Blame it on the Stars (The Blame Game) (27 page)

He nodded, and was
trying to appear brave when Dana led him out.

“
Thanks for bringing them David.” She gave a small wave.

He nodded
. “See you later.”

Catlin watched them go,
and looked at the nurse.

She was a big black woman with a jovial personality.
“I will be taking care of you until three. I’m Margaret, but everybody calls me Margie. You need to eat breakfast. Then you can decide if you want to clean up now or later.”

“
The first thing I need to do is use the bathroom,” Catlin admitted.

“
I’ll get you a bedpan. Doctor says you can’t get up yet.”

“
Oh, please!” Catlin rolled her eyes.

“
Those feminine wiles don’t work with me, honey,” Margie said as she pulled out a bedpan. She looked at Steve. “You stayin’ or goin’?”

He made a face
. “I guess I’m going. Let me know if everything comes out all right.” He went into the hallway as Catlin groaned at his bad joke.

Margie
helped Catlin use the bedpan, and then she took it away. “When do you think I can get up?” Catlin asked.

“
Doctor will be back in later. You might ask him. Here’s your breakfast.
Eat something.
”

“
Yes ma’am.”

Margie
smiled. “Shall I send that good-lookin’ hunk of man back in here?”

Catlin laughed
. “Please.”

Margie
left, and Steve returned.

“
I think she likes you,” Catlin told him.

He laughed.

She went on, “She looks like she could be your kind of woman. Want me to fix you up?”

He picked up her plastic fork and bopped her on the head with it.
“Thanks, but no.”

Catlin
nibbled on her breakfast. “You must be hungry.”

“
Nah.” He stretched out in the chair. “I’m good.”

She smiled.
“Yeah, you are.” She ate a few more bites. “Are you sure? I got two pieces of toast, going cheap.”

“
Eh.” He shrugged, but accepted one of them.

C
atlin settled back into her bed. “What have you heard about Nick?”

“
Not much. Why don’t you ask your doctor when he comes back?”

She yawned.
“I’m feeling tired again. I think I’ll just shut my eyes for a minute.”

“
Go ahead.” He moved her tray table away, and sat back down in the chair.

Catlin
closed her eyes.

A couple hours later, Dr. Jonas came in to check on the baby. “Sorry to wake you.”

“
Sure,” she complained “They tell you to get rest, and someone wakes you up every freaking five minutes.”

The doctor
glanced at Steve. “Has she been asleep just five minutes?”

Steve
made a face. “More like two hours.”

Dr. Jonas
checked her over. “Things seem to be pretty stable right now. The baby’s vitals are good. Maybe you can try to get up for a few minutes later.”

“
Like to use the bathroom?”

“
Yeah, like that. But then right back to bed. We’ll see how it goes.”

“
Thank you. Say, I know you’re not the right doctor to ask, but I’ve got to know. What’s the condition of Nick Prescott? My, uh, husband.”

Dr.
Jonas said, “Let me find out for you.” He looked at Steve. “Come with me, please?”

“
Sure.” Steve stepped out into the hall with the doctor.

Catlin adjusted her bed, and ran her hands through her hair. It felt dirty and gritty. She n
eeded a bath and a shampoo, badly.

Steve came back in the room by himself,
and sat on the edge of her bed.

“
Find out anything?”

He nodded.
“Catlin, honey, I need to tell you something.”

She didn
’t like the look on his face. “What?”

“
Nick didn’t make it. He was thrown from the car. He suffered massive internal injuries.”

“
Oh my God.” She shook her head, and buried her face in her hands. Her tears flowed. Steve reached for her, and pulled her close to his chest.

“
I’m sorry, honey,” he whispered.

She sobbed,
“We—had—an—argument. I was angry at him. He died thinking I hated him!”

“
No he didn’t.” Steve rocked her gently. “He would never think that.”

“
Yeah, he would. I actually told him, ‘I hate you!’ It was one of the last things I said to him.”

“
Catlin.” Steve lifted her chin “He knew you were just upset. He cared about you. The police report said he was thrown from the car. You probably lived because you were wearing your seat belt. And because, somehow, Nick got you out of the car before it blew up.”

“
My car blew up?” She sniffled.

“
Yeah. But he pulled you out. That’s why your back is so scraped up. He couldn’t have had much energy left. He died at the scene.”

“
At the scene?” she repeated angrily. “Why didn’t you tell me before now?”

“
The doctors wanted to wait a day, and let you get a little stronger.”

“
Oh Chris, my poor baby. What am I going to tell Chris?”

“
Honey, he knows. I told him last night.”

She was shaking her head, trying to understand.
“How did you even know where Chris was?”

“
Lucky guess. Between the kids and Jetta, we came up with the names of some of his friends. I did some calling around until I found him. Jim went with me to pick him up in a squad car. Chris liked that.”

“
How did he take the news?” She wiped her eyes and nose.

“
He was inconsolable at first. He was angry, and thought I was lying to him. Then he didn’t believe you were okay. We almost had to bring him up last night so he could look at you. But he finally calmed down.”

She was crying quietly.
“He must have been so scared.”

Steve nodded.
“Jetta, Dana and Teresa were all trying to help me comfort him. I finally found Craig’s number, and Chris talked to him.”

“
Craig,” she repeated.

“
Yeah. I didn’t particularly want to speak with him, but someone had to give him the news.”

“
He must have been very upset.” She thought about her brother.

“
I’m sure he was. But he held it together enough to talk to Chris, and reassure him you were okay. Chris was better after that. And I promised he could see you first thing this morning.”

She nodded.
“So where is he staying?”

“
He’s with us. Teresa and Dana are taking excellent care of him. Please don’t worry.”

She thought about it, and nodded again.

“Craig is coming in sometime today.”

“
Craig,” she said again, and thought about her conversation with Nick. It turned her stomach to remember it. “Craig and I definitely need to talk.”

“
You and I
need to talk, too.” Steve looked at her. “If you’re almost seven months pregnant, then your baby was conceived in September. There’s no way Nick is the father of that child.”

Catlin was crying again.

Steve raised her chin so she would look at him. He smiled. “We must have hit a home run, right off the bat. I thought you were on the pill.”

She chuckled and
sniffled. “Yeah, well, apparently I screwed that up, too.”

H
e handed her more tissues. “You were going to tell me, weren’t you? The day you came to my office? And then you saw Barbara.”

She nodded.
“I was so angry when I saw her. And you called me some pretty bad names. I’m afraid I let my stubbornness get in the way.”

“
That makes two of us. I should have listened to you before I flew off the handle.”

She looked at him.
“You didn’t fly off the handle, Steve. You were pushed. That’s what Nick and I were arguing about yesterday.” She looked up at the ceiling, and then back at him. She reached out and took his hand. “I have to tell you about this. It isn’t going to be easy.”

He squeezed her hand, and leaned in to put a gentle little kiss on her cheek.
He spoke quietly into her ear. “I want to hear everything. No more secrets. No more yelling. This is too important.”

She nodded.

“Start from the beginning. You went to Kansas City after we met that last time before Christmas?”

“
I was so upset. I didn’t know what I was going to do, except one thing.” She gazed into his eyes. “I knew I wanted this baby. I never had a moment’s doubt about that.”

Steve kissed Catlin softly on the lips. She put her hand around his neck, and held him there for a minute. Finally he pulled back.
“This is going to be a long story if I don’t leave you alone.”

She reached for his hand and cradled it with both of hers.
“I don’t want you to leave me alone. Anyway, I was concerned about my job. Can’t have a pregnant and unmarried teacher, you know. Well, when I got to Kansas City, Nick and Craig had it all worked out. Nick asked me to marry him. He said it could be an ‘open’ marriage if that’s what I wanted. We didn’t have to sleep together. He said he just wanted to help me.”

“
To get you off the hook with the school.”

“
Yes. He said to lie about my due date. We weren’t going to tell anyone about the baby for a couple months, and it would all seem legitimate.”

“
People Magazine put a crimp in those plans.”

She looked at Steve angrily.
“No, Nick and Craig put a crimp in those plans. They gave that picture to the magazine. In fact, they orchestrated this whole fiasco to their benefit.”

He blinked.
“How did it benefit them?”

She
steeled herself. “Here’s where it gets nasty. Are you sure you want to hear?”

“
Wild horses couldn’t drag me from this spot.”

She looked at her hands.
“It was all a setup, Steve. Nick didn’t love me. He didn’t even want me. He wanted to
use
me. He actually said, ‘I wanted to see if I could win you back’.”

“
That’s pathetic.”

“
And there’s so much more. I found out yesterday, the one he really loved was my brother.”

Steve
’s eyes widened as he took in the information. “Nick and Craig...?”

She nodded.
“All this time. I never knew, and was naïve enough not to see the signs, I guess.” Her fists clenched in anger. “He used me to squelch the rumors about their sexuality.”

Steve stood up and paced around the room.

“I, like a fool, asked Nick if he and Craig were monogamous. He just laughed. He laughed!”

“
This could be bad.” Steve was still pacing.

“
I did ask him if he’d been tested for HIV, and he said he had. It was negative. But he couldn’t remember when the test was.”

“
Shit!” Steve muttered, and squeezed the back of the chair by her bed. His knuckles went white.

“
I don’t know if you’ll believe me, but I need you to know that I’d never lie about something this important. Nick and I never slept together.”

He looked at her, and released the chair.
“Seriously?”

She nodded.
“Guess you ruined me for anyone else.”

He sat down on the edge of her bed again.
“That makes me feel better, for a bunch of reasons. We’re still going to have you tested immediately.”

She nodded.
“I’d feel better if we had Chris tested, too. But I don’t want him to know why.”

“
The next time I bring him up, we’ll get a blood test. I’ll tell him it’s routine, or some such nonsense.” He shook his head. “More lies.”

“
You have to, Steve. He can’t know about any of this.”

“
I agree.”

Catlin rubbed her hands over her stomach.
“I can pay the price for my own mistakes. I just hope my baby doesn’t have to pay, too.”

Steve
glanced at her stomach. “My baby.” He looked into her eyes. “Can I say that? Can I finally say that it’s my baby, too?”