Fighting Desire (Bay State Series Book 2) (16 page)

Rushing into the kitchen I make sure the sliding door blinds are closed and sigh in relief when I see that they are. “If you guys want to get comfortable I'll grab our stuff,” I yell into the other room.

“Sounds good.” They call out in unison and oh so slowly, as quietly as I can, I pull back the blinds to open the slider. I peek my head out with a single finger to my lips and see that everyone's arrived and are currently sitting around the tables, talking to each other in hushed voices. As soon as they notice me all chatter comes to a halt and their faces split into wide knowing grins.

I make my way back into the living room where Ilyanna and Rachel are sitting down on the plush leather sofa waiting to start the movie. As soon as I take my seat, Rachel pops up saying, “Shit, I forgot something,” and rushes back into the kitchen for her part of the ruse. “Ouch! Damn! Shit!” She yells from the other room, startling Ilyanna. I knew it was coming but I still jumped a little for effect.

Bounding out of my spot, I briskly walk to where I know Rachel waits for us and can hear Ilyanna get up to follow. “Oh my, are you alright?” I ask with feigned concern as I see her feet poking through the blinds.

“I tripped, it's a good thing this door was open, otherwise I would have smashed into the door. Can I get some help, I think I twisted my ankle.” Pain laces her voice and I feel kind of bad making Ilyanna worry. I take some comfort in knowing it's for a good cause and make my way over to help my friend.

“Damn Rachel, your friggin' heavy. Ilyanna do you think you could help me out? I'll do most of the work, I just need a bit more muscle.” I grunt out. I just need her to come through the blinds and this whole charade will be over.

She comes to the door, where I stand huffing to catch my breath and we step through together to grab Rachel's hands to pull her up. What greets her on the other side sends her into a fit of squeals and laughter. “What? How?” She looks to Rachel lying on the ground, grinning at her proudly. “You, I should have known, you shit. I was so worried when I saw you lying on the ground.” She straightens and looks all around her at the decorations, her eyes finally landing on the cake. “This is awesome really, thank you.” Tears fill her eyes as they make their way across the deck taking in all of the faces smiling back at her.

“What kind of hostess would I be if I stayed on the floor all day?” Rachel asks as she pulls herself up. “Let's get this party started, shall we?”

The afternoon is spent joking and laughing with everyone as Mary tells us stories of Ilyanna's childhood after doing presents. “I hope she's blessed with a child as well behaved as she was growing up.” She looks at her daughter with so much love, it makes my heart hurt. I wish my relationship with my mom was as good as their's seems to be. I wonder if it will ever go back to the way it was before Luke got sick. Only time will tell.

“Who wants cake?” I want to put my focus on something else and cutting the cake seems a good way to remove myself for a while and try to shake my sudden funky mood. A sea of hands raise in answer and I oblige, walking to the cake table and setting to the task of serving everyone.

Completely consumed by my own thoughts, a startled cry rips through the air and all hell breaks loose. I look up to see a crowd huddled around Ilyanna, and she's clutching her stomach crying. Complete chaos surrounds me and I start to get flashbacks of Luke's first episode. The last thing I remember before passing out, is someone actually asking me if I was alright and thinking no, no I'm not.

Shadows

Walking into the bar, I spot the guys over in the corner, spread out around two of the pool tables, lifting their longnecks to me in greeting.

Before heading in their direction, I make my way over to the bar and order myself a drink. “I'll have a Jack and coke, please?” I ask the bartender, needing something stronger than a beer today. I hate to admit it, but I already miss Sarah and it's only been a couple of hours since I held her in my arms as I felt her inner walls contracting around me in what had to be one of her most explosive orgasm yet. God I've got it bad, at this rate I'll be proposing in no time.

“We're starting a tournament, you want in? Loser pays next game.” John asks as I approach the group.

Shit, I'll do anything if it takes my mind off of Sarah for a little while, but I don't tell him that, instead I just answer, “Yeah, buts lets up the stakes, loser buys the next round.”

“I'm cool with beers, not the shit your drinking,” George says, eyeing the glass in my hand. “I suck at pool, I'll be broke within an hour.

“Fine pussy, beer it is. Get ready to cough em' up.” I smirk and grab a stick from the rack on the wall. “Ready?” I ask and slide a crisp bill into the table.

I let George break and he sinks a solid. Waiting for my turn, Braydon turns to me, and takes a swig of his beer. Lowering the bottle from his lips he says, “I hope Ilyanna was surprised. When I dropped her off inside with the girls, I snuck back in and helped Mary take the cake out back. I got out of there as quickly as possible, too much pink shit for me.” He laughs and I nod my head in agreement.

“You didn't have to sit through hours of favor making, now that was fucking torture. I thought they'd never get that shit finished. They had pink scattered all over the place.” I cringe remembering the mess I helped clean up.

“Hey fuck face, it's your turn.” I turn to see a scowl on George's face as he places the cue back on the felt. This is going to be too easy.

I down the rest of my drink quickly and line up my shot. Sinking five stripes before missing the corner pocket on the eleven. It only takes two more turns for me to sink the eight ball. “I'll take a Sam's.” I yell to him as he sulks to the bar. He didn't do as bad as I was expecting him to. He only had three solids left at the end.

“Ready to have your ass handed to you now?” John asks, walking up to me and slapping me on the back. He's been waiting patiently for a turn as Braydon and Frank continue to be neck and neck in their game. “These fuckers are taking forever.” I look over at the table next to us and realize they still have six balls each. Damn they suck.

Turning towards the bar, I look for George, wondering what's taking so long with our drinks. I see him in what seems to be a heated discussion with some blonde around my age. She's shaking her head at him and if I'm not mistaken she's crying. Hmmm? Not my business. I take the break this time and land three stripes. Shit, I'm on a roll.

“What the fuck? Am I even gonna get a shot?” He asks as I sink three more and then the white. “All yours,” I say gesturing towards the table.

George comes skidding to a halt next to me, thrusting a bottle in my hand. “I gotta run.” He says and storms off, I can see the blonde running for the door and there's not a single doubt in my mind that he's following her. Sure enough he catches her at the door, turning her towards him and that's my cue to turn around and pay attention to the game in front of me.

Several games and beers later I pull my phone out of my pocket to check the time, damn I've only been here an hour and a half, seems like a lot longer. I wonder how the party's going, hopefully Ilyanna's happy with all of the girl's planning. They put a lot into today. I know Sarah was super excited this morning. I decide to text her and check in as John takes his turn.

{ Hey babe, miss you. How's the party? Love you!!! }

I check my phone several times over the next twenty minutes, never getting a reply. I shrug it off, figuring she's most likely busy doing girly party shit. As I slide my phone back into my pocket John's yell of victory steals my attention as I watch the eight ball sink into the side pocket. Sighing in defeat I head to the bar. I faintly hear his beer of choice over Alice in Chains playing on the jukebox.

Deciding to check again after a couple more games I see that I have twelve missed calls from Sarah's phone. What the fuck? When I try calling back all I get is her voicemail. So I try and try some more without any luck. “Does anyone else have a shit ton of missed calls?” I ask everyone at the same time.

“Fuck! I have twenty,” Braydon says as he puts his phone to his ear.

“Me too, shit....” I hear John say through the ringing in my ears.

I numbly lift my phone to my ear to check my voicemail. I only have one and it's not Sarah's voice doing the talking, but Rachel's. “Would someone answer their fucking phone already. We're rushing Ilyanna to Mass General.” I hang up without listening to another word. The look on Braydon's face as I end my call tells me he just listened to a similar message. Tearing out of there without a second thought, we make it to the hospital in twenty minutes tops, not a trace of blue lights in the rearview. Not that I would have stopped anyway. Braydon's riding shotgun and just short of hyperventilating.

We rush to the emergency desk, Braydon asking frantically about Ilyanna. “You're her fiancé?” The older nurse asks as she consults her computer screen. Her fingers fly over the keyboard and she looks up expectantly at him for his answer.

He lets a weak, “Yes,” and she stands, walks around the counter and leads him to the door.

“She's in room ten, just to the left. Your friends will have to wait out here.” I hear her say as she ushers him through the door. Walking over to us she says, “If you'll follow me I'll show you where the rest of your friends are waiting. They told me there would be quite a bit of you once you got here, so I put them in a private waiting room.”

“Do you know how she is? The baby?” I ask as we walk down the stark white hallway. Gold plaques with donor's names register in my peripheral vision. We pass several doorways before she stops and opens the door slightly to where everyone is waiting.

“I'm sorry I don't. I'm sure a nurse or doctor will come and fill everyone in shortly.” With that she opens the door all the way and Sarah is flying into my arms, tears streaming down her beautiful face. Her hair is damp and sticking to her face, black streaks color her cheeks. She squeezes me tightly, her body trembling in my arms.

Placing my finger under her chin, I lift her face to look at me, she closes her eyes and lets out a heavy sigh. “What happened baby?” I ask, her tears continue to flow but her shaking is subsiding. I love the fact that she instantly finds some sort of comfort, it tells me so much of her feelings for me.

She releases me and takes hold of my hand, pulling me to one of the three beige leather sofas in the room. I take a seat next to her and take in her appearance. She's covered head to toe in what appears to be dried up pink frosting. We'll get to that I'm sure, right now I need to know about Ilyanna. I ask her again, trying to get answers to my many questions. She reaches for the box of tissues on the table next to her, removing one and bringing it to her face, she tries to remove some of the smudging from under her eyes.

She shakes her head and breaths in a heavy sigh before she begins. “I was cutting the cake when I heard a loud cry. I looked up to see Ilyanna clutching at her stomach.” She pauses and shutters before continuing. “It all came rushing back to me, Luke's painful cries, it was total caos, everyone rushing to her and I was paralyzed to the spot, horrible memories splattering shadows in my vision.” She gestures to her clothes with a small laugh, sadness still evident in her voice. “I passed out, right onto the cake. I didn't even think about cleaning myself when I came to, everyone was frantic. Between trying to wake me up, helping Ilyanna and calling 911. It only took five minutes for them to get there, but it seemed like forever.” She wraps her arms around my waist and leans against my side with her head on my shoulder.

John catches my attention as I look around the room for the first time since I walked in. He's comforting Rachel, who is an absolute mess. There's an older woman sitting next to her, one hand on her shoulder, the other clutching a kleenex. Although I've never met her, I'm assuming she's Braydon's mother. We nod at each other in silent acknowledgment. Right now we're doing exactly what we need to be, being the strength for our girls. I can't speak for him but I'm almost certain he feels the same as I do. When our girls go home, so will we. I can already tell it's going to be a long day, hopefully we'll get some news soon. If not for anything else but to give them some peace of mind.

Minutes, hours, I have no idea how much time has passed with Sarah clung to me when she whips her head up to the sound of the heavy door opening. The girls jump up including Tanya, who's been sitting quietly in the corner with Frank and a few other girls from work. Everyone worried for Ilyanna and the baby. They immediately start attacking the older woman with questions. “How is she?” Is the baby alright?” What happened?” Can we go in and see her?” The list goes on and on, I'm not even sure who's asked what.

She seems composed in her white scrubs with a clipboard clutched in her grasp as she tries to listen to them and take it all in before answering. “I don't have any specifics but she and the baby are stabilized for now. She's allowed two visitors at a time. Her fiancé refuses to leave her side, he's asked that you come one at a time. It was a hard sell to get her mother to leave, she's willing but only briefly.” As if being summoned, an older version of Ilyanna walks into the room, her face pale and blotchy no doubt from all the crying she's been doing.

Rachel rushes over to her and envelopes her in a huge, crushing hug and her damn bursts. “Thank God Mary, I was so scared. What did they say? Is she really going to be alright?” She releases the older woman to look at her face, waiting for answers.

“She started to go into labor, they gave her Ritodrine to stop it for now. The doctor said it would be best if the baby waits at least a couple more weeks before making it's way into the world. I've never seen Ilyanna so panicked other than when we received the phone call about her father.” She shakes her head at the memory.

I remember hearing about her father being killed in a police chase years ago. The thought makes me think of my estranged parents, how things would be different if they'd made different choices in life. Choosing drugs over their child made my decision to write them off as soon as I turned eighteen an easy one. A relationship with my parents isn't something I know much about.

Tugging on my arm breaks me from my musing. Turning I look to Sarah who's eyes for the first time this afternoon are tear free. She's taken her seat next to me and grabs a hold of my hand. “I'm sure Patty,” I lift an eyebrow at the name and she quickly clarifies, “Braydon's mom, will want to go in first and then Rachel. When she comes back I'll go in and see her real quick, then we can go home.” Resting her head on my shoulder again I wrap my arm around her and hold her close.

“Take as long as you need baby. I'm not going anywhere.” We sit in silence until Rachel makes her way back, sending Sarah on her way, giving her directions to Ilyanna's room.

                                *****

As soon as we make our way into the apartment Fenway runs up to me weaving herself between my legs, purring like a freight train. Bending down to scoop her up in my arms, she rolls on her back, begging for a stomach rub. I give in to her wicked cuteness before snatching her up and walking into the kitchen to check her food and water dishes, no doubt empty, hence her immediate need for  attention. Sarah ran straight for the bedroom when we walked in door, mumbling something about feeling filthy. I wanted to follow and help her get filthy again after getting clean but decided last minute to give her time. I'll join her but only for the benefit of getting clean after a long day.

Letting Fenway down, I grab her dishes to fill them and can't help but think of my parents, my own personal demons shadowing my thoughts. I never thought of it in that sense, after Sarah used that description, I decided it fits perfectly. That's exactly what they are. Shadows of my past. The only good memory I can remember from my childhood is baking cookies with her occasionally when I was pretty young. I think I've subconciously blocked everything else from my mind.

As I walk down the hallway towards the bathroom to join Sarah, my phone signals an incoming text. I decide to check it before getting in the shower and see that it's from Braydon.

{ Ilyanna's getting released tonight. I'll only be leaving her side for an emergency at the office. Don't cancel the meeting, you or John just put me on speaker. Ttyl }

I shoot him a quick reply. { No problem boss. You need anything don't hesitiate. Ttyl. }

Steam fills the room, escaping through the door as I open it and walk inside. Sarah's silhouette looks extremely tempting through the curtain but I refrain, stepping through and placing a quick kiss on her shoulder, I grab my body wash and get down to business. Neither of us say a single word as we wash in the silent calm of the hot spray.

Standing straight after shutting off the shower, Sarah wraps her arms around me and kisses my chest. “Thank you.” She whispers, releasing me and stepping out. She hands me a  warm fluffy towel and takes one for herself, quickly drying herself off before heading into the bedroom. I send a silent thank you to the heavens as I watch her naked perfection move. I know she's not trying, but it's seductive all the same and my dick springs to attention at the sight. I take a few minutes in the bathroom to calm myself before joining her in the other room. Now isn't the time, I need to gauge her mood and see if I can do anything to improve it.