The Liar's Wife (Adam Levine Dark Romance)

Chapter 20: Not In Death But Just In Sleep

May 2014

Adam pressed his foot on the accelerator, willing the car to move faster as he sped toward the Cedars-Sinai Medical Center. All the while, in his mind, he went over and over the last conversation he’d had with Jane before he left for the studio that morning.

“Don’t even look at me,” she’d moaned from the couch where she was lying on her side. “I feel like a beached whale.”

A seven-month’s pregnant beached whale, to be exact, he had thought to himself. She still had six weeks to go before her due date, but he was finding it hard to imagine how she was going to get any bigger. He hadn’t told her that of course. He wasn’t suicidal, after all. Instead, he’d crouched down in front of the sofa so that his eyes were even with hers. “You look absolutely beautiful,” he’d lied, with a reassuring smile on his face.

“You’re a crappy liar,” she’d snapped back irritably. “I swear my ankles are the size of tree trunks.”

Adam had taken one of her hands and brought it to his mouth – not failing to notice that her wrist was about three times its normal size as he placed a lingering kiss on her palm. “I know a way to take your mind off your ankles,” he’d offered, with one raised eyebrow.

Jane had only rolled her eyes at him and pulled her hand away. “Maybe I should go to the doctor,” she’d said.

“Whatever you think,” he’d responded half-heartedly. The truth was, he hadn’t felt like taking her in again. He was scheduled to go in for a session at the studio today – working on the new album with the band. They were being incredibly patient with him, with all the doctor’s appointments and everything, but enough was enough already. She’d been a bundle of nerves through the whole pregnancy, and he felt like he spent every other day driving her to the doctor’s office because of some new little twinge she was feeling. Even the doctor had noticed. He’d taken Adam aside a few weeks ago while Jane was getting dressed.

“You need to help her relax,” the doctor had warned him. “All the worrying isn’t good for the baby.”

He’d been trying his best to talk her out of these little bouts of anxiety ever since. “What’s the point?” he’d said to her this morning. “You’re pregnant. You’re supposed to swell up like a water balloon, right?”

She’d glared back at him. “So I look like a water balloon now?”

“A very beautiful and shapely water balloon,” he’d grinned, taking both her hands and attempting to pull her up off of the couch. “Come on, I’ll prove it to you,” he’d said, nodding his head toward the stairs that led to their bedroom. “I’ve still got an hour before I have to get to the studio.”

Jane had smiled at him vaguely but pulled her hands away. “I’m sorry,” she’d said. “I’ve just got a splitting headache right now.” She’d shut her eyes and dug the heels of her hands into her eye sockets.

“Let me get you some Tylenol,” he’d offered.

“No,” she’d replied, closing her eyes and turning her face away from him, “I’m just going to lie down for a little while.”

With a shrug, he’d left her there to finish getting ready. He’d poked his head in to check on her one last time before he’d headed out the door, but she was sound asleep. He hadn’t wanted to wake her. He hadn’t said goodbye.

And to his shame, he hadn’t given her another thought all day. He should have called to check in on her, but he’d been so engrossed with the song they were working on that he’d forgotten. It had been nearly four o’clock when one of the producers had signaled to him from the sound booth. “I just got a call,” he’d said with a grim face. “You need to get to the hospital right away.”