Blush (25 page)

“
Jesse,“ I whisper as I drift off to
sleep.

“The best things in
life come in threes, like friends, dreams, and memories.“

—UNKNOWN

SHE LOOKS SO pale lying there in that bed. My wife.
My heart. My life. I walk to the chair beside her bed and pull it
close. I reach for her hand and it's cold. I hold it between both
of mine, then kiss her knuckles. Why does all this bad shit keep
happening? They say it all happens in threes, right? This should be
the end then. We had the whore, the broken hand, and now this.
That's it. Done. Finished. We don't need any more bullshit. We've
been through enough, Lucy's been through enough.

“Baby,“ I begin, “you need to come back to
me. Get better and come back. I can't do this without you,“ I shake
my head, resting my forehead against her hand. “I don't know how
and I don't want to try. You are everything that is good in this
life,“ I look up into her face, her beautiful face, too pale and
too still. “I love you, Luciana.“

“Do you think she can hear you?“ Xander asks,
startling me.

I don't look away from her face. “I'd like to
think so which is why I'm going to keep talking.“

Xander pulls up a chair to the other side of
the bed. “She's become one of my best friends, you know.“

I nod. “I know, Xan. You've become the same
to her.“

“She's so small, Jesse.“

“But fiery and full of life. She'll make it
through,“ Sera tells us as she pulls up another chair. “That's my
sister and she's got the stubborn genes. She won't give up without
one hell of a fight, especially since she knows there's a little
baby swimming around in her tummy.“

A smile pulls at one side of my mouth. “A
mini-us.“

“What?“ Sera asks.

“Instead of a mini-me, it's a mini-us.“

“I love that.“

They gave up the fight at the nurse's station
and Administration didn't even bother to try to keep us out of
here. I made sure Lucy had enough space to fit us all in because
there isn't one of us that was going to leave. Not for a single
second. And with Grandpa Russo as well as Regina and Anthony
coming, well, we had quite the crowd and being as we're in the ICU
wing, we don't want to disturb the other patients.

They just moved us a little further down the
hall and gave Lucy two nurses of her own per shift. There's nothing
a little money can't buy and if it gets my wife the best care she
can get, I'd pay every last cent I have to, to make sure that
happens.

Her brow furrows.

“Do you see that?“ I ask.

“What's happening?“ Xander asks as Lucy's
hands begin to twitch.

Sera yells for the nurse when Lucy's legs
begin to shake and then her body seizes up.

“Oh fuck,“ I whisper, as the nurse and doctor
run in. One barking orders and doing whatever the fuck he's doing
while the other fills a syringe full of something and injects it
into the IV. Within seconds Lucy's body stills and relaxes. The
doctor tells the nurse to push something or other and looks to
me.

“Mr. Kingston. That's the third seizure your
wife has had since she was brought in. We're going to need to do
another MRI to make sure there isn't any more swelling or bleeding.
If the swelling increases, we may have to do a procedure to
decrease the pressure on her brain. If there's bleeding, we'll need
to perform surgery.“ He's all no-nonsense and I can appreciate
that, especially now. I want it straight up.

I nod. “What procedure?“

“If the swelling increases, we'll need to
drill holes into Luciana's skull to relieve some of the
pressure.“

“Jesus,“ Ben curses.

“And the other?“

“We'd have to find the source of the bleed
and repair it. It could very well mean opening her skull,“ he tells
me.

I drop back into the chair and nod my head,
looking at Lucy's face. “Whatever it takes, doc,“ I say and meet
his gaze. “Whatever it takes.“

He nods.

“We're going to do an ultrasound to check on
the baby shortly. Do you know when Luciana's last period was?“ he
looks at me.

“Well, truthfully she hadn't had one since we
were together.“

“She had one after the weekend with you but I
think that's the last one she had,“ Sera tells us.

“Which would be about four months or so?“
Xander fills in.

The doctor nods and makes a note. “The
ultrasound tech will be in shortly.“

I nod. “Thanks.“

Fifteen minutes later, Ethan and Kennedy come
strolling in with my sister Janalee trailing behind, each of them
carrying take-out bags and cups of coffee.

“Here you go, Jess,“ Janalee says, handing me
a cup of coffee.

“Thanks.“

Her eyes are focused on Lucy. “How's she
doing?“

“She had another seizure and they'll be doing
a MRI in a while. They're also coming to do an ultrasound,“ I tell
her, glancing at her from the corner of my eye, a smirk forming on
my lips.

She nods then freezes. “Wait.“ She spins
toward me. “What?!“ she all but shouts.

“What's wrong?“ Kennedy asks, coming to see
what's going on. Everyone closes in.

Janalee grins. “My big brother here was just
updating me about Lucy and telling me that they'll be doing…“ she
trails off as someone walks in pushing a portable ultrasound
machine. Janalee laughs. “They'll be doing an ultrasound.“

Kennedy's brow furrows but the rest of the
gang starts murmuring.

Kennedy looks at me. “Dude. Did you not use
protection or what?“

I chuckle. “It's not a bad thing. We found
out yesterday.“ When his frown doesn't lift I reassure him. “It's a
good thing.“

He lifts a brow. “Yeah? She happy about
it?“

I nod. “She is.“

“Well, alright then,“ he nods and bumps fists
with me. Janalee rolls her eyes at Kennedy and murmurs, “Dork.“
Kennedy gives her a look.

“Mr. Kingston. I'm Toni, the ultrasound
tech,“ the petite blonde tells me, not blinking an eye at all the
rockstars in the room. Giovanni Russo must have some pretty deep
fucking pockets is all I can think.

I nod at the lady.

“So,“ Xander begins, giving the poor
unsuspecting tech his best grin, “what are you going to be looking
for?“

“Really, dude?“ Jace murmurs. “Babies, moron.
Fucking babies. It's a portable ultrasound not a satellite.“

“Fuck off, man.“

Toni smirks, then notes everyone surrounding
the bed. There're about fifteen of us and her eyes go wide. “Um,
are you okay with everyone being in here?“ she asks.

“So long as you don't flash Lucy's vag,
Jesse's cool with it,“ Meggie tells her.

She looks to me for confirmation and I shrug
a shoulder.

“Well, alright then. The more the
merrier.“

She pulls the blanket and sheet down to
Lucy's waist and then pulls her gown up. The sheet is pulled down
pretty low and Xander winks.

I give him a look. “What?“ I ask, knowing I'm
going to regret it.

“I totally knew she waxed or shaved,“ he
murmurs with an appreciative grin.

“Really?“ Janalee asks him. “X, this is so
not the time to be a perv.“

“Whatever. Lucy appreciates my perviness and
I know she's in there smirking at me right now.“

I smirk when he elbows me. “Dude, you know
it's true,“ he prods.

I nod. “Likely it's true, Janalee.“

“Oh Lord. She supports his antics?“

“Hell,“ Xander scoffs, puffing up his chest,
“she encourages it.“

Janalee looks at me disbelieving. I nod and
she shakes her head. “I'm going to love her. I'm already half in
love with her because she's so good for you which means she's one
incredible lady.“

“She's more than that. She's everything,“ I
whisper.

Everyone pauses, Toni glances at me with a
soft smile. I clear my throat.

“Alright, Mr. Kingston,“ Toni begins. “I need
to put some of this on your wife's abdomen, then I'll use this wand
here to see if we can get a look at your baby—“

“Mini-us,“ Sera interrupts.

“Pardon?“ Toni asks.

“Mini-us. We call the baby mini-us,“ Sera
clarifies.

“Oh, that's super cute,“ Toni says, setting
up the machine and turning it so she can get a look at it. I move
closer to get a look. “First, let's see if we can hear a heartbeat.
I know the heartbeats were strong in the ER.“

I look at Lucy's monitor and her heartbeat is
regular and stable.

It only takes a minute before we hear a
whooshing. Toni grins.

“There, Mr. Kingston. That's the sound of
your baby's heartbeat.“

I grab Lucy's hand. “You hear that, baby?
That's mini-us's heartbeat,“ I whisper.

Her fingers twitch and I freeze, my gaze
flying up to her face. Her lips quiver. Oh God, not another
seizure. Please, God. No.

Her lips move again. I look up at Xander.

“Do you see this?“

He nods, his mouth gaping. “Lean the fuck in
there man. I think she's trying to say something.“

I lean down. “What is it, baby? Talk to me,“
I say through watery eyes.

“Tis.“

“What?“ It's muffled and garbled and I have
no idea what she's trying to say.

Lucy's lips stop moving and her face goes
slack, looking peaceful now.

“Uh,“ Xander scratches his head. “Tis the
season to be jolly?“

“Dick,“ Sera chides and smacks the back of
his head.

“What?“ he smirks.

“You know Lucy'd have smacked you just like
that.“

“Fucking A she woulda. You've got that
sisterly thing down pat,“ he tells Sera with admiration.

“Mr. Kingston?“ Toni calls out. “Let's take a
look.“ She holds what she calls a wand to Lucy's stomach, poking
and rolling it around in that goopy lube-looking stuff and she
focuses on the monitor.

I look and I don't see anything.

“There,“ she says, pointing.

I step closer, still holding Lucy's hand.
“That peanut-looking thing?“

Toni smiles. “Yes, exactly. But wait.“ She
frowns.

Oh man. That's not good. My stomach leaps up
into my throat. I lean down and kiss Lucy's hand. I don't know who
I'm reassuring: her or me.

Toni points again. “See there?“

“What's that?“ I ask.

“Dude!“ Xander shouts and Toni jumps.

“What?“ I ask her.

“Oh boy,“ Sera says, smiling wide.

“Ooo-kay, “ Toni says with a smirk, her eyes
meeting mine. “And, Mr. Kingston, do you see this?“

“Holy Mary mother of God,“ Trace says, making
the sign of the cross.

Cage, Damian, Ben, and Meggie all kiss their
thumbs, their hands closed and murmur an “Amen.“

“What?“ I ask again, my frustration
showing.

I look at Toni who is printing things off of
the portable machine and she then looks at me.

“Let me explain.“

“Please do,“ I plead.

“Here's a picture of your baby,“ she tells
me, putting the photo on the bed by Lucy's hip.

I nod and grin seeing the 'peanut'.

She puts another photo down. “Here's another
picture of your baby.“

“We get more than one?“

“If you're lucky, dude,“ Xander exclaims with
a wiggle of his brows. What the fuck is he talking about?

“And here's another picture of your baby.“
Toni sets a third picture down on the bed.

My brow furrows and Janalee is bouncing next
to Meggie.

“I swear he's not an idiot,“ Janalee
announces. “He's just a little slow sometimes.“

Kennedy laughs and Meggie snorts.

“Fuckers.“

The room erupts into chuckles and
snickers.

“Wait!“ I say, my heart beating a gazillion
miles an hour. “Hold the motherfucking phone.“

“Language around mini-us,“ Ben chides. “The
fuck dude.“

I laugh. “You realize you just swore
too.“

“There's no way that peanut can hear me from
over here.“

Toni steps up. “Oh, you'd be surprised at
what babies can hear in the womb.“

Ben's face pales. “Oh man. Sorry, little
one.“

Janalee laughs. “Both my brothers are
slow.“

Ethan grins. “Pretty sure they're both
idiots.“

I give him the finger.

“So, okay. Here's the picture of
mini-us.“

Toni nods at me.

“And a picture of another mini-us?“ I ask,
swallowing hard as realization is dawning.

She nods again, smiling wider. “Yep.“

“Oh man,“ Ben murmurs.

“Uh, and a picture of another mini-us?“

“Uh-huh,“ Toni responds.

“I need to sit down,“ I tell no one in
particular.

“Hang on,“ Toni says and I am paralyzed.

“No fucking way!“ Damian shouts.

Toni bursts out laughing. “No, I was just
fucking with you.“

“Are you allowed to do that?“ I ask,
recovering from my near heart attack.

“Probably not.“

“Well if you can do that, then I can do
this,“ I flip Toni off and she laughs long and loud.