ReBoot (MAC Security 4)

My eyes open slowly, but only one opens fully before I slam it back shut against the harsh lights overhead.

“Sweetheart…” I feel Cal’s hand on my arm, rubbing gently. “Let me get the doctor—”

“No,” I groan, reaching for him as he lets go. My heartbeat picks up at the thought of being left on my own. “Don’t leave me.”

I take a stuttering breath and slowly open my eye back up, adjusting to the brightness and taking in Cal where he sits on the side of the bed.

“I won’t go anywhere,” he says, smiling at me reassuringly. “I’m right here.”

I try my best to shove the images out of my head but wince in pain as I move.

“Do you remember—”

“Yes,” I cut him off, already knowing what he’s going to ask. “I remember.” My gaze roves up to his eyes. “Please help me, Cal. Don’t make me go back there.”

He leans forward, his eyes burning with fire as he says, “There’s no way that I’ll let you go back there.” He pauses. “No way in hell.”

I nod my head, relieved that I have him on my side. I know I can trust him, this isn’t like last time: it’s different. This time I have a family—people who care.

My body starts to relax, the tense muscles coming undone before I gasp, my hand flying to my stomach. “The baby.” My gaze flies to his. “Is the baby okay?”

Cal’s eyes widen, his face paling as he stares at me for several seconds before his gaze dips to my stomach and back again.

His mouth opens and closes several times before he shakes his head and finally asks, “You’re… you’re pregnant?” His voice is a mere whisper, and the shock in his eyes soon turns to happiness as everything seems to click into place. “I’m going to be a grandad.”

I nod my head slowly before I place my hand over his, gaining his attention as I wince.

“You can’t tell Evan.”

“What?” His head reels back.

It’s not that I don’t want Evan to know, because I do. He was the first person that I wanted to tell. But I couldn’t, not like this. I haven’t got a clue how he’ll react because I don’t know how he feels about all the recent events.

Does he still want me? Does he believe that I did what the cops are saying?

If I could just hear his voice… just one time; if I could look into his eyes: I’d be able to know what he was thinking.

I grit my teeth at the unknown. I had no way of calling him, no way of contacting him, at least not until Cal came to see me tomorrow. I kept telling myself that a week of me knowing and Evan not wouldn’t hurt, but every time I closed my eyes at night to try and get some sleep, it would tear me apart. Me knowing and him being in the dark.

My eyes connect with Cal’s, trying to show him how I feel. “I only found out when I was taken back to prison, I haven’t had my privileges back yet and I wanted to be the one to tell him.”

He stares at me a beat, the war in his eyes obvious. I only hope that he agrees and doesn’t tell him. It needs to come from me, and under any other circumstances, I would have gone to him right away and told him.

“I’ll bring him with me when they transfer you… it’ll probably be a couple of weeks,” he says, nodding his head and looking off into space.

“A couple of weeks?” I ask, starting to panic all over again. Are they sending me back to the same place? No, Cal said he wouldn’t let me be sent back there. Surely I can tell him before that? The thought of him not knowing is horrible: this is just as much his baby as it is mine, and he’s none the wiser.

“They’re only letting me and your uncle see you—”

“My uncle,” I gasp, a knot forming in my stomach. “You can’t let him in here.” I try to sit up but Cal stops me, telling me to breathe deeply and to calm down.

“He’s your emergency contact.”

My minds spins and then everything comes crashing down. Of course he is, I never took him off. “I want to change it.”

Cal nods, standing up and smirking. “I can arrange that… is there anyone in particular—”

“Evan… I want Evan.”