Deceived 6 - Ultimate Deception

Table of Contents

Title Page

Book Description

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Chapter 12

Chapter 13

Epilogue

Deceived 6 – Ultimate Deception

By

Eve Carter

This book is a work of fiction. The names, characters, places and incidents are products of the writer’s imagination or have been used fictitiously and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to persons living or dead, actual events, locales or organizations is entirely coincidental.

Copyright © 2014 Eve Carter.

Published By Belmonte Publishing, LLC.

Book Description

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I am aware of nothing. There is black then white, then cold. I try to open my eyes. A wave or confusion washes over me. Is it morning? Where am I? And why can’t I remember anything?

When Chloe Collins wakes up from an induced coma she has no recollection of what happened and how she ended up in a hospital. Because of her weakened state of health, she is unable to fly back to New York and must stay in Miami until her baby is born. Having an aversion to hospitals, she’s relieved when Nina Hastings opens up her mansion for Chloe to recover. Little does she know that she’s just walked into the lion’s den.

Will Chloe discover Nina’s secret before it’s too late?

Chapter 1

Patrick

This was a nightmare. That was the only logical explanation for what I was seeing.

Chloe wasn’t moving. Her motionless body lay crumpled at the foot of the majestic staircase.

The adrenaline from the shock and horror of watching her fall down the majestic staircase just seconds ago was still running in my veins, but I couldn’t move.

Was she breathing? The thought riveted through my mind, jolting me into action.

“Someone call 9-1-1!” I yelled as I bolted towards her.

“I’ll call an ambulance,” a man behind me said.

I thought for a moment that I should thank him, but then I was falling to my knees next to Chloe and I couldn’t think of anything but her, not even the pain in my knees when they came in contact with the marble floor.

“Chloe, honey, please.” I said her name as I reached for her wrist. Part of me didn’t want to check for a pulse, terrified that it wouldn’t be there and the last memory I’d have of touching my wife would be feeling for a heartbeat that wasn’t to be found. When I felt her pulse fluttering under my fingertips, a wave of relief washed over me and I looked up to check her breathing. Her chest was moving. With her hand pressed against my lips, I pleaded, “Baby, wake up.”

Baby.

Panic spiked again. My little girl. She was still so small. What damage had been done by the fall? I couldn’t lose my family. I smoothed back Chloe’s hair.

“Where’s that damn ambulance?!” My voice almost cracked.

A light hand on my shoulder made me look up. Nina’s dark eyes were fraught with worry.

“It’s on its way,” she assured me. “Is Chloe going to be okay?”

I took a deep breath, my lungs expanding gratefully. “She has a pulse and she’s breathing, but who knows about the baby. It could be pretty bad.” I tried not to think about anything beyond that, but the thoughts were there, hovering around the edges of my mind. Thoughts about all of the other damage that could’ve been done, all the ways that it was possible Chloe would never be the same.

“Did you see her fall, Nina?”

“No, I was in the kitchen. I ran in here as soon as I heard her scream.”

A small crowd of concerned party guests had gathered behind me. I leaned over my wife and kissed her forehead. I was trying desperately to hold it together because I knew I had to be strong for her, but my unshed tears burned. I just wanted her to open her eyes and tell me she was okay, but she just lay there. I kept one hand tightly around hers and gently laid the other on her stomach. Victoria had been so active in these last few weeks. All I needed was a kick and I’d know she was okay, but she was as still and quiet as her mother.

The thought of losing either one of them tore me apart. Chloe was the love of my life. I couldn’t imagine it without her. We’d fought so hard to be together, overcome so much.
Oh, please, God, don’t let it end here like this.

I prayed as I waited. “Just hold on,” I whispered. “You’re both so strong. Hold on. You’ll be okay.”

It was only a few minutes, but it seemed like hours passed before I heard the wail of sirens. I was aware of people moving around me, the low murmur of voices as people speculated about what had happened, about her condition. I tuned it all out. In that moment, my senses were razor sharp and focused on my wife alone, waiting to hear her speak, see a flicker of eyelids, or feel the pressure of her fingers change against mine.

I wasn’t even aware of the paramedics kneeling next to her until one of them touched my arm.

“Sir, we need to get her on the stretcher now.”

The man was about my age and he had a calm, steady voice that made me trust him...but this was my Chloe and our baby. This was my world. I didn’t want to let go of her hand, suddenly terrified that if I did, I’d never get her back.

“Sir, please, we need to work.”

Nina put her hand on my shoulder again and said, “Patrick, let her go.”

I knew she meant well, but her words sent a chill through me. Still, I was able to pry my fingers away and I took a step back, watching as they carefully moved Chloe onto the stretcher. They’d put a neck brace on her and had an oxygen mask covering her beautiful mouth, but the expression on her face bothered me. It was somehow different from the expression that comes from the relaxation of sleep.

I followed as they wheeled her towards the door, nearly stumbling over the threshold as we went. I didn’t take my eyes off of her, afraid if I did, even for just a moment, she’d disappear. The paramedics loaded her into the back of the ambulance and as I stepped forward to climb in as well, the younger of the two men put his hand out.

“Are you family, sir?”

“That’s my wife.” I shoved past him, with a furrowed brow. I knew I came across as being rude but I didn’t care. In my state of mind, he was lucky I hadn’t punched him.

The young man didn’t respond to my behavior, and with deft hands he began to hook up a heart monitor. I lurched as the ambulance started forward, but the EMT moved with an ease that said he’d done this a thousand times before. I took Chloe’s hand and tried not to think about how cold it felt, concentrating instead on the slow, steady beep that was her pulse. It seemed slower than normal, but it was there and that’s what mattered.

When the paramedic leaned over her stomach with his stethoscope, I tensed. I wanted to ask him right away if everything was okay, but I knew he needed at least a minute or two, so I bit my tongue and waited. When he sat back but didn’t say anything, I spoke.

“Is the baby...” I couldn’t finish the question.

“All I can say is that I was able to hear a faint heartbeat.” He sounded cautious, but I took that small bit of hope and clung to it.

Chloe and Victoria were still alive. I didn’t let myself think anything else as we raced through the Miami streets.

*****

“Mr. Collins?”

I raised my head, feeling as if I’d aged a hundred years in the last hour. I’d been shown to a private waiting room that Saint Mary’s reserved for special situations. I was just hoping those special circumstances didn’t mean that Chloe wasn’t going to make it. They hadn’t sent a chaplain to see me, so I was holding out hope. Now, as I saw the middle-aged man in scrubs standing a few feet away, I was suddenly having a hard time breathing.

I stood. “That’s me. Is Chloe going to be okay?”

His expression was grim as he spoke. “Mr. Collins, I’m not going to lie to you. We don’t know yet. Things with your wife are serious.”

My legs suddenly felt weak.

“We had to induce a coma to allow your wife’s body the chance to decide what it wants to do about the baby. I’d hoped we could perform an emergency caesarian which would reduce the strain on your wife’s body, but her heartbeat isn’t stable enough yet.” He paused, his eyes meeting mine for a moment before moving away again to settle somewhere just above my hairline. “If either your wife’s or the baby’s vitals drop, we’ll need to know what you want us to do.”

I blinked, not sure what he was saying.

His voice became surprisingly gentle. “We need to know if you want us to place the priority on your wife’s life or the baby’s. If a choice has to be made, which do we save?”

Something inside me snapped at that question. “Are you fucking kidding me?” My voice rose to the point where, if anyone had been in the room, they would’ve been staring. “You save them both, you son of a bitch, or I’ll sue you and this hospital...” My voice cracked. I knew my threat was empty. None of this was the doctor or the hospital’s fault. In my head, I knew that he was asking what needed to be asked, but my heart wanted to know how any decent human being could ask such a question.

“We’ll do our best, Mr. Collins.”

The fact that he didn’t respond in anger made me realize how unjustified my outburst had been. He didn’t act as if he needed an apology and I didn’t offer one. I was suddenly exhausted. I sank back into my seat.

“I’ll let you know as soon as you can see her, but she won’t be awake, not for at least twenty-four hours.”

I watched the doctor walk away and leaned back in the chair. How had this happened? I ran my hands through my hair. Everything had been going so well. We’d been enjoying ourselves at the party. She’d excused herself to go to the restroom. I was supposed to get her chocolate and pickles. I closed my eyes as I remembered teasing her about her pregnancy cravings. A pregnant woman wanting strange combination of foods and needing to pee for the hundredth time. Completely normal.

And then it had all gone to hell.

“Patrick.”

I opened my eyes as soon as I heard Ryan’s familiar voice and then he was grabbing me in a hug. I saw Liam over his shoulder, then Elyse and Ricky. I’d completely forgotten that they’d been at the party, too.

“I’m so sorry, man,” Ryan said as he let me go. “I should’ve been there. Liam and I overslept and then decided to skip the party and–”

“There wasn’t anything you could’ve done.” I cut him off before he could finish. I knew my best friend, Ryan, would blame himself all night if I let him. That was just his way of trying to keep my mind off of things.

“I told him that.” Liam stepped forward, his handsome face serious as he put his arm around his fiancé. “Is there anything we can do?”

I shook my head, not trusting myself to speak just yet. Elyse saved me from that by throwing herself into my arms, sobbing. I looked over her shoulder at Ricky, who looked to be at a complete loss.

“It’s my fault.” Elyse’s voice was muffled against my shirt. “If I hadn’t been in the downstairs bathroom losing my lunch, she wouldn’t have had to go upstairs and none of this would’ve happened. I knew I shouldn’t have drunk so much and she told me I was being silly and-and...” Her sentence faded off as she started crying again.

I smoothed down her hair, and the gesture comforted me as much as it did her. Here was something I could deal with, a problem I could fix, and I knew Chloe wouldn’t want her best friend to suffer like this. I pulled her back and looked down at her, keeping my tone firm. “This was not your fault, Elyse. It was a stupid accident, nothing more. We could go round and round blaming ourselves, thinking of a hundred different ways that Chloe wouldn’t have been on those steps, but the truth is, it happened and it’s no one’s fault.”