Misjudged (Death Dwellers #3.5) (7 page)

Chapter Five: Options

The next morning, Meggie flung her arm over her eyes, thankful for the nurse who stood right next to her with the puke cup. She’d vomited so much this morning, she couldn’t see straight. Although she hoped she was suffering with a virus, she knew better. She’d been pregnant twice before, so she’d put in a quick call to her obstetrician’s office—the only regular doctor she had—and explained her symptoms to Viola, Dr. Wills’ nurse. This was the second morning in a row she’d awakened and thrown up. The woman had found an immediate opening for her.

Now, Dr. Will’s sigh didn’t comfort Meggie. “Lay down until you’re feeling better, then get dressed and I’ll meet you in my office.”

Meggie didn’t want to wait that long. She already knew, anyway. Judging by the concern in the obstetrician’s face, she had her answer. “I’m pregnant, aren’t I?” she whispered. She’d taken her birth control pills faithfully until the day Christopher had discovered his sister had been raped. He’d gotten angry with Meggie because of her father’s lies and Meggie hadn’t been able to get through to her husband. He’d left her to think and she’d been scared for him. For them.

Since she’d miscarried their baby and she’d fallen into such a deep depression, they’d grown apart. Hearing Zoann’s full story—discovering how heartbroken she’d been when she thought Christopher had deserted her—had created a deeper chasm.

Somehow, Meggie had managed to bridge it with the help of Mortician, one of her husband’s best friends. She’d given him the “crazy” he needed from her and she’d gotten her Christopher back.

Awakening this morning, the moment she’d lifted her head, she’d gotten dizzy and nauseated and barely made it to the bathroom before she’d thrown up.

No matter what else they’d gotten through—how much she’d reached him—he didn’t want her pregnant again.

The snick of the door made Meggie lift her head. Dr. Will had left without answering her pointed question. She pressed a hand to her belly and sat up slowly.

“Should I call Mr. Caldwell, Meggie?” the nurse, Viola, asked. “I don’t think driving is a good idea.”

Meggie’s shoulders drooped. She didn’t think driving was a good idea, either. More important, the moment Christopher saw her he’d know. All he had to do was take one look at her and he could read her like a book.

Lately, all he’d read was sadness and pain.

Now, this.

She swallowed and shook her head, rattling off Mortician’s cell phone number, the only person she had to call right now. Zoann had a meeting with her supervisors to discuss the possibility of her returning to work. Bailey was in class. Val was…Meggie wasn’t sure where. She just couldn’t call him right now, no matter how unfair her feelings were. Arrow was with her mother. Dinah hated her and, even if she didn’t, she wouldn’t have the wherewithal to help her out. Bunny was at the tattoo shop. And…Christopher?

Her Christopher? He was around. If she called, he’d come running.

Alone, she put her panties and jeans on, then slipped on her wedged sandals and opened the door. Forcing a smile, she nodded to the nurses who sat at their station and headed to Dr. Will’s private office.

The physician sat behind her desk, her braids clipped up, her brow furrowed, as she wrote in a chart. She looked up and nodded to the seat in front of her desk. “Have a seat.”

Meggie hovered in the doorway, her hand on the knob. “I’m pregnant.”

“Yes.” Dr. Will cocked her head, curiosity brimming in her eyes. “Let’s talk about your options.”

“Op-options?” Meggie disliked the unspoken meaning in that as much as she hated having to face Christopher with the news. “We’ve been very careful…except one time.”

“One time is all it takes.” Dr. Will’s kindness made Meggie’s heart drop. Not that she wasn’t always kind. Even when Christopher was snapping at her, the doctor’s bedside manner never changed. “Will you come in and close the door so we can talk in private?”

“Are you suggesting I terminate it?”

“That’s my recommendation,” Dr. Will answered, blunt and firm, tapping her pen on the opened folder.

She beckoned Meggie in again.

“I can’t,” Meggie admitted. “You have my permission to tell me here.”

“HIPAA laws prevent—“

“Please. I can’t…I know what you want me to do. And if you lived with me, you’d know there’s no privacy. My husband’s brothers know everything, so I don’t mind if you tell me while I’m standing here and—“

“Breathe, Meggie,” Dr. Will interrupted with a smile. Everyone knew how she babbled when her nerves were overwrought. “You suffered a very serious injury to your uterus,” she confided in a lowered tone. “Because you’ve had Placental Abruption once, you’re at a greater risk for it to happen again. You’re healing…No,” she decided. “You’ve
healed
, but I want to minimize the risk of complications.  If anything else happens to you, I can’t guarantee you won’t need a hysterectomy. Nor can I guarantee you’ll survive.”    

Swiping at the tears already streaming down her face, Meggie nodded and leaned against the door.

“Meggie, Mr. Mortician is in the waiting room,” Viola announced from behind her.

Calling Mortician hadn’t been a good idea. Meggie realized this too late. She’d put him in a precarious position because she’d called him so she wouldn’t have to face Christopher. But her husband would take it as an infraction and think Mortician was disrespecting him. No matter how much they cared about her, their allegiance was to each other, most especially Christopher.

She sobbed a little harder. Christopher didn’t deserve this. More importantly, she had him and their son to think about. The baby inside her…the baby inside her didn’t deserve the choices she faced, either.

A tug.

Meggie blinked, trying to focus through her tears. Dr. Will had gotten out of her seat and was guiding her to the chair she’d been coaxing Meggie to take. Too weak to do anything else, she dropped into it and sobbed into her hands, comforted by the doctor’s arms.

A few moments later, Dr. Will released her. She looked up, not wanting to lose the reassurance of the OB’s arms. She didn’t have her mother to go to, that was certain. The guilty thought pushed bile from her belly and she dry heaved.

“Meggie girl, calm yourself.”

Meggie looked up just as the club enforcer kneeled in front of her. His dreads were queued, as usual, the diamond studs in his ears bringing attention to his handsome face. She fell into his arms and buried her face against his neck.

“I’m having another baby,” she cried. She’d wanted this and hadn’t made a secret of it, but having Christopher’s feelings about another pregnancy out there—although she’d suspected it—made all the difference in the world. Hearing Dr. Will’s ominous possibilities didn’t help, either. 

Mortician tightened his arms around her, but pulled away from her a heartbeat later. He got to his feet and scrubbed a hand over his face. “Prez a little distracted right now, so I’m gonna help you pull yourself back together before you get back to the club.”

The Bobs surrounding her husband flashed in her head and she flinched. All her energy had been used up by today’s events, so she remained silent at Mortician’s declaration.

“Show me the fuck again,” Christopher growled, his nostrils flaring at the sight before him.

“Fuck, Christopher,” Johnnie snapped, hoarse because of Christopher’s throat hold from the night before. Bruises in the shape of Christopher’s fingertips marred Johnnie’s neck. “You sure you want to do this? Megs will be devastated.”

“I don’t give a fuck.”

“I should’ve stayed with Kendall.”

“If you gonna fuckin’ complain ‘bout how the fuck I deal with my girl, then you shoulda fuckin’ stayed with that psycho bitch. Now…” He turned in his seat. “Give it to me a-fuckin-gain.”

“Which part?”

“Every fuckin’ bit you got.”

The sound started again and Christopher’s head pounded as he watched her bent over, his fingers disappearing and delving into her pussy. Only, the fucking
him
wasn’t Christopher while the fucking
her
was Megan. His Megan being searched by a soon-to-be-stone-fucking-cold-ass-motherfucking-dead deputy. Not that Megan knew he’d tricked the fucking truth from Zoann.

He glared at Val, the man’s bruised face barely registering. Christopher’s throbbing knuckles barely registered for that matter. Val was fucking lucky Christopher could use the recording to identify the motherfucker who’d touched his girl. Other-fucking-wise, he might’ve laid Val up in a fucking hospital room for a few fucking months for installing cameras in whiny-ass Dinah’s room and Zoann’s old room. Christopher could understand the cameras in Zoann’s room. But his mother-in-law? No fucking way. Megan went in there sometimes dressed in only a robe and nightie. Now, thanks to this fucking recording, Val had seen her pussy
a-fucking-gain
.

He drew in deep breaths, the realization that Johnnie was also seeing her pussy making him lash out. He threw a backhanded fist against Johnnie’s head and knocked him on his ass.

“You fucking asshole,” Johnnie snarled, getting to his feet and holding his head.

Christopher stood, too. “Get the fuck outta here, motherfucker.”

Johnnie, on edge himself because of that bitch he had, shoved him back. “Fuck you. What the fuck don’t you understand that I love Kendall? I don’t fucking
want
Megan, fuckhead.”

“The fuck you don’t,” Christopher yelled, barreling into Johnnie and throwing him against the wall near the makeshift bar in the conference room. The conference room that Johnnie had walked into fifteen minutes ago while Christopher had been watching the deputy touching Megan for the third fucking time. The deputy’s face blocked out Johnnie’s and Christopher growled, slamming his fist down again. “I’m fuckin’ killin’ you.”

A burning pain slid through Christopher’s arm. Before he had time to process his stab wound, he’d been knocked the fuck on his ass on the floor. Johnnie stood above him, his eye and cheek swollen, blood dripping from his nose. He was one livid motherfucker with a fucking Glock aimed at Christopher’s head.

“Jesus H. Christ!” Val called. “Put that shit away, John Boy.”

“I don’t fucking take kindly to having my fucking ass beat for no fucking reason,”

“Don’t fuckin’ give a fuck,” Christopher barked, kicking Johnnie’s thigh and rolling out of the way. Motherfucker fired on fucking reflex. Jumping to his feet, he pulled his own nine. “Put your fuckin’ piece away
now
,” he growled. He cocked it, only then realizing what he’d done—what had almost happened to him or Johnnie because of it. Still…”Second fuckin’ time I had to pull my fuckin’ piece on you, Johnnie. Third time the fuckin’ charm. Hear me? Now, put that motherfucker a-fuckin-way or third time comin’ real fuckin’ soon.”

Fury lit Johnnie’s eyes but he complied. Val sagged into a chair and dropped his head into his hands while Christopher shoved his piece in the pocket inside of his cut.

Johnnie’s gaze slid to Christopher’s arm, reminding him the motherfucker had stabbed him. He glanced at the blood oozing from the wound.

“Maybe, Megs should fucking leave you, fuckhead,” Johnnie growled. “Maybe, you’re getting fucking tired of her and you’re just a possessive motherfucker where she’s concerned. If you don’t remember how close you’ve been allowing other women lately,
I
fucking do. Getting a hard dick because of the Bobs and fucking
joking
with that girl about it rather than knocking her on her ass like you did
my
woman when she did the same thing.”

“John Boy, you got a fucking death wish?” Val questioned, creeping between them, right the fuck in Christopher’s line of fire. “Outlaw, calm down.”

“You fuckin’ feel that way, too, Val?” Christopher demanded, not that he gave a fuck
how
they fucking felt. But his sanity was returning in slow degrees and, with it, the knowledge that he and Johnnie always looked out for one another. One didn’t try to annihilate the other.

“The way you been acting with other bitches has shocked me,” Val admitted, not meeting Christopher’s gaze. “Don’t matter why. You just never acted like that since you kept Meggie.”

“Get the fuck outta my face. Both you motherfuckers.”