Chapter Nine
When I came off stage after our set, I was a sweaty, exhausted mess. Peering around the back stage room, I searched for Abby, but I couldn’t find her anywhere. During our duets, something had been off with her, and I was worried. “She went on to the bus after our show. She wasn’t feeling well,” Gabe informed me.
Icy apprehension ricocheted through me. Abby wasn’t one to ever complain, so the very fact she had gone to lie down meant there was something wrong. “Oh okay,” I mumbled, raking a shaky hand through my hair.
When a roadie thrust a clean shirt and bottle of water at me, I shook my head. “Thanks man, but I’ll grab something on the bus. I wanna check on Abby.”
The roadie nodded as I brushed past him out the door. “Wait up, Jake,” Perry, our bus driver said. I slowed my fast pace as he jogged up to catch me. “Figured I better come with ya since Jody locked her in.”
I was glad Perry didn’t give me any shit about starting out without a body guard. As I eyed the bus in the distance, I was surprised to see there weren’t any lights on. A feeling of dread entered the pit of my stomach, and I couldn’t help breaking into a run. When I reached the bus, Perry was right at my side. Once he unlocked the door, I pounded up the stairs. As I gazed wildly around the living area, my instincts had been spot-on because something didn’t feel right. “Abby?” I called.
When she didn’t answer, I started down the aisle. My shoe hit something firm in the middle of the aisle floor. I jerked my gaze down, and my world to shudder to a stop. Abby lay crumpled in a heap. I dropped to my knees at her side. “Abby?” After I pulled her into my arms, I patted her face several times, but she didn’t open her eyes.
“Call 911!” I shouted at Perry.
He ripped his phone out his pocket and was dialing within an instant. My wild gaze took in Abby’s unconscious form. At the sight of the blood on her thighs, my heart shuddered to a stop. “Oh, God. No.” I rubbed Abby’s arms and gently shook her shoulders. “Angel, please wake up. Please…don’t leave me.”
The piercing wail of the on-site ambulance filled my ears as did the glaring red and white lights. The next few seconds seemed to crawl by in a painful haze. As I cradled Abby in my arms, loud voices came from the front of the bus. The paramedics shoved me to the side as they started working on Abby. I barely felt Perry lifting me up and pulling me out of the bus. He dragged me down the stairs to where my bandmates stood.
“What’s happened?” Brayden demanded.
“I dunno,” I murmured absently, staring at the pavement.
Perry, whose arm around me was probably the only reason why I was still standing, spoke up. “She was unconscious on the floor when we got there. There was…blood.”
A feminine gasp caused met to raise my head. Mia stood beside AJ with Bella on her hip. “You need to tell them that she’s been experiencing lower abdominal pain, right flank, the last few days.”
“Could it be her appendix?” Rhys questioned.
Mia shook her head. “Not if she’s hemorrhaging. It sounds like something reproductive like a…” Her eyes widened, and she pinched her lips shut.
“Like a what?” I demanded.
“A miscarriage,” she replied in a whisper.
I sagged against Perry. How could Abby be pregnant? She was on the pill, and most mornings, I saw her take it. “No method is one hundred percent,” Mia said softly, as if she were reading my mind.
It was then the paramedics brought the stretcher down the bus steps, which was no easy feat. Even in the dim lights from the arena, Abby’s face appeared ghostly pale. Without a thought, I raced to her side. “Is she…” My voice choked off. I couldn’t even form the words I feared so much.
“No sir. She’s stable. Her vitals are strong, but we need to get her to the hospital for some scans to see what’s causing the bleeding.”
“Can I ride along with you?”
“Sure,” the paramedic replied.
His partner hurried to the cab of the ambulance and cranked up. I glanced back at the others. “Go on. We’ll be right behind you,” AJ said, and Brayden and Rhys nodded.
“Thanks,” I murmured, before trailing behind Abby’s stretcher. Once she was loaded inside, I hopped in and slid across the bench to sit beside her. I grabbed her hand, the one with her glittering diamond engagement ring and platinum wedding band, and squeezed it in mine. “I’m right here, Angel. I’m not going anywhere.”
For the first time, I noticed she had a reaction, even though it was just her forehead crinkling. When he pressed on Abby’s stomach, she shrieked and tried to turn away. “Stop it! You’re hurting her,” I cried, trying to push him away.
“Sir, I have to check your wife’s injuries. If you don’t stop, we’ll have to restrain you, so you don’t prevent us from doing our job.”
With a defeated wail, I buried my face in my hands. If I could have, I would have plugged my fingers in my ears just like a child, so I didn’t have to hear Abby’s cries. When I glanced up again, she had quieted, and I saw the paramedic tossing a hypodermic into the medical waste bin. “Just something to help ease her pain.”
“Thank you.” I once again took Abby’s hand in mine. I brought it to my lips and kissed it gently. The rest of the way to the hospital, I spoke softly to her in between fielding a barrage of questions from one of the paramedics. With the drugs in her system, she rested easily on the stretcher.
I didn’t know where we were, least of all which hospital they were taking her to. I found out soon enough it was St. Augustine Memorial. When the ambulance doors flung open, a doctor and a nurse were already there, waiting on us. I don’t know if it was standard protocol or if it was because Abby was famous.
After they took Abby from the ambulance, I trailed along beside her into the emergency room. When I started into her room, a tall nurse with auburn hair stopped me. “Sir, I’m going to have to ask you go out to the waiting room, so we can ascertain your wife’s condition. We’ll come and get you when we know more.”
I shuddered as I felt a horrible sense of Déjà vu coming over me from the last time I’d been in this position. I remembered that horrible night when Bree, an ex-groupie of mine, in a jealous rage had almost killed Abby. She had been beaten so severely it had taken weeks for her to recover.
Now we were back almost in the same situation—a strange hospital, Abby being worked on by doctors and nurses, and me alone in the waiting room, wondering if the woman I loved more than anyone else on the earth was going to be taken from me.
AJ and Mia suddenly appeared, followed by Brayden and Rhys. AJ sat on one side of me while Mia sat on the other. I don’t know how much time went by as I sat there staring into space, tuning out all the conversation around me. It seemed like an eternity before a middle-aged, male doctor in a white lab coat appeared.
“Are you Jake Slater?”
“Yes, I am.”
“I’m Dr. Miller. I’m the physician assigned to your wife’s case.”
I swallowed hard. “How is Abby?”
“She’s being prepped for emergency surgery.”
“W-What?” I demanded, my heart shuddering to a stop before restarting.
“After an ultrasound and CT-scan, we discovered that Mrs. Slater had a large ovarian cyst rupture. This caused the hemorrhaging that she experienced.”
“So you’re going to operate on her to stop the bleeding?”
“Yes, but we will also need to remove her ovary and fallopian tube.”
“Oh…f*ck. But why?”
“It seems that during the growth of the cyst, it caused torsion or twisting with the ovary. That, along with the rupture, caused too much damage to the ovary and fallopian tube. We will also remove her appendix while we’re in there as it has also suffered damage.”
In the past, I had kept my knowledge of the female reproductive system to an as needs to know basis. That was one of the reasons I wasn’t entirely clear what the doctor was trying to tell me. I did know that whatever they were taking out was part of what made babies. That thought alone caused a deep ache to burn through my chest.
“After this surgery, can Abby…can she still have a baby?” I croaked.
“Yes, the left ovary and left fallopian tube are not damaged. Usually, the remaining ovary will compensate for the lost one. It will depend on if there is any further damage from the hemorrhaging. Although she is young and healthy and could conceive on her own, I wouldn’t rule out the use of IUI or IVF in the future to help matters along.”
“I see,” I murmured. Oh, f*cking hell. My poor Angel…if only I had gotten to her quicker, maybe there would have been less damage.
“You and your family will want to go on up to the surgical floor waiting room. As soon as she is in recovery, a doctor will come out and tell you how the surgery went.”
Once Dr. Miller left, the adrenaline in me depleted. My muscles felt rubbery, and they wouldn’t support my weight. I collapsed back into my seat and buried my head in my hands. I shuddered at the smell of blood of my hands. Abby’s blood.
Oh God, Abby was going into emergency surgery…she might not be able to have children like we planned. It was all too much, and I moaned in agony.
At the feel of Mia’s hand on my back, I tensed. I didn’t want her words of sympathy, nor did I want her comfort. I just wanted to be alone, so that I could somehow muster the strength to enable me to put on a brave face for Abby.
Mia soft voice came close to my ear. “Jake, I’m so, so sorry.”
Twisting my shoulders, I slung her hand off me. “Just leave me alone.”
“Hey man, I know you’re hurting, but the last thing you need to do is to shut down. It isn’t good for you and it isn’t good for Abby,” AJ said.
I jerked my head up to glare him. “Don’t you dare try to tell me what’s good for Abby. I’m her husband. I know better than anyone what she needs. As hard as it’s going to be, I know I have to be strong for her right now because I know the minute she comes out of surgery and hears this news, she’s going to fall apart. She’s wanted a baby with me practically since the moment we met. And now I have to go in there and try to pretend that everything is all right when she may never get what she wanted.”
Mia reached over and took my hand in hers. “I know the prognosis isn’t the best in the world, but the doctor didn’t say Abby couldn’t have children.”
“What do you two know about anything? You weren’t even trying and bam, you got pregnant. Hell, neither of you even wanted kids. There’s nothing Abby wants more than to have a baby, and now that’s going to be a f*cking struggle for her.”
AJ narrowed his eyes at me. “F*ck you, man. Just because Bella wasn’t planned, it doesn’t mean we love her any less or that we didn’t want her. Last time I checked, there isn’t some pissing contest about who deserves what.”
I snorted contemptuously. “Obviously because Abby sure as hell deserves a baby more than some whore who got knocked up!”
The moment the words left my lips I instantly regretted them and wished I could take them back. I grimaced when Mia gasped in horror while wounded tears welled in her dark eyes. Before I could say I was sorry, AJ’s fist cracked into my jaw, sending me spiraling backwards. It had been a long time since I’d felt the power of AJ’s right hook, but damn if he still didn’t have it.
But he didn’t stop with just a punch. He popped me in the abdomen, too. Stars flashed before my eyes as Brayden and Rhys scrambled to pull AJ away from me.
“AJ, stop!” Brayden cried.
As I rubbed my aching jaw and clutched my stomach, AJ shoved Brayden off him. His face was blood-red, and his eyes were wild with fury. “He called my wife a whore! He’s lucky I don’t break his f*cking neck!”
“Leave him alone, Bray,” I muttered as I pulled myself to my feet. I staggered away from the group, making my way to the elevators. I wasn’t sure where in the hell I was going. I just knew I couldn’t stay here anymore. Even I if I said I was sorry, it was going to take some time to get AJ to cool off. But, I sure as hell felt bad for what I had said to Mia.
I stumbled onto the elevator going down, which I felt made a hell of a lot of sense considering my mood. Digging in my pocket, I pulled out my phone and proceeded to make the call I was dreading. I didn’t know if in their shock, Gabe and Eli had managed to call their parents. Laura, Abby’s mother, answered on the first ring. “Jake, is something wrong? We have some missed calls from Eli.” I tried as best I could to explain what was going on.
As she burst into tears, I cringed. “We’ll be on the next plane out. If we don’t make it before she comes out of surgery, please tell her how much we love her, and we’re trying to get there to be with her.”
“I will.”
After I hung up, I wandered around the lobby. At the sight of the chapel, I dipped inside. St. Augustine’s wasn’t big on religious diversity or having an interfaith chapel. Instead, votive candles flickered on a table underneath a lit cross.
I eased down on one of the back benches. I didn’t know exactly what I was doing here. I hadn’t come here for soul searching or to unburden myself. I just wanted to escape. Heaving a frustrated sigh, I turned and then lay down. I stared up at the ceiling, trying to sort through the emotional shit-storm that raged within me. I don’t know how long I lay there, ignoring the beeps and pings of my phone. Minutes. Hours. An eternity seemed to go by.
My ears perked up at the sound of someone coming in the door. As they hurried past me to the altar, I craned my head back to look at them. It was Mia. When her back was to me, I rose up on the bench, eying her movements. She knelt before the altar and made the sign of the cross. Taking a candle, she bowed her head. “Heavenly Father and Holy Mother, please watch over Abby. Protect her through the surgery and carry her through the recovery. Most of all, bless her and her womb.” A flicker a light came from the wick as the candle burning for Abby caught light. I expected her to turn around then, but instead, she took another candle. “And please comfort and protect Jake.”
Her words had the same effect as AJ punching me, except this time I felt it in my chest, rather than my chin. “I don’t deserve that,” I croaked.
At the sound of my voice, Mia jumped and whirled around. Her face flushed. “I-I didn’t know you were here.”
“Yeah, I thought it was better if I laid low until after the surgery was over.”
Mia chewed her bottom lip before coming over to sit down beside me. An uncomfortable silence hung around us for a few seconds. Finally, she broke it. “I’m sorry AJ hit you.”
I shook my head. “Don’t be. I’m sure as hell not. I deserved it. I said some really horrible shit to you two.” I gazed into her widened, dark eyes. “I’m really, really sorry, Mia. That was a horrible thing to say to you. You know I don’t, and have never thought of you as a whore. I have no idea why I said that. More than anything, you’re an amazing wife and mother.” I brushed my hand over my face. “God, I don’t know what came over me.”
Mia exhaled the breath I suppose she had been holding. “You were in pain. And like a wounded animal, you struck out at those who were just trying to help you.”
Tears stung my eyes. “Abby would be f*cking floored at what I said. All I do is disappoint her.” I furiously shook my head. “I’m no good for her.”
Reaching over, Mia took my hand in hers and squeezed. “That’s not true, Jake. Abby loves you with all her heart and soul.”
“Sometimes I think I’m a curse for her.”
“What?”
“She was almost beaten to death because of me and now f*cking this happens.”
“Oh Jake, you’re not a curse. You love Abby and would never do anything to hurt her. She knows that too.” When I opened my mouth to protest, Mia brought her hands to my lips to silence me. “The last thing Abby would ever want is for you to be thinking like you are. Bad things happen to good people every single day. What happened with the cyst happens to thousands and thousands of women. You had absolutely nothing to do with it. Abby told me she’d had cysts before. She could have had it checked out when she first started having pains, but she didn’t. Even so, she’s not to blame either. Shit just happens.”
With a defeated sigh, I let my head fall back. Once again, I found myself staring up at the ceiling. “You’re right.”
“Of course I am.”
When I jerked my head to gaze at her, Mia smiled. I laughed and shook my head. “You really are the perfect match for AJ.”
At my words, her smile grew even wider. “Thank you. I love him with all my heart.”
“I can tell. I’m glad he found you.”
“See, there’s the sweet Jake I’m used to.”
My brows shot up. “You really think I’m sweet?”
“Most of the time, yes. You can also be an arrogant, self-absorbed dick sometimes, but for the most part, you’re pretty sweet.”
I laughed at her honesty. “Yeah, you’re right.”
“Most of all, you’re a caring and devoted husband. Anyone can see that. And one day, you’ll be a wonderful father.”
All the fears about becoming a father, letting my future children down, and cheating on Abby raged in my chest, and I drew a ragged breath. “I hope so.”
Mia’s phone dinged in her pocket. “Sorry, I need to check this. I left Bella with Frank.”
I chuckled. “She’ll be fine. He’ll spoil her rotten by giving her too much sugar and not putting her to bed.”
She smiled as she peeked at her phone. “It’s AJ. He wondered where I was. They’re upstairs in the surgical waiting room.” She rose up and tucked her phone back in her jean’s pocket. Then she held out her hand. “Come on. Let’s go.”
I grimaced. “I dunno if that is such a good idea.”
“You don’t need to be alone right now, Jake. We’re your family.” When I started to protest, she shook her head. “AJ loves you. He’s had some time to cool down. Just tell him you’re sorry, and I’m sure everything will be fine.”
“I hope you’re right.”
She cocked her head at me and smiled. “Don’t you know by now that we Runaway Train women are always right?”
I laughed. “Yeah, I think I do.” I rose off the bench and then followed her out the door to the elevators. When we walked through the door of the surgical waiting room, AJ’s eyes bulged at the sight of us. He glanced from me to Mia and threw her a questioning glance.
“Everything is fine,” she assured him.
While he nodded his head, he still stood up and came over to wrap his arm around Mia’s waist protectively. After raking my hand through my hair, I sighed. “Sorry, man. What I said was so f*cking wrong. I’ve apologized to Mia, and she accepted it. I hope you can, too.”
His dark brows furrowed while he surveyed my words. “Don’t ever go there again. I don’t care what’s going on in your life—I’ll end you, I swear.”
“If I ever do such a douche thing again, you have my permission.” I took a tentative step forward. “You’re my best friend in the whole world. I never, ever want to hurt you or anyone you love. Okay?”
“Okay,” he said. With a tentative smile, he gave me a hug.
“Mr. Slater?” a voice questioned.
AJ released me, so I could whirl around. I stared questioningly at the young male doctor in the doorway. “Yeah?” I croaked, my heart shuddering to a stop.
He smiled. “Your wife came through the surgery just fine. We were able to stop the hemorrhaging, and the removal of the tube and ovary went well. She’s in recovery, and you can come and see her in a few minutes.”
I closed my eyes and staggered back until AJ caught me. “Thank God,” I murmured. Once I could breathe regularly again, I pulled away from AJ. I stared around the group of my band mates and Abby’s brothers. “Thank you all for being here. For loving me and Abby so much.” I couldn’t fight the tears anymore, and I broke down. AJ’s arms came around me as well as Brayden and Rhys’s. They didn’t tell me to man-up or call me out for being a pansy. Instead, they just patted my back, spoke soothingly to me, in an acceptable man-way, and let me cry. We truly were brothers in that moment.
After I’d pulled myself together, a nurse came to take me to Abby. I followed her back through the maze of rooms to where Abby was. Her eyes were closed, and her face was as pale as the white sheet she had drawn to her chest. I eased down in the chair beside her and took her hand. “Angel?”
Her eyelids fluttered as she tried to wake up. “I’m right here, babe.” I squeezed her hand reassuringly.
She stared up at the ceiling for a moment before her head slowly turned to look at me. A smile formed on her lips. “Hey.”
The sweet sound of her voice sent warmth through my chest. I leaned in to kiss her hand. “Hey, yourself.”
Her gaze swept around the room, taking in the machines, and she shuddered. “Am I okay?”
“Yeah, you are now.”
My words didn’t console her. Her lip trembled as tears pooled in her eyes. “Can I still…”
I was sure she didn’t know much of what had happened, but it wasn’t hard to believe her first thoughts would be to worry about having a child. “Yes, you can. And we will someday, I promise.”
“Sooner than later?” she whispered.
In my heart of hearts, regardless of what had just happened tonight, I still wasn’t ready. But I knew I would be a real bastard to say that while Abby lay recovering from major surgery. So, I forced a reassuring smile to my lips. “Of course, Angel. As soon as the doctor says you’re ready.”
The lie left a bitter taste in my mouth, but I wouldn’t have taken anything for the beaming smile that lit up Abby’s face. I dreaded the day that I had to disappoint her again.