Song: Antidote by Faith Marie
One of the doctors rush back with me, and I sit in the corner, texting the others to let them know Kade is awake. The doctor and a couple of nurses check Kade's vitals again, the stats on his monitors, and ask him question after question of how he is feeling, and how early back he can remember.
When they leave, I nervously make my way across the room, stopping beside his bed. To my surprise, his hand comes up to my belly, rubbing small circles on the side of it. "The doctors told me that my memory loss goes as far back as around six months, according to the last month I remember living through."
I nod. "Yea, that sounds about right. I'm almost six months pregnant."
He glances up to me, his eyes meeting mine as he continues to caress my baby bump. "Is it a boy or a girl?"
I try smiling. "It's a girl."
His eyes fall back down to my belly as he grins. "Can we name her Claire? It was my grandma's name. She died when I was younger, but she was the best. She would have loved you."
"I already decided on Emma, after Damian's mom," I say, giving him an apologetic expression. "Do you like that?"
He lets out a weak laugh. "Emma Claire Sommers. That's beautiful. I hope she looks like you."
I hold my smile, fighting back the tears. He doesn't even know that we aren't together anymore. "I love that. It's perfect."
"I love you," he replies, smiling up to me. I freeze, not knowing what to say to this. I can't lead him on. I can't just not tell him. "What?" He asks, looking up at me, as I take a step back, causing his hand to fall from my belly.
"Kade," I say, hesitating. "Over the last six months, you stopped taking your meds right."
His face grows serious as he clenches his jaw. "Why?"
I shake my head, glancing down. "I don't know, but you did. That's when everything started going down hill. You cheated on me with Jessica. She's pregnant now, too, but no one has heard from her in weeks. You broke up with me, and kicked me out. You overdosed on your meds and smashed your SUV into a tree. That's why you are here. We aren't together anymore, Kade." I glance back up to him. His face is contorted with a horrified expression. "I'm sorry," I say, my voice cracking.
"B-But, I don't remember doing that," he says, zoning out. "There's no way. I didn't do that."
A tear escapes my eyes. "You did, Kade."
"No," he says, raising his voice. "Tell me I didn't do that to you. Please tell me that this isn't real," he begs, gripping the hospital sheets.
I step forward, staring down at him. "I-I wish I could, Kade, b-but-" I shake my head, not knowing what else to say.
"It's not real," Kade chokes out. "I would never do that to you. Especially not if we were having a baby."
My bottom lip trembles. "We were engaged," I say, speaking barely above a whisper. It's all I can manage.
"We were engaged?" Kade asks, repeating my words. I nod and look away. I can't stand to see the expression on his face for even a second longer. It's tearing me apart inside. "Where do you live now?" He asks, quietly.
Hesitantly, I look back over to him. "Sage and Cole got their own place after their baby, Easton was born. I moved in with them."
"I tried to kill myself, and now I'm even more fucked up than I was before," he mumbles, glancing down.
"Kade," I say, trailing off as I study him. "You're not fucked up. You're just in a bad place right now. Just work on recovering, and don't stop taking your meds this time, and everyting is going to be fine."
He gazes up to me, glassy-eyes, with a hopeful expression. "If I do all of that, and I prove that I can do better, then will we be together again?"
I step back a little, stunned by his forwardness. "K-Kade, I don't think I can answer that," I stutter, feeling my throat tighten.
"But, I'll get better," he says, raising his voice in an emotional tone. "I-I promise, Iris. I'll get better, for you and our baby girl."
I draw in a sharp, painful breath. "Kade, I want you to get better, no matter what, for our baby and for Jessica's baby, but you're still the guy that cheated on me. I'm not just going to run back to you after you completely ripped me apart."
Regret finds it's way into his eyes, as a sob leaves his throat. "I fucking hate myself," he chokes out. "Now I understand why I wanted to die."
"Don't say that!" I snap, trying to hold myself together. "Kade, you have so much to live for right now!"
"Like what?" He shouts, glancing up to me, causing the beeping from his monitor to kick into overdrive. "I've messed everything up with the only girl I'll ever love, I tore my family apart, and now, I'm going to have a baby with a girl that I barely know, all because I was too stupid to take my damn medicine!"
I stand at his bedside, staring down at him as he breaks down, sobbing even harder than before. My heart feels like it is being torn in half, watching as Kade, my first love, the man that I gave everything to, and the man that I would have done anything for, falls apart right before my eyes.
"I-" I stutter, pain thick in my tone. "I need to go, Kade. Some of the others will be up to visit you, soon."
Through the sobs, he lets out a bitter, strangled laugh. "Alright, fine. Leave." His red eyes raise to meet my troubled stare, and the last words that he speaks to me send both a jolt of passion and painful reality throughout my body. "That doesn't mean that I will ever stop loving you though, Iris. You are mine, always."
Without hesitation, I turn on my heels, and speed out of the room to wait for the others to get here. I can't stand to be in this prison cell, alone with Kade for a moment longer.
***
I pace, anxiously, waiting outside of the hospital. After seven texts to Jessica, and two phone calls, I begin to grow very annoyed. She has about just as much of a heart as she does a brain. Does she not even care that the father of her child tried to kill himself?
With a long, drawn-out, groan, I dial her number just one more time. This will be the last time I try.
"What?" She snaps, to my surprise, picking up after the fourth ring.
I feel a flash of anger spark in my chest. "What do you mean what? I know you have seen our messages, Jess. You've left all of us on read for weeks!"
"And?" She asks, casually.
"And," I repeat, over-emphasizing the word. "I just thought that you'd like to know that the father of your child woke up from his coma a little bit ago. I can't imagine why you would care, though, since you obviously don't give a damn that he nearly killed himself."
I flinch as a shrill laugh comes from the other side of the phone. "Wow, you idiots actually believed me."
"About what?" I snap.
She scoffs. "The baby's dad isn't Noah," she says.
"Uh, yea. We all know," I reply, annoyed.
"Annnd," she says, drawing out the word for dramatic effect. "It's not Kade, either."
"What?" I scream. "What kind of fucking troll are you?"
"The kind that can kick your ass, so watch your mouth!" She shouts into the phone.
"How do you know it's not his? Why would you lie about that?" I ask, gripping the phone so tightly that it may snap in half at any moment.
"I'm almost four months, now, so it couldn't possibly be Kade's. We had sex around three months ago. Noah broke up with me, even after I asked him to be the father, and I was pissed. What kind of ass hole leaves his pregnant girlfriend?"
"The kind that didn't get her pregnant!" I exclaim, reeling.
She laughs, mockingly. "Anyway, I wanted payback. I was pissed, and I knew that pretending that one of Noah's friends was the father would be a pretty awesome way to pay him back."
"P-Pay him back?" I shout, infuriated. "You didn't just pay him back, Jess. You messed with people's lives! You hurt Noah, messed with my head, and pushed Kade over the edge, when we have always been nothing but nice to you! You're a freaking child. You don't even deserve that little baby that you're carrying right now."
She lets out a long sigh, and then casually says, "Listen, I don't really have time for this right now. I'm bored with this. Have all of your friends to stop calling and texting me." She pauses. "Except for Noah. He can call me anytime he wants," she says giggling.
"Screw you, you twisted bitch!" I shout, feeling jealousy consume me. "Noah is mine! Stay out of our life!"
Just as I press the end call button, and shove my phone back into my pocket, footsteps sound from behind me. I turn to see who it is, hoping that no one just saw how I blew up, but as my gaze meets a pair of familiar, crystal, blue, eyes, I feel my heart leap from my chest.
Noah gives me a small, crooked, smile. "I'm yours?" He asks in that sexy, low, voice that I have missed so much over the past couple of weeks.
As he walks closer, I feel myself grow dizzy, taking in the scent of his cologne that he always wears. A sense of longing builds inside of me. He stops barely a foot away from me, waiting for a reply, but I don't know how to respond.
"That was Jess," I mumble, awkwardly.
His smile falls. "She finally answered?"
I nod, slowly. "She's wasn't two months along when she told you. She was three. The baby isn't Kade's."
Noah's eyes grow wide. "Oh," is all he says, letting his eyes flicked down to the ground, breaking our stare.
My teeth grit together as I continue to nod. "Yea," I reply, quietly. "Oh."