Chapter 44: Chapter 44

Alecia's eyes flew wide open as she grasped her stomach. She tried to catch her breath, but she couldn’t as a sharpness grew in her. What was happening? “Ryder,” she pushed out when the pain subsided just a little.

“Alecia.” Ryder leaned over her. “What’s wrong?” He placed his hand on her stomach.

She rolled over on her side pressing the gown in between her legs. Another pain ripped through her. “The baby,” she shouted.

“What baby?” Ryder rolled her back over and grabbed her hand. He pulled his hand away from her, a darkness covered it. “You’re pregnant.”

Ryder sprang from the bed and ran to the living room coming back in a couple minutes.

He swept her into his arms, running down the stairs of the apartment to the bottom floor. Alecia clenched his shirt, digging her fingers into his skin each time she felt a cramp. Once in the car, he drove through the streets to the nearest hospital. The fading lights of the street sped past them in the opposite direction. The baby she’d never wanted was leaving them. An ache spread through her. Her child was dying. She clutched onto her stomach as the pain grew. If she could only hold the baby in. But there was no way to save him once this started. How many times had she heard her mother say that over the phone while she counseled a grieving mother?

Ryder muttered to her but she couldn’t understand what he said. She glanced at him. Tears poured down his face. The confidence in his eyes completely gone.

“Alecia, I’m sorry. You should have told me, but we’ll save him.”

At the hospital, Ryder swooped her into his arms and ran to the opening of the emergency room to the front desk. People focused on them. A full-term mother held onto her stomach. She must realize what was happening.

“She’s having a miscarriage,” Ryder said.

The woman at the reception desk focused on Alecia's lump covered nightgown with dark blood smoothed all over the bottom. “She’s had a miscarriage,” the woman said.

“What?” Ryder shouted out.

The woman didn’t respond, but helped another nurse place Alecia on a rolling bed and wheel her into a hospital room.

Before she knew it, she was lying on a table and an ultrasound wand was being moved over her belly. A blackness filled the screen. Her womb was empty.

“How far was she?” the woman asked.

“I don’t know.” Ryder spun to a wall and banged his fist on it.

“Sir,” the woman said, fierceness in her eyes. “Calm down.”

Ryder brought his fist to his mouth and bit down on his knuckles – his teeth piercing his skin, but he didn’t seem to notice as blood seeped from the wound, “Is it gone?” he whispered.

The woman ran a sonar over Alecia's belly. “There’s no more baby. She must not have been far.”

Ryder broke down, pushed his hands through his hair and squeezed his head as he screamed out.

“Sir, sit down,” the woman shouted.

“Why did this happen?” he demanded.

The woman shook her head, furrowing her brows. “Women have miscarriages a lot.

Especially when there is a lot of stress put on them.”

“I’m sorry, Alecia.” He rushed to her, taking her hand. Never, had she seen him so distraught. Had a child meant so much to him? His stormy gray eyes wavered as if someone pointed a gun at him. She should have told him. No matter how cruel he was, he deserved to celebrate his child’s life, not just mourn it. Tears brimmed in her eyes while one trickled down her cheek - pain crashed all over her. She looked back at the black image on the monitor. Nothing was left in her. Bye baby, she whispered.

.Only the slight rise of her chest showed she still lived. But not the life she’d once carried. If he had only known, he would have made a different decision last night and faced his father’s wrath. The man couldn’t have hurt him more than this.

She lay under layers of blankets, lost in a sedated sleep awaiting more tests before being sent home. Ryder ran two fingers down her pale cheek. “I’m so sorry. I’ll never let you be hurt again.” Tears brimmed in his eyes. “My love.”

He buried his head in her chest, letting the tears pour forth. What would his child have looked like? Who would he have become? One decision. One poorly made decision had cost him so much. He gazed at her white face. And her.

Chloe ran her hands through his hair. “It wasn’t your fault but hers for not telling you.”

Ryder clenched the sheets. He hadn’t given her a chance. What must she have thought as he slipped the needle through her skin? Did she think he was going to kill her? One decision. One poorly made decision.

The door to the hospital room opened and Richard and his father walked in. Ryder couldn’t stand to look at either of them. This was their fault. It was their plans that had led to this moment.

“Ryder, get a hold of yourself,” Mr. Hendrix said. He stood in the middle of the room, stoic. Did he not care that it was his grandchild who had died? How could he be so cold?

“It was my baby and I killed it.”

Richard ran a hand through Ryder's hair, but the once familiar childhood comfort brought no peace. In a calm voice he said, “women have miscarriages all the time. Do you know how many Victoria had before we had Sheila?”

Heat burned through him, making his hands tremble. “She didn’t kill them.”

“Ryder…I.”

Mr. Hendrix raised his hand and everyone stilled, focusing on him. He strode to Ryder, grabbing his arm. “Stand up.”

Ryder jumped to his feet, and crossed his hands in front of his waist. He looked at the floor as a chill passed through him. What would he do?

“Listen to me. This is the game we play. Hear me. It was nothing. Now, look at me, boy.” Ryder fixed his eyes on his father, cringing back at the deep glare.

“Treason is punishable by death, and we’ve all done it. Want to make your wife a widow, keep shouting.”

Ryder shook his head.

Arther broke in. “It’s okay, Ryder. You can have more. There will be more children.

She’s a young girl. I talked to McMillian and he said that it won’t harm her body.”

“I did this to her,” he said as he looked at Alecia's ghostly form. She looked dead.

“Did you know?” His father asked. Ryder shook his head.

“Then it’s her fault.”

Maybe it was. He lowered his gaze to the floor. But she had been so scared of him.

“They won’t be able to detect it in her blood, will they?” Richard asked.

“No, Donald is surprised it made her miscarry, but then again, even though she has been marked, she's still a human, and you know how weak and pathetic these humans are” his father said.

“Maybe it didn’t,” Chloe said, looking down at Alecia. “Maybe it was the stress of almost being killed.”

“Yeah,” Richard said as a smile crossed his face. “That was probably it.”

Ryder looked to the side. He didn’t believe it. It was that vile thing. But there was nothing he could do. There was no way to escape this life that had been designed for him. All he could do was keep trying to protect her. And he would.

Trina opened the hospital door and stopped dead in her tracks. Ryder's usually tan face had ashen; the confident eyes shaken, and he sobbed over Alecia. He seemed so broken. Alecia was awake, but she had her face turned from Ryder - even though he kept speaking to her; mostly telling her he was sorry and that he loved her.

Trina took a deep breath and clenched her fingers together. This was not going to be easy. But maybe this would be a turning point. She hoped it would.

“How are you, Ally?” Trina said. She walked to her sister and bent down so she could wrap her arms around her. Alecia didn’t say anything, but turned her gaze to Trina.

“Did you know?” Ryder asked.

Trina sat down on a chair, and took Alecia's other hand. “Mom and Dad will be here soon.” Her voice cracked.

Ryder reached across the bed and took Trina's hand. “Answer me.”

There was a redness in his eyes as a darkness grew in them. She turned to her sister. “She was going to tell you this weekend.”

“How far?”

“I don’t know.” Trina shook her head, and ran some fingers down her sister’s face. “But I don’t think she was far. She wanted it to be a big surprise.” Though it made her cringe to say it, hopefully, her lie would deflect any future anger from her sister.

Ryder nodded. Alecia seemed out of it. She stared at the hospital wall, as if she didn’t realize there were two people in the room. What had happened to her? She looked like a shell.

Could this have been caused by the miscarriage or was there more?

“Alecia, are you alright?” she asked.

Her sister didn’t answer, but closed her eyes, taking a deep breath and letting it out slowly. She was ignoring them.

Trina stood. “We should let her rest.”

“I must be here for her,” Ryder mumbled out. Trina pushed her eyes closed. Love your enemies. She walked over to him, and laid a hand on his shoulder.

Please, let him feel comfort and not stiffness. “I know my sister better than anyone. Maybe I can help you comfort her.”

He looked at her with hope in his eyes. He nodded and followed her out the door. Closing the door, he stood in front of her peering down into her eyes. He loomed over her, making her feel every inch of her five-feet-two-inches.

“What do I do?” His voice held a sense of eagerness. Maybe he was afraid he was going to lose her.

Trina raised her hands to the side. “Let her grieve.”

His brows knit. “Grieve. Are you serious?” He pointed to the door. “She needs to be happy. Back to the way she was in college.”

“You can’t force your will on her.”

Ryder's eyes grew fierce, glaring down as he took a step closer to her. Trina stumbled a step back.

“Little girl.” His voice was tight as if he talked to a child. “You speak foolishly.”

Trina planted her feet on the floor. “I speak what I see.”

“Do you?” He bent his head to the side. “And what do you see?”

She took his hand. “Loosen up and she’ll cling to you. She loves you so much.”

Ryder's eyes softened as his face relaxed. He nodded, and turned for the door. What just happened? Trina placed a hand to her mouth. Did he believe her?