Layers Deep (24 page)

Someone
knocked on the door and a small head popped in.

“She awake
yet?” Emma’s curious voice sounded.

“Are you up
for visitors?” Tristan squeezed my hand. His warm palm felt like a
soothing heating pad. I wanted him to hold it forever.

“Yes, please,”
I lied. But I couldn’t say no to my favorite person in the
world.

Before Tristan
acknowledged his little sister, she rushed to my bedside, holding a
huge bouquet of daisies. I loved this girl.

“I’ll let the
rest of the clan know.” Tristan pulled out his phone and
texted.

Emma took a
deep breath in and started, “We’ve been here every day, but Tristan
kept shushing me away, saying you need your rest. I read in a book
you should talk to people who are unconscious to make them feel
like they’re still with us. He said I was saying too much nonsense
and would make you confused, but I saw your eyes move and I knew
you were listening.”

As destructive
as Emma’s honesty could be, as always, I found her comforting. My
eyes closed for a moment, searching for the familiar sound of her
voice.

I heard Tristan
say he loves you.

My eyes flew
open.

“You do
remember, don’t you?” Her eyes bulged like two grapefruits and her
cheeks sprang upward.

“I may have
been dreaming,” I said hesitantly.

She leaned in
closer. “Everything I said was true. You have to believe me.” Her
excitement was over the top.

You’ll get
better and move to the new house and I can finally be an aunt.

“No, I think I
was dreaming...”

She opened her
mouth, but my mom and Mrs. Cross rushed into the room, sitting down
beside her. Emma didn’t like the attention stolen from her and
frowned. Something told me this wasn’t everything she had to share.
My little gossip girl would have to wait a bit longer to spill her
secrets, though. And judging from Tristan’s expression, she’d have
a heck of a time talking to me on her own again.

That evening,
after everyone left, the news from the doctor hit me like a brick
wall. If it weren’t for the thick bandages around my head and
mid-section, I think I would have run. I know I would have run. But
the bandages hampered my ability to move.

“The baby is
fine,” Dr. Jaipers reassured me for the third time. “The bullet
missed the vital organs. I’m more concerned about the stress level
you may be under. From what I gather, you don’t exactly work in
Neverland.”

That’s right.
I’d been knocked up by none other than Tristan Cross.

“No, work is
fine. Does anyone else know? It’s quite difficult keeping things
from my family.”

Had I just
called Tristan family? He would be in less than nine months.

“I assure
you’re the only one. I’ve been waiting all day to speak with you
privately.”

“Good. I’d
like to keep it that way. I just need to figure out what to do. How
could this have happened? We were safe...”

“Did you have
sex?” Dr. Jaipers asked.

“Yes.”

“Then I assure
you, it can happen.”

After a longer
pause, as the news sunk deep into my heart, Dr. Jaipers continued,
“You have options, Ms. Green. If you’d like me to send someone in
to talk to you, I can.”

When he
suggested abortion my world collapsed, and my hands flew to my
stomach, protecting my unborn baby from the outside world. And at
that moment I knew I would never consider terminating the
pregnancy. Even if Tristan wanted nothing to do with us, my choice
remained the same. Oh, my God! Tristan! How would he react? Would I
just push him away? Would I add another scar to his heart by tying
him to something he didn’t want? That’s what had happened with
Kendra. She wanted more, he wasn’t ready, and she stabbed him. Not
that I’d stab Tristan. I’d walk away, no questions asked.

“No need,” I
said to the doctor. “Please make sure my medical records are only
available to me. My family likes to be nosy.” And that was the
understatement of the year. I’d be lucky if Tristan hadn’t gone
over my files himself already. Had his mom been a nurse at some
point too? It wouldn’t have surprised me.

My head
throbbed and I felt my blood pressure spike. The machine I was
hooked up to began beeping like crazy.

“You need to
relax, Ms. Green. If you want your baby to be well, you’ll listen
to me,” the doctor said.

And on
command, I took a deep breath in, exhaled, and the machine
calmed.

“Push the
button if you need anything,” he said before leaving.

As soon as he
left, another thought rammed into me. Did Emma know? I clearly
remembered her speaking while I was semi-conscious, saying she’d be
an aunt. And if she knew, had she told Tristan? Why hadn’t he said
anything? Had he decided to run? Perhaps he was already figuring
out a way to break our ties.

There was only
one way to find out. I picked up the phone and called the best
detective in town.

Emma peeked
into my room, and I waved my hand eagerly for her to come in. She
sat at my bed side, all giddy at being called to come alone and
make sure no one was aware of her absence.

“Hi,” I
said.

“How are you?”
She beamed. That was the shortest greeting I’d ever gotten from
Emma.

“Anyone with
you?” I asked.

“No. I forged
a note and cut school. If anyone finds out I’m gone, it won’t be
until this afternoon. And my parents will call my cell first. I
have a back-up plan if they do.”

Of course she
did.

“You know,
your brothers will hire you on the spot one day. And if they don’t,
they’ll have to deal with me.”

“No worries. I
have enough blackmail on them to last a lifetime. They won’t have a
choice but to hire me. So?” She grinned, waiting for me to spill
the reason I’d called her. I think I preferred the more talkative
Emma to the inquisitive one.

“So, how is
Tristan? Has he said anything to you, you know, about me?” I
pried.

“Nothing. He’s
been busy dealing with Kendra and some new stuff going on at work.
They’re re-organizing the departments, and he’s been working
fourteen hour days, then he visits Kendra, and you, and then he
sleeps in his office.”

“How do you
know he sleeps in his office?” I asked.

“I heard Mom
saying he’s been stressed. Was he supposed to say something about
you?”

She didn’t
miss a beat. Emma was almost jumping up and down in her chair, her
knees shaking and her smile beaming. Oh, my, she really did know
about me, didn’t she? But how?

“There’s some
stuff I think I remember you saying when I was unconscious.”

“Yes?” Emma’s
shortest answer ever.

I took a deep
breath in. “And I want to know whether you really said it, or
whether it was my imagination—”

“—it wasn’t
your imagination.” She cut me off in a whisper.

“You really
know?”

“You mean that
you’re pregnant?” she squealed.

My eyes flew
open. “Yes, how? Have you told Tristan?”

“No. This is
the biggest secret I’ve had to keep in, like, forever. I thought
you’d tell everyone by now. Mom has been asking why I’m so quiet
and whether I have boy troubles. But honestly, who cares about boys
when I’m going to be an aunt. Oh, my God, I’m so happy!” She rammed
into me with her full weight. My ribcage ached. “I can’t wait until
I’m an aunt, and when Tristan finds out—”

“—he can’t
find out. At least not yet. And I need you to try to keep the
secret from him for a bit longer.”

“That’s not
going to be easy. I’ve been keeping way too many secrets lately. It
just gets so confusing sometimes who I should be telling what story
or truth. I don’t know...”

“I’ll let you
help with the baby name.”

Oh my gosh,
did I just say that?

Her eyes
doubled in size. “Really?”

“Yes, but you
need to make sure Tristan doesn’t check my medical records.”

“That’s
impossible. You know he will. I’m surprised he hasn’t already. He
really does have a lot on his mind.”

“Emma, you’re
the best investigator in this family. If anyone can make sure the
papers don’t say what we both know, it’s you.” I squeezed her hand
and looked at her as if we were sorority sisters ready for battle.
“It’s me and you, Emma. I really need to tell him at the right
time. You know how easily your brother scares off. If you want to
be a real aunt, you’ll do this for me.”

“True, but I
don’t think you’re giving him enough credit.”

“Baby name,
Emma.” I reminded her.

“Okay,
okay.”

“How did you
find out, anyways?”

“The doctor
was talking to the nurse when your blood work came in. You lost a
lot of blood. People don’t really notice when kids are around. And
after she asked about the baby, I double-checked the papers when
they weren’t looking and the rest is history. You’re not far along.
A couple of weeks, I think. They said they hardly caught it
themselves.”

“Did anyone
else hear?”

“No, I’m sure
I’m the only one.”

“Good. Are you
up to the challenge of falsifying some medical records?”

“Peanuts.
It’ll be done before the end of the day.”

“Thank you,
Emma. You know, I thought of you as my little sister the moment I
met you. Whatever happens, I’ll always think of you that way.”

She leaned in
to embrace me. For the first time in my life, I imagined that’s
what it would be like to embrace my little Emma.

“I’m thinking
Betty,” she said, still holding me. “For the baby. Or Barney if
it’s a boy.”

What had I
gotten myself into?

Emma kept her
promise and didn’t breathe a word of our secret. Now it was up to
me to spill the news to Tristan. It had been three weeks now since
the shooting. I was released from the hospital two days before, and
until then Tristan had visited me every day, caring for every
single one of my needs. Thankfully I had one of those pregnancies
without morning sickness, and Tristan was clueless I was carrying
his child. The doctors did a lot of blood work on me to ensure the
drugs Martinez gave me wouldn’t affect the baby. They said they’d
need to do more tests as the baby developed, but given my health
history, the prognosis was positive.

Needless to
say, I had to call Emma to help with the medical records a few more
times. And by now I owed her naming my next two children after this
one. What can I say, she drove a hard bargain.

Now back at my
apartment, I pinned my hair up. A few loose strands fell to the
sides. Mrs. Cross had removed my extensions and dyed it back to my
natural auburn tone, for which I was grateful.

I examined
myself in the mirror. The hospital stay had taken its toll on my
body mass. My cheeks were sunk lower than usual. The waist band of
my suit could slip over my hips without zipping, although I was
sure that area would fill up pretty soon. My muscles were
non-existent; it was as if they’d disintegrated. I’d been told it
would take another month at least before I could get back to my
normal exercise routine, one appropriate for a pregnant woman, and
up to a year to get back in shape. Yes, like that was going to
happen. Field work was definitely out of the question before I gave
birth, so I was curious what my first day on the job in an actual
office of Cross Enterprises would be like.

After driving
me home from the hospital and insisting I stay at his apartment,
Tristan hadn’t been here. I wasn’t sure I could stand being around
Tristan at his home and keeping this big a secret from him so I
insisted at moving back in with Laura. He’d texted that things came
up at work and that he’d see me at the office on my first day.

Kendra was at
a private clinic. Julian took care of her stay there, which made me
happy and Tristan confused a little. At least that’s what it looked
like to me. He’d been acting strange and distant the past week. I
wondered whether his feelings for Kendra had begun to surface. I
knew he’d been visiting her every day; he’d told me so. I wasn’t
the jealous type, and after all, I owed Kendra my life.

Our
lives,
I said to my baby in my mind.

Perhaps now
that Kendra had been saved, his priorities had shifted? As much as
I didn’t like the idea, it was still a possibility. Everything
inside me twisted at the thought, and I pushed it back.

“You look
sexy,” Laura said from the couch. She had taken a day off just for
me, helping me get ready. “Skinny, but sexy.”

“Do you think
he’ll like it?” I asked wondering whether I should have bought
jewellery to go with the outfit.

“What’s not to
like? Are you going to be okay working a desk job?”

“I don’t have
much choice.”
For more than one reason,
I said in my mind
again. I’d been doing that a lot ever since I found out about the
baby. It killed me I couldn’t share the news with my best friend. I
wanted to, but having Emma find out before Tristan was bad enough.
I really wanted him to be the first one I’d shared the news with,
so unfortunately Laura had to wait until I told him. Revealing my
pregnancy to Tristan took a bit of planning, and I’d finally worked
up the courage to do it today. I’d been a chicken up until this
point, trying to figure so many things out in my life, hoping for
the best, but as always, expecting the worst. My mother had finally
moved to an apartment nearby. Tristan said Wright would never come
near her again, which to me was the second best news in over a
decade. The first one was, of course, finding out I was pregnant,
even if I didn’t realize it at first.

“Has he said
what you’ll be doing?” she asked.