Cherished (Wanted #4)(44)
Author: Kelly Elliott

Ellie turned and looked at Ari. She looked back at me and nodded her head. I quickly walked to the driver’s side of my car and got in. I looked at Jessie, who looked scared to death.

“Heather…what’s wrong? Am I going to lose the baby?” She began to cry.

“No, you’re not.” I took off and headed to the hospital.

The whole way, I prayed to God that I hadn’t just lied to Jessie.

I burst through the hospital doors and began looking around for one of the girls. Jeff was right behind me. We had stopped at Garrett and Emma’s place to drop off Luke and Grace, and then we’d headed straight to the hospital.

My hands were shaking, and I didn’t see Ari, Ellie, or Heather anywhere. I walked up to the nurses’ station. I was just about to ask for information when I heard Heather’s voice.

“Scott.”

I turned and looked at her. I tried to read her face for any signs. I was so scared that Jessie had lost the baby. Heather smiled that sweet smile of hers and walked up to me.

“She’s fine,” Heather said.

“The baby?” I felt tears building in my eyes.

“The baby is fine also.”

I let out the breath I had been holding and collapsed into Heather’s arms. “Oh, thank God. Oh, thank you, God.”

Heather pulled back and looked at me. “She just had some cramping, which is normal.”

I looked at Heather, confused. “Cramping?”

She nodded her head. “Just think of it as her body’s way of trying to get ready for what all is about to happen. Her hormones are in overdrive, and then add in the stress of everything on top of that. She just needs to try to de-stress.”

My face fell, and my knees felt weak. I caused this…oh my god.

Heather must have read my face. “You didn’t cause this, Scott. Please, just calm down, and try to relax before you go in the room. Ellie, Ari, and Sharon are in there.”

I nodded and took a few deep breaths. “Where is she?”

“Come on, I’ll take you to her room. They aren’t planning on keeping her in the hospital, but they wanted to get some fluids into her.”

I stopped outside the door. I couldn’t move. I was frozen in place. Heather took my hands in hers and smiled.

“What if she leaves me for him?” I whispered.

I saw the tears in Heather’s eyes as she shook her head.

“She won’t because she loves you so much, Scott. She. Loves. You,” Heather said, stressing each word.

“But she cares about him, Heather. How do I know she’s not going to be thinking about him, wondering what if she hadn’t gotten pregnant?”

“Oh no, Scott, don’t think that way.” Heather wiped a tear away.

I smiled and took another deep breath as I opened the door. Everyone looked up, but the only person I saw was Jessie. The moment her eyes met mine, I wanted to run to her, to grab her in my arms and tell her how much I loved her. But I couldn’t.

Sharon smiled and nodded. “Well…looks like dad is here now. Come on, girls. Let’s give them some time alone. I’ll be back, Jessie, in a few minutes. The IV drip is almost done, and then I’ll get that out of your hand. Then, we can get you ready to head home.”

As they all walked by, they each gave me a strange look.

Was that pity I saw in their eyes?

The moment the door shut, Jessie smiled at me. “I’m sorry if you were scared. The doctor said it’s normal to feel cramping, and some experience it more than others. Hopefully, it won’t last long.”

I looked at the IV bag.

“I guess they thought I was dehydrated or something,” she said with a weak smile.

I came and sat down on the bed. She reached for my hand, and when she touched me, I felt that familiar zap run through my body.

“I was so scared, Jessie. I don’t know what I would have done if…” I couldn’t even finish my sentence.

“I know. I was scared, too, but everything is okay.”

I looked her in the eyes. “It will always be in the back of my head, Jessie, and I’m always going to wonder.”

I watched as a single tear rolled down her cheek.

“I don’t love him,” she whispered.

I nodded. “Well, I guess you’ll find out soon enough.”

She looked at me, confused. “What do you mean?”

“He’s heading to Mason.”

“Who’s heading to Mason?”

“Trey,” I whispered.

“What? Why? How do you know this? Oh my god, did you ask him to come here?” She tried to sit up.

I just looked at her. “No, I didn’t fucking ask him to come here. He said he got my number from the hotel clerk, the one you borrowed the phone from to call me. He called me and said he was coming to Mason.”

She shook her head. “Why?”

I stood up and ran my hands through my hair. I walked to the window and looked out. “Because he said he loves you, and he thinks you love him, too. He’s not giving up unless he knows this is what you want.”

“Scott, you have to know I love you,” she said as her voice broke off.

I turned and smiled at her as I nodded. “I know you do, baby. I know you do. I love you, too, and I’ll do…I’ll walk away if…”

I felt a tear run down my face as her eyes widened in surprise.

“If you decide that you need time…I’ll wait for you. I’ll always wait for you.”

“Need time for what?” she asked.

“Jessie, I know you’re confused. I could tell by your reaction this morning when I went to reach out for you. You have feelings for this guy, and you need to figure out just what they are before we can even talk about our future together.”

She began shaking her head. “No…no, Scott. I don’t need to figure out anything. I know what I want and whom I want. I just need time to forget about him, and—”

I sucked in a breath of air.

“No! Wait…that’s not what I meant.”

I walked up to her, leaned down, and gently kissed her on the lips. She reached up and went to grab on to the back of my neck, but I pulled away.

“I love you, Jessie.”

She was crying, and a part of me was dying inside, knowing that I was the reason she was crying.

“I love you, too, Scott.”

Sharon walked back in the room and started to take the IV out of Jessie’s hand. Sharon began to give Jessie some paperwork on prenatal care, a prescription for prenatal vitamins, and her discharge papers.