Wild Nights With My Brother’s Ex-Best Friend novel Chapter 44

NICOLE

The first thing I notice when I peel my eyes open are the bright lights overheard.

My vision is blurry, though. I have to blink several times to clear it. Then, all my senses return to me. I hear the endless beeping of a monitor, see the tiles of the ceiling, and when I turn my head to the side, I take note of the IV pole right beside my bed, which is surrounded by white curtains.

I’m in a hospital?

I try to move but my body is too numb for that. It’s the strangest sensation in the world. It’s like there should be pain, but there isn’t any.

The taste in my mouth is bitter. I try to sit up because this position is uncomfortable as heck, but fail. So, I stay put and wait for someone to come, but that doesn’t happen because I end up falling asleep.

I wake up to the sound of the curtains opening. Though my vision is once again blurry, I see a nurse standing over me.

“Hey there,” she says gently. “You’re okay. You’re in the hospital.”

I try to sit up and she stops me by placing a hand on my shoulder. “Try not to move or talk. You’ve been out for a while, okay?”

I feel a dull ache in my middle that makes me stop moving right away. The nurse takes in my facial expression and says, “I’ll call the doctor. Stay put.”

It doesn’t take long for the doctor to arrive. “Good afternoon, Nicole. Good to see you awake. I’m Dr. Priya.”

I nod because I don’t know what else to do. I’m slowly starting to remember what happened that most definitely landed me in this place. Dan’s face is somehow all I can think about, and the memory of how his blows felt makes me shudder.

Oh, God. That was awful.

Dr. Priya flashes me a tight but sympathetic smile, I don’t like the sight of it at all. For some reason, I feel like something is terribly wrong. Terribly.

I clear my throat, and keep doing it for a handful of seconds until I feel like there’s nothing lodged in my throat. “Is everything okay?”

Her expression shifts, and she seems to inch closer to the bed. “I’m very sorry to have to tell you this, but you had a miscarriage. We did everything we could. There were…complications, but the important thing is that you’re going to be okay!

I settle back into the pillow and feel defeated all of a sudden. I can’t believe she just said that to me. A miscarriage? I’m not pregnant anymore?

“If you’d like, we can bring someone in from the grief support team to speak with you. You don’t have to go through this alone I start to feel every emotion in me just threaten to erupt. The little voice in my head is telling me that I’m going to be fine, and that this is alright. That I didn’t even want the baby, which is why I was so uncertain.

And then there’s the other part of me that just falls apart. Of course, I wanted this baby. It was part Roman, but it was mine, too.

Tears flood my eyes. She says something else to me but I’m just not in the right state of mind to hear it. My mind’s racing with all the endless possibilities.

The nurse interrupts us and says, “Dr. Priya, the patient’s family is here and would like to see her. Should I bring them in?”

Family? What family? I’m so confused by her statement that it doesn’t even register fully. Dr. Priya looks at me and asks, “Would you like to see them?”

There has to be a mistake. Who else would know I’m here? She must confuse the shake of my head for a fucking nod because she gives the nurse the go-ahead, and in the same second, Roman emerges, his eyes on me.

His eyes meet mine briefly before he steps through the curtains and disappears. I ignore the pain I saw in them. I don’t care. Getting those words out didn’t make me feel better, but at least they won’t fester inside of me.

I don’t even have time to catch my breath. The curtain parts and for a fraction of a second, I assume it’s going to be him again, but then I see Haley staring back at me.

I’m so shocked that I gasp.

“Nicole?” she says tentatively before getting closer to the bed. I can tell that she’s holding back tears. “Nicole, is it okay if we come in?”

Mason comes in right after her. I can’t take it. I look away and cover my eyes with my hand. I can’t deal with this right now. “Please don’t. Please, just don’t.”

“We’re your fucking family, Nicole,” I hear Mason say. Suddenly, he’s right beside me and he pulls my hand away from my face. “Do you hear me?”

I’m forced to meet his eyes, and I see tears swimming in them. “Dammit, Nicole. I’m your brother. Your brother.”

Haley cries, and I lose control over my own emotions. Mason puts an arm around me and I cry against his chest. I can’t lie and say that it doesn’t feel amazing that he’s here right now.

He kisses the top of my head. “I’m your brother, okay?”

I nod.