CHAPTER FOUR.

NICOLE.

The first thing my senses could pick up on was the sterile smell of antiseptic along with the smell of cherry?

Whoever had thought these two would go well together was clearly mistaken.

Was the combination of both supposed to aid in patients recovering and comfort them?

Definitely not.

It felt like I was about to choke to death from the scratchy smell of insecticide.

I tried to move, but my body felt heavy then a constant beeping sound came next.

What’s with the bad smell and noise?

I groaned as my eyes fluttered open, blinking against the stark fluorescent lights overhead .

Hospitals were never designed for comfort, but this was the height of it.

I looked around and wondered who brought me here. The door to my ward opened and my mom stepped in, rushing to my bed when she noticed I was awake.

Her eyes were filled with concern, her brows drawn together in worry as she held my hand in hers and began weeping “Oh my dear child”

“Mum,”I groaned “I am fine, Is my baby alright?”

“How could you not tell me you were pregnant?” She hit me lightly on my arm and gone was the woman who was just weeping.

Her eyes filled up with light and she smiled but I bet everything would change if she knew of the circumstance I was in.

“I just found out yesterday” I sighed, excluding the fact that yesterday had been the worst day of my life.

My eyes were hurting from the crying I did the previous day and I wonder how many hours I was out.

“That’s great news!” She clapped her hands together in excitement and I wish I could feel the same about this baby.

“Where did you know where to find me?” I asked, my voice barely above a whisper. I was curious, still wrapped in confusion and fatigue.

“I called your husband and his number wasn’t going through. I thought you both might as well be at home but was shocked to find you on the floor with Marcus not in sight” She went on unaware of the tumor going through me at the image of laying on the floor helpless

“Yeah” I swallowed, looking away from her.

“Nicole?” She called out again “Did something happen between you both? You have been acting strange and Marcus is no where around when he should be here”

“He is busy” I brushed it off. “What did the doctor say about my pregnancy? Is my baby healthy?”

She goes to answer when the sound of the ward door opening disrupts her.

A nurse stepped into the room “You are awake” her tone was soft as she checked my heart rate and eyes. “How are you feeling?”

“Tired. Is my baby okay?” I tried to sit up.

She placed her hand on my shoulder, helping me to do so.

“The baby is fine,” She said softly, “You just had a scare and it seems you had quite a day. You need to rest, you are still in your early stages”

A breath of relief escaped me and I nodded, placing my palm gently on my belly. “Thank you” I whispered.

She smiled and patted my back “I will bring you some water” and left the room.

I let out a shaky breath just as my mom re-entered the room, and the look on her face was different. Her smile or happy energy was nowhere to be found.

“What happened?” I asked, staring at her skeptically.

“Was this what you were hiding?” She raised her phone up and I stared at her confused.

“What are you talking about?”

“I am talking about you and Marcus, Nicole!” She yelled.

My heart skipped a beat and my eyes widened.

“You both got divorced, you are pregnant and he is marrying Brittney, and you didn’t think to tell me any!?” She raises her brow “Brittney! Fucking Brittney, Nicole”

My mind went blank as I struggled for words to say.

“It just happened Mum” I managed to mutter.

“What?” She stared at me like I had some nuts loose. “He just happened to fall into her pussy and divorce you?”

“We aren’t divorced yet” I whispered and she looked like she was about to combust.

“What?! You have got to be fucking kidding me” she laughed, moving around the room.

“Mum, calm down”

“Don’t tell me to calm down, Nicole!” She paused with pacing “You let him get married when you both are still married”

I swallowed thickly as my eyes began watering for the 7th time in the last 72 hours “I didn’t know Mum!”

She stopped and stared at me “You didn’t?”

Like I hadn’t said so the first time, I shook my head.

“I went to the church with my pregnancy results in my bag as the chief bridesmaid for Brittney’s wedding and he was standing there staring happily at her” I bawled. “I didn’t know, I didn’t know”

She came to stand beside me and embraced me into her arms, muttering words of comfort to me.

“It is okay my darling girl” she cooed, and the storm wrecking me inside seemed to calm a little.

I just needed someone to hold me, I wanted to hear this was going to be okay, that I was going to come out of this and not let this swallow me whole just spit me out as nothing but skull and bones.

“What am I going to do, mum?” My shoulder shook and I cried into her arms.

“We will figure it out. We will” She reassured but it sounded like lies covered beneath a blanket of doubts.

It wasn’t going to be fine after this, I knew it deep within my bones and she did too.

She moved back and wiped her face “Damn that son of a bitch for making us cry” She wiped my face too “I never really liked him”

“Mum, stop lying, you literally wouldn’t stop talking about him.” I managed to laugh.

“Fine, you caught me but he went around painting you as a cheater” She said in a more serious tone.

“He did what?”

She handed me her phone and I collected it, staring at her screen, reading the content of the news circulating around the web.

He had the audacity to call me a cheater and I was carrying another man's baby?

I went through the comments and people were wishing death on me and my child?

How could he do this after everything he had done.

Below the article was a picture of Marcus and Brittney, hand in hand, smiling at the camera.

They were both devious and I wasn’t going to let him ruin me this way—I wasn’t going to let them do this to me and still paint me as a villain.

I got up from the bed pulling out the iv needle, whimpering as it came out along with a line of blood.

“Nicole, what do you think you are doing?” She rushed to my side trying to take a look at my hand.

“Mum, I can’t let them do this” I stared at her, waiting for her to call me crazy as tears filled my eyes.

“What are you going to do? Bash Brittney head on the wall? She deserves that”

But I had no idea what I was going to do but I just couldn’t let this slide.

“I just need the blogs taken down. I can’t have people cursing I and my child on the internet”

She hugged me “Don’t get into a fight with them, you are still recovering”

I walked out of the room just as the nurse stood in my way trying to stop me from going forward.

“You are not fit to leave the hospital in this state ma’m” she said.

“I will be back” I responded absentmindedly, pushing her aside and falling deaf ears to her warning even as she followed me outside the hospital trying to get me to listen to her.

Blood was pounding in my ears and I went into my car just as rain began falling.

Rain fell in heavy stones, blurring the world outside of my car. My hand gripped the steering wheel tightly, the frustration and anger yet to simmer down, they still curled tightly around my limbs and the grief inside my chest was still too heavy—too raw.

The windshield wiper worked furiously to keep up with the rain, but the road ahead was still a chore to see but my mind was all over the place.

How was I to confront them?

The thought of seeing them brought a fresh pain of hurt to me. My chest tightened as I thought about the words the people were saying about me and the baby that I hadn't even given birth to.

A lump formed in my throat.

I barely registered where I was going as the lines of trees blurred into shadows and the road seemed to tightened.

The rain pounded harder against my car, the sound deafening the voice in my mind telling me I was the cause of these—if only I had been good to him, good enough for him.

My breath came in shallow gasps and my vision became blurry, I tried to breathe only to realize I was having a panic attack.

I forced my focus on the road, trying to ride through the storm raging outside and in me but I couldn’t. My heart leaped as i saw bright headlights cutting through the rain, heading straight toward my car

I screamed, jerking the wheel to the side trying to avoid hitting the car.

The sound of screeching tires filled the air, followed by the crunch of metal on metal.

The impact threw me forward, the seatbelt biting into her chest. My head slammed against the steering wheel, and pain exploded in my skull.

The world spun around me, a chaotic mix of noise and darkness. I could hear the rain, the distant sound of a horn blaring, but everything else was muffled, including the voice in my head.

Thankfully, I couldn’t hear the biting voice anymore.

It felt like I was drowning in the deep ends of water.

The sound of my car door opening swayed my head to the side and standing there was my ex husband’s step brother, my first love and the first man to ever break my heart.

“Nic” I heard Rhett Otis' gravelly voice just before darkness took over.