Empty Net (52 page)

Lucas shot him a thankful smile. “Thanks, man, now come on, let’s get back in there.”

“I need a minute,” Tate said softly.

Lucas nodded, cupped his shoulder, and left him to look at the skyline.

Later that night, Tate was in the room, leaning against the wall with his eyes drifting shut, his head falling forward before nodding off. He jerked up then and glanced around, hoping no one had seen him almost fall asleep.

He was exhausted, having spent the afternoon awake while Audrey was in surgery for her nose and ankle while still comatose. William and Nora had suggested it, and he wasn’t about to argue with them. The surgery had gone well, but it made him nervous, thinking about it, and his
heart still wasn’t beating at a normal rate. Glancing down at her now, he noticed that the swelling was going down along her jaw and outside her eyes. The inside around her nose was puffy and bruised, but he could see his Audrey. She was there; she just needed to wake up.

Fallon held Audrey’s hand, her knees tucked under her chin as she watched her sister. Lucas lay on the floor, snoring loudly. William and Nora were in the waiting room, sleeping, while Tate fought his sleepy body with everything inside him.

Looking over at Fallon, he saw her eyes drift shut and said, “Fallon, why don’t you go home and take a nap?”

She shook her head. “I’m fine.”

“You are dead on your feet.”

“Tate, leave me alone,” she said sharply. “We both need sleep, I know that, but we both won’t leave her. So let’s just let it go.” He watched as tears streamed down her face, while she played thumb war with Audrey’s limp hand.

“I’m sorry. I was only looking out for you.”

Fallon nodded, not looking back at him. She rested her head on her legs and tangled her fingers with Audrey’s before closing her eyes. Tate leaned his head back and took a deep breath, letting it out before closing his eyes. He knew there was no use fighting with her. Fallon was one tough chick, and she was stubborn as hell. Shaking his head, he took in another breath before letting it out slowly, trying to stay awake as his eyes closed again.

He was almost asleep when Fallon cried out. His eyes shot open as Lucas sat up quickly, knocking his head against the bed. Fallon was standing now, crying out loudly as she held Audrey’s hand. When Tate looked down at Audrey’s face, his gaze met hers.

All the air rushed out of him as he moved to the other side of her bed. He picked her hand
up and kissed the back of her knuckles. light-headed with relief as her eyes locked with his. It made his hands shake. Hell, his whole body was shaking. He couldn’t breathe, his heart was jackhammering against his chest, and he wanted to cry out in joy. He wanted to tell her everything he was feeling, to gather her in his arms and tell her how much he loved her and had missed her. But when he saw the tears start to roll down Audrey’s cheeks, he stopped himself. She looked terrified as she looked from Fallon to him.

“Oh my God, Audrey, I love you, oh my God,” Fallon cried as Lucas came up behind her, smiling down at Audrey as he ran his hand up and down Fallon’s back.

“Everything is fine, baby, breathe, it is okay,” Tate said calmly, since all Fallon could do was cry and whisper that she loved Audrey. It was what he wanted to do, but someone had to be the calm one here. Lucas still looked half asleep, so Tate knew he was no help. “I’m here, Fallon’s here, everyone is here. Just breathe.”

Audrey nodded, looking up at him, tears welling in her eyes. He gave her a full smile as he leaned down and kissed her forehead. Her hands were shaking, and Tate knew she was freaking out. He reached for the nurse button and pressed it, waiting for the nurse to come over the line. When she did, he smiled and said, “Audrey is awake.”

Audrey’s body was on fire.

She hurt from the top of her head to the tip of her toes. Looking from Tate’s face to Fallon’s, she tried to tell them that she was hurting but couldn’t move her mouth. She went to reach up to her face but Fallon stopped her.

“No, honey, that’s your ventilator, just hold on,” her sister said through tears that rushed
down her cheeks. She looked so tired, so distraught.

Why the hell was she on a ventilator?

“It’s okay, baby,” Tate said from the other side of her. “Everything is going to be all right, the doctors are on their way.” She looked up into his beautiful face to see that he was on the verge of crying too.

What the hell was going on?

Where was she? And why was she hurting so badly? She felt like her face was ripped apart, she couldn’t see very well out of her left eye, and her throat was burning.

Suddenly, everything hit her at once.

Levi had beaten the living shit out of her. She thought she was going to die. No, she was sure of it. With every punch he threw at her, she grew weaker and a little piece of her life passed before her eyes. She tried to fight back, but he was too strong. Whenever she tried to move away, he took her by the hair and slammed her against the wall. Why did he stop? Why didn’t he kill her? Did Fallon stop him? She recalled hearing Fallon’s voice before she passed out. Did Fallon save her? Looking up at her sister, Fallon seemed fine, except that she looked tired. They all did.

Her mother and father came into view, both of them crying as they moved close to Fallon, who was holding onto her arm while Tate ran his thumb along her knuckles.

“My sweet baby girl, I’ve been so worried,” her mother cried.

Baby.

Her baby!

Pulling her hands from Tate and Fallon, she moved them to her midsection, her eyes wide with worry. Was her baby okay? Was there still a baby? Did Levi kill it? Did she not protect it well enough?

Oh my God, someone, tell me fucking something!

She wanted to scream for answers, but it seemed that no one knew what was going on. Her eyes darted from each of their faces as she held her stomach, but they all looked around, confused.

“Are you sick, honey? Does your stomach hurt?” Nora asked.

No! Is my baby okay! Take this fucking tube out of my throat!

She reached over, taking both Fallon’s hands in hers. Fallon just looked lost and confused as Audrey’s eyes bored into her, hoping for some kind of sisterly telepathic powers. Shouldn’t Fallon know what she meant? They were sisters! She put Fallon’s hand on her stomach, and pushing through the pain, pointed to Fallon’s stomach, but Fallon just sat there crying.

In her confusion, Audrey assumed she’d told her sister about her pregnancy, and that Lucas and her mother and father knew as well. In fact, since she was admitted to the hospital, they all knew now. She did know, however, that she hadn’t told Tate.

“What’s wrong, is she hurting, where the fuck are the doctors?” Lucas yelled, his hands on Fallon’s back.

“I thought I was going to lose you, A,” Fallon cried.

“Oh my goodness, this is a miracle,” Nora cried, holding onto William.

“Everyone calm down, it’s okay, she’s awake, and that’s all that matters,” William said, squeezing her arm. “Baby, you’re okay, I promise. Everything is okay.”

Oh God, I must have lost the baby
.

Audrey gripped the sheets in frustration, tears spilling from her eyes again. The only reason everyone kept saying she was okay, she assumed, was because the baby wasn’t. Didn’t Fallon know that the baby was the most important thing to her? Didn’t her mother know that
too? So why wasn’t anyone telling her anything? Looking up at Tate through clouded eyes, she wished she’d had the chance to tell him. At least they would have had that little moment to celebrate the fact they could have kids. She wanted to scream that she loved him and that she was sorry she couldn’t protect herself and their child. She could tell by the look in his eyes he had been worried about her.

“Baby, it’s okay,” he said softly, moving close to her, kissing her forehead. She closed her eyes, basking in the feel of his lips as he added, “I know it must hurt, but you’re awake at last. I can see your eyes, baby. I have missed them so much.”

I’ve missed yours. How long have I been out?

“And now we get to blow this popsicle stand when you’re better,” he said, “and get ready to raise our baby.”

It was like her heart stopped and then blew up in her chest. Her eyes went wide as his smile grew and he squeezed her hand. They were still having a baby!

“You’re overwhelming her, Tate,” William snapped.

Audrey looked over at him, trying to shake her head as Tate said, “No, I’m calming her. She’s scared. I’m trying to treat her like there isn’t a fucking tube down her throat.” Looking back down at Audrey, his eyes softened. “I’m so proud of you, love. You’ve been so strong and I love you so much.”

She nodded, squeezing his hand when really she wanted to scream how sorry she was. She should have never let Levi inside. She should have ignored him and stayed away. She not only put herself in danger. but their baby, and that wasn’t fair.

The doctor came in the room then and in a booming voice said, “Welcome back, Ms. Parker. So nice to see those gorgeous eyes I’ve heard of.”

Audrey looked up to see a young doctor looking at her file before sending her a bright grin. He was a nice-looking man, and for some reason looked familiar. She just couldn’t place who he was. He moved next to Tate and started to check her vitals, shining a little light in her eyes before taking her pulse. Once he was done with that, he looked down at her and smiled. “You ready for that tube to come out?”

She nodded eagerly as he chuckled. “I bet you are. I bet everyone is. You have one supportive family.”

Audrey sent a loving look at her family before meeting Tate’s eyes. He smiled, his hand on her foot as the nurse held a silver plate out for the doctor.

“All right, ready?” Audrey nodded again. “Okay, this may cause you to gag a bit,” he informed her, taking hold of the tube. “Here we go.” The next thing she knew, she was gagging and gasping for air. “All done, good job,” the doctor said with another grin, “I’m Dr. Rivera, by the way. Bryan told me to say hi.”

When he gave her a quick wink, it all clicked into place. He was Bryan Richards’s boyfriend; that’s where she knew him from. Audrey smiled brightly but stopped when the pain ripped through her lips. She moved her fingers up to touch them and felt the thread that must have been holding her lips together as a nurse came over to put a pair of prongs in her nose.

“Things look great, folks,” the doctor said, then spoke to her. “One more night up here, and if you do well, I’ll send you to the step down unit, and hopefully you’ll be home within the week.”

As everyone thanked him, Audrey moved her hand down to her throat as she cleared it. It was scratchy and uncomfortable, but it was way better than having that damn tube down it. Fallon put her arms around Audrey’s neck hugging her gently as her body shook with sobs.

“I was so scared I thought I lost you, Audrey. I’ve been a mess. I’ve missed you so much,” she cried. Before Audrey could say anything, her mother and father were leaning over, touching and hugging her too. With her scratchy voice, she told them how much she loved them all. When she felt lips on her temple, she looked over to see Lucas grinning at her.

“You’ve given me the scare of my life, thanks.”

“Sorry,” she whispered.

He shook his head. “You have nothing to be sorry about. I’m just glad I get to see your bright, beautiful face.”

Audrey shared a long look with him, as if acknowledging that she had scared him, and knowing he had been the rock Fallon needed. He gave her a wink, then wrapped his arms around Fallon and held her tight.

Watching them, she was grateful that she had made it through the worst moment of her life. When Levi kneed her in the mouth, she’d given up, knowing there was no way she could have stopped him and that Tate wasn’t coming. But by the grace of God, she’d made it, and knew she would never take life for granted again. How many times had Tate told her that things could end in a matter of seconds? He was so right, and she was blessed to have another chance.

Tate appeared beside her and leaned down, pressing his lips to hers softly. Her heart skipped a beat and she swore it was like she couldn’t breathe again. She had missed him so much, and to feel his lips again was like winning the lottery, or hell, her getting her life back. When the kiss ended, he gave her a large, loving smile, showing the gap she thought she’d never see again. “Hi.”