Fighting for Love (30 page)

I didn’t know if I could tell him what happened without breaking down, so I shook my head and reached for the coffee.

“No worries, son,” he said, glancing around the room. A small smile tilted up his lips when his gaze landed on something in the corner; it was a coat rack in the shape of a palm tree. The whole room was decorated in nothing but palm trees and beach themes.

“You know, I really need to get Evie to do something else to this room. I love her to death, but the palm trees have to go. When you get married one day you’ll understand. For some reason, I can never tell that woman no.”

I was like that with Shelby. Whatever she wanted, I would’ve given her just to see a smile on her face. Her only problem was that she never asked anything of me until …

Yesterday.

She asked me not to leave her and I did, even though in my heart it was the last thing I wanted to do. I guess that was the same way she felt when she left me. It was one of the hardest things I’d ever had to do.

“Carter,” Evie called from downstairs, “your cell phone is ringing.”

Carter patted me on the knee and got to his feet. “Whatever’s going on I know you’ll do the right thing, you always do. Now get dressed and meet me downstairs. We’ll head to the gym and get you all warmed up for the fight tonight.”

My head wasn’t even in the fight, it was somewhere else. Once Carter walked out and shut the door, I changed into a pair of black and white track pants and a blue T-shirt. Maybe training would get my mind in the right place. After straightening up the bed, I grabbed my bag and helmet and rushed downstairs to the kitchen where Carter stood talking on his phone with a grief-stricken look on his face.

“Yes, I’ll be sure to let him know. Thanks, Garrett. I’m sure he’ll be grateful for that,” he said into the phone, staring straight at me.

Grabbing a few pieces of bacon, I stuffed them into my mouth, narrowing my gaze at Carter and hoping to get an idea of what was going on. “What’s going on? What did Garrett want?” I asked as soon as he hung up.

Carter furrowed his brows and pursed his lips, trepidation written all over his face. “When was the last time you talked to Shelby?” he inquired curiously.

Immediately, I knew something was wrong by the tension in his tone. “Yesterday, right after lunch, why?”

Closing his eyes, Carter sighed and hung his head. “Oh, son, I don’t know how to tell you this,” he started, “but Garrett found Shelby unconscious in your driveway last night, bleeding from the head. She’s in the hospital and she’s not waking up.”

I charged toward him, wide-eyed and frantic. “What happened?” I shouted desperately.

“Well, Garrett said he was stopping by to show you something he knew you’d want to see, and when he pulled up he saw Shelby in the driveway. He called an ambulance and rode with her to the hospital. After they examined her and the bruises on her body, they decided it looks like she blacked out and fell over, hitting her head when she went down. Garrett said he tried calling you, but apparently, you have your phone off.”

“Goddammit,” I roared, taking off for the front door, “which hospital?”

“She was at Santa Rosa Memorial Hospital, but they’re transferring her to UC Davis Medical Center. She’s on her way there now.” Her mother worked at UC Davis, so it was probably her that had Shelby transferred so she could care for her.

I could barely think for the pounding in my ears and my racing heart. If anything were to happen to her I’d never forgive myself for leaving. I knew I should’ve stayed. My gut instinct told me I should’ve stayed, but I was too pissed to listen.

If I thought what Shelby told me yesterday was the worst thing I would ever hear, I was mistaken. The knowledge of losing a child I didn’t know existed cut deep into my soul, but knowing that I could lose Shelby forever was the worst fear imaginable. Slamming on my helmet, I quickly strapped it on and hopped on my bike. It was over an hour and a half ride from where I was at, but I planned on making it in an hour.

I just prayed I didn’t run into any cops.

SHELBY HAD ONLY ARRIVED ABOUT
thirty minutes before I did, but I wasn’t the only one waiting on her. Lexi and Hayley were sitting in the waiting room with their eyes downcast when I walked in the room. Hayley kept her gaze down, but Lexi looked up and immediately burst out crying.

“This is all my fault,” she wailed. “None of this would’ve happened if I’d keep my mouth shut.”

“If anything, it’s your sister’s fault,” I grumbled. “Apparently, she’s the one who should’ve kept her fucking mouth shut.” Hayley winced, but I didn’t give a damn. Shelby had her chance with Hayley and now it was my turn. “Let me guess, Hayley, so you were the one who told Kyle about mine and Shelby’s baby? Do you even know the whole story? I sure hope not, because if you did that would probably make you the most cold-hearted, inconsiderate bitch I know. ”

Hayley nodded. “I deserve that,” she whispered. “I didn’t know the whole story until yesterday, but I knew enough that I told Kyle so he could exploit it. You have no idea how sorry I am.”

“That’s enough,” Lexi commanded, glaring at me. “We need to focus on Shelby right now. What I want to know is why she was in
your
driveway and close to being dead by the time Garrett found her? Has she not suffered enough? You weren’t there with her after everything happened … Jace and I were.”

“Lexi,” Hayley murmured, shaking her head, “calm down.”

“No,” she backfired, turning her glare to her sister. “He needs to know everything, from the beginning.” Now it was my turn to hang my head in shame.

She was right, I wasn’t there, and now I was going to pay the consequences. Shelby wouldn’t have been in the hospital if I was there to catch her when she fell. Getting up from her seat, Lexi marched over to me. “Obviously, Shelby didn’t get her point across because you still left. Well, let’s see if I can enlighten you a bit. Shelby’s my best friend and I’m not going to see her suffer anymore. It’s been too long.”

She pulled up a chair and sat in it right in front of me so I’d have no choice but to look at her. Her gaze was fierce, and the fire in her eyes reminded me so much of Shelby, who tended to bring that out in the people she was around. It was one of the things I loved about her because she brought out the same passion in me.

“The whole time Shelby was pregnant she was so happy, full of life, you know? There wasn’t a day that went by when she didn’t talk about you to that baby. She would tell her how she hoped that she’d get your green eyes and your smile. Every single night I’d listen to Shelby read Madelyn stories and sing her songs; I even sang to her as well. That little girl was a fighter, and even when the odds were against her she held on until her mother got to hold her. I had never seen Shelby so heartbroken in my life.”

Lexi’s chin trembled and I could tell she was on the edge of breaking down—hell, I was trying my best to keep it together—but she continued, “I don’t know how much Shelby got to tell you before you freaked out on her and left, but we had a service for Madelyn and had her buried. Shelby spent a lot of time out there at the beginning, but it got to be too much for her. She blacked out just like this time, but thankfully, Jace was with her when it happened. Her mother made him put Valium’s in her smoothies just so she wouldn’t have panic attacks.”

“I didn’t know all of that,” I said, hanging my head. “It appears that there’s a lot I don’t know.”

She nodded. “Exactly, and that’s why I’m only going to say this one time. I’m sorry that she kept the baby a secret from you, and trust me, it breaks my heart that you had to find out this way, but if you think her lying to you was bad, it nowhere near compares to the shit she went through. Even when she saw you with other women, which by the way tore her apart, she still loved you. She’s always loved just you.”

And I always loved just her
, I wanted to say.

The door to the waiting room opened, and immediately I got to my feet as in walked Shelby’s mother, Dr. Carol Dawson, who happened to be one of the best doctors at UC Davis. Her hair was the same chestnut brown as Shelby’s, but Shelby got her brown eyes from her father. Carol always had the kindest, pale blue eyes of anyone I’d ever known. However, today they were tired and worn down, her hunter green hospital scrubs wrinkled and loose on her small frame. She’d lost weight over the years, probably from working long hours like she did when I was dating Shelby.

“Carol,” Lexi sobbed, pushing out of her chair. She ran up to Shelby’s mother and flung her arms around her. “What’s going on? How is she?”

Carol squeezed her tight and smiled sadly at me over her shoulder. “She’s going to be fine. We’ve been through this before, remember? She’ll pull through when she’s ready, but last time we didn’t have the head injury to contend with.”

“Did she need a transfusion from all the blood she lost?” Lexi asked.

Carol nodded and hooked a glance toward Hayley. “Did Hayley not tell you? While you were out trying to get a hold of Jace, Hayley heard me talking to the nurse and offered up her blood for the transfusion. Once we confirmed that she was a match it was a go.”

I had to admit it took a lot of guts for Hayley to be around me right now, especially after what she did to Shelby, but in my eyes it was going to take a lot more than donating blood to find redemption.

“When can we see her?” Lexi asked.

Carol let Lexi go and sighed. “You can see her now if you like. She’s not awake, but talking to her will help. I’m sure she’d like to know you’re here.”

Lexi peered at me over her shoulder. “Hayley and I are going in there first,” she snapped. Hayley and Lexi both evacuated the waiting room, leaving me and Carol alone.

As soon as they were gone, she smiled. “Matt, it’s so good to see you again. I must say I hoped it was going to be under better terms. I spoke to Shelby yesterday and she was so excited to have you back. I take it you know everything now?”

“Yes, ma’am,” I said, averting my gaze. “Shelby told me yesterday. If I could turn back time I would, but I can’t. She’s not going to forgive me for leaving her when she needed me the most.”

“Not necessarily, Matt. I know you two have a lot to discuss when she comes around, but I have faith that you’ll work it out. You’ve both screwed up and made some bad choices, but you know what? We’re only human. It’ll all work out in the end,” she vowed wholeheartedly.

Turning on her heel, Carol reached for the handle on the door and opened it wide. Before she could walk out, I stopped her by asking, “How do you know it’ll all work out?”

Slowly, she turned around and smiled at me one last time. “I know this because I know my own daughter, Matt. She hasn’t let you go for the past ten years. I know she’s not going to let you go now.”

With those last words, she disappeared down the hall. I was left alone with nothing but silence in the vacant waiting room.

I’m way past ready to see Shelby.

FOR OVER AN HOUR I
waited for Hayley and Lexi to get done with their visit so I could go in and see Shelby. During that time both Garrett and Carter called, asking about the fight in Stockton and if I was going. They weren’t happy when I chose to forfeit, but I refused to leave Shelby for even a moment. If she needed me, I wanted to be there.

Lexi opened the waiting room door and poked her head in. “It’s your turn,” she noted dryly. “Hayley and I are going to leave for a while and get some rest, but we’ll be back later.”

“I’ll be here,” I told her as I waltzed past. I didn’t want to waste another moment I could be spending with Shelby.

Her room was right across the hall, so I marched over and opened the door as quietly as I could, letting it shut silently. She lay motionless in the bed except for her chest rising and falling with her breaths. She had a white bandage around her head that almost matched the color of her skin. Never had I seen her so pale and lifeless.

Taking a seat in the chair beside her bed, I gently picked up her hand and held it in mine. When she didn’t hold it back, I finally broke down and cried. “Angel, please wake up. I’m so fucking sorry for leaving you when you needed me. I promise I’ll do anything to make it up to you if you just come back to me. Please, Shelby. We owe this to ourselves … to our daughter.”

All I got was nothing as I waited for a sign to show that she heard me. The hours crept by and I stayed there; waiting and holding her hand in mine, refusing to let go. I wasn’t going to leave until she woke up, and if it took fifteen days so be it.

I had to prove to her that I would stay by her side no matter what.

“HEY, MATT, WAKE UP,” A
voice whispered with a tap on my shoulder. It was Jace.

With my eyes still closed, I replied groggily, “I am awake. I just haven’t opened my eyes yet.” The second I tried to move my muscles, a fiery cramp ran up from my lower back all the way to my neck. I should’ve slept on the damn floor, at least that way my whole body wouldn’t be on fire and stiff.

Jace chuckled quietly. “Honestly, I don’t see how you slept in that chair. I wouldn’t be able to walk.”