Beautiful Goodbye (26 page)

Gage. He was
who I picked. He was the one who had always been there and would
always be there. I would always have Gage in my corner, he was my
home. I pulled myself off the floor and walked back into the room,
right up to Gage. I grabbed his hand and kissed him. "I love
you."

Gage smiled
back and said, "I love you too, babe. Thank you for being here and
always supporting me."

CHAPTER 28

"Hey, J. You
feeling ok?" Gage was walking out of the bathroom while I relaxed
in bed. Today had be difficult to say the least.

"Mmmhmm." I
slightly nodded but my head started feeling fuzzy. Maybe I was
getting hungry, I hadn't eaten in a few hours. I should probably
get a snack.

I went to
stand but as soon as I stood I was on the ground, "Shit! Jenna!
Jenna, look at me!"

I tried hard
to focus on Gage but everything was growing dark and fuzzier. Last
thing I remember is hearing Gage yelling at someone, something
about falling and not responding.

**********

BEEP BEEP BEEPBEEP BEEP

What the hell
is that beeping? Someone turn it off, it’s annoying.

BEEP BEEP BEEPBEEP BEEP

Ok, seriously
I'm going to flip the hell out if that damn beeping doesn't stop.
Slowly opening my eyes, looking around I see Gage to my left with
his head down on my hand. My mom and dad are to my right, both
asleep in their chairs laying their heads on my bed. Gage's parents
are at the end of my bed, also asleep but leaning against the wall.
Then Sadie, Tyler, Trent, and Jinx were all snuggled in the corner
sleeping. What the hell was going on and why the hell am I in the
hospital?

I wiggled my
hand that Gage was sleeping on and mumbled, "Gage? Gage, wake
up."

Gage popped
his head up asking, "Jenna?"

Hearing voices
my mom and dad woke up. My mom flung herself at me, hugging me
harder than she ever had. My dad ran his hand down my cheek. "JP,
you really scared us."

"Um, what the
hell is going on?" I asked looking around, confused.

The others
must have heard our voices and woke up too. Sadie literally jumped
out of Tyler's lap and was at my side. "Jenna! Oh my God! How are
you feeling?"

I tilted my
head focusing on her eyes. "Confused. What happened?"

Gage started
to talk but the door opened and an older lady came bustling in.
"Oh, Miss Reylan, how sweet of you to join your own little private
party. I must say you are one loved lady."

I smiled and
looked around before saying, "I am. But can someone tell me why
said party is being held in a hospital room?"

"Well dear,
your body was fighting you and you passed out. I'm just here to
check your vitals but as soon as I'm done I will send your doctor
in. He can go into all the details for you."

After checking
me to make sure I wasn't going to die the cute old lady instructed
me, "Here is the call button, if you need anything or start feeling
funny hit that button. My name is Becky if you need anything else.
If you don't need anything right now I will send your doctor in and
I will be back in a few hours."

"Ok, Thank
you, Becky."

Becky was out
the door and before anybody could say anything a very attractive
man in a white lab coat came walking into my room. "Hello, Miss
Reylan I'm Dr. Robertson." He came over to shake my hand then
Gage's before continuing, "Becky just came out and told me you were
awake but not really sure what was going on. I wanted to come in
and check you and fill in some blanks."

"Thank you." I
wasn't sure what else to say, so I kept it simple.

"I want to
start with from this point on you are on strict bed rest. You are
only allowed to be up and moving two or three hours a day and
nothing strenuous. Ok now to what is going on with you and your
baby. Honestly, we are not sure. Giving your history I think it’s
safe to assume that is playing a role in what’s going on. We ran
test after test and everything was coming back normal. We have your
baby on the monitor and she looks great. I think your body is just
fighting itself right now. There is a lot of scar tissue that has
built up and it is a miracle your carrying a baby, we need to keep
a close eye on you until your baby gets here."

My eyes shot
to my group of friends huddled in the corner. They knew nothing
about my past so I know as soon as Dr. Sexypants leaves I will be
grilled and I really don't want to have to deal with that right
now.

Dr. Sexypants
finished what he was saying then asked if we had any questions. I
shook my head before thanking my doctor and looking at my friends,
I could see all their questions building up, awesome.
NOT!

"Well I think
right now you need all the rest you can get. You still have a
little over nine weeks before your due date. We want to keep you
here for a few days just to monitor you and the baby. If everything
looks good we will allow you to go home, but I advise no flying.
You need to try to stay calm and relaxed as much as possible. Do
you have any questions?"

I looked
around the room before looking back to my doctor and saying, "No,
I'm good. Thanks."

Dr. Sexypants
held his hand out for me to shake then turned to Gage to shake his
hand. "Thank you so much, Dr. Robertson."

After my
doctor walked out I looked at Gage. "I'm so hungry. Can you get me
something to eat?"

Gage smiled
before kissing my cheek and said, "Sure. What would you
like?"

"Hmm. I want
the biggest cheeseburger ever, with a side of cheeseburger,
pepperoni pizza, and fries."

That caused
the entire room to laugh. My mom rubbed my arm and said, "Sweetie,
I think you should take it easy. Maybe try some soup first and see
how you feel after that."

I grumbled,
"Ugh I guess."

After getting
soup and devouring it within minutes my stomach was feeling queasy.
Guess my mom was right, huh. I tried closing my eyes but I could
feel everyone’s stares glued to me, like I was some circus monkey
and they were waiting for my next trick.

"Ya'll are
making me nervous. I'm not going anywhere. Why don't you get
something to eat, take a shower, relax for a while. I promise I'm
not planning on pulling any 007 shit, my fat ass will be right here
when ya'll get back."

Gage was
instantly shaking his head saying, "No way in hell am I leaving
you."

My mom and dad
were also shaking their heads along with Gage's parents. I huffed
out, "You people are going to make me crazy. I can't rest which is
what I need because every time I close my eyes I feel all your eyes
on me. And when I try to talk you treat me like I'm dying. Just
leave for a few hours, I don't care where you go or what you do but
please, for my sanity, please leave."

I couldn't
bring my eyes up to look at anyone. I kept them trained on the
small dry-erase board across the room. Finally Gage spoke up. "What
if just a few of us stay with you and we go in shifts. That way if
something does happen somebody is here."

I tried to
hide my sigh before nodding slowly, "Fine."

After another
twenty minutes of discussing who would stay and who would go it was
my parents and Gage's that agreed to leave. They told us they would
go out and get some baby essentials for the 'just in case'
scenario. Finally after the future grandparents left the room
seemed much more calming and quiet.

I looked at
Sadie who's eyes were filled with so many questions but I could see
she was afraid to ask anything. I smiled before patting the bed
beside me. "I guess I should explain some things about my
past."

Gage's hand
was rubbing up and down my arm as he asked, "You sure,
babe?"

I shrugged and
said, "They deserve to know. They are a part of our family, Gage."
He gave a curt nod then turned to our friends who had grew to
become our family.

I looked from
face to face. Tyler to Sadie to Jinx to Trent then finally to Gage.
He gave me a smile, the little bit of confidence I needed to rehash
my scared past. "It all started when I was sixteen, his name was
Jacob Vincen..."

I went through
all the details and Gage filled in some that I still wasn't certain
or hadn't known as I went along. When I was finished everyone had
tears, concern, anger, hurt, raw murderous hate in their eyes, but
it was what I didn't see that made me love this group of people
even more. There was no pity in their eyes, no poor Jenna. The main
reason I didn't tell people my story was because I didn't want them
to look at me differently. I was still Jenna and I wanted people to
like me not feel sorry for me.

Trent was
squeezing my bedrail so tight his knuckles were white. Glancing
from Trent’s hands to his face I said, "Trent, ease up. He's in
jail and he will never get out. I promised myself I wouldn't let
him or what he did affect my life. Of course being told I could
never have kids changed my life, but I learned to live with it
.When Sadie was so sure I was pregnant I had to fight everything in
me not to break down when I was so sure I wasn't. Then by some
miracle, I was pregnant."

Trent squeezed
his eyes closed and said, "Jenna, I love you and you have become
like a little sister to me. Hearing this and what you went through
makes me want to kill that coward. That fucking excuse of a man
should be dead not sitting in jail getting three healthy meals a
day and making friends. I have never hated anyone, never in my
life. Until today. When you told me about him. I hate him Jenna,
with everything in me, I hate him."

Tyler put a
hand on Trent's shoulder while his other rubbed Sadie's back.
"Trent, you need to relax. I'm just as pissed as you but the guy is
locked up. He can't hurt Jenna again, he's gone. Trust me I could
kill him just as fast as you but what would that do other than send
our asses to jail?"

I stared at
Trent until he brought his eyes to meet mine and I said,
"Seriously, Trent, I'm fine. I had to let go and move on. It's in
the past and there is nothing I can do about it now. Of course, I
do have times when I think about it and how he has changed me. I'm
not the same girl I was before, but I'm happy with the girl I have
become because of it."

Sadie started
to open her mouth but there was a quick knock on my door. I yelled,
"Come in."

CHAPTER 29

I sat there
dumbfounded. My mouth wide open, my eyes the size of dinner plates,
"L-Larkin?" My voice was so small I wasn't sure anyone even heard
me.

"Jenna? I um,
someone called me and told me you were in the hospital. I had to
check on you before flying out in the morning."

I drug my eyes
away from Larkin and scanned my friends, my eyes landing on a very
red faced Sadie. Trader!

Taking a deep
breath I turned my gaze back to Larkin and narrowed my eyes. "I'm
fine. Thanks for your concern but it really wasn't needed. Whoever,
"I took that moment to glare at Sadie before looking back to
Larkin, "told you I was in the hospital over reacted. Just too much
excitement. So now that you have your peace of mind you can carry
on with your little lady friend. I'm fine. I'll be fine. I'm always
fine." Shit. I was having a breakdown, I felt it coming on. The
room was spinning and everyone was getting fuzzy as I spoke,
"Really Larkin, I'm just fine. I don't need you running in
he..."

Nothing.
Black.

**********

"Jenna, Jenna.
Come on honey, open your eyes."

"How much more
can she go through. She's only twenty. Fuck, a forty year old
shouldn’t have to deal with half the shit she's been
through."

"Gage, we have
to stay calm for her and the baby, we can't get worked up." I felt
a hand in my hand, the thumb rubbing mine. "Jenna, sweetheart.
Please open your eyes. You have a beautiful baby girl who needs her
mama. Just please open your eyes, let us know your still with
us."

I
tried opening my eyes but it was so damn bright, I squeezed
whoevers hand was in mine.
"Jenna! Did you just squeeze my hand?"
Ahh so it was Sadie's
hand.

"Br-bright," I
choked out.

I heard
rushing around then Sadie's voice filled my ears again when she
said, "Try opening your eyes now."

I slowly
fluttered my eyes open. Sadie and Gage were at my side. My parents
and Gages were next to them. In the corner I saw Tyler, Trent, and
Jinx. I brought my eyes back to Gage, "What happened?"

Gage rubbed my
arm and asked, "Why don't we get your doctor in here and he can
explain everything."

I watched as
my mom walked out to let the nurses know I was awake and had
questions for my doctor. When she walked back in my doctor trailed
her.

"So good to
see you again, Jenna. You are a high maintenance patient,
girl."

I tried to
force a smile before saying, "Sorry about that. Can you tell me
what happened? And is my baby ok?"

Dr. Sexypants
nodded and said, "You had a uterine rupture. It was caused from the
trauma you withstood a few years ago and all the stress you have
been under was too much. We were very lucky you were already in the
hospital, otherwise you and your baby might not have been so lucky.
You had a lot of bleeding but we got it under control and got your
baby out safely. You are the mommy of a beautiful baby girl. She of
course came a lot sooner than we wanted and she has a few minor
complications. We had her transfered to the NICU. When you are
feeling up to it, I will allow short visits. I will call her doctor
and have him come down to explain in detail what is going
on."