Build a Love (Siren Publishing Ménage and More) (19 page)

“Do you want me to see if I can find a nice desk that will fit in that room?”

“Marcie, I love you! What would we do without you?”

“Just remember this at Christmas time and give me a fat bonus.”

“We will, promise.”

I gave her a peck on the cheek.

“Just get the removalist guys to leave the boxes from her bedroom and bathroom in our bedroom and we can sort them out. The furniture can go in the garage until we sort out what Harry wants to keep.”

Marcie took the plan and promised she would organise everything. I handed her Harry’s keys, she already had a set of ours. She had some paperwork that had to be signed and a few contracts that we had to look at. We went through everything then finally got away. We left knowing things were in her highly capable hands.

On the way to the hospital, Bryan rang the florist and arranged for some flowers to be sent to the office for Marcia to say thanks. Another reason I love that man, he thinks of the little things that I never do.

By the time we got to the hospital it was almost one o’clock.

Harry still lay in her enforced slumber, occasionally she would give a little soft groan. It broke my heart each time I thought of the pain she had endured and was still going through. Bryan and I kissed her softly and sat down. We both felt so useless. In the back of my mind, I kept thinking if we’d only got an earlier flight. Stupid, because I’d tried and there was no space.

Half an hour later, I stood and started pacing. Bryan caught my hand.

“What’s up, hon?”

“I feel so fucking useless. It shouldn’t be Harry lying there. Hasn’t she been through enough? We should’ve stopped it, we should’ve been there.”

He squeezed my hand and pulled. When I was close enough he gave me a kiss. Nothing special, just a kiss. But I knew. He felt the same way. We were both knocking ourselves about over something that we couldn’t change. There was only one consolation.

The fucker was dead!

Bryan let me stand again and looked at me.

“I agree, but hon there is something wonderful in all this fucking horror. You, Harry, me—we get to be parents soon.”

It was as if I had a switch inside my head. I got this boost of energy, this feeling of invulnerability. Of being on top of the world. He was right. We couldn’t change what had happened but we had everything to look forward to.

The day dragged on. Mid-afternoon, the doc came in.

“She seems to be responding well. We have dropped back the amount of sedation she is being given. If she continues like this then tomorrow she should wake naturally. At least that’s what we hope.”

I caught the word “hope” and panicked.

“Hope? You mean there’s a chance she won’t wake?”

“No. She’ll wake but sometimes people take longer than we anticipate.”

“Oh. That’s good then. I was worried.”

“You must realise, she had a bleed in her head. We scanned her again this morning and it’s significantly reduced. We have every confidence she will respond well.”

Around six, Bryan suggested we leave. It was obvious she wasn’t going to wake but we had noticed a few little movements in her hands and feet. Occasionally an odd grimace flitted across her face.

We went back to my folks. Mama had dinner organised. We sat and relaxed with them both until about ten, then went to bed.

* * * *

On the way to the hospital, we dropped in at Harry’s house. The place looked like a bomb had gone off. The removalists were there packing stuff into their truck. We both stood in shock in the kitchen and family rooms. There were bloodstains all over the floor and even some on the walls. No way could we let Harry see them if she decided to come back to the house for anything. Marco suggested we ring poor Marcie again. She’d get the cleaners we used to drop by once the removalists had finished. They could clean the whole house.

I wanted to check on the bookcase built. Marco wanted to get to the hospital but I reminded him it was only ten minutes out of our way, so we did.

“Harry’s going to need clothes,” Marco reminded me. While I went in to see Barry and Greg, he rummaged amongst the clothes that Harry had at our house. Marco came back with a bag and joined me in what was now the library and Harry’s office.

The guys were hard at work.

Barry and Greg were two of the best cabinetmakers we had and they hadn’t disappointed with this job. Two full floor-to-ceiling walls of built-in shelving. It looked wonderful, Harry would love it. Greg assured me they would be finish sometime tomorrow and he said they would build a ladder so she would have no problems with the top few shelves.

We left them to their work, promising an extra bonus in their pay checks this month. To be honest, I think they would have done it regardless, they were both good friends as well as work colleagues.

“I only found underwear and a pair of jeans and top for Harry. There’s nothing like a nightie.”

I laughed. “We never give her a chance to wear one. Maybe we should drop into a shop on the way and get her one so she can get out of that hospital gown thing.”

“Good idea. Won’t take us long.”

So we did a little shopping then parked at the hospital around one-thirty. We walked into Harry’s room and got a surprise.

She was awake!

Mind you, she looked terrible, but she was awake and to us she looked beautiful. There was only one drip in her arm and she wasn’t hooked up to any monitors. Her room looked a little like a florist shop. Marco and I gave her a careful kiss. Her face didn’t look quite as swollen, although it was still a spectacular colour and getting more colourful by the day.

Marco looked around.

“You sneak out and rob a flower shop while we were missing?”

She giggled then moaned.

“Don’t make me laugh, it hurts.” She tried to grin. “They keep coming. Thank you for yours. Vince and Andy must have ordered some from overseas, they sent a big bunch. Then your parents and the twins. I think your sister and a few of your cousins, too. Oh and Marcie.”

“How do you feel, beautiful?”

She tried to look cheerful but a couple of stray tears ran down her cheek.

“I can’t remember everything.”

“That’s okay, babe, the doctors told us that would probably happen. Anyway, it’s for the best.”

“I can sort of remember opening the door at home and seeing him then the next thing I can remember is waking up here today.”

Marco and I exchanged looks.

“Can you remember being in emergency?”

“Not really. It’s all kind of fuzzy. I know I was hurting bad.” She looked thoughtful then gave a tiny shrug of her shoulders. “I think I was hallucinating as well.”

“Why on earth do you think that, hon?”

She looked sheepish. “I thought…oh never mind. Tell me if the doctors said I can go home?”

Marco took her hand.

“What did you think, babe? There’s something we need to tell you.” She looked frightened and he quickly reassured that it wasn’t anything bad.

“So tell us why you think you were hallucinating.”

“You’ll think I’m crazy.”

“Hey, we already know you are—crazy for us.”

I took her other hand.

“Okay.” She took a breath. “I thought the doctor said I was pregnant.”

We just grinned at each other. I couldn’t help it, I started laughing. Each time I thought about the babies, I got this warm funny feeling all over.

“What? Why are you both grinning like Cheshire cats?”

“Because you weren’t hallucinating. You’re pregnant.”

“What! I can’t be!”

She was sort of screaming. A nurse came running in. She looked at us both and frowned.

“Ms. Kempton, are you okay? Are you in pain? You men will have to leave if you upset my patient.”

She just looked at us in shock. Marco grinned at the nurse.

“We’re sorry but she’s having trouble believing us about the babies.”

She looked at us both. She checked Harry’s drip and then smiled at her.

“Then let me reassure you Ms. Kempton, the babies are fine. We gave you another ultrasound last evening and they’re both doing well.”

“B…both?” Harry stuttered.

“Yes, Ms. Kempton. Now if you two men keep upsetting her you’ll have to leave.”

We promised to behave and she left the room. Even through her spectacular bruising, we could see how pale she had gone. I sat on the bed and held her as best I could. Marco was holding her hand in both of his.

“Our beautiful Harry is going to be a mama!” He gave her a kiss. “And we’re the happiest men in the whole fucking world!”

She looked from Marco to me and back again.

“Are you sure? I mean how?”

“We came to the conclusion that our two sperm are better than one.”

“I don’t believe it! I was told I couldn’t have children.” Poor Harry started crying. I tried to reassure her, she tried to bury her head in my shoulder.

“Sweetheart, it’s okay, don’t cry.”

Marco looked serious.

“Harry, please don’t be upset. We love the idea and wow…twins!”

She lifted her tear-stained face and shook her head. Then she smiled. Through the purple bruising and the swollen face her smile lit up the entire room.

“We’re going to have a baby! Oops, I mean two babies.”

In a few seconds, we were all laughing with joy and excitement. It was unbelievable, it was wonderful.

“When? Did they tell you?”

“They think you’re about ten weeks.”

“I still can’t believe it. It’s surreal, it amazing!”

We were all on such a high when a doctor walked in.

“Hello Ms. Kempton. How are you feeling?”

“Great, wonderful, excited.”

“Well, that’s a different reaction to what I normally get.”

She gave him a grin. “I just found out I’m pregnant. With twins!”

“Oh, you didn’t know?”

“No. I never thought it was possible.” She tried to grin through her pain. “This is so exciting, so wonderful.”

“Well apart from the pregnancy, tell me how you feel?”

“Okay. I’m a bit fuzzy over what happened, can’t really remember it. My face hurts a bit if I laugh, my arm’s sore and so is my leg. I have a headache and it hurts when I cough or move too much.”

“All that is to be expected. You have a cracked rib, it will be sore for a while, but make sure you do cough. If you hold a pillow across your chest, it does help. Your face is looking good. The swelling is almost down. The headache is from both the concussion and the bleed on your brain.”

“Oh. Am I going to be okay?”

“Definitely. We’re really happy with how you’re recovering.”

“When can I go home?”

“Well, let’s see how you are in the morning. We’ll do another CT scan of your brain and see how it looks. Your catheter is out now so we’ll also need to make sure you can pee okay. If…and I’m not making any promises, if it looks okay we’ll consider letting you go home, with conditions.”

The doctor looked at us.

“Will someone be with Ms. Kempton? She may be a little unsteady on her feet for a while. Sometimes the effects from head injuries can last a few months. She really shouldn’t be alone.”

We both nodded. Between the pair of us, we could work around any jobs on the planner. Plus, we had an office set up at home and could easily do paperwork and planning from there. We explained things to the doc and he said that would work.

“Okay then. I’ll get the nurse to remove the drip now then I’ll see you in the morning.”

We all thank him as he left. Harry tried to grin without hurting herself. The nurse bustled in.

“Ms. Kempton, I think we’ll send your two handsome men out for a while and let you have a shower after I remove your drip.”

I looked at Marco and knew exactly what he was thinking.

“I can do it if you’re too busy, miss.”

“I think I can manage.’ She laughed at us then shooed us out. “Off you go and have a coffee. She’ll feel much better after.”

We had no choice but to leave. Marco hit his forehead with his hand as we reached the cafeteria.

“The clothes. She won’t know. I’ll sneak back and put it on the bed.”

* * * *

I was floating.

There’s no other word for it. The last few days were a blank but now I was awake and I was on cloud nine.

There was always one thing in my life that I regretted even more than I hated what that shitface had done to me. I hated that he had taken away my chance to be a mother. I dealt with the attack, even though it left me mentally scarred, but I could never deal with not being able to have a child.

I’d tried very hard to push it to the back of my mind. I sometimes think that was another reason subconsciously why I never got involved with anyone. I know I worried when I started going out with my men that they would be upset but instead they told me they never expected to be parents. Maybe that was one of the reasons I fell for them. They had no expectations of fatherhood, they’d even suggested they could always adopt.