Sleeping with Beauty (Seven Ways to Sin 2)

This is ridiculous! Cut a gash in my head. I don’t care. Just bring back Bonita safe and sound.

I’d never imagined just how reassuring the sound of helicopter blades whipping the air could be. We all heard the chopper approach, and we all jumped out of our seats with joy.

“Where’s it going to land?” I asked.

“On the helipad on the roof, of course,” said Sasha. “She left the terrace and went back inside with twelve anxious men at her heels.

When she was halfway up the stairs, she stopped and turned to us. “You’re just going to crowd him.” She waved us back. “Wait downstairs. Seth and Stevie, come with me.”

“But,” Landon started to object, but Trevor tugged on his shirtsleeve and motioned with his head for us to go back downstairs.

Doing nothing is sometimes the hardest thing to do.

An hour later, when Bonita arrived back from the hospital, it was more waiting and more pacing back and forth, feeling helpless.

Christian and Dan filled us in on what had happened at the hospital, which wasn’t much.

When they’d finished telling us word for word what every doctor and every nurse they’d talked to had said, there was still no news from Dr. Crumb. So we made them repeat their stories.

“I have good news and bad news,” said Dr. Crumb, standing outside the parlor, which had been transformed into a hospital room.

Sasha stood between him and The Savage Seven as if ready to stop us from rushing the doctor if we didn’t like what he said. She might not have been wrong about that. Sasha’s men were scattered in the vicinity. Some paced the back of the room. Others paced the corridor behind us.

“The good news,” continued Dr. Crumb, “is that her condition is stable.”

“What does that mean?” I asked.

All heads turned to me, and I was shelled with a chorus of “Shh! Let him speak.”

“She is still in a coma,” said Dr. Crumb calmly. “But all her vitals are in check. Her brain and heart are functioning fine.” He took a long pause and looked each of us in the eyes.

“But she’s not going to come out of the coma,” said Christian. “Is that it?”

Dr. Crumb raised his hands. “Not exactly. But it’s a delicate matter. I’m afraid waking her from her coma would induce her to miscarry.”

“Mis— What?” said Landon.

“Miscarry?” I said. “As in?”

Dr. Crumb looked as perplexed as the rest of us. He addressed Sasha. “That is news to you? You did not know that Ms. Morales is pregnant?”

Sasha put a hand to her chin to help close her mouth then she shook her head slowly.

“Well,” said Dr. Crumb, “It’s true. It’s a certainty. I am afraid, however, that I cannot revive Ms. Morales without ending her pregnancy.” He paused and looked us each in the eye, but no one said a word. “It would be possible,” he continued, “to revive her once she is further along in the pregnancy, in the final trimester.”

“You mean,” Trevor started, “we keep her in a coma for months?”

“Approximately twenty-seven to twenty-eight weeks,” said Dr. Crumb. “At such time, the fetus would be developed enough, and she could be revived without risking it any harm.”

“We can’t keep her in a coma for twenty-seven weeks!” I protested.

“Of course,” said Dr. Crumb, “I could attempt to revive her now. I can’t guarantee that it would be successful. But I can guarantee that she would lose the child.”

20

Noah

We got into this mess because we insisted on making decisions for Bonita, and she insisted on making them herself. Now, we were being asked to make a decision for her, one that implicated her life and the life of her unborn baby.

“We have to do whatever it takes to bring her back,” said Ben.

“You heard what Dr. Crumb said,” Will replied. “If he tries to revive her now or in a few weeks, it won’t change anything.”

“A few weeks!” I objected. “We’re talking about leaving her in a coma for twenty-seven weeks. When did twenty-seven become ‘a few’?”

“Relax, man.”

“Don’t fucking tell me to relax.”

“I’m just saying,” Will continued calmly, “that waiting twenty-seven weeks won’t affect the chances of success.”

“The chances of success,” Christian repeated flatly. “You make it sound like she may never come back.”

“There’s always a chance,” said Trevor, “a chance the doctors can’t bring her back, won’t ever be able to bring her back.”

“Don’t say that!” I shouted.

“Get a grip, Noah,” said Will. “We’re adults. We have to face the facts.”

“He’s right,” said Trevor. “We need to face the possibility that she may be gone forever.”

I didn’t want to listen anymore. I didn’t want to face any facts. Fuck facts! I wanted to chase Bonita; I wanted to catch her, to grab her and smother her with kisses. I wanted to hear her laugh; I wanted to hear her cries of pleasure.