The Price of Fame: A Price Novel (The Price Novels Book 2) (15 page)

I walked out of the kitchen and stood by Slayde. Mom’s eyes welled up when she saw me. She looked me up and down before speaking. “Arden, you look beautiful.” She put her arms around me and hugged me. I wasn’t expecting that. At first I flinched, but after a moment, I somewhat hugged her back. “Thank you for seeing me.”

“You wanna go sit in the living room?” I couldn’t believe I was saying that, and neither could Slayde, I guessed, because he looked at me funny.

She nodded and followed me into the living room. She sat on the couch and motioned for me to sit by her, but I wasn’t ready for that yet. I sat across from her in a chair instead. I looked up, and Slayde was standing in the doorway, arms crossed and brows pinched together. He knew me well enough to know that I wasn’t really OK with all of this. Even if it had been my idea.

“Can I get you something to drink?” he asked.

We both asked for water, and he disappeared into the kitchen.

“Arden, I know that you and I are very different, and that has a lot to do with why we aren’t close.”

I interrupted her. “No, it doesn’t. We aren’t close because we hardly know each other. You were never around when I was growing up, and I practically raised Kenedy and Gia myself. That was really not fair. I was just a child myself. I shouldn’t have had to cook and clean up after myself. Much less two younger siblings. You were the mother. You were supposed to do that.” I was furious, and tears were stinging my eyes. Mom had started crying again too, which made everything worse.

I didn’t even realize I was raising my voice until Slayde came back into the room with our water. He stood in front of me with his back to her as if she wasn’t there. “Are you OK? You don’t have to do this, baby.”

But I was mad now, and I wanted to let her know how shitty of a parent she was, and how much better off I was because I got out of her house.

“No, I’m fine.” I gave him a look so that he would know I was OK.

“All right, I will be in the kitchen,” he said and looked at me as if to make sure I was OK with that. I nodded my head and looked back at my mother.

“Arden,” she said.

“No, I’m not finished. You came to my house to talk to me, and you are going to listen to me first. You have four daughters. How many times did you ever go buy tampons, Mom? Forget that—you didn’t even explain to us what the hell we would need them for. Thank goodness for sex ed, or I still might not know. Cassie Silverman’s mom had to take me to go by tampons for the first time. What does that say? That I would rather ask the mother of a friend to go buy me tampons before I dared asked my own? It says you sucked. Why should I forget all that because you’re sorry now? That’s just the tip of the iceberg. Shopping for school clothes, school supplies, prom dresses—these were all things most mothers did with their kids. But not you. You sent your assistant and your American Express in your place. What about me having to take Kenedy and Gia to the health department for birth control because I was so horrified that I’d end up raising their kids too? You took my childhood from me and didn’t bat an eye. I hope it was all worth it, because I don’t want anything to do with you. And I don’t want these babies to have anything to do with you either.”

I was so hysterical that I didn’t even realize I’d just told her that I was having more than one baby until she said, “Babies?” through the tears.

“Mom, please leave. I don’t want to talk to you anymore.”

“Please, let me speak.”

I saw Slayde walk back into the room. He was standing in the doorway, waiting to hear what I was going to say, I guessed.

I motioned for her to speak. “Go ahead—say whatever you came here to say.”

“Arden, there isn’t one thing I can say to you to make any of that different, and I know that. I am truly sorry, but I never meant to be a bad mother. It just turned out that way. I can’t change any of the past, but I don’t want to not have you in my future. Whether you believe me or not, I really do love you. I’m never going to be perfect, but I am trying to get my priorities straight in my life. And I have to start with the most important, and that’s you girls.”

I interrupted her. I was no longer crying. “Why should I believe you? What’s changed?”

She hesitated for a minute and then said, “I’ve been in remission from breast cancer for four months, and I figured out what’s most important. It’s definitely not work.”

I was so stunned that I couldn’t wrap my mind around it enough to make out a clear thought. I just sat there a minute or two before I looked up at her. “Why are you just now telling me this? Why not before now?”

“I didn’t want you to worry about it. It wouldn’t have changed anything,” she said.

“But you wouldn’t have been alone.” As angry as I was with her, I now felt like I’d been punched in the gut.

“I wasn’t alone. I had Bruce.” Bruce was my mom’s boyfriend of fifteen years. I didn’t like him all that much. He always gave me the creeps. “And I’ve tried to tell you the last few times I talked to you, but it never was the right time.”

“I saw Kenedy the other night, and she didn’t say anything.”

“She doesn’t know. None of them know. I wanted to tell you first.”

I didn’t know what to say.

“Look, Arden, I’m not here to guilt-trip you back into my life. I’m here because I love you, and I don’t want to waste any more time at odds with each other. You are right about everything you said, and I know that there’s way more than that, and I understand. You have every right to be angry, but life is short, and I don’t want any more regrets.” She stood up and came over to me. “If the time comes and you’re not as angry with me at some point, I’d love to get to know you.”

As she turned to leave, I stood up and said, “It’s a boy and a girl.” I was crying again, and pain made me realize I’d been chewing on my bottom lip.

She turned around and smiled a genuine smile that reached her eyes and said, “You’re gonna be a great mom. I hope I get to meet them.” She held her hand out and looked at my belly like she was asking permission to touch me. I nodded and let her. She had tears streaming down her cheeks as she touched it, and she looked up at me and said, “Thank you.” She kissed my cheek and left.

I collapsed back into the chair, sobbing. I had no real idea what I was crying about. Maybe the stress of the situation. Maybe the realization that my mom could have died without even telling me she was sick. I wasn’t sure, but I was overwhelmed with emotion.

Slayde came rushing into the room. “Baby, are you OK?”

I couldn’t answer him, and after a few minutes of holding me while I cried, he carried me to our bedroom and laid me on the bed. Then he went to the bathroom and got a cool rag for my face and a rubber band for my hair. I really wasn’t sure if I was going to be a good mother, but maybe Slayde could teach me how to nurture someone.

I finally calmed down and let myself relax. I was not feeling good at all. “I really don’t feel well, Slayde. I feel light-headed.”

“Well, I don’t doubt it. You’ve been squalling for twenty minutes straight. That would exhaust anyone. You need to calm down and rest before you make yourself sick. I’ll go get you a soda and see if that helps a little.”

After Slayde came back in with something to drink, he insisted I lie down and try and sleep.

When I opened my eyes again, I didn’t know how long I had been asleep, but Slayde was still in there with me, watching TV.

“I thought you were supposed to go meet Kevin at the gym.”

I must have startled him, because he jumped. “Hey, baby, are you feeling any better?”

“Not really.” I tried to get out of bed to go to the bathroom, but suddenly I got tunnel vision, and the last thing I remembered was hearing the ocean inside my ears.

When I came to, Slayde was holding me in his lap. “You are not OK. We’re going to the hospital.”

I tried to argue with him, but didn’t have the strength. I knew he was scared, and I understood why.

Lexi met us at the hospital, and Dr. Wells was only minutes behind us in getting there. By the way she was dressed up, I could tell she wasn’t working or on call. I knew Slayde had called her.

The nurses were checking my stats, and Dr. Wells was asking Slayde questions. He looked freaked. I hated seeing him like that, but I really couldn’t do anything to make him feel better.

There were at least eight people in the room, but I couldn’t make out what anybody was saying. I finally just closed my eyes. My head was pounding, and the light was killing me. I must have gone to sleep, because I opened my eyes and I was in a different room and it was dark. Milly was there, and so was Slayde, but that was it.

When they realized I was awake, they both rushed over to me.

“What’s going on?” I whispered.

“Your blood pressure is up a little, and they want to keep you here overnight just in case, but everything is going to be OK,” Slayde said. “Can I get you anything?”

“Water would be great.”

He stepped out, and Milly came closer to me. “Are you OK? You scared us all to death?”

“I think so. I’m sorry. I hate that you drove all the way up here because of me. Did Slayde call you?”

“No, I called him. I’ve been calling you all day and finally decided to try him. He told me what was going on, and I drove up here.”

“Were you in here when Dr. Wells was telling Slayde what was going on?”

“Yes.” She looked like she didn’t want to answer me.

“Give me the doctor version, please.”

“She’s really concerned about your blood pressure. She is worried about preeclampsia and is considering bed rest.”

“What? Are you serious?” I had been afraid of that, and that was the last thing I wanted.

She nodded, and Slayde came in with a bottle of water. She didn’t say anything else. I assumed Slayde hadn’t wanted me to know that much.

“When did she say I could leave?” I asked Slayde.

“Maybe in the morning, baby, but you need to rest.”

“What time is it? I’m supposed to be at work tonight. I need to call Chief Robbins.” I tried to move the bed up, but Slayde stopped me.

“Chief Robbins has already been by here. Stop worrying about it. He said it’s fine.” He sat down by me on the bed, and Milly left the room. I suddenly got a bad feeling.

“Arden, listen to me. You’re gonna have to seriously slow down, OK? I’m serious.” His brown eyes were staring at me intently. He wasn’t playing. This was serious Slayde. I didn’t see him often, but I knew he wasn’t budging.

“But I have,” I interjected.

He looked away; then when he looked back, I saw it. He was scared. “I love you more than anything in this world. I promise I want you to be happy, but these babies cannot survive like this right now. We’re doing too much. You are on the borderline of her putting you to bed.” He stopped and wiped the tears that were building in his eyes. “Do it for me. I don’t want to lose you. You hear me?”

I couldn’t stand to see him this upset, and I promised him I would. I made him lie down with me. I didn’t sleep well without him, and I needed to feel him next to me. I didn’t know if he got any sleep, but I really didn’t.

The next morning I woke up and saw Slayde outside in the hall talking to Julie, and I remembered he was supposed to be flying to Houston for the last few days of filming. When he came back in the room, Julie wasn’t with him.

“Was that Julie?” I asked.

“Yep, how did you sleep?”

“Not great. Can we go home now?”

“Now, you know the answer to that.” And I did. I knew Dr. Wells probably wouldn’t be there for at least another hour.

A nurse came in and took my blood pressure. It was lower than it was the day before, but it still wasn’t normal.

A few minutes later, Chief Robbins came by. He was a tall, thin man nearing sixty, mostly bald with small wire-rimmed glass sitting atop his upturned nose. He reminded me of my principal in middle school. “How are you this morning?”

“Still stuck in this bed. I’m sorry I shorthanded you last night.”

He laughed, shaking his head “Arden, you are the only person I know who would apologize for being rushed to the hospital. Listen to me. You won’t lose your spot here. You’re going to be a wonderful surgeon and mother. You can be both, and don’t apologize for it. Just take care of yourself, OK?” He squeezed my leg and smiled at me and said he’d be back to check on me later.

I smiled and nodded. That did give me a little relief.

An hour after Chief Robbins left, Dr. Wells showed up. When she came in, I knew what she was about to tell me. She looked at Slayde, and I realized so did he. They’d obviously already talked about it. She sat in the chair next to my bed. She was talking to me more like a friend than a patient, and I appreciated that. Even though I didn’t like what she was going to say. “You’re hardheaded, you know that?” She was almost smiling. “And you’re making his job really hard.” She tucked a strand of dark hair behind her ear as she looked in Slayde’s direction. “I told him that doctors make the worst patients because they think they know everything.” She nodded at me. “And residents are worse because they only know enough to be a danger to themselves.”

Here it comes.

“You’re going home today, but I’m putting you on bed rest for two weeks, minimum. I’ve already talked to Dr. Robbins, and you are officially off the schedule. So don’t even bother trying to argue this point. I will see you again in two weeks, and I will decide then if you’re going back to work or not.” I was angry, but mostly because I knew that she was right. “And I will be checking in with him.” She nodded toward Slayde. “You better do what you’re supposed to, or Dr. Robbins and I will gang up on you. I promise.”

When she left the room, I looked at Slayde. “You traitor.”

He tried to smile. “A, I’m not a traitor. I’m your husband, and I want you to be OK.”

I closed my eyes and crossed my arms, pouting, and scoffed, “You’re totally not getting laid.”

He laughed. “Yeah, I knew that was coming, but don’t worry. I’ll survive. It’s not the first time you’ve punished me.” He patted my leg, and I opened one eye to see that he really was entertained by my comment.
Asshole!