The old guy looked amused, “So, you didn’t cheat on her with the, um—let’s just say that she called the other woman a witch with a capital B.”
“Yeah, but my girl would have said the B-word, right?” Drew was still smiling.
“Yeah,” the old guy admitted. “She sure liked swear words, your girl. Listen, if I tell you her address, do you promise to treat her right? I liked Miss Karlie. She was a sweet young woman with some rotten luck.”
Drew’s smile faded. “I promise you, Sir, I love that woman with my whole heart. I plan on taking care of her for the rest of my life.” The old guy nodded at Drew and motioned for him to follow him into the office. Drew’s heart skipped a beat knowing that he was one step closer to Karlie. He prayed she hadn’t run too far because he wanted to get to her as soon as possible.
∞
Karlie was having another bad day. She woke up and was too sick to even get out of bed, again. She was hoping that thismorning sickness would start to fade since she was starting her second trimester and thought she was almost out of the woods. This baby had other ideas, most of which had to do with being difficult. She had been sick in the morning, noon, and night. She talked to her dad a few times, and he begged her to talk to Drew. Apparently, Drew was being quite persistent about trying to find her. He was hanging around, waiting for her dad to go anywhere. Drew followed him to see if it would lead him to Karlie, and her dad was pretty angry about being stalked. The whole scene just made her giggle—Drew stalking her dad was pretty damn funny. She was starting to believe that maybe she did need to just sit down with Drew and get it all out, letting the chips fall where they may. She needed to be an adult and accept his relationship with Lisa, although her dad was pretty sure that there was no relationship between the two. She just couldn’t get her hopes up. What if her dad was wrong? She couldn’t go through more weeks of crying herself to sleep. Heck, she couldn’t wear eye makeup for two weeks after she left Alabama. All she could do was cry and eat. God, she missed eating. She called her doctor, and he told her that morning sickness was normal. She just had to keep down a little food and some liquids, so she didn’t dehydrate. Yeah, easier said than done!
So far, she had spent the past two days in a constant holding pattern between the bed and the toilet. She probably reeked, and she knew she looked like death. She worried obsessively about the baby—what if she wasn’t getting enough food? Karlie hadn’t found out the sex of the baby, but she just had a feeling that it was a girl. Her doctor told her that pregnant women usually had pretty good instincts about guessing the sex of their baby. She would love a little girl—she wanted her daughter to look just like her daddy with his beautiful green eyes and brown hair. She had dreams at night about the baby, and she looked so muchlike Drew that it made her heart hurt. Her dreams haunted her, making her ache for Drew—his touch, his kiss. She was afraid that she would forget him, forget what they shared. She closed her eyes, crying, trying to picture his face, and she let the darkness envelope her.
∞
She must have fallen asleep because she was startled awake by a pounding at her door. She jumped up and suddenly felt nauseous, bending over to hold her belly. She was just wearing a pair of panties and one of Drew’s old T-shirts that she mistakenly grabbed while she was trying to run out of his house. None of her clothes fit properly. They all felt too tight and restricting, especially when she felt sick or was trying to sleep. And truthfully, she liked having a piece of Drew. She slowly made her way to the door and yelled, “Who’s there?” No answer. With no peephole, there was no way she was opening her door. So, she tried yelling again.
“Karlie?” the muffled response told her that the person on the other side of the door at least knew who she was. The only people who knew where she lived were her dad and a few people from the new office where she worked. She told them that she was sick with the stomach virus again and needed a few days off, so it must be her dad. She slowly pulled open her door, too sick to move quickly, and found Drew standing in her doorway, and he looked pissed. Why the hell was he standing in her door, looking at her like she had been the one who cheated?
“Drew—what are you doing here?” She could barely stand up, and her voice was hoarse from vomiting for two days straight. Drew’s eyes widened, and he rushed to help hold her up. It was agood thing, too, because she felt so light-headed, she knew that she was about to hit the floor.
“Baby,” he whispered, “tell me what’s wrong. Are you sick?” She tried to shake her head, to tell him that it was the baby, but her world went dark again before she could explain.
Chapter Ten
“Fuck,” Drew swore. He was holding her, and she just passed out in his arms. She was barely wearing anything, just his T-shirt and her panties. He lifted her into his arms and turned to search for her bedroom. The place was so small, he barely had enough room to move both of them through her hallway. How the hell did she manage to find the worst places in town to stay in? He gently put her on her bed and pulled out his cell phone. He started to search for the nearest hospital to take her to. She looked so pale, so weak. He could tell by the stench in the place that she had been sick. God, here she was sick as a dog and no one to take care of her. That was supposed to be his job. He found the address of the local hospital and wrapped her in her blanket to carry her out to his truck.
When they pulled up to the ER entrance, he double-parked and carried her into the nurse’s station. “Can you help me, please? My girlfriend just passed out. She’s been out for about ten minutes. Please, I don’t know what’s wrong with her.” He was begging for anyone behind the desk, three nurses looked up at him—smiling. He didn’t have time for smiling. He growledimpatiently, causing the nurse standing closest to him to jump.
“Sure, why don’t you put her in that wheelchair over there, and we’ll take care of her.” The nurse looked back at her computer screen.
“Not a chance,” he growled, “she needs a bed, she’s been sick. I think it may be the flu.” Karlie started to come to, saying his name.
“Yeah, baby, I’m right here,” he said, kissing her forehead.
“No,” she swatted him away, “I smell bad,” she complained, making him smile.
“Yeah, you kind of do, but hell if that’s gonna stop me from kissing you,” Drew said. She opened her eyes a little more and seemed to realize that she wasn’t in her place. She tried to squirm out of his arms, confused.
“Where are we? What are we doing here—at the hospital?” she squeaked. She was looking around frantically.
“You passed out, baby. You were out for a good ten minutes, so I brought you here,” he explained.
Karlie squirmed, trying to get free. “Put me down, I’m fine.”
“People who are fine don’t pass out, honey. We’re going to get you checked out and then you and I are going to have a nice long chat,” he wrinkled his nose, “and a shower.”
She slapped at him, “If you just put me down, you wouldn’t have to smell me.” He laughed and kissed her mouth. God, he missed her sassy, kissable mouth. He missed everything about her.
“Why am I wearing my blanket?” she asked, cocking an eyebrow at him.
“Because, when you answered your door, you were only wearing panties and my t-shirt.” He bobbed his eyebrows up and down, making her smile. Even the three nurses, who had been listening to their conversation, had laughed and collectively sighed.
“So, ladies—who can help me? Miss Angel needs a bed,” he said.
“And a shower,” Karlie cut in.
“That will come later, baby. Right now, we need to make sure you’re okay,” Drew insisted.
