Bayou Stix Series: Bayou Stix Limited Edition Box Set (74 page)

Rolling my eyes, I mutter, “I do
not
need that visual, asshole.”

As I’m about to text him back, I hear a guttural scream from upstairs and then Cruz is hollering, “
LIAM!
Dammit, Liam! Get up here now. Something is wrong. Something is wrong with Clove! Bring your phone and hurry!”

Without missing a beat, I race up the stairs. As I hit the top, I hear another pain filled scream, and I then I see that Cruz is asking Clove what’s wrong with panic in his voice.

Tearing into her room I see her on her bed. She’s in the same short shorts and tank, but her tank is plastered to her with sweat and she’s as white as a ghost. She writhing and moaning in pain.

What the hell?!

I shout at Cruz.
“What the fuck?! What’s wrong? What did you do, man?!”

He looks at me in horror. “I didn’t do anything. I knocked and knocked and she didn’t answer. I was putting the pizza down and heard moaning and screaming. So, I knocked again and when she didn’t answer, I tried the door. It was open and she was like this.” He gestures helplessly to the bed. “What’s wrong with her?! What do we do?”

I look at Clove and her face is creased with pain. Her eyes are scrunched shut and tears are rolling down her face mixing with the sweat. Crouching in front of her, I ask, “Clove? What’s wrong? Look at me.”

She won’t open her eyes. It’s like she doesn’t even hear me. I throw my phone at Cruz and tell him to call 911. He punches in the numbers and I try to talk to her to have her tell me what’s wrong. I hear him talking, but can’t make out the words. She still won’t open her eyes. It’s like she thinks the tighter she squeezes her eyes shut, the less pain she’ll be in.

I’ve never seen anyone writhing in that much pain in my life. What’s happening? I need to call Dade.

I try to talk to Clove again. “Clove. Clove, please open your eyes. Tell me what hurts. Tell me what’s wrong? Clove…
CLOVE!!
”

Nothing… She curls tighter around herself and then she screams again. My blood runs cold at the sound.

It seems like hours later, but was probably a few minutes, Cruz is ushering paramedics into the room. I never saw him leave to open the door. As they move her to the stretcher and start an IV, one of them, a female says, “Are you allergic to anything, Miss Rodrigue?” Clove doesn’t answer, just screams again. The pretty medic looks to me. “Is she allergic to anything, sir?”

I shake my head. “I don’t know. I don’t know the answer to that.”

As Clove moans again, the female paramedic tells the male to start a drip and she looks at me. I’m standing in the middle of the room trying to comprehend what is going on and thinking I’m in the twilight zone. I realize her lips are moving. She’s talking to me.

“You can ride with her or follow us. We’re taking her to Our Lady of the Lake Hospital.” I nod. I can’t drive. What?

Cruz grabs my shoulder and says, “Come on. I’ll drive.” He answers the pretty paramedic. “We’ll follow you if that’s ok?”

She looks at him and then at me and nods. Then they rush to get Clove down the stairs as her pain filled screams start again and she starts shaking uncontrollably.

I watch them load her into the back of the ambulance and the medic repeats that they are taking her to the Lake.

I nod as Cruz pulls his truck up behind the ambulance. Just before they shut the doors I hear, “My baby. Please let everything be ok with my baby. Please, God!” And she screams again.

The door shuts and Cruz ushers me into his truck.

I don’t realize it, but I’m mumbling. Finally, Cruz hollers my name, snapping me out of my stupor. “
LIAM!
What the hell are you saying, Liam?
WHAT?
”

I look at him. Flatly, I reply. “A baby. Clove is pregnant.”

Clove

O
h my God. Please tell me that was a nightmare. Dear God, that had to be a nightmare. The pain. I’ve never imagined pain like that. What happened? Wait… what’s that sound? Is there something in my hand?

I open my eyes and take in my unfamiliar surroundings. I’m in a hospital. It was real. Oh my God, my baby! As I reach for my stomach, I feel a pull and look at my hand. An IV is on the top of my left hand.

A voice breaks in and I look towards it. “The baby is ok. You’re both ok.”

My eyes fill with tears as I see who’s sitting there. I swear that’s not the voice I thought I’d been hearing in my head. But I smile at Cruz. His light eyes crinkle a bit at the corners. His face is lined with tension and worry.

“Thank you. What happened? What happened to me? Was it a complication of… of the pregnancy?” I ask delicately.

He smiles slightly and covers my hand. He’s so sweet. I can’t believe they found out like this. Oh God, Liam knows…

As his large hand covers my small one, I don’t feel so scared. I’ve been terrified lately and feeling so alone.

“You have a stone. A kidney stone. Apparently it happens a lot with pregnant women.” He looks at me with a question on his face. I bite my lip. “Your kidney was blocked and your body went into septic shock. They have you on antibiotics.” My eyes widen and he must see the concern in them. “It’s safe for you… and for the… baby. The stone has also moved some. It’s still there, but they’re fairly certain you can pass it on your own.”

I sigh in relief and my eyes fill with tears. I thought I was losing my baby. Everything I went through and the hell and humiliation was worth it. I have this little person growing inside of me now. I have to protect it. I’m all they have.

Turning my hand, I squeeze his fingers. “Thank you, Cruz. Thank you for sitting with me. How long have I been here? I’m sorry… I- I’m sorry you found out like this.”

He smiles at me reassuringly. “It’s ok, Clove. I wasn’t going to leave you. We’d never leave you alone.” He looks away and sighs. “You’ve been here about fourteen hours. You passed out and then they gave you pain meds. You were in so much pain. I’ve never seen anything like that in my life, Clove.”

My eyes well with tears again. I’m so emotional all the time. “It felt like I was being ripped in half. I can’t even describe the pain. It was like someone was sticking me with hot pokers in my back and then on top of that, the shooting pain…” I shudder.

He stops my talking by reaching for my hand and taking it in his own. “It’s ok. You’re both ok. Liam called Dade. He’s on his way home. He should be here tonight. Everything is ok. Don’t think about the what ifs.”

I smile at him. He’s always been so kind to me. Even in school he was nice to me. I was so shy and he was so quiet. He’s two years older than me and hasn’t had the easiest life, but he has always been kind.

Turning my hand, I squeeze his fingers. “Thank you, Cruz. You’ve always been so sweet to me. Thank you.”

He starts to say something, but the door opens and we both look up. A stone faced Liam is there and he takes in the scene. His eyes rest on our hands and I see his jaw clench. Great, he’s pissed. Then he looks at me. “You’re awake.”

I stare at him. His hair is mussed up and his face has a day’s worth of growth on it. He looks like he had a rough night. I remember him kissing me in the kitchen. My face gets hot. He swallows and shakes his head. He looks away. “I just talked to Dade. He’s in Atlanta and he’ll be here in about three hours,” he says to the wall.

I sigh. Yeah, that kiss meant nothing… shocker. I say with a small voice, “Thank you for calling him.” I don’t realize it, but I’m entwining my fingers with Cruz’s. I need some support and I feel safe with him here.

Liam looks back and follows the movement with his eyes. He grimaces. “Right.” He pierces me with his crystal blue eyes. “Like I wouldn’t call your brother, Clove. Give me some damn credit!” He clenches his jaw and looks at Cruz. “I’m going home to shower and shave. You good staying here, Cruz?” He seems to be making it a point not to look at me.

Cruz answers him with a bit of an edge. “Yeah, man. I’ll be here until Dade gets here.”

Liam nods and without another word, he steps into the hallway and the door roughly closes behind him.

I let out the breath I was holding and slump back against the pillows. I try to hold in the tears that want to fall and I don’t even know why I want to cry. Damn hormones!

Cruz calls my name softly. “Clove. He’s just edgy… You really scared us.” He sighs and looks at me. “Is the baby Marcus’s?”

Looking at him, I nod and a few tears escape. He wipes them away with his fingers.

He sighs. “Wow. What are you going to do? You’re keeping it I assume?”

I try to sit up. He helps me by holding my arm and pushing the button to raise the back of the bed. Once I’m situated, he fluffs my pillows and sits in the chair by my bedside, and calmly waits. He’s always so calm.

Picking at the sheet, I talk while looking at my lap. “Yes, Marcus is the father, but it’s
MY
baby. He will never have anything to do with it. It’s mine! I’ll take care of him or her and I’ll be an amazing mother.”

He touches my chin and I look up at him. He smiles. “You will. I believe that. You have an amazing heart and I believe you will be a great mother. But raising a baby is hard. Especially by yourself…”

I smile at him sadly. “The baby won’t have a father, but he or she will have a mother and some pretty amazing uncles and aunts. I’m going to do everything I can to make sure this baby has more love in their life than they’ll ever need. I can do this, Cruz. I have to do this right. I can’t screw this up like I’ve screwed up everything in my life… I can’t be a screw-up at this too.”

He takes my hand and squeezes it. “Clove, look at me. You are not a screw up. You are a young woman who trusted the wrong man. It happens. You didn’t do anything wrong. What happened was not your fault. You will be an amazing mother. You are an amazing woman. You deserve to find someone you love who loves you and be happy.”

I smile wistfully at him. “What about you? You deserve to find someone and be happy too, Cruz.”

He shakes his head and I see the cloud pass over his face before he hides the pain. “We aren’t talking about me.” The grip on my hand tightens as he reins in his emotions. “And you know why I won’t do that. I’m not willing to risk that with anyone. Especially someone I care about. I would never be able to forgive myself if I did something to someone I was supposed to love.”

Now, it’s my turn to try to talk some sense into him. “Cruz Edwards, now you look at me!” My voice is sharp and he looks up. His light eyes meet my dark ones. “You are nothing like the man who attacked your mother! You are a good, kind, giving, and amazing man. I have told you before and I will keep telling you until you finally listen to me.
You are not him
! You are the miracle that came out of a terrible act, yes, and you are amazing!”

He looks away from me, but not before I see the shame he can’t ever shake. “Stop it! Look at me.” He turns his bleak gaze back to mine. “You have always been kind to me. In school, when I was thin and awkward, you protected me from the mean girls. When my date left me standing alone and humiliated at my sophomore Homecoming dance,
you
rescued me and danced with me. When people were cruel to you about your parentage, you never retaliated; though you easily could have, since you quickly filled out, and were much bigger than them.” I smile. “You seriously underestimate your self-worth and I, for one, am sick of it.”

He chuckles softly. “There’s the spunk. Glad you’re back.”

I chuckle and really look at him. He’s gorgeous. He always was, but sadly he’s never been the one I can’t get out of my head. Often, I wish he was.

He sees my perusal and shifts uncomfortably. “What? Why are you staring at me?”

I grin impishly. “Because you are mighty fine, Cruz Edwards. Mighty fine indeed!”

His beautiful café au lait skin darkens a bit. I wink.

Gruffly he says, “Stop. You’re full of shit! Did the poison in your blood reach your brain?”

Laughing, I manage to say, “Um, no. Cruz dear, you are gorgeous. You are a beautiful man.” He’s so embarrassed. I can’t help but laugh that he really seems to not understand what he looks like. “Seriously, Cruz. And you have no idea how hot you are, which makes you even hotter!”

Shrugging, he says in ire, “You’re insane. I’m mixed.”

Looking at him incredulously, I exclaim, “What the hell is your point?”

He shrugs again.

“Cruz, for a smart man, you’re an idiot. Hello?! Shemar Moore. Michael Ealy. Jesse Williams. I would do very dirty things with any of those gorgeous men! And you, Hun, you give them all a run for their money.” I start to giggle.

He chokes. “Jesus, Clove. How much pain meds are they giving you?! I think you’re getting too much. And what do you have a damn list for?”

I giggle again. It feels so good to laugh. I’ve been so stressed out lately. I snort I’m giggling so much. “Shut up. I’m fine. I am not high on pain meds. I’m speaking the truth and you simply don’t want to hear it, but, I’m so right. Besides, they are
fine
. Of course I know who they are!”

Chuckling again, he says, “We’ll have to agree to disagree on that front.”

Just then, there’s a knock at the door. It opens and a female doctor walks in. She’s an older, pretty redhead and her lab coat has the name, M. Bush, MD OB/GYN, on the left breast. She smiles and I see her appreciative gaze take in Cruz before she looks at me. “Hi. I’m Dr. Bush. I work with Dr. Bird. I see you have an appointment with her next week. She’s actually on vacation right now, so I’m covering her patients.” She taps my chart with her light pink nails. “It seems that you had quite a scare, Miss Rodrigue. How are you feeling?”