead briefly to Isaiah’s before he spoke. “The lining of Isaiah’s amniotic sac ruptured too soon, and both of you started hemorrhaging pretty badly. They couldn’t stop it…and the resident doctor here, at one point, was telling me that I’d have to make a choice: You or the baby.”

The very notion made Helena’s blood run cold. She couldn’t even imagine the horror Xavier must have faced. Of course, it passed unspoken between them that their child would have come first, but having to choose that way…it would have been near impossible, she knew. “Luckily, Susan took over the reins and told him that he was being an idiot.” Xavier allowed himself a small smile as he continued. “She came in and worked for over three hours to get the baby out and stop your bleeding. She finally managed to stabilize the both of you, but she couldn’t get you to wake up. She was scared…
I
was scared that you might never wake…”

He trailed off, and his voice was so thick with grief that Helena blinked back tears of her own. “You were out for a good three days.” The dark-haired man swallowed with some difficulty before raising his gaze to hers. “All I can say is thank God for Susan, Helena. I don’t even want to think about what might have happened without her.”

Helena already knew that she owed Doctor Forge more than words could ever express. Even before Isaiah had been born, Susan had invited her into her office, been her mentor, and believed in her at a time where she’d had difficulty believing in herself. She’d kept the police from manhandling her when they might have done otherwise and when she’d gone into labor, Susan was the first person to come running.

And now she had saved both her life and the life of her child. How was she ever going to repay the woman?