Chapter 9

Anita

I woke the next morning and Raven was still beside me, her left arm and leg elevated. Thinking back to last night, I broke into relieved sobs, hiding my face between her neck and shoulder. She's still here, I'm not dreaming.

I feel her hand slip up the back of my shirt and shutter a calming breath at the contact. I lay a kiss on her neck and move my head over her chest. Her heart beat was soothing to me and I'll never get tired of hearing it. I trace my finger over drawing Amelia did on the cast on her arm, a heart with a bandaid.

"Anita," Raven asks with concern and I look up at her. "I know I normally wait for you to express your thoughts, but this morning you woke up sobbing."

"I thought I was in a dream yesterday and didn't want to go to sleep or wake up and you'd be gone," I say in a wavering whisper.

"I'm sorry," she says feeling bad, but she has nothing to apologize for.

"Don't apologize for being alive Ray," I choke quietly as her mother walks in. "Can you help her to the kitchen? I want to make her something for breakfast."

She gives me a knowing look and nods without question. I kiss the nearly healed cut on Raven's forehead and head to the kitchen. Lexi was sitting at the table with a cup of coffee and the newspaper. She sees me walk in and puts the paper down.

"Where's Raven? I thought you'd stay with her until someone..."

"Her mother is bringing her out. I wanted to make her breakfast," I say quietly and start taking out the pancake mix.

"I know it's a stupid question but are you okay," she asks with concern.

"No, I'm not. I'm extremely emotional and trying not to break down every five seconds," I choke quietly and she gets up to walk over to me. "Please don't. I already had a breakdown this morning, I just want to have breakfast with my fianceé and daughter."

She nods with understanding and sits back down. Raven is wheeled to the table and watches me mix the batter. I knew she could tell I was still emotional by the concerned look on her face. I could tell she felt bad she couldn't get up and comfort me, but little did she know her presence was comforting enough.

Amelia comes into the kitchen and immediately comes over to give me a hug. I help her on the counter and let her help me mix the batter. She and Raven both like extra chocolate chips so I let her put them in until she feels they're enough. She nods in satisfaction and it makes me laugh.

I kiss her forehead before helping her off the counter and a wave of dizziness makes me sway on my feet. "Anita," Raven's mother says with concern as she steps next to me.

"I'm...," I say as the room starts spinning faster and lose my balance.

"Anita," Raven exclaims with fear as I collapse in her mother's arms.

I woke up with my head spinning, beeping sounds in the background. I groan at the white walls spinning making me nauseous. The beeping was giving me a headache and I squinted to see a heart monitor.

The alarm on the machine goes off as I start to freak out being in the hospital with my heart racing. The doctor runs in followed by Raven being pushed in by her mother. As soon as I made eye contact with Raven I relaxed against the pillows and the beeping slows to normal.

She's wheeled closer to me and takes my hand. Her eyes were wet from recent crying, but they held relief. "Your blood pressure was high when you were brought in," she chokes quietly, squeezing my hand. "They think it was due to being upset about my accident. They want to monitor you and the baby for the day, to see if everything is good for you to come home."

"Where's Amelia," I ask in a scared whisper.

"With my father and Lexi in the waiting room. They wouldn't let anyone in until you woke up," Raven says in a soothing tone and I let out a calming breath. "That's another thing stressing you out, isn't it? What Joe said?"

"He threatened her, how can I not stress about that," I ask in a choked whisper.

"Lexi didn't tell you," she asks confused and I shake my head. Anger flashes in her eyes a moment before she says softly, "He's heavily guarded by officers loyal to your parents, in his own block. He can't take a shower without having a dozen officers guarding him. He's basically in his cell when not in the shower. Food gets brought to him and he has no contact with anyone from outside."

"What about..."

"They found him dead," she says in a soothing tone, rubbing my knuckles. "His mother said she hadn't seen him since my accident and asked the police to check on him. No one is going to hurt Amelia."

"I want her in here," I choke quietly, unable to calm down.

"Miss Ramirez, you need to calm down," the doctor says in a soothing tone.

"She won't until our daughter is in here," Raven says in a calm whisper and kisses my knuckles.

The doctor nods before leaving the room, hopefully to get Amelia. Tears fill my eyes as I know that I scared Amelia. I can only imagine how she'll react when she's brought in here. Raven must have picked up on what I was thinking because she kissed my fingers.

The door opens moments later and Amelia runs in up to the bed. Her sobs were out of control and Raven's father helps her in the bed on my left side. As soon as my arms were around her, we both calmed down. The doctor was amazed by what he witnessed and says, "I've been a doctor for years and never witnessed anything like this."

"Their bond is strong," Raven says in a soothing tone as Amelia falls asleep on my chest. "They need each other to calm down."

"She was scared when she couldn't wake you," Lexi says in sympathy and I look at her with a hint of anger.

"Can you please leave," I ask quietly and she looks at me with a hurt expression on her face. "You with held information that could have avoided this from happening. You were there to hear what Joe said, that I've been stressing about it. Why would you keep that from me?"

"I'm sorry. You were already stressing about Raven's accident. I didn't want to cause you more stress," she says in a choked whisper.

"I've noticed the way you've been looking at me, the jealous look towards Raven. I have never seen you as more than a sister. Please just leave," I choke quietly and she does. 

Amelia's breaths shook as she continued to calm from her sobs as she slept. I tuck her hair out of her face and let out a calming breath. We should be at home enjoying the pancakes she helped me mix, not here in the hospital.

From all the dizziness, I felt like I was going to be sick. I tried to climb out from under Amelia, but she only held on tighter. Thankfully Raven was quick to realize that I was about to get sick and hands me the basin on the table in her reach.

"Can we turn the lights off please," I ask in a breathy whisper and close my eyes to avoid seeing everything spin.

Raven

I watch the doctor turn off the lights over her head and she groans with relief. He starts looking over her charts and when his eyebrows rise, I knew he was surprised at the difference of when she was first brought in. I watch as he does his exams and he tells me that everything on Anita's end is normal.

"Miss Ramirez, can you roll up your shirt so I can see the baby on the portable," he asks softly, but she doesn't respond.

"She's asleep," I say quietly with a smile.

"I'll come back when she wakes up," he says quietly with a smile and leaves the room.

"Can you call Lexi's Captain, I want to speak with him privately," I ask my mother quietly and she nods lightly, stepping out of the room.

"Why do you want to talk with him," my father asks curious.

"She's been acting weird around Anita since we told her about the pregnancy and the engagement. I've seen how she's been acting with her since my accident, like she's been trying to take my place like I died. I simply want someone else to take over the case and protect her from what we don't know about her family's murder," I say in a protective whisper. "She also didn't tell Anita about Joe and his accomplice or she wouldn't have been stressing about him hurting Amelia. We don't know all that was said when she interrogated him after my accident."

A half hour later I was speaking with Evan, Lexi's Captain. Anita was still sleeping and Lexi was nowhere near the hospital. I told him about what was going on and he listened to everything I had to say. I even told him how Anita also noticed it and asked her to leave. He's been like a father to Anita since that night and I knew I could trust him with this.

"I will personally take over the case, I owe it to James and Amelia for everything they did for my wife. Without their help paying her medical bills, my wife would have died," he chokes quietly with tears in his eyes. "Anita and Avery helped by watching our children while I spent days in the hospital with her while recovering."

"I'm sorry to hear that. Thank you for helping us with this. I looked over the will her parents drew up, it was altered days before they died. Lexi was taken off," I say quietly and his eyes widen. "I'm beginning to wonder if she's a new suspect?"

"Thank you for bringing that to attention. I'll keep a close eye on her," he says suddenly very protective of Anita. "I had no idea and I'm not sure if she knew about it."

"The day the will was read, I remember her looking a little confused and shared a look with Joe...," I say quietly as everything hits me. "She's been in on it this entire time. She probably thought if she got rid of Joe and showed support to Anita she'd get out back on it by Anita herself. Anita altered her parents will a year after what happened. She left Joe on because she didn't know at the time, but added me and my parents."

"You think that's why he ran you off the road," he asks curious.

"Yes, Anita thinks the same," I say quietly. Tears fill my eyes and say, "She told Amelia the truth, but she'd overheard us one of the times I came home with a storm. Amelia said she didn't say she knew because Anita was the only mother she knew and asked if she could continue calling her Mommy."

"I bet that was hard on both of them," he says with understanding.

"They have been stuck together ever since. Amelia was scared when she couldn't wake Anita when she passed out making pancakes this morning," I choke quietly and tears fill Evan's eyes. "She and Anita are currently holding each other sleeping in the hospital bed."

"Do you think it would alarm her if I visited her," he asks with concern about her and the baby.

"Honestly I think she'd be happy to see you and hear from you directly about Lexi," I say quietly and he nods with understanding about what I meant.

He helps me back to her room and she was awake. One look at Evan and tears fill her eyes as she smiles. "It's always good to see you," she says and thankfully in a calm tone.

"Raven gave me a call, I hope that's okay," he says leaning down to give her a hug and kiss on the cheek.

"Of course, you've been like a father to me since that night, taking care of me and Amelia," she says with a smile. Her smile fades as she says with a sigh, "I'm actually glad you're here. I'm sure Raven already filled you in about Lexi?"

"She did," he says softly sitting next to her bed. "We both came to realize that she may be a potential suspect with what happened to your family."

"Because she was taken off the will," she asks curious and he nods. "I heard my parents arguing with her about something two days before it was changed, but when I asked why, they wouldn't tell me.

"I don't want her near my family if she's a part of this. If she's a part of this, I want... No, I need to know why," she chokes in a whisper, looking down at Amelia still asleep next to her. "I can't lose what's left of my parents. I have an unborn child to worry about. Please help me keep them safe."

When she looks back up, tears were rolling down her cheeks with a pleading look in her eyes. Evan nods without hesitation and she lets out a calming breath. "Can you think of anyone else that might be part of this," he asks in sympathy.

"I have my assistant, Marie looking into everything and everyone. I'm even having her alter my will again," Anita says in a wavering whisper and her face turned pale.

"She needs the basin," I say in warning to Evan and he holds it in front of her to get sick in. "Amelia won't let her up. Every time Anita tries to climb out of bed, Amelia holds onto her tighter."

Her doctor walks in moments later and asks, "Are you ready to see your baby?"

"Amelia," she says softly, gently stroking her cheek and she opens her eyes. "Would you like to see the baby with me?"

She gives a tired nod and watches with curious eyes as Anita rolls her shirt up. Before the doctor could apply the ultrasound gel to her abdomen, Amelia runs her stomach and says in her cute little squeaky voice, "Be nice to Mommy baby, I don't like when you make her sick or pass out."

Anita breaks into uncontrolled sobs and Amelia scoots up to kiss her forehead. "Don't cry Mommy," she says wiping Anita's eyes.

"Did you need a moment," the doctor asks in sympathy and Anita shakes her head, letting out a calming breath. He applies the gel, runs the wand for a minute before pointing to the screen. "Congratulations, you're having twins."

Shock. The only word needed to explain the expression on Anita's face, the only word needed to express what I felt. Tears slowly slip down her cheeks and in that moment I knew exactly what she was thinking. I look up at the doctor as tears fill my eyes and say quietly, " Thank you for the news, but now she'll need a moment. Please?"

"I understand completely, I knew her parents," he says in sympathy before leaving the room.

"Is he the same doctor that monitored your mother's pregnancy," Evan asks Anita and she gives a slight nod of her head. "Do you want me to leave so you can calm down?"

She shakes her head vigorously and he moves to sit on the bed next to her, taking her in his arms. Amelia hugs at her back and she meets my eyes. "I want to go home. I can't calm down here, it's just making everything worse," she says in a choked whisper.

"I'll get her doctor," my mother says in sympathy.

I could see the pain in her eyes, the emotional pain. It didn't take a genius to guess what was running in her head right now. I knew exactly what she was thinking, as soon as he mentioned she was having twins, it flipped a switch in her head. Thoughts of her twin Avery filed her head. Her reaction to Amelia talking to her stomach triggered a memory, one I didn't know about and I would wait for her to tell me.

"I'll let you go home, on one condition," her doctor says in sympathy as he walks back in and Anita nods lightly without hesitation. "Come see me tomorrow, so I can give you a better ultrasound and we can hear the heartbeats."

She nods vigorously, letting out a relieved breath and I say with relief, "Thank you Doctor Mathews."

"I'm simply repaying a long lost debt to my dear friend's daughter," he says quietly and walks out.