“She lost the baby,” Harper explains. “When she arrived at our place, she was bleeding, and at that point, it was touch and go.But when I went back to visit her, she confirmed that the baby was gone.”
Amelia cringes, looking torn about something. “Look, I don’t want to be that asshole who breaks doctor/patient confidentiality and have my license stripped, but your mom didn’t lose the baby.”
“What are you talking about?” I ask, sitting up straighter as every eye in the room whips toward Amelia.
“She left the hospital against medical advice; however, I submitted her discharge papers myself. Mae was absolutely still pregnant when she left our care yesterday. The baby had a strong heartbeat. There was some uterine bleeding from the attack, but the pregnancy was viable. The baby was weak but stable. Mae just had to take a dose of medication for the bleeding,” Amelia explains. “Unless something has changed in the past twenty-four hours, then that baby is still cooking.”
“Holy shit,” Harper breathes before falling into a heavy silence, clearly deep in thought.
I give her a moment to process whatever it is she needs to work through before finally nudging her arm. “You good, doll? Everything alright?”
Harper shakes her head. “I’m just . . . shocked, I guess. If the baby was fine, then that could only mean that my mother told me she died simply because she knew I wouldn’t be able to control my emotions and would have taken the fight to Elias. She lied about her own baby’s death just to force me into his trap,” she says. “Who the fuck does something like that?”
“A very sick woman,” I tell her, pulling her back into my side and cradling the back of her head. “But it’s over now. She can’t hurt you where she’s going. You’re never going to have to worry about her manipulation or narcissism again. You’re free of her, doll.”
“I am,” she murmurs into the silence of the room. “But that baby. We have to petition for custody. If Mom is spending the rest of her life behind bars, then I have to fight for that baby because no one else will. I couldn’t live with myself if she slipped into the system. I—”
She starts to panic as if already terrified for the little life that’s going to come into the world, and I simply hold her, dropping a kiss to the crown of her head. “I’ll take care of it, doll,” I tell her. “If you want to petition for custody, then that’s exactly what we’ll do.”
Harper nods, staring up at me as though needing me to save her just one more time. “She can’t have any parental rights,” she tells me, fear in her eyes. “We need to protect her, Knight. We need to give her a chance at a fulfilling life. As my sister or . . . or my daughter.”
I nod, and as the terror truly sets into her stare, I take her chin, being cautious of her stitches. I lift it until that beautiful green stare rests on mine. “Our daughter, doll,” I tell her, making sure she truly hears me. “Whatever it takes. That baby girl will be ours. We’ll protect her, just as fiercely as I’d protect you. We’re in this together. Where you go, I go. You burn, I burn. If your heart is telling you to do this, then that’s exactly what we’ll do.”
“We fight right to the end.”
“Damn straight, we will.”
44
HARPER-RAYN
The soft glow of the moonlight shines across the wet pavement, and as Knight helps me down from his truck, I can’t help but take it all in. There’s something about the way the street looks after it’s just rained that sucks me in. There’s a subtle peacefulness about it, and I don’t doubt that after getting inside and washing the icky hospital feeling off me, I’ll spend the rest of the night sitting out back on our deck, watching the stars from the comfort of Knight’s arms.
Nothing could ever make me happier. Well, except for potentially becoming a mom—or a big sister. I’m still undecided on the details, but I know that I have to do this. I feel it in the pit of my stomach, an overwhelming need to give this child the life that I never had, to give her love and acceptance, to give her a home that she thrives in.
If I had my way, my mother would spend the rest of her life behind bars, but in reality, she’ll probably only do a maximumof ten years for the attempted murder of Izzy. As for the manipulation, twisted games, and her role in luring me into Elias’s trap, I’m not sure there’s much I can do about that. Either way, this baby shouldn’t have to hold the same kind of trauma I held growing up. I want more for her.
I don’t think the courts will have an issue giving me the baby, at least temporarily. Naturally, they will seek out the biological father, but my guess is that he would happily pay any price to make the problem go away. But I don’t want or need his money because that sweet, innocent child is my flesh and blood.
My problems will come when I petition the court for full custody. There’s a lot I’m going to have to look into, and I’m sure my mother is going to put up one hell of a fight. She will want to keep this child purely out of spite, not because she has any intention of offering her warmth and unconditional love. She belongs with me and Knight, and that’s the hill that I will proudly die on.
It’s been a long day, and after bugging Amelia for the duration of her whole shift, she finally allowed me to go home to spend the night in my own bed, despite how much I wanted to stay with Izzy. But she needs her peace and quiet, not that she’ll be getting much with Ace and Diesel camped in the armchairs on either side of her bed. But I also need to think about what’s best for me, and right now, that’s being home with Knight.
As for Izzy, she’ll probably be stuck in the hospital for a few weeks, and when she’s finally discharged, I’ll bring her back here. She’s far too stubborn and will insist on going home. She doesn’t believe that she needs anybody looking after her, but that shit isn’t going to fly with me, or with Knight, for that matter. Shit, and if she thinks I’m bossy, just wait until she tries to tell Knight no. Actually, I think that might just be the most entertaining thing I will ever see.
Knight takes my hand and leads me to our front door before pulling me right into his side. “You’re unusually quiet,” he murmurs as he fishes his keys out of his pocket and works on unlocking the door.
I let out a sigh. “I just don’t think I can manage another week of bed rest,” I tell him. “Not to mention, the morgue is going to be in chaos if I’m off for another week. We’re still trying to catch up after everything that happened with Dr. McKullan. I swear, the interns are going to start making up rumors that I can’t handle the pressure.”
“Fuck the interns,” he tells me, pushing the door open and ushering me inside. “Let them talk, and when you return next week, ride their asses so hard that they have no choice but to retract whatever bullshit they said about you.”
“Well, I was going to do that anyway.”
“Damn straight, you were.”
A lazy grin pulls across my face, but as I make my way deeper into our home, it quickly falls away at seeing the remains of what should have been an incredible night with my nieces. Bowls of stale popcorn for our movie night still linger on the kitchen counter. Izzy’s overnight bag is still hanging open, jam-packed with candy and a change of pajamas, just in case the girls suddenly thought that unicorns were lame, and of course, Haylee’s special stuffed sheep. She takes that thing everywhere, and now she’s having to spend the night without it. I’m going to have to express ship it to her, along with anything else I find around the house.
“Damn,” I whisper, pausing by the kitchen counter and taking it all in.
