New Beginnings (5 page)

Days
had turned into weeks and weeks turned into months.  Initially, it wasn’t his intention to end the relationship the way it happened but he also realized it was for the best.  He didn’t know what decision Vicky had made until she called him to tell him that she was in labor. 

Later, when Alicia questioned him about it he told her he didn’t know whose number it had been.  At the time Vicky didn’t have a cell phone and he hadn’t taken on another lover.  He had his suspicions but he didn’t recognize the number so he wasn’t sure who the woman was on the other end of the phone.  However, when Ryan was alone he called the number back and Vicky answered. 

His conscience rarely appeared but it chose that particular moment to show up.  Ryan confessed everything to Vicky.  She deserved at least that much.  She remained quiet the entire time.  No matter how much he thought about starting over fresh and creating a life with Vicky and his child, he just couldn’t destroy all he worked so hard to gain.  Ryan still needed Alicia’s parent’s money and connections.  He had made up in his mind that he would give Vicky some cash and be done with it. 

Ryan remembered asking, “Do you and the baby need anything?”  Regardless of her answer he knew he would deposit some money into an account for them.  That was all he could do.

Vicky calmly said no before she hung up the phone.

Ryan had been so nervous his world was about to crash down around him that he hadn’t even realized until after they hung up that he didn’t even know if his child was a boy or a girl.  That was the last time they’d spoken.

Ryan had had affairs in the past but Vicky had been dangerous.  She was a keeper.  Hurting her was his one big regret.  Maybe if things had been different. 

Anyway that was all water under the bridge now.  After his affair with Vicky, Ryan learned his lesson.  Now, he made sure he took every precaution not to get his mistresses pregnant.   

“Ryan, will you take the test?”

Vicky’s voice brought him back to the present.  If anyone found
out that he had a baby outside of his marriage that would be a disaster.  He was now one of Minnesota’s state senators and possibly the next governor.  There was no way Alicia would accept Vicky’s child.  .  Alicia would definitely not handle the fact he’d had an affair with a black woman and fathered a child with her as well.  Her ego wouldn’t be able to process that one. Knowing Alicia and her family, he knew they might overlook an affair.  Both he and Alicia had overlooked each other’s many indiscretions in the past.  But, appearances were everything to them.  This might prevent him from ever becoming governor.  If Alicia thought there was no hope of moving into the governor’s mansion there is no doubt she would divorce him and the pre-nup he’d signed was pretty iron-clad.

Ryan had to make a choice. He couldn’t destroy everything he’d worked so hard for because of this mistake.

Jason quietly walked back into Vicky’s room.  She was on the phone.  He felt the tension in the air and could see the controlled rage on her face. Then, he understood.

“Ryan, are you still there?  Will you take the test?”

“I don’t need to take the test Vicky.  I know my blood type.  I just don’t know how I can help you.  Look, I’ve got another call coming through and I’ve got to take it. Good luck.” Ryan hung up the phone hearing Vicky call out his name as he put the phone back onto the receiver. 

After his call with Vicky, Ryan foun
d himself thinking that he was a selfish bastard. Could he really let his own child die?

Vicky hung up the phone and put her head in her hands.  She hadn’t heard Jason come back into the room.

Jason touched her shoulders “You ok?”

Vicky snatched her head up before letting the tears erupt, “I don’t know if I’ll ever be ok again Jason.”

He sat on the bed and leaned in to hold her “We’ll get through this.  I promise.”

“I spoke with Dr. Franks and if you’re up to it we can head down to recovery.”

“Yes, yes.  I’m ready. Please let’s go.”

Jason helped Vicky out of her bed as they made their way to see Angel. “I called Franklin, he’s taking the next flight out and I asked if he could bring Sandra as well.  I know you two have grown quite close to each other and I’m sure you can use her support right now.  Did you get in touch with your Aunt?”

Vicky “I called her but wasn’t able to get through.  I left her an urgent message.  If she doesn’t call back by the time we get back to the room I will call her again.”

“Maybe I can send someone to her home? Was that who was on the phone?”

Vicky peered into Jason’s eyes before answering.  He loved her.  She could see it plain as day.  She held the power to hurt him.  And that she never wanted to do.  But, she would not lie to him. “No it wasn’t.  It was Angel’s father, Ryan Carter.”

Jason knew before she uttered the words. He hated knowing that Vicky would need his help.  Especially someone she once thought she was in love. Jason felt somewhat ashamed for feeling jealous at a time like this….especially when he knew Vicky loved him.  They were about to get married and bring another baby into this world.   

At some point Jason knew he might have to deal with Angel’s biological father.  These weren’t ideal circumstances but they all had to deal with the reality of their situation “When will he be here?”

Vicky sighed “I’m not sure.  He never said he was coming.  I’m just hoping he does the right thing.”

Jason thought to himself that Vicky didn’t need to worry if ‘Ryan’ would show up to get tested.  Once they finished with seeing Angel in recovery he would make sure ‘Ryan’
DID
show up.

“And Jason, he’s a match.”

Franklin Roth
, who was the CFO of CkR International and Jason’s best friend, had received the call from him while he was in the middle of a meeting.  Franklin cancelled the rest of his meeting and made arrangements to get to Atlanta as soon as possible.  However, he needed to go find Sandra Catchings to make sure she’d spoken with Jason and to confirm she was coming with him.

“Verna, cancel all of my meetings and calls for the next 3-4 days.  There’s been an emergency and I’ll be out of town. I’ll be periodically checking messages and e-mails.  Otherwise, re-schedule everything.  As a matter of fact make su
re you get in touch with Janice, Jason’s administrative assistant and give her the same directive.  I’m not sure if Jason had a chance to do that yet or not. However, there are a couple of files I’ll need, Brinkstone and Westerson.  Get those for me.  I’ll be back to get them before I head out of the office for the airport. Oh, and by the way…where is Ms. Sandra Catchings located?”

Verna got Sandra’s information and gave it to Mr. Roth.  He took it and headed out of his office in search of Ms. Catchings.  He needed to get her personal contact information if she were going to
go Atlanta so that they could head over to the airport together.  However, when he arrived at her office Joshua Jones, the Director of Sales was there.  It looked like they were in a heated conversation.  “Excuse me, am I interrupting anything?”

Joshua looked like he’d been caught with his hand in the cookie jar.  He was pretty nervous “No, no Mr. Roth.  I was just finishing up a conversation with Ms. Catchings.  Sandra, can we finish this up later?”

He didn’t even give her a chance to respond before he high tailed it out of her office.

“Did I catch you at a bad time?”

“No, not at all Mr. Roth.” She was reaching her limit with Joshua and right now he wasn’t important.  She waved him inside her office “Please come inside.  How are Vicky and Jason?”

“
So, you’ve talked to them?”

Sandy nodded “Yes, he called about half an hour ago.”

“Jason’s hanging on by a thread and I can only imagine Vicky is even worse.  So, if possible I’d like to leave as soon as we can.  I’ve spoken to the pilot.  The plane can be ready to leave within the hour.  Can you be ready by then?” Franklin hoped so but he didn’t think women like Sandra Catchings knew how to operate on the fly.

“Of course.  I just need to throw a couple of things in my suitcase.  I don’t live far from here.  I can be ready within the next half an hour if necessary.”

Franklin had this look of worry on his face as he rubbed the back of his neck.  Jason and he had faced many things together over all the years they’d known each other but they’d never had to deal with the possible death of a child. 

“You two are very close?”

“Yeah, we’ve known each other since our early teens.  I love him like a brother.  Hell, we are closer than brothers.  Something like this definitely puts life into perspective.  Out of nowhere life can change on dime.  How do you even begin to recover from something like this?  Is it even possible?”

“Mr. Roth, we’ve got to remain positive for their sakes.  We can’t allow ourselves to think anything other than Angel is going to be ok.  I’ve never been much of a praying woman but I’ve often heard that prayer changes things.  I’m choosing to believe that right now.  I’ve been praying since Jason called.”

“Please call me Franklin.” Funny, he’d never noticed how stunningly beautiful Ms. Catching’s was until now.  He’d been so enamored with his ex-fiancé, April that he hadn’t noticed anyone else until she’d broken off their engagement right before the Rutherford’s anniversary party.

“I’ll call you Franklin only if you call me Sandy.  Is that fair?”

Franklin gave her half a smile “I think I can do that.  So, I’ll meet you at your house say in 45 minutes?”

Sandra shook her head “Sounds good.  I’ll be waiting.” After he’d left her office she found herself thinking Mr. Roth was one handsome man. 
She felt a little guilty thinking that at a time like this.  Under different circumstances maybe she would try to push the envelope.  Hell, Joshua wasn’t in a committed relationship why should she be? Anyway, she’d heard that Franklin was either engaged or married.  Too bad.

Jason and Vicky made it to Angel’s recovery area.  They changed into sterile scrubs before they could enter the recovery room. 

As soon as they entered Vicky rushed over to Angel’s bed.  Nothing could prepare a mother for that moment.  Angel’s listless and ashen body lay in a hospital bed where she was covered seemingly from head to toe in tubing.  She was attached to so many machines and they seemed so loud.  They were beeping and chirping.  The pumping sound was the worst.  Watching Angel’s chest rise and fall to the rhythm of the pump was devastating.  All Vicky wanted was to see her baby open her eyes and smile again.  As the tears dripped down Vicky’s face Jason gently wiped them away before turning around and wiping away a tear that slid down his own cheek.

Jason whispered into Vicky’s ear “She’s going to be ok you’ve got to know that.” Jason’s cell phone tinged to let him know a call was coming through.  He looked at the number and he didn’t recognize it. He answered the phone “Rutherford
...”

“I’m sorry I have the wrong number I was looking for Vicky Martin.”

“No, no you have the right number.  Who’s calling?”

“Well, this is… Shirley Martin.  Is she available?”

Jason anxiously answered, “Yes, yes.  She’s right here, just one moment.” He handed the phone over to Vicky.

Her hands shook as she took the phone from Jason.  Their eyes locked with his for just a moment.  There was no need to tell her who was on the other end of the phone. “Hello, this is Vicky Martin.” Vicky thought her voice would falter but it came out much stronger than she felt.

“Vicky, this is….Shirley.  I, I called as soon as I got your message.”

Vicky was no longer the scared teen looking for acceptance but a grown woman fighting for the life of her daughter.  It was Shirley who sounded unsure and nervous. 

“Thank you for calling me back.  I hate to have to call you under these circumstances” Vicky took another look at Angel then closed her eyes and went on “but I desperately need your help. I have a daughter who is three years old.  She’s in the hospital and is need of a blood transfusion to save her life.  Her blood type is very rare.  We’re testing everyone but so far we’ve been unable to find a match.  I was hoping you would be willing to come to Atlanta and get tested?”

Vicky’s aunt paused for a very long time before she answered “Yes, of course.  Just tell me what I need to do.”

Vicky hadn’t realized she’d been holding her breath waiting for an answer.  As soon as Shirley said yes, she was able to exhale.  “We’ll make all the necessary arrangements and call you back within the next hour or so.  Thank you...Shirley.”

“It’s the least I can do.  I’ll wait for you to call back with the instructions.”