Page 43 of Restless
“I should never have told you. I should’ve gone to Salt Lake City on my own.”
“Then youwouldbe dead. Kendall and Charlotte would be heartbroken.”
“I don’t know what to do. Meggie isn’t strong enough to leave. Not that she would, while Jo remains in the hospital. Once she recovers and Bash is on the move in Hortensia, she’ll be on the move. If only she were still pregnant.”
Johnnie stilled. Maybe, the key to solving his problems in the short-term was Megan. Deep down, he’d known all along what he needed to do. It was why he’d hidden in the stairwell.
“She would be entering her third trimester, wouldn’t she?” Brooks rambled. “Outlaw wouldn’t want her going many places. She was so gravely ill, I suppose she won’t get pregnant again any time soon, if ever. Barring confession, finding a way to stop her from being out and about is our best chance to keep her safe and pray we find what we need to somehow stop Bash or go to Outlaw.”
“I think I have a solution, Brooks. Get some sleep. I’ll call you later today.”
Disconnecting the call, Johnnie shoved the phone in the pocket of his dress shirt. He hadn’t even changed from his suit, but he had a cut and jeans in the Navigator for emergencies. He returned his gun to the holster at his side and climbed the additional flight to the fifth floor, where he punched in his private code available only to a select few.
Getting onto a floor required the six digits; exiting didn’t. It trapped whoever didn’t belong in the hospital in the stairwell, leaving them vulnerable to retribution.
Slowly, he opened the door and peeped into the hallway. The overly bright fluorescent lights hurt his eyes after he’d lingered in the dim stairwell for so many hours. When his vision adjusted, he found the hallway empty. He stepped into a short hallway containing vending machines and an archway that led to a small waiting room, now darkened. He peeped in the hallway. The locked doors separating the ICU from the waiting areas and elevators were to his left. Right led to the rooms.
Without warning, the doors opened and Johnnie tucked himself in the shadow of the vending machine. A moment later, he heard Christopher’s footsteps, quickly identifiable because of his spurs.
“She’s sleepin’,” Christopher said, passing the turnoff where Johnnie hid without pause.
“You look like you need some shut eye, Prez,” Bishop said.
“I slept.”
“The usual hour?” Potter asked as the doors closed and their voices faded away.
Seizing the opportunity and unsure how long Christopher would be gone, Johnnie hurried to Megan’s room, glad the nurse’s station was unattended.
“Wake up, Megan.”
The harsh order came to Meggie from a distance. If hands hadn’t grabbed her shoulders and shook her so roughly that it hurt her incision, she would’ve believed she was dreaming.
Eyelashes fluttering, she lifted her lids and blinked, surprised to see Johnnie’s face so close to hers.
“Hey,” she said, her brain fogged from medication, pain, and fatigue.
“Do you love Christopher?”
She struggled to comprehend his words. “What kind of question is that?”
“A legitimate one. Now answer me.”
“Of course, I do! Are you mad?”
“Can you give him more children?”
Dizziness twirled around her, but she knew the answer immediately. “Even if I can, I don’t want more children. I almost died, along with Jo. I’m grateful for the kids I have.”
“Then that’s a no.”
Meggie licked her lips, wishing she was stronger or wishing Christopher walked in. “It’s a definitive no, Johnnie. I left no room for doubt.”
“Christopher won’t be happy. He likes babies.”
She swallowed. “I-I…that isn’t true. I-I’m n-not sure, but I don’t think he’s left the hospital. If I were to get pregnant again, he’d die of worry.”
“You stupid little cunt,” Johnnie snarled. “You’re so fucking selfish. He told me how disappointed he’s been with your pregnancies. He’s never been able to enjoy one of them because you’re so fucking weak.”
