Until You Loved Me (Silver Springs #3)(42)

“God, I hope I’m capable of being the kind of father you need,” he whispered. He’d be working blind, in a way, because he’d never had a good example. Hopefully, he’d at least know what not to do.

A thud startled him. Ellie was up again. And she wasn’t doing better. He could hear her bump into the walls as she tried to reach the bathroom. Only this time she locked the door behind her, and when she wouldn’t open it for him, he understood that all the vomiting was now coupled with diarrhea.

He paced outside, waiting, until he heard the toilet flush several times. Then he said, “You done? You okay? Can I come in now?”

No response.

“Ellie? Will you let me know you’re okay?”

Again, no response.

“Damn it, Ellie! If you don’t say something I’m going to break down this door.”

She still didn’t speak up, but he heard movement and a soft click, signifying that she’d unlocked it.

He went in and found her lying on the floor. “That’s it.” After grabbing a blanket from her bed, he wrapped her up and carried her out to her car. It wasn’t hard to find her keys; she’d left them in the front door when she got home.

“Where are we going?” she mumbled, her head lolling as he put her in the back seat. He knew it was illegal not to fasten the seat belt, but she was too sick to sit up.

“We’re done messing around here,” he replied.

“What does that mean?”

“We’re going to the hospital.”

“Don’t! Please!” She shook her head feebly. “No abortion. I told you, I’ll take care of the baby myself. This won’t change your life at all.”

He winced at the assumption but could hardly blame her when he’d acted as though he’d drag her out of the motel to a clinic. “I’m not taking you to get an abortion. I would never do that without your permission.”

“So are you going to dump me in a ditch? Because there’s no need for that, either.” She was mumbling, so some words were easier to make out than others, but he understood the gist of what she was saying. “I won’t ever contact you. And I won’t tell anyone this is your baby. I swear it. No—no reporters. No one. I did tell a few people at my work, I admit, but...but only because they were there when...when I saw you on TV. I was shocked, you know? Stunned and...and reeling.”

“Stop it. You’re not making any sense.”

“I’m not?”

She was, but he didn’t care to acknowledge that, since he didn’t like the fact that she thought he was so unhappy with the pregnancy he might want to kill her.

“I’m not going to hurt you. I’m trying to get you some help,” he said, but she didn’t believe him. She managed to scramble out and tried to run before he could start the car. That was when he knew she was no longer thinking straight. He had to get out, pick her up from the driveway when she tripped on the blanket and put her back in the car. This time he placed her in the passenger seat, where he could hang on to keep her from jumping out while he drove.





12

Ellie could hear voices—two of them, both female. They seemed to be buzzing around her like flies.

“Sakes alive, that man is gorgeous!”

“No kidding. I went weak in the knees when I walked in and saw him earlier.”

“You hadn’t heard he was here? The whole hospital’s been talking about him, even the patients.”

“I’d just come on, hadn’t heard anything. Then there he was, big as life. Imagine how shocked I was to walk in and see the starting quarterback for the Los Angeles Devils sleeping in a chair.”

“Yeah, I would’ve gone a bit weak in the knees myself. You should’ve seen how he charmed Lois to get her to arrange this private room. I’ve never seen her be so accommodating to anyone.”

“She’s a big football fan.”

“She is?”

“You didn’t know? Talks about the Dolphins all the time.”

“To be honest, I try to avoid her if I can.”

This was said in a low voice that gave Ellie a fairly good indication of how at least one of Lois’s coworkers viewed her.

“I’m glad I was there when Hudson approached her this morning, though,” the voice went on. “I thought she’d faint when he introduced himself and gave her that smile. ‘Come on, now. You gotta have somethin’,’ he said when she tried to tell him we had no more private rooms, and that was all it took. We were busy cleaning this room in an instant.”

The women laughed and one of them lifted Ellie’s arm. The rhythmic whoosh of air sounded as a blood pressure cuff tightened around Ellie’s biceps.

These women were nurses, she realized, summoning the strength to raise her eyelids so she could look around. She was in a hospital. She remembered hardly anything about the time she’d spent here so far—had no idea how long it’d been since she arrived, for instance—but she did recall the terrible plane ride from California, the jolting of the bus she’d taken to long-term parking and being sick at home.

Thank God the nausea was gone. She was only a bit groggy and weak. And her stomach felt tender from throwing up so often—

Adrenaline shot through her. The baby! Had she lost it?