Death of a Waterfall (The Hayden Falls Saga) (24 page)

"I don't know what happened to you. Your father says you have some sort of virus."

What was wrong with her? She didn't feel sick. Tired. Sore. Anxious. Hungry. Parched. But not sick. And groggy. So groggy. Everything was so fuzzy. Was any of it real? Was Alex really here talking to her?

"It's not contagious, whatever it is. I'm thankful for that. I had to beg your father to let me come see you."

He had to beg? Why? Her father liked Alex. Her father wanted her to be with Alex. Sweet, gentle, caring Alex. Such a good guy. She was back at the church again. This time it wasn't empty. It was full of her family and friends. Alex stood at the altar, waiting, smiling. She closed her eyes and he lifted her veil. Kissing her softly on the lips.

"Classes suck without you. When are you coming back? I don't think I can listen to Harmonie a second longer. She just keeps talking about things I really don't care about."

Teghan found herself sitting in the pews next to Annabelle, watching Alex lift Harmonie's veil and kiss her. Hadn't she been up there a second ago? Shouldn't that bother her? Alex and Harmonie. Harmonie and Alex. Kissing. Hugging. Harmonie turned and smiled. She was pregnant. Very pregnant.

"I met someone, Teghan. He's a friend of Logan's and he's so cute. I can't wait for you to meet him. When you're feeling better, maybe we can double date with you and Donnie. That'll be fun, won't it?"

Donnie. Emerald green eyes, dimple the size of a crater, strong arms, flat stomach, kissable lips. They were at Crystal Cove, eating shrimp and watermelon under the big willow tree. He smiled at her and she kissed him. They ran toward the water. It was cold. Donnie laid her in the sand and made love to her. 'I love you.' She loved him too. 'The only option I'm willing to consider is the one where we have this baby together.' Teghan's head lolled back and forth in the sand as if disjointed from the rest of her body. Babies. There were babies everywhere. Playing in the sand. Floating in the water. White babies, black babies, live babies, dead babies. Babies, babies, babies, babies...no, no, no. Where was Donnie? She looked around frantically. Donnie was gone. No! Donnie! I need you. Where are you? Please don't leave me now…

"No," Teghan whispered. Her throat was sore and her voice was weak, sounding more like a croak than a word.

"Teghan?" Annabelle said.

"Babies," Teghan muttered. "Save them. No. Donnie."

"Teghan, its Annie. Teghan?"

Annabelle's voice was so far away, and it kept getting more distant with every word spoken. Bye, Annie. You're my best friend. I love you. Teghan was at her parent's house. In the pool. Her head beneath the waterfall, cascading over her like a shower. It was cold. Refreshing. Liberating. Her foot slipped and she went under. She couldn't get her footing. More and more water poured over her, the light of day getting farther and farther away. It felt like someone was sitting on her chest. She couldn't breathe. She tried to gasp, but her mouth and lungs filled with chlorinated water. She was suffocating.

Her eyes fluttered open and she gasped, lifting her entire upper body off the bed, filling her lungs with air. Teghan looked around and squinted in the dimness, slowly settling back into the bed. She was at her parent's house in her old childhood bedroom. She was alone. Hadn't Annabelle just been talking to her? And Alex before that? Where were they? Where was Donnie? Why hadn't he come to see her? Or had he? Teghan tried to sit up, but her entire body was stiff as if she hadn't used it in months. And her head--it was pounding. It felt as if it'd been slammed through a brick wall by the ass end of a Mack truck. "Ow," she said, gripping her head with her hands. What time was it? Laying her head back on the pillow, she closed her eyes and drifted off to sleep again.

She stood next to her waterfall. Someone's arms were wrapped around her. She looked up and saw those familiar green eyes smiling down at her. Donnie. 'We can take this as slow as you want.' He pressed his lips to the soft, warm flesh of her neck. She sucked in her breath and held it as he planted exquisite, lingering kisses on her. She let her head fall back to her shoulders. His touch was sheer magnetism, drawing her deeper to him, destroying her. 'Tell me, Teghan,' he demanded. 'Tell me you don't want this.' He nibbled on her earlobe. His lips worked across her jaw toward her mouth. 'Tell me you don't want my baby.'

Teghan's eyes snapped open, her heart banging on her chest, demanding to be let free. She looked around. She was still at her parent's house, but the room looked less blurry, less ominous and it was daylight. That dream...no, it wasn't a dream. It was too vivid to be a dream. It had to be a memory. It was! That was the first weekend of college, the weekend Donnie and Alex stayed in Hayden Falls, the weekend Trevor had thrown that party. The one where Alex had been all over Beth and Donnie had tempted Teghan by the pool. But he'd never said anything about having a baby. She gently shook her head and let her eyes close. It was just a dream, a very vivid dream.

"Teghan?"

She opened her eyes and looked toward the door. "Mom?"

Her mother rushed over to her and gave her a hug, kissing her forehead repeatedly. "I'm so glad to see those beautiful eyes of yours," she said. "I was beginning to wonder if you were ever going to wake up."

"Mom," Teghan said pushing her away. The affection was suffocating. "Why am I here?"

"Teghan, sweetie." Her mom chuckled. "You collapsed. Don't you remember?"

"No." She shook her head and quickly stopped when a shooting pain pierced her brain. She collapsed? How come she couldn't remember? "Mom, what happened?"

"I'm not sure exactly. I wasn't here, but your father said you came over to talk to him and you weren't feeling well. You got up to leave then collapsed. He took you to the hospital."

"He did?" Teghan closed her eyes and tried to remember why she'd come to talk to her father. Nothing. Her mind was blank. "What's wrong with me?"

"Nothing that we know of. The doctor thinks you have some sort of virus."

Her mother wasn't making any sense.
Maybe I'm still dreaming.
She yawned and closed her eyes.

She reached up and grabbed the box from the shelf. Her hands were shaking as she allowed the possibility to sink in. The dates matched up and the math didn't lie. Paying for the test, she found the public restroom in the back of the pharmacy and sat on the toilet. The plastic stick was firmly grasped between her fingers. Here goes... Positive!

'You've reached Donnie. Leave it after the beep.'

'Donnie, its Teghan. I'm pregnant. And before you ask, yes, it's yours.'

'The only option I'm willing to consider is the one where we have this baby together.'

'I just don't want you to feel trapped by all of this.'

'Oh, babe.' His arms were around her again. Holding her, comforting her, loving her. He wanted them, both of them. Teghan plus one.

Donnie was gone. Teghan was alone, standing near her waterfall, the water running red with blood. Whose blood? She patted her hands over her body. Not her blood. It stunk. Vile, rancid, stomach-churning smell. Her head snapped to the right. A baby crying. She followed the sound around the pool. Once. Twice. Three times. The crying was getting louder. Where was it? Behind the waterfall. A tiny pink cradle rocked. She peeked inside. A baby, wrapped in a pink blanket, a tiny pink knit cap on its head and a greyish-blue face. Teghan picked up the precious little bundle and swayed it back and forth, humming, smiling. She gave it a gentle kiss. It was so cold. She tucked the blanket tighter around it. It was gone. She was left holding an empty blanket. Where did the baby go? 'Baby!' Baby! Come back here, baby!' It was useless. 'What about the baby?' There was no baby. Not anymore. It was gone.

Teghan opened her eyes with a shudder. She took several deep breaths and looked around. It was dark outside and she was still at her parent's house. What the hell was going on? Why did she feel so strange? And what was with those dreams? She put her hands on her stomach, attempting to calm down and make some sense of what was going on. That's when she noticed it. A deep, soul-searing, emptiness in her gut. "No," she whispered, tears trickling down her face. "No." They weren't dreams. Not all of them. They were memories. Fragments of memories. She was missing something. Something important. What was it? God, why couldn't she think straight?

She needed answers. Teghan flung the blanket off of her and swung her legs over the side of the bed. Taking another deep breath, she stood. Moments later, her knees buckled and she collapsed to the floor. She cried out in pain and clutched her stomach. "Oh, God, no," she sobbed.

Chapter Twenty

Rob rubbed his hands over his face and yawned. He hadn't slept in days; he was so worried about Teghan. He knew Rachel wasn't sleeping either, and he didn't remember the last time he'd seen her eat anything.
Dear God, please let my daughter be okay.
He left his den and headed toward the stairs, intent on checking on Teghan again, when the doorbell chimed. Who the hell was at the door? He muttered a curse under his breath and answered the door. No sooner than he'd opened the door, he closed it, or at least he tried. "You're not welcome here," he said.

"I'm not leaving until you let me see Teghan," Donnie said, his foot shoved in the door, preventing Rob from closing it all the way.

"She's sleeping." Rob stopped trying to close the door, but he used his body and blocked Donnie from getting in or even seeing into the house. "She needs her rest."

"It's been almost two fucking weeks! What the hell did you do to her?" Donnie shouted, his body tense and his eyes blazing with pure rage.

"You'd better watch yourself, boy!" Rob took a step closer to Donnie and towered over him in an attempt to intimidate him. Donnie also took a step closer to Rob. Rob scowled. Donnie was either plain stupid or he had a death wish.

"Teghan!" Donnie shouted.

Rob shoved him out the door. "Get the hell off my property before I have you arrested."

Donnie smiled a menacing smile. "You can't keep me from her forever."

"The hell I can't." Rob slammed the door shut before Donnie could say anything else or before he could shout for Teghan again. The nerve of him showing up like that. Rob went to the front window and watched. Donnie was standing in the driveway, looking up, no doubt hoping he could find Teghan's room. Too bad for Donnie, Teghan's bedroom window faced out toward the backyard, so if by some chance, she had heard Donnie, she couldn't motion to him.

"If you did anything to hurt her, or my baby, you'll pay for it! I swear it!" Donnie shouted before turning and getting in his truck.

Rob gritted his teeth. That son of a bitch kid just threatened him? No one threatened Robert Jacobs. As soon as he checked on Teghan, he was going to give Jim a call and handle the problem of Donnie Marks once and for all. Rob made his way upstairs, his body weary with a combination of fatigue and anger. He quietly opened Teghan's door and peeked inside. "Teghan." He rushed to her side and lifted her up off the floor. "Why are you out of bed?"

~ * ~

"Dad?" Her voice was weak and hoarse and she questioned whether she'd actually spoken. She hated being so disoriented, not knowing what was real and what was a dream. "Did I just hear Donnie downstairs?"

"Come on, get back into bed," he said tucking the blanket over her.

She had been certain she'd heard Donnie's voice. But really, who knew? Maybe she'd been hallucinating or dreaming or just hoping. "Why am I here?"

"You've been sick." He sat in the chair beside her bed. "Don't you remember anything?"

"Not really," she said. "I remember being in your den. We were talking about something, and I wasn't feeling well. Then I woke up here." She rubbed her temples. Rob blew out a breath and Teghan looked at him, a sense of foreboding crept up her spine. "What were we talking about, Dad?"

"You really don't remember?"

"No!"

"Teghan," he began slowly, averting his eyes. Teghan knew that whatever it was, her father didn't want to tell her. "We were talking about you and Donnie and the baby."

She cupped her hand over her mouth and gasped as tears sprung to her eyes. "No," she muttered. It couldn't be possible. The dreams...taking the test, Donnie, all the babies, it'd been real. Bile rose in her throat and she fought to keep it down.

"We were discussing your options when you just collapsed," he said.

Teghan closed her eyes tightly, trying to block out her father's voice, trying to make sense of what he'd just said. Options.
'What kind of options? Adoption. Abortion. Or... Or what' 'Or I could have this baby on my own and you wouldn't have to worry about it. I wouldn't even name you as the father.' 'The only option I'm willing to consider is the one where we have this baby together.'
She and Donnie were going to keep the baby. There were no other options. So what had she
really
been discussing with her father? God, why couldn't she just remember?

"I rushed you to the hospital and the doctors ran a whole bunch of tests..."

Teghan shook her head as a part of her dream flooded her mind.
But what was that thing standing over her then? Blue skin, camouflage hair, two brown marbles where there should've been eyes, and no nose or mouth, just a piece of white cardboard.
Blue skin...no, not skin, clothes. Medical scrubs, to be exact. And a matching bandana around his hair. A white face mask, brown eyes. A doctor. He was a doctor.
'It's going to be okay, Teghan,' he said with a nod in her direction.
That voice. She'd heard it before. Right here. In this room. Talking about weaning her and addiction.
'I'm going to take good care of her. I promise.' He nodded toward the glass.
There was someone behind that glass. Who? Now she knew--it was her father. He was the one who'd brought her there. She forced her eyes open and looked at her father. "No options," she said. "I'm going to have the baby. What were we talking about?"