AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“They patched him up here and then arrested him,” he said, running his thumb over my knuckles. “He’s going away for a long time.”
Placing a straw in the cup, Toby guided it to my lips and I drank gratefully. The water was cool, washing the dryness away from my mouth and soothing the ache in my throat in just a few gulps. Then I licked my lips and my gaze flitted between all of them.
“He’s gone?” I whispered.
“He’s gone,” Toby assured me.
Exhausted tears of relief flooded up in my eyes and Lucas’ hand moved up to my forearm.
“And you’re okay. He shot you, but it hit you in the side. Skimmed past all the important stuff and came out the other side,” Toby said softly.
“You’re going to be okay,” Danny assured me softly, his eyes never leaving my face.
“Sebastian?”
“I’m okay.” Sebastian waved one hand from where he was sitting. “I’d get up, but y’know.”
“He almost got into a fistfight with an orderly,” Danny chuckled. “They didn’t want him to move but he insisted on being here. To make sure you were okay.”
“Oh god.” It was a lot to process through a mind running too sluggishly and I closed my eyes, thoughts swimming until they settled on one very important detail. My baby. Slowly, I opened my eyes and looked at Toby, the only one I could dare to look at. After all, everyone else was possibly the father.
“The baby?” I whispered.
Toby’s face softened, and he glanced at his friends. “Your baby is fine. They want to do a few more tests when you are ready. When we told them you were pregnant, they immediately checked.”
More tears filled my eyes, and when I blinked, they fell. I hadn’t had any idea on what I wanted to do with the baby, but those few seconds of not knowing told me all I needed to know.
I wanted to keep the baby. My concern for its safety told me that much. Lucas’ warm hand cupped my cheek and I tentatively leaned into it, opening my eyes as he swiped at my tears with his thumb.
“Scarlett, why didn’t you tell us you were pregnant?”
“We don’t have to do this now,” Danny said. “That can wait.”
“No,” I whispered. “It’s okay. I just…” Pausing, my voice got stronger as I spoke, and the last of the fuzziness faded from my vision, replaced with the blur of tears. “I didn’t find out until I came back home. I was unwell but I thought it was just… heartbreak.”
“I’m sorry,” Toby murmured. “Me and my big mouth.”
“No,” Sebastian said. “We should have told her from the beginning. We should have been honest as soon as we started to feel something.”
“It’s okay,” I said, sniffling. “I understand. It sucks, and I still hurt about it but I understand. When I came back, everything was awful, so it made sense but then Lily brought me a test and when it came back positive, I went to the doctor because I’m on the pill.” Tears continued to well and fall, and I fought back the sob bubbling in my chest. “She told me that the stress of everything with travel, the Will, and all of that could have contributed, and then I didn’t know what to do.”
Lucas glanced away to Danny, who in turn glanced at Sebastian. It was as if they were having a silent conversation I wasn’t allowed to hear.
“Anyway, I only found out a few days ago, and everything’s been so crazy. And then I felt so guilty because I’ve been drinking?—.”
“Hey, hey,” Toby spoke up immediately. “You didn’t know. It’s okay, you didn’t know.”
“How far along are you?” Lucas asked softly.
“Uhm, 3-4 weeks, I think she said?” I pressed my head back into the pillow, unsure who to even look at. “And then I-I didn’t know what I was supposed to do, or even how to move forward and now with Shane and everything, I’m just—everything feels like a gigantic mess!”
The tears came thick and fast then as all the fear and tension from the last day or so, coupled with the fear of having a baby all by myself, burst forth. Lucas surged up and hugged me, leaning over as carefully as he dared to avoid the bandages around my waist.
“Scarlett, it’s okay,” he murmured in my ear as I clutched at him. “We’re here, okay? We’re here for you. Whatever you want to do, we are here, do you understand? We’re not going anywhere.”
Somehow, that made me cry harder.
“I love you guys,” I sobbed. “Like really love. I didn’t realize until I thought it was all over and I know that sounds stupid, right? How could I not know. But I am and that’s why it hurts so much when I thought it was all fake because I’m in love with you. All of you.”
