Exception (49 page)

Excusing herself, Emily followed her sister down the corridor and was able to catch up with her before the door closed. “Hey sissy, you ok?”

Charlotte looked at her sister with that challenging gaze she always used when she was annoyed for an obvious reason that people didn’t seem to notice. With both of them inside, she locked the door and moved to the toilet. “Yeah, I’m fine. I’m just super annoyed at Chuck. I understand all of you mocking me for peeing too much, but he’s my husband. He’s the reason I’m like this, so he should have my back and shut the fudge up.”

“Fudge?” Emily asked her sister, finding her choice of words strange, since Charlotte had always been fond of vulgarity.

“Yesterday Taylor gave me a lot of grief about being a mom and cussing like a sailor, so I’m trying to tone it down,” she said with a small smile and a mock roll of her eyes, before continuing. “And it’s not only the pee thing. I’m feeling weird and gassy today. My back is aching like a mother . . . fudger. And it’s just really uncomfortable, you know?”

For the first time that night, Emily noticed that, behind her sister’s make-up, she looked incredibly pale. “Do you want me to call Zack?”

“Nope, I’m okay. I ate like a pig tonight and I’m tired, that’s probably it,” Charlotte said, washing her hands and giving her baby sister a kiss on the cheek.

With arms linked, the two went back to the hall and started making their way to the table where their friends were loudly talking. The bright white light of Taylor’s camera flashed as he took pictures of the group, just as he’d done the entire day.

“I’m kicking them out and you’re resting, ‘kay?” Emily told her sister in a sober tone.

“Thanks. Just see if they’ll take Chuck with them. Dude’s pissing me off,” the eldest joked, before muttering the word annoying and making them both giggle.

As promised, right after the two sisters arrived back at the table, Emily politely suggested that it was time for people to go and allow Charlie her rest. Picking up on the not-so-subtle hint and understanding the reason for it perfectly, all of Emily’s guests stood and, for the next half hour, helped their host clean up the house while continuing their conversations.

Once everything was clean, the small group of friends said their goodnights and left, knowing that they would see each other again in just a few hours for breakfast. Instead of following the rest of the group out, Taylor stayed behind with Emily in the empty room.

Resting on the couch, they talked playfully with each other. The conversation Taylor had with Charlotte the night before haunted him the entire time. He was determined to keep the promise he’d made and wait until Emily was ready to know how he felt about her, but every time he smelled her hair or felt the warmth of her skin, his body burned with longing and his throat begged to say the words.

Desperate to steal a few more minutes before going back to his sister’s for the night, he offered to keep her company as she got ready for bed. That was an offer she couldn’t refuse. She adored the comfort and intimacy they shared whenever he was staying over and, after such a long time without it, she craved it badly.

With his body feeling like a battlefield, Taylor respectfully waited outside her bedroom as she changed into purple and gray flannel pants and a dark gray, long sleeved t-shirt. He then followed her around the house as she drank her water, washed her face and teeth, combed her hair and moisturized her skin. It was a practiced routine and, when it was over, he walked her to her bedroom and followed her to her bed where he playfully tucked her in. She giggled as he fitted the covers tightly around her body, leaving only her shoulders and arms out. Taylor combed his fingers through her hair, fixing the dark halo that had formed around her head on the pillow. It took everything he had not to lean down and kiss her lips.

“I have to go, Ems,” he said with closed eyes, letting a deep sigh out from between his lips.

Not knowing how much he’d hated to say those words, or the serious danger their friendship faced if he didn’t leave at that moment, Emily’s small hand rose to touch his stubbly cheek. “Or you could stay.”

Opening his eyes, he locked them with hers. His excited expression was almost childlike. With a few nervous chuckles, Taylor brought his hand up to cover the soft one that cupped his cheek. Fitting his fingers in between hers, he turned his face slightly to the side so he could kiss her palm, which he did three times before turning his face back towards her.

Even in the dim light of the bedside lamp Emily looked different. Behind the excitement, her eyes had a new glimmer and her cheeks were blushed, though she didn’t look embarrassed. The way her hand touched Taylor’s face was also unlike any other time she’d done so. She wasn’t simply touching him; she was holding him.

Despite being fully aware of how her body was behaving, she had no idea the reason why. Regardless, the confusion wasn’t enough to keep the urge to be closer to him away. Remembering the clear instructions he gave her the first time she’d spent the week with him in NYC, she didn’t fight it.

The squeaking sound of the guest bedroom door opening and closing did not break the bubble of charged energy that surrounded them, but it brought a smile to Taylor’s lips. “My room is occupied, remember?”

“The toilet flush keeps reminding me of it,” Emily purred, with a stubborn smile on her lips. “As I told you before, we can make other arrangements.”

Despite his nervous chuckle, there was hope in Taylor’s eyes. He leaned a little closer, stopping inches from her face, to whisper in a low tone that had Emily’s thighs clenching involuntarily. “What do you propose, Miss Watson?”

While Emily thought about what two possible places she could offer him, Taylor thought that, if she offered to share her bed, it would be his cue to have the conversation with her. Both their eyes glimmered with the wildest array of emotion.

Suddenly, a terrible scream of agony came from the hallway, tearing their bubble to shreds.

Knowing that something was wrong with her sister, Emily jumped from the bed like a scared cat and bolted to the door, her best friend right behind her. Her brother-in-law came running down the hall to meet them.

Emily’s hands were shaking as she turned the knob and found Charlotte grunting on the floor, with blood running down both of her legs and pooling on the tiles. She held her bulging stomach with her bloodstained hands.

“Call 911 and get Zack.” Emily’s voice cracked as she ran to her sister’s side.

By the time she’d grabbed the towels from the rack on the wall and knelt on the floor, pressing them where the blood was coming from between her sister’s legs, Taylor was gone. Chuck, however, was still standing there, staring at the two women with shocked eyes.

Charlie continued to make the disturbing noises, bringing tears to her sister’s eyes. “It hurts, Emmy. It hurts so much.”

“It’s okay sissy, Zack will be here in a sec. You’ll be just fine, sweetie,” she soothed.

Her eyes zeroed in on her brother-in-law, begging him to snap out of it and help her, but he only stared at his wife in shock, his eyes bloodshot. Emily applied more pressure to the towel; she had no idea if that was what she was supposed to do in this situation, but it was all she could think of.

Emily repeated a mantra of encouraging words over and over, but they did little to help her sister, who still cried in pain. It took herculean strength to keep Emily from crying and freaking out when she felt the towel becoming warm and heavy with the amount of blood her sister was losing. You didn’t need to be a doctor to know that bleeding like that would cause serious complications for both mother and child.

Lost, she almost didn’t see Zack walk into the bathroom and kneel between Charlotte’s legs. He felt her stomach and pulse, then asked a series of questions that Emily answered to the best of her abilities, retelling the moment she’d heard the screams and the conversation the two of them had earlier that night, when Charlie complained about being gassy and having back pains. She knew her friend well enough to know that the look on his face wasn’t a good one.

“Cheesecake,” Zack called, getting her attention. “Did anyone call emergency?”

Emily turned her eyes to Chuck, who was still frozen. “I didn’t, and I don’t think Chuck has either. Maybe Tay—I don’t know.”

Zack nodded. His nostrils flared in frustration; Taylor had told him that Chuck was calling 911. “We need to take Charlie to the hospital right now. Get a few more towels and a blanket to keep her warm, and let’s go.”

The deadly serious tone he used was one she didn’t think Zack, in all his southern sweetness, was capable of. She watched as he cleaned his hands on his blue silk pajamas before retrieving his phone from his shirt pocket to dial a few numbers.

A meaningful glance was exchanged between the two friends. The emotion Zack saw in her eyes made his heart clench. He’d never seen her that scared. “She’ll be fine, love. I’m calling a friend who’s the best ob-gyn I know. She’ll take care of Charlie, and I’ll be there to take care of the baby. I just need you to do what I asked,
now
.”

After a robotic head bob, Emily kissed her sister’s hand and stood up, forcing her unsteady legs to move. She ran to the coat closet and put on the first jacket and boots she found, before grabbing a heavy blanket and a few towels from the linen closet. In a matter of seconds, she was back in the bathroom.

Arriving there, she saw with detachment that Chuck was responding to Zack, and both he and Zack were putting on the winter clothes that Taylor had brought them. The only sounds in the crowded bathroom were her sister’s cries and Taylor’s gentle voice calming her as he lifted her into his arms. Emily carefully draped the blanket on top of Charlotte, and the five of them ran down the stairs.

Chuck rode shotgun in Taylor’s Jeep, allowing Emily and Zack to ride in the back with Charlotte. In full doctor mode, Zack monitored the bleeding and her heartbeat while Emily kept her sister talking. With Taylor driving like a bat out of hell, it only took a few minutes before the car arrived at the emergency entry to the hospital where a gurney and a tall, slim woman dressed in pink scrubs were already waiting.

Zack greeted the woman and her two assistants, who helped remove Charlotte from the back seat. The woman asked both Charlotte and Zack a few questions, and in seconds they were running again. Emily held her sister’s hand as they pushed the gurney through the hall. She had the vague impression that Zack spoke to her, telling her something about surgery, but she didn’t pay much attention to him until they reached a stainless steel door and a nurse told Emily she couldn’t go through.

“I’ll be right here, Lottie, don’t keep me waiting long, okay?” Her voice didn’t sound like her own.

Charlie was as pale as Emily had ever seen her, but understanding the meaning behind the name Emily used, she forced the brave smile she’d used so many times in her life. “I won’t and don’t worry too much. You and I are tough as nails, right?”

“Yeah, we are. I love you, sissy,” she called, mostly to the door that swung back and forth where her sister’s gurney had pushed it.

It was a mystery how it happened, but the next thing Emily knew she was sitting sideways on a sea-foam green pleather couch, watching the snow fall through a large window to her right. She could feel Taylor’s chest behind her back, his arms held her and his hands moved in circular soothing motions over her arms and shoulders. She could hear Chuck pace and sob nearby; he’d been doing that ever since Zack stopped by quickly to explain what had happened.

Too weak to stand at the time, she’d remained in a stiff, seated position on the couch with her limp hand clasped in Taylor’s as Zack relayed everything. He’d explained that Charlotte’s placenta suffered a total detachment, which caused the heavy bleeding. He’d informed that, as they were talking, Dr. Palma was delivering the baby and she would come out to talk to them as soon as Charlie was stabilized. He’d also said that he was heading over to the OR to look after the child and that the chief of pediatric surgery was joining him to give the best possible care to the little girl.

Before he left he’d tried to talk to Emily, but she’d stared blankly at him. Nevertheless, he’d reaffirmed his promise that her sister would be fine and kissed her lips before leaving the room.

Over an hour had passed since his visit. In that time Jody and Brad, the Webbers and Toby had joined them in the waiting room, but neither Dr. Palma nor Zack had come out to give any updates.

All of Emily’s loved ones tried to speak to her. They asked how she was, offered tea and coffee and handed her a change of clothes, but she had no words in her, so she simply stared at the snow and welcomed the warm touch Taylor offered her, while he asked them to give her some time and space. She was never more grateful.

Emily’s mind was an array of memories that contrasted with the numbness in her heart. Despite being wide awake, she felt stuck in one of her nightmares. She remembered every time she’d been in the hospital, every cast and surgery and bandage she’d had over the years. Inevitably, memories of her sister holding her hand and making jokes to lighten the mood also flooded her, making her thankful for the numbness that wouldn’t allow her to cry because she was positive that, if the tears started, they would never end. The anxiety over how long it was taking to have news about her sister brought Emily’s mind to the awful night of Lewis’s death, and those memories froze her bones, making her body shiver.