Twisted Pursuits (19 page)

CHAPTER TWENTY NINE

LAUREN HAD NOT SEEN JORDAN
in three day; she did not know whether to be worried or upset that he did not even have the decency to call so she would know that he was alright. In the end she chose the latter. Although she did not know why she even bothered as he had made it clear during their last meeting exactly three days ago that he wanted nothing to do with her outside of their children.

Even now as she recalled his cruel words, it tore at her heart. She was glad, in a small way, that he had kept his distance she told herself because she was not certain she could cope with him being so near and yet so far away. Yet she missed him terribly. She had barely slept these past nights, fatigue and heartbreak keeping her awake until the wee hours of the morning when exhaustion would claim her.

Presently she was roaming the corridors of the estate with no particular destination in mind, just for lack of something better to do. She smiled sadly as she remembered these same halls filled with hers and Jordan’s laughter. She closed her eyes, reliving the memory as if it was just yesterday. They had been so in love back then, a tear leaked below her tightly closed lids at the thought. She could not understand or even begin to accept, as Jordan wanted her to, that something so profound could wither and die so completely and so soon but she must she told herself.

She dashed the tears from her cheeks and walked on just as aimlessly as before until she found herself at Jordan’s bedroom door. She started to move away but for some reason she inched closer. This section of the house had been off limits to her ever since she had returned and she deliberated on whether to let it remain that way. Perhaps she could take a little peek, she thought. Jordan was not home and was not likely to find out that she had trespassed into his private space, thus she saw no harm in what she was about to do.

She gripped the doorknob in her palm, her heart hammering in her chest. She pushed the door open and stepped into the room; a plethora of memories bombarding her thoughts. They had shared this very room just a few months ago. She stroked her stomach fondly; even her babies were conceived here.

She almost jumped out of her skin as a distinctive groan came from the bed. Her eyes flew to the bed where she saw Jordan lying motionless on his back. Her first instinct was to quit the room as quickly as she could before a thought occurred to her. What was Jordan doing home in bed in the middle of the day? Did he have a woman in here with him? No he would not dare she told herself as she glanced around the room to make sure.

Something was terribly odd about this situation. Why had he not gotten up and thrown her out already? She knew he was a light sleeper.

“Jordan”, she called tiptoeing towards the bed but his only response was a guttural moan. She drew to a halt a few inches from the bed, her heart sinking to her toes. His face was ashen, his lips were dry and cracked and she could feel heat emanating from him from where she stood.

“Jordan”, she called again, her voice urgent as she placed her hand to his forehead, he was burning up.

This time she gripped him on either side of his shoulders and shook him. “Jordan, wake up”, she beseeched her voice edging on hysteria.

His eyes fluttered open and stared unseeingly at her; their depths glazed, from the fever she supposed, before they drifted closed. She grabbed the phone from his night table, panic building in the pit of her stomach and called an ambulance and then Doctor Hedley who encouraged her to remain calm and he would be waiting for her in the emergency room.

Jordan was stirring when she hung up the phone and she rushed to his side.

“Jordan…can you hear me”, he moaned in response, “open your eyes…please”, she begged tears blurring her vision as she gripped his scorching right hand in her cool palms.

What could possibly be wrong with him? How long had he been like this? Her brain clamored with unanswered question. It seemed as if she had been sitting there holding his hand for ages before she heard the ambulance and seconds later footsteps running up the stairs before Ms. Clarke along with two uniformed men burst into the room.

Ms. Clarke pried her from Jordan’s side so that the men could lift him unto the stretcher. The sight of her husband who had been robust up to three days ago when she had last seen him having to be carried bodily was almost too much for her to endure and she leaned heavily into Ms. Clarke for fear that he legs would fail her, as she followed the men down to the ambulance.

All the while Ms. Clarke babbled on about telling Jordan to go and see a doctor but he would not listen. According to her he had come home night before last saying he had a headache and he had not left since. She would have liked to tell Lauren but Jordan said not to worry her.  The knowledge was like a slap to the face. This was an utter disgrace. How could one live like this? Her husband was ill and if she had not stumbled upon him she would not have known. She sighed heavily. She would not even consider what might have happened if she had not found him.

She wanted to ask if he would be okay or what was wrong with him but she knew that time was of the essence and Jordan’s life was at stake. She shook aside her quaking emotions as they hoisted Jordan into the rear of the ambulance; she needed to be strong for him she told herself and stiffened her spine.

Both men threw curious stares her way as she requested their help to get into the vehicle but she was too busy attending to Jordan to care. She could not help the sobs that tore from her throat as the ambulance team placed an oxygen mask over his nose and mouth and inserted and IV fluid into his left arm. She held his right hand all the way to the hospital, brushing her lips over his knuckles and praying that he would be okay.

Doctor Hedley was waiting when they got to the emergency room. He immediately whisked Jordan away, a grim expression staining his features but not before issuing a stern warning for her to stay calm for the babies’ sake, if nothing else.

How could she remain calm she thought miserably when the man she loved was fighting for his life. What if he did not make it? No, she told herself resolutely, he had to survive for their babies’ sake and for hers as well. She needed him and he had too much to live for to die now. Surely he would not die when she had never told him she was sorry for hurting him or that she loved him with every fiber of her being. Always has and forever would.

She should have phoned his parents, she thought absently in an attempt to distract her from the present situation. She had been so preoccupied with getting Jordan to the hospital that she had not even stopped to collect her purse. She needed to contact Ms. Clarke so she could instruct her to pack an overnight bag for Jordan and herself as she had no intention of leaving unless it was with Jordan by her side.

She was about to go in search of a phone call when she saw Daniel hustling towards her, his face somber.

“How is he”, he asked as soon as he got to where she sat.

“I don’t know”, she replied tearfully, “they took him…” she was so overcome with emotion that she could not finish her statement.

Daniel patted her shoulder awkwardly as if he was not accustomed to offering comfort. She forcefully pulled herself together and phoned Ms. Clarke and then Jordan’s parents. They were beside themselves with grief, vowing to take the next flight out to be with their only child and begging her to keep them updated of any changes or information she received.

She tried to get some information from members of staff she saw coming from the direction they had taken Jordan but no one seemed to know anything. She sat, she paced, and she fretted until finally she saw Doctor Headley striding towards her.

She rushed to meet him. “Is he alright”, she asked anxiously.

“Yes, he’ll be fine”, he said and Lauren sighed in relief, “eventually”, he added.

She frowned, ‘”what do you mean?” her heart raced in her chest.

“It appears Jordan caught a terrible virus”, Doctor Hedley said emphatically, “and based on his condition he has had it between two to three days”.

She hung her head in shame. What sort of wife did not know when her husband was sick? What must Doctor Hedley think of her for allowing the situation to get so out of hand?

“Not to worry though”, he continued optimistically, “we have managed to stabilize his temperature and he is resting at the moment”.

“Oh thank God and thank you”, she threw her arms around Doctor Hedley in heartfelt appreciation, the embrace made uncomfortable by her ballooning stomach, “can I see him?”

“Sure, follow me”, he instructed and she did just that.

She would have preferred him being awake so she could talk to him to ensure that he was alright but she had to be content with Doctor Hedley’s assurances. She kissed his forehead and stroked his face lovingly which was thankfully cool to the touch.

“I’ll have an extra bed moved in here”, Doctor Hedley said as she flopped into a chair beside Jordan’s bed, “that is assuming you’re spending the night”.

She nodded her eyes still on Jordan’s face as she twined her fingers through his.

“You are not alone”, she whispered to the sleeping figure on the bed, “I am here and I’ll always be for as long as you need me”, she vowed remaining in the chair long after the bed was
brought in.