Page 55 of Only for Tonight
She places the bin down on the floor before she reaches for her clothes. “Let’s get you dressed and then I’m going to go and rinse this out”—I pick up the garbage can—“so we can take it with us when we go.” I watch her try to put on her pants, getting even paler if that can even be possible.
She is panting as if she ran a whole marathon for five days when she finally puts on her sweatpants, and I watch her every single movement, knowing she’s going a lot slower than she even wants to go. “Stop watching me,” she snaps, “and go do what you need to do.”
“I need to put you over my shoulder and get you to the fucking hospital,” I bark at her, walking to her and grabbing her shirt from her and helping her put it on. She doesn’t fight me, which means she really isn’t feeling well. Once she is dressed, I turn and walk the bin to the shower. I grab the showerhead and turn it on and rinse it out. I do it as fast as I can, and when I walk back into the room, she’s ready to go. My sweatshirt falls to her knees and she starts to walk toward the stairs. “Is that safe?” I ask her and she looks over her shoulder.
“Is it going to make you feel better to carry me, Jaxon?” she asks me.
“Yes,” I admit to her. “Save your energy for something else instead of being a pain in my ass.” I know the minute I say the words it is the wrong thing to say when she looks like I just hit her.
“I don’t want to be a pain in your ass, Jaxon,” she snaps at me. “The last thing I want to do is be a pain in your ass and uproot your whole life.” I stare at her and see her hands shaking. “You think I want this? Making you miss events to take care of me? I don’t.”
“Ari,” I say softly.
“No,” she snaps, “don’t Ari me.” I can see the tears in her eyes. “I feel so fucking helpless,” she admits, “and I hate it like you wouldn’t believe.”
“It’s okay for me to be the one to take care of you.” I put my hand at the side of her neck, my thumb going over the vein where I can feel her heartbeat pulsing. “Let me ask you this, would you not take care of me if the roles were reversed?”
“Of course,” she replies.
“So let me fucking take care of you.” I walk to her and hand her the garbage can before bending and taking her in my arms. I head straight for the garage. “I’ll get your slides and your purse,” I tell her as I put her in the passenger seat of the SUV, “and a couple bottles of water in case you get thirsty.”
“I don’t want to put anything in my mouth,” she rebuts, leaning her head back on the headrest. “I might just nap.” I move my finger over to the button and slowly recline her seat. “That is better.” She closes her eyes.
“Do you want me to grab you a blanket?” I ask her and she shakes her head. “I’m going to grab one, just in case,” I mumble.
“Okay.” I rush back in the house to the kitchen, grabbing her purse, then snatching up the throw blanket that is draped over the back of the sofa, before I run back to slide my sneakers on and grab her slides that are right next to mine. I open the back door of the SUV, dumping the stuff on the seat, before I get into the SUV and pull out. “You okay?” I ask her and she just grumbles. “I hope driving doesn’t make you more sick.”
“You and me both,” she mutters, the seat moving to a lying-down position.
The drive to the hospital takes me twenty minutes and it feels like it’s the longest twenty minutes of my life. Every single minute I was looking at the clock, then looking at her. She slept the whole way, which is a good thing, I guess. I went under the speed limit to make sure we got here safe and also making sure she didn’t get more sick, while at the same time all I wanted to do was speed here.
We pull up to the emergency side of the hospital and I park the SUV and then look around. “Baby,” I say and she mumbles, “I’m going to go and get you a wheelchair.”
She turns her head to look at me and barely has her eyes open. “Okay,” she agrees, “I’m just going to sleep.” Her skin color is even more pale than it was before.
I get out of the SUV and run into the emergency room, seeing the security guard sitting on a stool at the door. “Hey,” I say, looking around, “is there anywhere I can get a wheelchair?”
He nods his head before he points to the side where there is a row of wheelchairs. “Thanks.” I jog to one and then rush back out to the SUV. I open the door and unbuckle her seat belt before grabbing her and placing her in the wheelchair.
“I don’t feel well,” she mumbles and then leans over to heave on the side. I grab her purse before shutting the door. “Jaxon,” she says my name, “I don’t want to hear you say I told you so, but I feel like shit.”
“I bet you do.” I push her into the emergency room, looking around for the signs to registration.
I rush to the glass with her as she puts her head back and starts to pinch her nose with her two fingers. “Hi,” I greet the girl behind the glass separator, “we need to see a doctor.”
She looks at me and then at Ariella. “What is the problem?”
“She’s pregnant.” That’s the first thing I say, my body filled with so many nerves, it’s like I forgot how to speak. “She started throwing up last night and hasn’t stopped since. She thought it was food poisoning, but I don’t think it’s that.”
She nods her head. “Does she have insurance?” she asks me and I look back over at Ariella.
“Baby,” I ask, squatting beside her, “do you have insurance?”
“Yeah,” she mumbles, “it’s in my bag.” She puts her hand on her bag and I grab it from her.
“Can we see a doctor and then answer all these questions?” I am at my wits’ end. “I can give you my credit card now and you can just charge it.”
“Sir, we need her information,” she says to me and I open her purse and grab her wallet before going back to her. She looks at me now, but her eyes look like they are glazed over.
