Warning Track (16 page)

Dr. Cuevas took off her glove and looked up at Lucy. “I think you experienced some Braxton Hicks contractions. Pretty normal, but very scary, so I can understand your concern and you did the right thing by coming in to see me.” She looked over at Connor and said, “Good job.” Connor just nodded his head.
 

“Is there a reason why I’m having these contractions? Does it mean the baby is coming?”

“No, not at all. Braxton Hicks is a normal occurrence that can be caused by different things. Have you been drinking enough water?”

Feeling bashful, Lucy shook her head no. “I sometimes forget. I’m really busy…”

“Well, fuck, if you were living with me, I’d make sure you were constantly drinking water,” Austin said as he looked down at his shoes.
 

“It’s not Connor’s fault, Austin. He takes care of me better than I could even ask for.”

“Obviously not if you’re lying here, dehydrated.”

“Listen…” Connor started, but Dr. Cuevas interrupted him.
 

“Stop.” She stood up and grabbed a bag of liquid from a cabinet as well as an IV. “I’m going to pump Lucy with some fluids so she can quickly rehydrate; it’s the fastest way to get some fluids into her system.”

“Will it be alright for the baby?” Connor asked, concerned, making Lucy’s heart flutter.

“Of course it is, dipshit, that’s why she’d doing it,” Austin cut in.
 

“I wasn’t asking you…”

“Enough!” Dr. Cuevas shouted. She leaned out the door and called a nurse so the nurse could take care of the IV. The doctor stood up and looked at both Connor and Austin, her face growing serious as the nurse started prepping Lucy’s arm. “Listen up, men, I’m not going to tolerate the bickering between you two anymore. I’m going to be straight with you, Lucy’s blood pressure is too high, high enough that I’m considering on putting her on bed rest because her health and the baby’s is at risk. Since we’ve been here and since you’ve been yelling at each other, her pulse has kicked up, so you are not only giving us all headaches, but you are physically hurting her.”

Lucy’s stomach flipped at the thought of having to go on bed rest; there was no way she wanted to be stuck in bed for the next five months. Fuck no!

“If her blood pressure gets too high, she’s at risk of getting preeclampsia, which is not what we want. That will leave us with very few options and the possibility of delivering the baby too soon. So, what I suggest is that if you two can’t be in the same room, you take turns or you just fake it because we are all here for a reason, to make sure Lucy and the baby stay healthy for the next five months. If you can’t set aside your differences for that reason, then maybe you shouldn’t be a part of this little miracle.”

Lucy felt her throat tighten as she listened to her doctor put the two men in her life in place. She had never wanted to kiss her doctor more because, until that moment, she really hadn’t realized how stressed she was about Connor and Austin. A wave of relief washed over her as Dr. Cuevas took charge and told Austin and Connor what she expected from them.
 

“Do we have an understanding, gentlemen?”

“Yes,” they both said in unison, neither of them looking up at the doctor. Lucy hid her smile as she watched two very strong and overbearing men brought down by a little Latina.
 

**Molly**

The bed was cold as Molly moved around in the sheets, trying to feel the warmth of Luke that was nonexistent. Her eyes stayed closed as she continued to feel around, but she was finally coming to the realization that Luke wasn’t next to her. The thought that the night before might all have been a dream crossed her mind, but she knew that wasn’t true because her muscles were sore in all the right ways. She’d definitely had a reunion with Luke, but it was short-lived as she now lay in bed alone.
 

Turning to her side, Molly opened her eyes and looked at the picture of Luke that sat on her night stand. It was a picture of him in his dress blues next to an American flag, the typical army photo, but unlike other ones she had seen, Luke was actually smiling. There was something so sexy about a man who wasn’t afraid to smile for a picture.
 

Molly sighed as she grabbed her phone to look at the time. Just as she lit up her phone, something in the corner of the room caught her eye, making her jump out of her skin. Luke was sitting like a perched owl on the chair in the corner with his head in his hands, rocking back and forth. Molly’s heart pounded in her chest, not only from being startled half to death, but also from seeing the once very strong man, look so disturbed. He was mumbling something as he continued to rock back and forth. Not quite sure what to do, Molly grabbed her robe that was at the end of the bed, put it on, and gently walked over to Luke. He didn’t notice her as she came up next to him, nor did he register her voice as she called out to him.
 

Scared and frightened, not for herself, but for Luke, she put her hands on his shoulders so he would look up at her, which was a big mistake. In no time flat, Luke grabbed her wrists, spun her to the ground and had her eating carpet with her arms behind her back where Luke was applying pressure. Her wrists felt like they were going to snap from the force he was using on them.
 

“Luke, stop. It’s me. It’s Molly!” she called out, but he didn’t let up. Tears started to fall from her eyes, as he increased the pressure on her wrists. She didn’t know how much more of the pain she could take. “Luke, please stop! Stop, Luke, you’re hurting me!” Molly cried out, begging him to let go.
 

“I’m getting out of here, you fucking bastard, I don’t care what you say. I’m fucking getting out of here.”

“Luke, wake up, please Luke,” sobs escaped Molly’s throat as she felt like her arms were going to be popped out of their sockets.
 

“Don’t fucking move or your skull is going to be cracked in two with my fists.”

“Luke! Please, it’s me. It’s Molly, please Luke,” her voice was so strangled with pain, she didn’t even recognize the sounds coming from her, but something must have clicked because the pain that was radiating down her arms, loosened as Luke stopped breathing heavily and eased up off of her. Quickly, Molly scrambled to the corner of the room, not moving her arms much because she didn’t think she could. She got as far away from him as she possibly could. Once she was a good few feet away, she looked over at the man that she once loved and lost another tear. Sitting in the middle of the room on his knees was Luke, looking down at his hands, as if they’d just killed a man.
 

When he looked up at her, his eyes were bloodshot, his face was crestfallen and his eyes were hollow. There was no sign of the Luke she used to know, just a hollow shell of a man.
 

She didn’t know what to do because, for the first time since she had met Luke, she was scared…scared to be near him and actually afraid that he might hurt her. Actually, he already had; there were bruises forming on her wrists. She realized at that moment, Luke had the strength and mental illness to hurt her, physically and mentally.
 

“Molly…” his voice fell as he shook his head and started to get up. He looked around the room, spotted his shirt and threw it on, then continued to walk out of the bedroom.
 

In her mind, Molly knew she needed to stay away, especially after what just transpired between them, but her heart couldn’t let him walk away, not again.
 

Molly ran out to the living room, where Luke was pulling his shoes on with brute force. Molly wondered if his toes had any circulation.
 

“Luke…”

Luke held up his hand and turned toward her. “Don’t, I don’t want to hear it.”

The way he spoke to her was clipped and annoyed, as if she was an inconvenience to him, a minor speed bump in his day. Anger tamped down the gut-wrenching feeling that was ripping her heart apart as her fury started to roll through.
 

Mustering all the gusto she had, she cocked one hand on her hip and said, “Well, you’re going to fucking hear it!” Luke looked at her in surprise at the rage that laced her voice. “What just happened in there, was not okay and not because you hurt me, but because you’re hurt and you aren’t doing anything to fix it. You’ve been back from wherever it was you were for a while now and have yet to seek help, to heal yourself.”

“You don’t fucking know that,” Luke snapped.
 

“No? Then tell me you go to see a therapist at least once a week, please tell me differently. Set me straight.”

“I don’t need to fucking talk to you about this; I’m out.”

“Oh yeah? And where the hell do you think you’re going? You have nowhere else to go, Luke.”

Luke turned and looked Molly in the eyes, pure rage flowing through his once-bright blue eyes. “Are you the fucking reason Nash kicked me out?”

“No, you’re the reason, Luke, why Nash kicked you out. You’re the reason why you’re here, because you know this is where you belong. You have so much potential to fix things, to heal yourself, but instead of fighting, you’re giving up. You’re taking the coward’s way out and not only hurting yourself, but you’re hurting your friends, your family and…me. You’re hurting me, Luke.”

“You don’t think I’m fucking hurting?” Luke shouted, as he got off the sofa and flipped the coffee table over. He charged toward Molly, getting right in her face, but instead of backing away like she wanted to, she stood her ground, even though her hands were noticeably shaking from fear of what he might do. “I have to wake up every morning to see people walk around with smiles on their goddamn faces as if the word is perfect. Well, the world is not fucking perfect, Molly, the world is one fucked up place. You have no clue what I’ve been through; you have no fucking clue what happened to me, so don’t go flapping your mouth about how I’m a coward and how I’m giving up. Fuck you! You want me to take the coward’s way out? Give me a fucking gun, I’ll take care of everyone’s problems right now and end the pain I’m causing everyone.”

As if a light bulb had turned on in Luke’s head, he ran towards the bedroom. It took Molly a second to think about what he was doing, but when she heard him rummaging around in the closet, all the blood drained from her body as she took off after him.
 

When she entered the bedroom, Luke held the pistol case in his hand as he headed toward the bed. He opened it with such ease that is was almost disturbing to see him act so calm when her heart was racing a mile a minute.
 

“What are you doing?” Molly cried out as she ran toward him and slammed the case shut.
 

Not even looking at her, Luke pushed her to the side, slamming her into the nightstand, and opened the case back up. He grabbed the gun and checked for bullets. Luckily, they kept them in a different location, but unluckily he knew exactly where they were, as he tossed the mattress to the side, flipping it into the wall and grabbed a box of bullets.
 

Frozen in place, Molly just watched him load the bullets into the pistol. Without even a second thought, Luke lifted the barrel to right under his chin and closed his eyes. The world slowed down as Molly watched Luke’s forearm flex as he applied pressure to the trigger. Before she knew what she was doing, she flung her body in his direction as the gun went off.
 

**Jane**

“I’ll be at the cages if you need anything,” Brady said, as he leaned over the center console of the ridiculous red corvette Brady just had to have. The man and his toys were borderline embarrassing, but she didn’t give him much flack because he was happy and a good man. So what if his one vice was cars? So be it.

“I’ll be fine, stop stressing over me. You’re going to drive me crazy.” Jane started to leave the car, but Brady pulled on her hand.
 

“I just want to make sure you’re going to be okay. I know I might be smothering you.” Jane snorted. “But you and the baby are, by far, the most important things in my life and I couldn’t stand to have anything happen to you.”

Gathering her patience, Jane said, “Brady, I love you so much, but I’m having breakfast with Albert to go over applicants for JB Events. I highly doubt we’ll be setting things on fire, jumping off of cliffs or going on some drug bender, so you can relax.”

“I know, but you’re small, just a tiny little thing, and the doctor said to be careful.” Brady looked down at her feet and said, “And I don’t like you wearing those heels. You could trip and fall…”

Jane put her finger against Brady’s lips to quiet him. “Brady, I’ve been wearing heels since high school; I know how to walk in heels.
 

“Not when you have a belly like that. Your balance is all thrown off.”

Now she was starting to get pissed. She could handle Brady’s overprotective nature; she’d been dealing with it ever since they met, but when he started accusing her of not being smart when it came to the baby, she did not take it lightly.
 

Jane got in his face and said, “Listen carefully, Matthews. I would do nothing, and I mean nothing, to harm this baby. I know what I’m doing, so drop it, alright? I don’t need your added stress about what shoes I’m wearing or whether or not I can take care of myself.”

Brady blew out a frustrated breath and ran his hand down his face. “Babe, you know I don’t mean to insult you. I know you know what you’re doing. I’m just so fucking tense, wondering what could happen. I mean, fuck, what if some crazed fan came up to you and tried to harm you? We’re not a private couple, people know who we are and I can’t have anything happening to you. I might seem like an overprotective ass most of the time, but you’re all I got, you and that squirt. I just need to make sure you’re careful.”