Page 63 of Chaotic Curse
“I’m sorry, baby.I took the flowers down to the truck.”
“Why didn’t you just throw them out?”
“Because they might contain clues.”
“Oh.Right.”I’m not thinking clearly.
“We can talk later,” he says.“When I take you home.”
I draw in a breath.“No.I’ll talk now.Like you said, Eagle can’t hear me, and this is about as private as we’ll get in a hospital.”
“Okay.You can tell me anything, you know.”
I nod.
Can I though?
Tell him I was dirtied up by chlamydia?
Tell him about my babies—the babies I wanted so badly but was forced to kill?
Tell him that I’ll never be able to have more babies?
How?
How can I tell him any of that?
“Dani, baby,” he says again.“Please.Talk to me.”
I take a deep breath, the sterile hospital scent filling my nostrils.“Okay,” I whisper, summoning the courage to let him in on my darkest secrets.
It starts as a trickle, words spilling from my lips slowly.I tell him about my father, about the men he forced on me.I tell him about the chlamydia, about how I contracted it.I leave out the details of my father’s punishment.Some details are too grisly for any person to have to hear.I watch his face carefully as I speak, gauging his reaction.
Hawk just stares at me, his eyes never leaving mine.He doesn’t interrupt, doesn’t ask questions.He just listens, his face betraying nothing of what he might be thinking.The steady beep of Eagle’s heart monitor is the only sound in the small room.
I have to tell him the rest.
About my babies.
How my father forced me to terminate the pregnancies and then finally forced me to get my tubes tied.
But how?
I take a deep breath, steeling myself.“There’s something else,” I finally say, my voice barely above a whisper.
His gaze softens.“You can tell me anything, Dani.”
I swallow hard, forcing down the lump in my throat.“I was pregnant.Three times,” I manage to get out, my voice trembling.“My father forced me to…” I take a shuddering breath, unable to continue.The memory is too painful, too raw.
Hawk’s eyes widen slightly, but he remains silent, waiting.
“He forced me to get rid of them,” I whisper.The room feels suddenly cold, the steady beeping of the heart monitor echoing eerily.“And then… And then he forced me to get my tubes tied.”
19
HAWK
My heart breaks for Daniela.
