He’d definitely deserved that. His Aunt shot him a distressed look. Even Juliet looked worried.
It passed after a few seconds. She sat up and said, “That was weird.”
“Are you all right?” his Aunt asked.
She nodded. “I think so.”
“Let’s get you up off the floor.” Aunt Diana shot him a look, but he just stood there. He knew he should help, but he couldn’t move. This was all his fault. He should have never let her climb the stairs alone. He should have come up with some alternative or something. If she lost the baby because of his carelessness… She wasn’t going to lose the baby. He was just overreacting. She was fine.
The women helped Anna to her feet and Cedric saw her wince when she put weight on her ankle.
“Can you walk on it?” Juliet asked.
“I think so.” She started to take a step then let out a startled gasp and doubled over again, clutching her belly. “Ow! That hurts!”
She couldn’t possibly be in labor. It was too early. She still had three weeks to go.
“Maybe we should take you to the doctor,” Cedric said, waiting for the women to say not to worry, Anna was fine. Random stomach pain was completely normal. It’s what he desperately needed to hear.
Instead, when Anna looked up at him, there was fear in her eyes. “That might not be a bad idea.”
________________
Anna lay in bed, the television on, flipping mindlessly through the channels. There were a million of them, and not a damned thing on she wanted to watch. She didn’t know how much more of this she could take.
After her fall, the doctor had confined her to bed. Her ankle was only twisted, but her blood pressure had been elevated, so she was ordered to stay off her feet for the duration of her pregnancy. She had a serious case of cabin fever, and Cedric’s Aunt stayed with her most of the time. She came in and played cards with her, or watched a movie. Sometimes they just sat around-or in Anna’s case lay around-talking. Diana Mortimer never ran out of stories to tell. She could always make Anna smile.
Cedric was another story altogether. Anna knew that her accident would be a defining moment in their relationship. He would either be so relieved that she and the baby were okay, he would realize what a fool he’d been and they would live happily ever after, or he’d hold on to their last fight to the point that he shut her out completely.
Unfortunately, it was the latter. Cedric hadn’t been in to see her the entire two weeks she’d been off her feet. He wouldn’t even go into the examining room with her at the hospital while the doctor saw her. It was as if she didn’t exist anymore.
As hard as she had tried not to, she’d let herself believe there was a chance with Cedric. Things had been going so well that she’d had hope. How many times had she told herself she expected no more than he was willing to give? Only now, when she was faced with the limitation of that, did she realize it had been a lie. She wanted it all.
She probably should have been hurt and rejected, but the truth was, she just felt numb. And foolish. Foolish for letting herself fall in love with him again. At least she still had his Aunt to keep her company for now. She was Anna’s family now. The mother that Anna had never had.
There was a soft knock at the bedroom door and Diana popped her head in. “Are you awake?”
“I’m awake,” Anna said, shutting off the television and tossing the remote aside. She wished she could sleep more. She wished she could drift off and wake up when the baby was due. “Awake and in danger of dying from boredom.” She added.
“I brought your lunch,” Diana said, stepping in the room holding a tray.
“I’m not very hungry.” She was never hungry anymore. She felt tired all the time, too, but couldn’t seem to sleep for more than a couple of hours at a time. She was probably depressed, and just too numb to realize it.
Diana set the tray on the nightstand. “How are you feeling?”
Anna shrugged. “My back is still bothering me, but otherwise I’m okay I guess.”
“I wanted to talk to you about something.” Diana sat on the edge of the bed. “Is something wrong between you and Cedric?”
Anna averted her eyes. Nothing escaped the woman obviously, she thought, “Why do you ask?”
Diana gave her a look. “I notice things, Anna,” she said, “There seems to be a lot of tension between the both of you lately. I’ve been wondering why that is,”
“We had a stupid fight, but we’ll figure it out. We always do,” Anna replied, but deep down she doubted that they would.
Diana didn’t look like she believed her, but she didn’t want to push. Instead she took Anna’s hand in hers and squeezed it, “I really hope that you both do,” she said, “For the sake of your child,”
Anna nodded, and fought the tears she felt coming. Was staying together really what was best for their child? She had no idea anymore.
“Everything is going to be okay.”
But it wouldn’t be. Not everything. They’d reached the end of the road. Everything would never be okay again.
___________
Cedric stared blindly at his computer screen, at the game he wasn’t really playing. He couldn’t sleep. Just like last night. And the night before that, and the night before that.
He hadn’t had a decent night’s sleep in two weeks, since the day Anna fell. And he felt as though he might never again.
He hated what he must have been doing to her. If she felt even half as tortured and sick inside as he did, she had to be miserable. He had tried a million times to walk down the hall to her room, but he could never make it all the way to the door. Every time something stopped him.
“Cedric,”
Anna’s voice. She was standing in his office doorway. He looked at the clock and saw that it was after midnight.
The doctor had told her to stay off her feet. She shouldn’t even be out of bed.