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“You aren’t a man. You’re a street thug.” Elliott had been swaying back and forth and started to tip forward. Rush had to put his hand up to keep him from falling into him while he spoke.
“Sit your ass down!” Rush roared. I immediately planted my ass on the chair next to me, even though he hadn’t been speaking to me. I’d never heard him so angry. Unfortunately, drunk Elliott didn’t scare as easily as me. Watching the two of them insult each other nose to nose, I felt like I was sitting waiting for something bad to happen, which I realized was stupid. I might not remember what Rush had said should be done to break up a fight, but I was clear on the fact that I was supposed to call Oak. Since he wasn’t around, I decided to get some assistance stopping this disaster waiting to happen, rather than dealing with the fallout afterward.
Rush and Elliott were so focused on each other, I was able to slip out of the waiting room without an argument. Lucky for me, I found a burly security guard right down the hall. After explaining to him about the tense situation, he followed me back to the waiting room.
The uniformed guard walked up to the stare off that was still going on. “Everything okay in here, boys?”
“Fine,” Rush answered without averting his eyes from Elliott.
“It’s not looking too fine. Having a loved one in the ICU can be stressful and can cause a lot of friction when it comes to deciding on care. But this isn’t how things get handled here. I’m going to have to ask you both to take a seat, or I’ll escort you both off hospital grounds.”
After a solid fifteen seconds of more intense staring, it was Rush who took the high road. He shook his head, turned around, and took a seat.
Elliott started to snicker like he’d won something. So the guard took Rush’s place and folded his arms across his chest while standing toe to toe. “Your turn. Sit down.”
The drunk idiot mumbled under his breath, but finally went to sit on the other side of the room.
The guard looked over at me, then at Rush. “I’m going to stick around for a while. Just gonna take a seat near the door.”
I smiled. “Thank you.”
Rush sat alone stewing and didn’t acknowledge the guard or me. I knew that, for him, Elliott’s presence was a painful reminder that I was pregnant with his brother’s child and the mountain of animosity it would cause for years to come. No doubt it also stirred up his own childhood hard feelings that he’d done his best to move past. It was my fault that everything was again such a mess.
I had a doctor’s appointment this afternoon that I’d planned to cancel. But I started to think things might be better if I wasn’t here. My presence was gasoline on an already hot fire. Rush needed to be here for the sake of his father, and I didn’t need to add to his problems. So I decided to text my dad and see if he might be off today and could run me back out east for my appointment.
Two minutes later, he responded no problem and that he was out running errands and would swing by the hospital when he was done. I figured I’d let Rush know after he cooled off a bit.
A half-hour later, Elliott was snoring in a chair and Rush still hadn’t looked up. He was taking longer to cool down than I’d thought. I stood.
“I’m going to go find a ladies’ room. Want me to get you some coffee or something while I’m gone?”
Rush shook his head.
Okay, then.
I took my time in the ladies’ room. Since it was a one-person restroom, I decided to wash up in the sink in case I didn’t have time to stop home before my doctor’s appointment. Being in the hospital made me paranoid about germs, and I’d been sweating over the Rush and Elliott standoff.
I washed my face and hands, then stripped out of my shirt and washed under my arms. Before I slipped my top back on, I took a good look in the mirror. My stomach was much rounder these days. It wouldn’t be long before I moved out of the did she gain a little weight phase and into the oh she got herself knocked up phase. It had been a while since I’d had a talk with the little guy, and as odd of a time and place as it was to have one right now, it felt like it was needed.
I rubbed my belly. “Hey. It’s me. Mom.” Saying the word Mom was so foreign to me since I didn’t have one of my own growing up. The word didn’t roll off my tongue like it did for most people. “Sorry I haven’t talked to you in a while. I’ve had a lot going on. That’s no excuse; I know. But I’ll try not to have such large gaps of time between our talks. You’re getting so big. Well, at least I’m getting big. So I hope you’re the cause of it. Although, let’s be honest, I’ve spent a lot of time with my buddies Ben & Jerry lately. Today we’re going to the doctor for a checkup. Your grandpa Tony is taking us. He’s pretty awesome. The best dad anyone could ask for. I have no doubt that he’s going to be an even better grandpa to you. He’s kind and loving and the most dependable person on this planet. We’re lucky to have him.” I paused for a few seconds. “Okay. Well, that’s it for now. But I’ll catch up with you again real soon.”
