CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO
“I’d like to suggest you first find another doctor. You look like shit. You’re
supposed to glow when you’re pregnant; you just look sickly. Secondly, give him
what he wants.”
Morgan looked at Mrs. Sugar. She knew how bad she looked, but the doctor
said the baby was fine. He also told her he didn’t want a fat woman delivering.
So he’d put her on a three thousand calorie a day plan. Morgan wanted her baby
to be healthy when it was born. No one wanted to adopt a sickly child. She’d
learned that all those years in the orphanage.
The diet was working out okay. She was saving money on her food bill,
which was good. And she only had four months and four payments of a
thousand dollars a month to have him paid off. Money was tight.
“I don’t care. Just set it up. It doesn’t matter.” She rubbed her hand down her
belly and felt the kid move under her hand.
The first time it had moved, she wept for an hour. There was a life inside of
her. It moved around a lot at night, keeping her awake. But she didn’t rub it
anymore, not unless she forgot, like now. It was hard not to touch it. She couldn’t
fall for it. It needed a home with loving parents and someone who could watch
over it. It wasn’t going to be her.
“Just set it up and let me know.” She waddled back upstairs to her rooms
above the bar and sat on the kitchen chair. She reached into her pocket and
pulled out the blue sleeper she’d bought that first day. As she laid it out on the
table, she began to cry softly. When it was neatly spread out, Morgan laid her
head down on it and began to cry harder.
~~~
“She’s agreed to the test. It’ll be performed on Monday the second of June.
There were a couple of conditions that I didn’t think you’d have a problem with,
so I agreed to them. Her attorney and I will be there as witnesses and Damon has
agreed to do the tests,” Devin told him as soon as they shut the study room door
at their mom’s. He’d not told her yet, and didn’t plan on it either.
“What conditions?” He had wanted to be there when the test was performed,
but Damon still wasn’t talking to him and he was still pissed at him too. He’d
just wanted to see the look on her face when she had to come face to face with
him after all her lies. Devin said that would be in bad form and to just stay at
home.
“That after the tests, you will give up all rights to the child. I think she’s
giving it up anyway, so that shouldn’t be too hard. Also, that you’ll pay for the
tests. I didn’t think you’d have a problem with that either. Was I right?”
Morgan wasn’t keeping her baby? That didn’t make any sense. Hadn’t she
gotten this way to have something to hang around his neck for all time? He
didn’t know what to think about that.
“Yeah. Fine, whatever.” He was still frowning as he followed Devin out of
the office. How was she paying for any of this? Were the adoptive parents
paying for the bills? Maybe that was her angle.
The phone was ringing when he came into the kitchen. His Aunt Pea asked
him to answer it for her; she was expecting a call from her friend about some
auction or something.
“Grant. Hummm...Parker residence.” He almost hung up when there wasn’t
anything at the other end for several seconds.
“Dr. Grant? It’s Shannon Fist from the hospital. You need to come here now.
I think that fool is trying to kill her,” Shannon was whispering urgently.
“I think you have the wrong Dr. Grant. Let me get my brother.” He started to
put the phone down, but her yelling suddenly had him putting it back to his ear.
“No, you have to tell him to get here now. She’s in bad shape and he... Yes,
Dr. Simon, I was just giving the results from the hemoglobin tests to Dr. Grant.
He needed them stat. Yes, I’ll make sure that Ms. Becky is released as soon as
billing talks to her.”
Nick’s heart skipped several beats when she mentioned Morgan’s name. She
was hurt, in bad shape. Christ, what had she done now? He realized he was
holding a dead phone when the beeping started.
“Damon! We have to go now. Morgan’s hurt and some guy named Simon is
going to kill her.” He knew he wasn’t making any sense, but Damon was
following and that was all that mattered. He was getting into his SUV when he
noticed his entire family was rushing out the door after him. Shit!
“Mom, you don’t need to come. I’m sure that...”
“You will not finish that sentence, or so help me, Nickolas Patrick Grant, I
will paddle your butt but good. Get in this monstrosity and let’s get moving.”
She simply opened the front door and crawled in.
“You are such a dead man when she finds out about Morgan. You’d better
hope the kid is yours, because it will be all that’s left of your lineage when Mom
skins you alive.” He watched Damon get into the car next to Devin and Jamie.
Spencer, Dan and Meggie were in their own car. Shit, he was so dead.
The hospital was busy, extremely busy. As soon as they pulled in, Damon
jumped out of the car and flew through the ER doors. Everyone else followed.
Nick was just parking his vehicle when security stopped him.
“You can’t leave that car there. It’s for doctors and emergencies. You can
park over in the visitor’s lot over to the South,” Officer Carlton told him.
“My brother is a doctor here, Damon Grant. He’s just inside. I brought him
in for an emergency.”
“That’s right nice of you, but you still ain’t parking there. There’s a visitors
lot over on the South side of the building. You just hop back on in that thing and
park it over there.” He started to argue that he was one of the Grants who paid
for the entire neonatal clinic, the Grant Neonatal Clinic, but didn’t think it would
be worth the effort. He’d still end up on the South side of the building in the
visitor’s parking lot. It was a good twenty minutes later before he walked into
the ER.
“They won’t let us see her yet. Damon is upstairs with the head of medicine
arguing about her care. Did the nice person tell you what happened? They won’t
tell me anything.” He pulled his mother to him. If by the end of the day, she
killed him, he wanted to have this one warm memory to take to his grave with
him.
“Mom, there’s something I need to tell you. It’s about Morgan. You’re not
going to like it, but Morgan is...” They all turned as one toward Damon as he
came striding toward them talking.
“She’s now in my care. I’m having her transferred to the second floor right
now. As soon as I see her, I’ll be right out to tell you what I can.” And he
disappeared through the doors again, this time to emergency.
No sooner had they started to sit down when they were up again. Even from
where they were sitting, they could hear Morgan scream. Nickolas was through
the doors and moving toward her before anyone thought to stop him.
Someone was holding one of her arms above her head and someone else was
trying to—it looked to Nick—put a needle in her arm. She looked at him and
screamed again.
“Get away from her! You’re terrifying her, damn it.” He moved the needle
guy out of the way and moved beside Morgan. “I’ve got you, no one is gonna
hurt you. Let her arm go. She can’t stand to be touched like this. Morgan? Look
at me, honey. No, not at him. Look at me.”
When she turned to look at him, he saw with horror that someone had
beaten her up. Her lip was swollen and bloody. It looked like her cheek was cut
open to the bone and her right eye was swollen completely shut.
“Oh, baby, who did this to you?” He gently touched her jaw and when she
whimpered, he wanted to hit someone.
“I wanna go home. Make them let me go, Nickolas. I wanna go home now.”
He wanted to give her anything she wanted, but knew that her injuries were
worse than they looked.
“Let Damon look at you first. Then we’ll see. Oh, honey, who did this?” He
was going to find the person responsible and beat them to a bloody pulp.
“Nicky, I need you to step out, please. I need to examine her,” Damon told
him gently. Nick didn’t want to leave her, but knew that he couldn’t stay and
watch either. Looking at her injured face was bad enough.
Nick nodded at his brother and walked around the curtain. He could hear
Damon talking to her, not what he was saying, but talking gently to her. He
walked out into the waiting room to talk to his mom.
“Why didn’t you tell me she was carrying your child?” Okay, maybe he
didn’t want to talk to his mom just now.
“I don’t believe it’s mine, that’s why. We’re having a paternity test done next
month to determine who the father is.” He just realized that he hadn’t even
noticed she was pregnant. Maybe the whole thing was a lie. She had also lost
weight. He knew for a fact that pregnant women grew to as big as houses when
they were expecting.
“So, there must be a possibility if you’re having a test done. Am I correct in
that at least?” He looked down at her. He was suddenly ten years old again.
“Yes, ma’am. Thanksgiving.” He blushed. Christ, he’d just told his mother
he’d had unprotected sex at her house on Thanksgiving.
“I see. This is May. Mother’s Day, as a matter of fact. In the past, let me see,
five months, you didn’t think to mention that maybe you’d fucked a girl in my
house, and knocked her up? Maybe at least mentioned it in passing how you got
a girl, whom I’ve missed dearly, pregnant.”
“It’s not mine. So, no, I didn’t think to mention it, in passing or otherwise.”
He looked over at Devin.
She turned on him like a hawk. “Did you know about this?” Devin looked
panicky. He’d never been a good liar, which was why he becoming a lawyer had
surprised everyone so much.
“Yes, ma’am. I’m representing Nicky in the case of wrongful slander against
her.” That sounded much worse than it was, he thought.
“I see. Who else knew about this? Damon, I presume. Who else? Which of
your other brothers were in on this?” It was the look. She was penetrating his
brain, he just knew it.
“Byron. He was the first one to figure it out. He told Damon. I didn’t find out
until I was served with papers. She informed me and whoever else she’d slept
with over the past year that she was pregnant.”
“So the only two sons who didn’t know about this were the two away at
school. I see. No, I don’t, but I will.” She started to walk away, over to one of the
really ugly green chairs, when she detoured around them and out the doors. He
started to follow, but Dan’s hand on his arm stopped him.
“I’d let her go if I was you. She’s really mad, and if you follow her, she’ll say
things she’ll regret.”
He nodded. Nick had never disappointed his mother before. He ached like
he never had about anything before in his life.
Tune in next week for THIRTY-THREE
Buy Links:
Now Available Thomas Book Two Of the Lanning's Leap
Thomas Lanning likes things neat and orderly. He bought the house he grew up in and just about has everything remodeled the way he wants it. He’s happy with the house and wants a mate someday…that day isn’t today.
Linyah pops in to meet the Lanning Leap, she is expected, just not today. The last thing she expects to find is a huge handsome male who takes one look at her and he gets pissed off.
“This day just went from good to shit in a matter of heartbeats, didn’t it? I don’t suppose you have a mate, do you?” She shook her head. “Of course not. That would just make it too nice and easy. I wonder what else is in store for me. Plague? The bank go belly up?”
Linyah took a step back when he took one toward her. “I need to touch you.”
“Thomas?” He turned them both to his mom. “Thomas, is she your mate? Is this your mate?”
Linyah isn’t any happier than Thomas is. She has been very successful in avoiding any entanglements with a male until now. She has even managed to avoid, Timmer, a forced arrangement brought on by her sister, their Queen.
Even though Thomas isn’t happy about Linyah’s arrival, he’s even less happy about Timmer. Linyah’s his mate…
Timmer’s been promised Linyah’s hand by the Queen and isn’t about to take “no” for an answer…
Buy Links
New New Release Is Rembrandt Coming Jan 2015
1800 years ago…
It was time for him to die. Rembrandt was ready. He had put up a good fight and nearly died twice that day, but now he was done and he was ready to die on the battlefield with the rest of his brethren. Death would be merciful, he would finally be with his wife and children.
A being clad in black had other ideas. Rembrandt was meant to help him fight his cause and to help right a wrong that his kind had brought to this world. He gifted the reluctant Rembrandt with a taste for blood and immortality…and more…so much more.
Back to the present...
Rembrandt had had enough. He was over this life 1800 years ago and now he was just sick of it. The creatures he fought, the malefactors, kept growing in numbers and he couldn’t kill them fast enough to keep up. He had fought the battle alone all these years and he wasn’t sure he even wanted to anymore.
Skylar Manning was just trying to be nice. The mysterious man dressed in black was hanging around after closing…again. It was the third time this week. Only this time he grabbed her arm. Her world changed forever.
Suddenly she found herself hunted by shadowy figures with razor sharp teeth, and into the arms of a warrior who craved her as much as she did him…
Pre Order
Rembrandt Book Trailer
Happy Reading
Kathi S Barton
Kathi S Barton
