Wheels of Fire

“She just fell asleep,” I explain in a hushed voice.

“Are you Mr. Adams?” she whispers.

“Yeah, I just got here.”

“Good. Good. She kept asking for you.”

A few more bricks of guilt land in the emotional knapsack strapped to my back.

“Let me check a few things, then we can go out in the hallway and talk.” Obviously, I can’t stop her from doing what she came in here to do, so I hover, probably closer than appropriate. Even though she’s the doctor, I can’t stand anyone near Mallory. Waking her up, bothering her, poking at her when she needs to rest.

When the doctor finally finishes, I’m able let out a long breath and follow her into the hallway.

“All her vitals are good.” She scribbles something on her clipboard.

“When she wakes up, I’ll start her discharge—”

“She can go home already?”

“Yes. She might have some bleeding for a few days but she should be fine.”

“Do you know what caused it?” I ask.

“There’s no way to know for sure. Miscarriages are exceedingly common.” She hurries to add, “It’s not her fault or anything she did—”

“I didn’t think it was.” What kind of jerk do I look like? “Will she be okay?” I swallow hard. “Can we still have another baby?”

Her tense expression softens. “Whenever you’re ready, it shouldn’t be an issue. Most women will go on to have a healthy, full term pregnancy.”

I blow out a breath. “Good. That’s good. She really wants kids. She’s so great with them… Jesus we didn’t even know.”

“I understand. That’s not uncommon, either.”

“What do I need to do for her?”

“Keep an eye on her. If the bleeding gets worse or doesn’t stop after a week or so, she needs to see her doctor. She might be sad. Emotional. That’s normal. Be patient with her. But if she’s not moving past it, have her talk to someone.”

“Okay.”

What else should I ask? There has to be something. I’ve never been so at a loss for words.

“Go and sit with her.” She pats my shoulder. “She shouldn’t be alone.”

Alone. What would have happened to Mallory if she’d been at home instead of on set? I wouldn’t have known anything was wrong until I tried to call her and even then, I might have assumed she’d gone to bed early.

I return to her bedside, drop into my chair, hold her hand, and watch her until my eyelids start to droop.

Chapter Fifty-Two

Chaser

A shadow falls over the doorway, pulling me out of my half-sleep.

I glance up. “Are you fucking serious?” I growl and jump out of my chair.

Andrew steps back into the hallway, hiding his face between the over-sized bouquet of assorted white flowers in his hands. “Easy. I heard what happened. I just wanted to make sure she was okay. To make sure you’re both okay.”

I grab his elbow and lead him away from the door in case this conversation gets loud. “What the fuck are you doing here?”

The flowers rustle against his side. “Is she okay?”

An enormous part of me wants to tell him to fuck off. Mallory’s not his problem or his business. But fuck if anyone else has shown up to check on us. Not that anyone even knows where we are or what happened.

“Yeah, the doctor said she’s going to be fine.”

“Pam said…”

“She lost our baby.” I grind out the foreign words, not sure the impact of them has even hit me yet.

“Fuck, brother. I’m so sorry.” He reaches out and awkwardly squeezes my shoulder. “Are you going to try again?”

I narrow my eyes. Why does he always have to be such a nosy bastard? “We weren’t…we weren’t trying. We didn’t even know.”

“Doesn’t matter.” He shrugs. “Still your kid. I’m really sorry, Chaser.”

Andrew’s somber demeanor knocks me off-balance. He’s the kind of person I’d expect to make a “get out of jail free card” joke in this situation, not offer compassionate words. “Thanks.”

“Do you need anything? Want me to bring you some stuff? Food?”

My stomach growls at the mention of food, but I refuse to eat until Mallory’s able to. “Nah, we shouldn’t be here much longer. They said they’ll discharge her tonight.”

“That seems soon?” He scrubs his hand over his cheek. “Do you need a ride home?”

Fuck, actually we do. But no matter how nice he’s being right now, I sure as shit am not accepting a ride from Andrew.

“I’ll send Benny over to pick you guys up,” he says, as if he’d read my mind. “Have him bring some clothes for Mallory or whatever.”

I try to hide my shock that he understands with a simple, “Thanks.”

“I get why you still don’t want me around her. But I want to help.”

Exhaustion and too many emotions tug at me to argue. “Thanks.”

We stare at each other for a few seconds, then stare at the walls, the ceiling, the floor. It’s awkward as fuck. A somber Andrew is unnerving and let’s face it, I still don’t trust him as far as I can throw him.

“Here.” He thrusts the flowers at me. “Tell her they’re from you. I don’t care. I wanted to do…something for her. That was the only thing I could think of.”

“I’ll tell her you stopped by,” I promise.

“If you need something, call me. I’ll send Benny over now, so when they let her go, you don’t have to wait around.”

“Thanks.” I lift my chin. “Appreciate it.”

Mallory’s blinking and trying to sit up when I return.

“What’s wrong? Are you okay?” I set the flowers down on the table by her bed and hurry to her side.

“No, I feel like a cement truck backed up over my lower half.” Her gaze lands on the flowers. “You didn’t have to do that.”

Could I lie and never tell her about Andrew’s visit? Sure. Is that the kind of man I am? Will I feel good about lying? No and no.

“They’re from Andrew. He stopped by to check on you.”

“Really?” Her tone’s neutral, or maybe wary. “You didn’t get into another fight?”

“No.”

“God.” She covers her face with her hands. “Pamela probably told him and everyone else.”

“I doubt it. Well, maybe Andrew, I don’t know. She was pretty shaken up.” I pry her hands loose. “She’s the one who called me so I could get my ass here.”

“Oh.” A quick smile flickers over her lips. “Well, we had a brief heart-to-heart this morning before…” Her jaw drops and her eyes water. “I passed out on set, Chaser. Bled everywhere. That’s so…”

“Awful. Thank fuck they got you to the hospital so fast.”

“I vaguely remember…something.” She shakes her head. “I’ve never been in so much pain before. Or so embarrassed.”

Christ, I’d do anything to have taken that pain on for her. “Try not to worry about anything right now. There’s nothing to be embarrassed about. You need rest.”

“I need to be on set tomorrow.”

“No. You don’t.” I press my finger to her lips when she opens her mouth to protest. “You need to rest and recover. It’s not optional.”

She dozes again for a while. A nurse comes in to check on her, assuring me everything’s fine and they’ll be discharging us soon.

Someone raps their knuckles on the open door and clears their throat. “Chaser?”

I turn to find Benny filling up the doorway and walk over to shake his hand. “Hey. Thanks for this.”

“No problem.” He jerks his thumb to the left. “I’ll park myself in the waiting room. When you’re ready to go, say the word.” He holds up a plain, brown paper bag. “Brought some sweats for her.”

“Thanks.”

He peers around me. “Hey, Mallory. You doing all right?”

She blinks at him, then me before finally answering. “Getting

there.”

“See you in a bit.” He waves at us and turns away.

“What’s Benny doing here?” Mallory whispers.

“Andrew sent him. Knew we’d need a ride.”

“Oh.” She yawns. “That was nice of him. I guess.”