Deceived 6 - Ultimate Deception (3 page)

Then, suddenly, I heard something. Faint, but definitely a noise.

“There!” I almost shouted it, my own heart thudding. “I hear something.”

“Okay, let’s move down here a little bit.”

With just the slightest movement, a rapid, steady thrumming filled my ears. I pressed my hand to my mouth, my relief bringing tears to my eyes. “She’s okay. She’s okay.” I rubbed my hand over the spot right next to where we were getting the heartbeat. I looked up at Keesha, ashamed of how I’d snapped at her. “Thank you.”

“She’s a strong little girl,” Keesha said, giving me a smile that said all was forgiven. She waited for me to hand back the stethoscope, and added, “I think she’ll be coming out soon.”

I leaned back, keeping my hand pressed against the spot where Victoria was laying. “Don’t ever scare me like that again. You hear me, little girl?”

I heard a laugh and looked up to see Patrick chuckling. I glared at him. “You think this is funny? I almost had a heart-attack to go along with the concussion.”

Before I could get truly angry at him, Patrick leaned down and brushed his lips across mine. A chaste kiss, but I could hear my pulse pick up. Even when I was annoyed with him, he could do that to me.

“No, love. I don’t think that’s funny. You just can’t imagine how happy and relieved I am right now, seeing you moving around, talking, getting pissed at me.” Patrick swallowed hard and I saw a shadow cross his eyes. “I’ve been asked to make some tough decisions in my life, but nothing has ever come close to considering that I might have to choose between you and Victoria.”

“I’m sorry to have to interrupt, but I do have to get some vitals, then I’ll leave the two of you alone.”

I smiled at Keesha as she wrapped a blood pressure cuff around my arm. Now that my fear had subsided, I found her bedside manner to be beyond pleasant and decided she was one of the most truly amazing people I’d ever met. And it wasn’t just my gratitude towards her for how she’d handled the situation, either. She really did seem to be a great person.

When she finished, she gave us both a smile and left, leaving me to finally start getting some answers to my questions now that I knew my baby was okay.

“Look, Patrick, Keesha’s amazing and I’m sure the other staff here is, too, but I can’t stand hospitals. Can we please just go home?”

He pulled his chair even closer and leaned forward so that he could wrap both his hands around mine. “I wish we could, but I think it’s best if you stay for a couple days. For Victoria’s sake.” His thumb made circles against the inside of my wrist. “But don’t worry. I’ll be here the whole time.” He gave me a sheepish grin. “Keesha keeps threatening to diagnose me with something so they can get their money’s worth out of my stay.”

I gave him a puzzled look. That seemed a bit extreme. “Don’t you have to go to work?”

Patrick’s teasing grin faded and his voice softened. “We’re not in New York, sweetie. We’re still in Florida.”

My heart did a funny little skipping thing. “We’re in Florida? What are we doing in Florida?”

“You don’t remember Nina throwing a party in Florida to celebrate how much of a hit her store opening was?” Patrick’s brows furrowed.

“The opening’s done?” My chest started to feel tight.

“You don’t remember it?”

I shook my head, then looked down at my stomach. “So she’s due...”

“In a little over a week.” He finished my thought.

Less than two weeks. I thought it was at least four. How much time had I lost?

“What’s the last thing you remember?”

I frowned, closing my eyes as if blocking out everything would help. “I remember planning things for the opening, but after that...it’s foggy. I can get bits and pieces of what I think is setting up for the event, but nothing solid.” I sighed in frustration. “After that, it’s all a blank. I don’t remember the opening, or us even talking about a party.” I strained to capture one of the tenuous images, but it fled and I began to feel prickles of pain again.

“Don’t force yourself.” Patrick stopped me before I could push myself too hard. “It’ll just stress you out and make things worse. Besides, you need to relax now. Take it easy.”

“I’m just supposed to accept that I lost more than a week of my life? Don’t be ridiculous.” The minute the words came out I regretted saying them. I shouldn’t have snapped at him.

“For Victoria’s sake, right now, you have to.” His tone was gentle. “Besides, the doctor said that there’s a very good chance your memories will come back.”

I pressed my lips together, guilt flooding me. He was right. I couldn’t stress about this when I had my baby to think of. Everything that I put my body through, she went through. My nerves were fraying and although I’d only been awake a short while, I felt as drained as I would’ve after an all-nighter.

“I’m so tired,” I said. I looked over at him. “Do you mind if I close my eyes?”

Patrick stood and leaned over me, kissing my forehead. “Close them, baby. Just close your eyes and relax. I’m not going anywhere. I’ll be here when you wake up.”

I wanted to thank him, but I fell into sleep before I could even say the first syllable.

Chapter 3

Chloe

This time when I woke up, it wasn’t in the fits and starts I’d experienced before, but a natural waking, so much so that, for a minute, I almost forgot where I was. I blinked sleepily for a few seconds, chasing away the last of the cobwebs as I registered the beeping of the heart monitor and the dull ache in the back of my hand where my IV was still lodged. I turned my head towards the chair where Patrick had been sitting when I’d fallen asleep. It was empty.

I knew he hadn’t gone far and I wasn’t about to go calling out to make him come running, so I fumbled around until I found the call button and pressed it. One of the nurses could get me something to eat while I waited for my husband to return. I was sure he needed to stretch his legs after spending so much time in that chair. I felt uncomfortable just looking at it too long.

“Your man stepped out to make some business calls,” Keesha announced as soon as she entered the room.

“I’m actually hungry.” I gestured towards the IV. “Can I get something that doesn’t come from a needle in my arm?”

“Well, the doc doesn’t want you on solid foods yet, but I can get some soft stuff. You want Jell-O, pudding or applesauce?” She gave me a conspiratorial wink. “We’re not really supposed to let there be a choice, but there’s always room for exceptions to the rules.”

My smile was tight. She was nice, but I still didn’t want to be here. “Jell-O’s fine. Thank you.”

Keesha left and I picked at a small fuzz ball on my blanket. I was trying to wrap my mind around the fact that I’d lost so much time. I knew the stress of it didn’t do the baby or me any good. I shook my head in an effort to push the worries aside. Victoria was due in two weeks, less if I was lucky, and then we could all go back to New York and get on with our lives. I forced my wandering mind to focus on my precious little girl. It wouldn’t be long now. Plus, there would be fewer complications at the birth if I stayed rested and calm. Now was not the time to be selfish and worry about things I couldn’t change.

“Chloe.”

Patrick strode into the room and greeted me with a big smile. “Keesha told me you were awake.”

I nodded and held out my hand. If I was going to be stuck here, at least Patrick was with me. Still, I prodded, “Has the doctor said anything about when I can go home?”

He sat on the edge of my bed. “You were in a coma for almost three full days, sweetie.”

Three days?

“The accident was four days ago. They put you in the coma and then pulled you out after forty-eight. It took you a while to wake up.”

I looked into Patrick’s face for strength and squeezed his hand.

“Well, at least your vitals are good,” he continued, trying to encourage me. “And so are Victoria’s, but there’s no way we’re going to be able to go back to New York before she’s born.”

Although that was disappointing news, I couldn’t say it had been unexpected. I put my free hand on my stomach, smoothing my hand over my hospital gown. For her, I’d endure anything.

“Have you remembered anything new?” He looked down at me and I shook my head. “Well, the doctor said that the best way for you to regain your memories would be to see some familiar faces. Maybe they’ll jog something.”

“Okay.” I wasn’t sure where he was going with this. I didn’t know anyone but Patrick down here in Florida.

“Since Elyse and Ryan had to go back to New York to take care of business while we were gone, I thought maybe seeing Nina would help.”

Nina. That’s right. She was the reason I was here in Florida. The thought of her brought a smile to my face. I may not have been able to remember her party or her opening, but I did remember the weeks of planning and all the fun we’d had together in New York. It’d be good to see her. “I’d like that.”

“Good. She’s already here and she can’t wait to see you.” He raised his voice. “Come on in, Nina.”

Suddenly, my palms began to sweat. I tightened my hands into fists and then relaxed them. I desperately wanted to remember. The hole in my memory created by the fall was strange and made me feel anxious every time I tried to remember something. I didn’t like that feeling. When I tried to remember but noting was there, it was like part of
me
was not there, like our memories make up who we are and basically, they make up our lives. I didn’t want anything missing from my life. It was disheartening to think that somehow I wasn’t complete. So when Patrick called for Nina to come in my hospital room I was hoping, like the doctors said, that her face would shock my brain into remembering. The strange thing was that, although the memory itself wasn’t there, there seemed to be some ugly emotions hovering like a gray cloud just at the edges of that blank spot. I assumed it was because of my anxiety about all this but now I could put it to the test and hopefully get rid of that unsettling feeling.

The door to my room opened but it wasn’t Nina’s face I saw first. There, coming through my door, was a huge, colorful bouquet of flowers, bobbing up and down as Nina carried them to my bedside. She peeked out from behind the flowers with a strained smile. “Hey, you.” She stuck the vase out and said, “These are for you, Chloe. I was so worried about you.” Nina leaned down and gave me a hug.

She looked almost nervous. I supposed it made sense. After all, from the pieces I’d put together, I’d had my accident at her house. I know how guilty I’d feel if a friend of mine got hurt at my house. “Thank you. They’re beautiful. It’s so good to see you, Nina.” My eyes drank in the shape of her face, the way her hair framed her face, waiting, hoping, that some inkling of a memory would surface, but nothing came.

Her dark eyes flicked over to Patrick and then back down to me. “You’re looking very good, Chloe, dear.” Nina set the vase of flowers on the bedside stand and stood next to me, laying her hand on my forearm as we talked.

“I’m feeling good,” I said disappointed that nothing had changed, although I wasn’t sure exactly how the memories would come back, slowly or fast. This was all new to me, strange and new.

“Patrick says you’re having some memory issues?” Nina’s fingers twitched against my arm.

I nodded, keeping the movement slow and careful. I didn’t want another headache. “I can’t remember anything about being at the opening of your boutique or your party…” I exhaled. “Or even anything that’s happened in the past couple weeks. It’s just gone.”

“And seeing me isn’t bringing anything back?”

I tried again, closing my eyes for a moment, focusing on Nina, but all I got were the glimpses I’d seen before, fragments that I wasn’t even sure belonged to those missing days. I opened my eyes, frustrated. “Nothing.”

“I’m so sorry to hear that,” Nina said. Her eyes gleamed. “I suppose that means we’ll have to have another party. First floor only, this time.”

I managed a small, tentative smile and, then glanced at Patrick. “That is, if I ever get to leave this place.”

Nina gave Patrick a puzzled look.

“The doctor wants her on bed rest until the baby’s born,” he explained.

Nina’s face brightened. “Does it have to be here?” she asked.

“A hotel would be too awkward. That’s hardly a place to relax.”

She gave him the same indulgent smile she used to give me when we’d go shopping and I’d look for bargains even though I had the money to buy what I wanted. “I was thinking more along the lines of one of my many guest rooms. I have several on the first floor that have their own full bath. It would be much more private and comfortable than here.”

I shot Patrick a hopeful look. If I could be out of the hospital, not being home and having to stay in bed all the time wouldn’t be quite so bad. Anything would be better than staying in this dreadful hospital.

“Besides, I feel I need to make up for what happened. Please allow me this and come stay with me,” Nina said.

“I don’t know,” he said. “I think it’d be better if we were here, in case something went wrong.”

“I’ll put my private physician on call,” Nina said. “He lives just two houses down and I’ll have him consult with Chloe’s doctors here.” She looked down at me and smiled, squeezing my hand. “Maybe seeing my place will bring back some of her memories.”

“You see, hon? It would be good for me in several ways. Please, Patrick.” I was almost begging. “I’ll be able to rest better there. I’ll never be completely relaxed here.”

I could see him weakening and waited. I knew my husband. He was weighing the pros and cons to decide what would be best for the baby and me. Finally, he sighed and I knew I’d won.

“Okay, okay. When the doctor makes his afternoon rounds, I’ll ask him, and if he clears it, we’ll go.”

If I hadn’t been holding Nina’s and Patrick’s hands, I would’ve clapped mine like some overly excited little kid. I couldn’t express how much I needed out of this place.

When Keesha returned, I accepted my Jell-O with a grateful smile and reminded myself to also ask the doctor when I could eat real food again. If I was lucky, and the doctor said I could leave, maybe I could get a celebratory dinner. I’d even take a celebratory breakfast tomorrow morning if it meant I didn’t have to eat it here.