“The best thing you can do for her is let the doctors and the nurses take care of her and the baby by staying out of the way.We’re going to do everything we can for them.”
They wheel her out and I follow helplessly until she’s out of sight.I stumble back into the room, not seeing but looking at the empty spot where her bed was.I close my eyes and throw my head back, and pain radiates through my skull.It doesn’t compare to the pain I’m already in, taking over my entire body.“Where is she?”I say to her mother when she walks in the room.
“Nick, you don’t understand, it was a terrible accident.”
“Would it be a terrible accident if I wrapped my hand around her neck and squeezed the life out of her?How much of an accident would that be?”
“She wasn’t—”
“Excuse me.”We both turn to the nurse with papers in her hand.“I need the person responsible for Ms.Reed to fill these consent forms out along with her insurance and medical information.”
“That would be me, I’m her mother.”
She’s lost her goddamn mind if she thinks I’m going to let her put a dot of ink on one piece of paper concerning Cat.“I’ll take those.”I look at the nurse and wait for her to hand me the papers; she’s not sure who she should hand them to.
“I’m her mother and the grandmother of her child.I’ll fill them out.”She holds out her hands to the nurse.
Grandmother?A few weeks ago she wanted to kill my child, and now she’s claiming grandmother?I can’t look at her for fear of what my anger might lead me to do.The nurse visibly cringes when she sees the look on my face and the sound in my voice that’s meant for the other woman facing her.“I’m the father of her child and I’m also her legal representative.She gave me full legal medical power of attorney if anything should happen to her—after you suggested two months ago to dispose of my child like it was nothing.”
I hold my hand out to the nurse, who looks like she wants to be anywhere but here.“Like I said, I have full binding medical power of attorney.I’ll have the forms to handle all of her medical issues sent to you within the next thirty minutes.Any and all medical issues or papers concerning her health or otherwise are to come directly to me and absolutely no one else,” I tell her with all the veracity and seriousness of a Supreme Court Justice.
“Yes, sir.”She hastily shoves the papers in my hand and leaves the room.
I turn to Mrs.Reed looking at me with revulsion, her eyes barely a slit.Back to being a hard, ice-cold bitch of a mother.
“You did this, this is your fault.You turned my daughter against me and turned them away from each other.”She points at the open door to where I assume Kate is.
“One more time, I’m going to give you a potent dose of the truth.”I pull up close to her so she doesn’t miss a word between my clenched teeth.I look down at her with as much disgust as she has for me.“My family is dysfunctional, in fact my father and I can hardly agree on much.As messed up as we are, my family would never do to me what you did to Cat.You turned her out when she needed you.You wanted her to suffer.You’ve always been hiding behind the facade of a semi-decent woman.Your daughter out there, the one that tried to kill her, I don’t care what it was, accident or not.You’ve spoiled her and pampered her rotten to the core to make up for what you did.That”—I point to the door— “ is your creation.I’m going to deal with her appropriately, the way she dealt with Cat, when I’m finished.”
I give her one last look and I see I’ve made my point.“Move!”If she knows what’s good for her, she’ll move the fuck out of my way, I don’t care whose mother she is.With pure disdain for me dripping from every pore in her body, she spins around, leaving the room.I walk over to the wall, dropping down into a chair.Taking out my phone with shaky hands, I call Gage and give him the short version of what happened, leaving out the part with her mother and sister.
“Go to my house and look in the top drawer in my office for a file with Cat’s name on it.
I need you to fax everything in that file.I’ll text you the fax number for the hospital.”
“Man, is she going to be okay?”
“I hope so.”I hope they both are.It’s out of my control.“Call Ava for me, tell her what happened.”
Kate’s standing against the wall facing the room.Her eyes meet mine.She almost looks frightened, and she should be, for what I have in store for her.Her eyes are wide open, tears coming down her face, nose running, a disgusting mess.To my eyes she’s the lowest form of life on this earth.
“You should have listened to your mother.Get out of my sight,” I tell her with deadly calm.“Before I do something I have no control of.”
She brushes the tears away from under her eyes with her entire body pressed against the wall.She shakes her head frantically, like she’s gone mad, the tears coming on full force now.
“I didn’t mean it.I didn’t mean it, you have to believe me, it was a terrible accident.I let go then I tried to catch her.You have to understand, it was a horrible accident.If I could take it back, I would!”
All I feel is sheer and utter contempt mixed with overwhelming rage for what she did to Cat and our baby.I put my hand in my pocket in an effort to control myself.Not blinking once, I look her directly in her eyes, raising my voice over her low sobs.
“There will be a restraining order issued against you and the rest of your sorry excuse for a family from putting one foot on this floor near Cat.If you do, you will be escorted out into the back of a police car.I’m waiting for you.If she doesn’t wake up, if my child is harmed in any way because of you, I’m going to spend the rest of my life, down to the last penny in my pocket, making sure you don’t see a single ray of light from the 6x9 caged reinforced cell I’m going to put you in like the rotting animal you are.
“Forget laws and rules, I’m my own law, and if I don’t handle it, someone else will.You’re a miserable excuse of a life I have ever had come across my path.What kind of low-life gutter filth are you to do that to her?You’re not worth the air you breathe, you selfish, hateful, conniving bitch.Get the hell out of my sight with your worthless words, they mean nothing to me.Like you, absolutely worthless.”
I watch her drop to the floor in uncontrollable sobs, her body spasming from the force of her crying.She’s lucky, compared to Cat.She doesn’t have the luxury of tears; she’s fighting for her life and our child’s.
I leave her where she belongs, in a heap on the floor.I manage to find a nurse that can tell me what’s going on and tell them the forms are on their way.A nurse tells me someone will be out to speak with me soon.On my way back to a private waiting area, I see Ava, my mother, and Gage.Ava runs to me and wraps her arms around me, sniffling.I wrap an arm around her.
“How is she?”
