Chapter Fourteen

A Bad Confrontation

The fear Cristina felt when she opened the door to find Maryse Ouellet on the other side was acute. Without a word, the platinum blonde walked into Cristina's little apartment, her nose crinkling in distaste at its modest size. Cristina shut the door behind her, watching Maryse scrutinize her life with narrowed eyes. She thought the woman was regal, like a queen. The dress she wore was worth two or three of Cristina's paychecks. It looked like Balmain. The condescension that followed Maryse made Cristina feel inferior. Her hat was wide and slanted over her face, her hair in a low ponytail. She was an elegant woman, a stark difference from Cristina. Her heels clacked on the floor as she explored the apartment. Taking off her sunglasses and dropping them into her Chanel bag, Maryse turned to Cristina.

"Do you know who I am?" she asked. Cristina nodded.

"Maryse."

"It's taken me a while to track you down, Mademoiselle Lucia, but I feel we need to talk. Woman to woman," she added. "I know what has been going on between you and Mike, Cristina, and it stops now."

"You want me to stop making him dinner?" Cristina asked. Maryse laughed, shallow peals of laughter that rang artificial in Cristina's ears. Her laugh sent a chill down Cristina's spine. There was something about Maryse that unsettled her. She didn't want to be alone with this woman.

"Don't play dumb with me," she snapped, her patience for the brunette running out. She circled Cristina like a vulture, examining the woman from head-to-toe. "I have to admit that you are much prettier than I imagined you to be, but you are still nothing compared to me." She pinched the tender flesh of Cristina's tricep. Cristina moved her arm, refusing to give Maryse the satisfaction of crying out. "Look at the fat there," Maryse taunted, her words dripping with venom. "And that flat, limp hair of yours. My God, he went slumming."

"Slumming?" Cristina didn't understand what Maryse meant. Maryse laughed at her incomprehension. It stopped abruptly when she was in front of Cristina. She knew the woman was uncomfortable, and she wanted it that way. Seeing the woman in person and seeing that she was quite beautiful had thrown her for a loop.

"I mean it, putain. Stay away from Mike. If you don't, I will make you pay."

"Leave," Cristina commanded. She had reached the limit of how much she was willing to put up with. "You are not welcome here. Get out."

"Fine." Before Cristina could relax, or even react, Maryse had turned, shoving her hard with both hands. Cristina hit the flimsy end table, both of them tumbling to the floor. The lamp cord tangled on her leg and she landed hard on the glass, breaking it with the force of her fall. Maryse looked down at her. "Remember what I said. Don't make me come back here." She laughed, pulling her sunglasses out of her purse. "You look pathetic. I don't know what he was thinking." Putting the sunglasses on her face, she walked out, closing the door behind her.

Cristina lay on the floor, struggling to catch her breath. The pain in her abdomen was sharp, almost intolerable. The lit light-bulb that had broken in the fall cut and burned her skin, but she couldn't move. She struggled to sit up, to pull herself to her feet, but a sharp pain in her stomach brought her back down to the floor. The pain was intense. She gasped, the tears streaming down her face. She could feel a gush between her legs, and she knew it was blood. Struggling, she dragged herself towards the coffee table, propping her up against the side to grab the cordless phone. She called 911, managing to give them the information she needed before she passed out from the pain.

Eve Torres huffed, looking down at her cell phone. She had been trying to get in touch with Cristina all day, but the woman wasn't answering her phone. Checking the time on her phone, she assumed Cristina was at the office. She dropped her phone into her purse and turned to Mike, who was sitting on the couch. "Did you and Cristina have a fight or something?" she asked. Mike seemed surprised by the question. He shook his head.

"No. Not at all."

"Don't lie to me, Mike. You haven't said anything about her in weeks. She's not having us over anymore, and she's not answering her phone. So what did you do?" Eve demanded. Alex shot his friend a look. Eve was right, come to think of it. Mike sighed. "What happened?" she pressed. Their eyes locked and her eyes widened as everything fell into place.

"You slept with her." It was a flat statement. Alex shot Mike a look of surprise.

"Eve..." Mike groaned.

"Oh, no – you can't hide that shit from me." She shook her head. "You're ducking her."

"I haven't meant to. It's just...I found out about Maryse, and I used her. I used Cristina, and I'm ashamed of myself. She tried to stop me, but I didn't want to stop." He shook his head.

"Are you kidding me? Have you spoken to her since?"

"No."

"Oh, what the fuck, Mike?" Eve blurted. "She's probably worried that she's done something to upset you. That's weak, Mike. Super weak." Mike looked at Alex, who nodded in agreement. "You can take all the time you want now that Maryse is out of the picture, but you cannot toy with that woman's heart. You need to let her know where she stands. You wouldn't like it if you were in that spot," she charged.

"You're right," he conceded. There was nothing he could say to defend himself. Eve looked down at her phone. Still nothing. She sighed, hoping that Mike hadn't screwed everything up.

Cristina opened her eyes, looking around the hospital room, her gaze falling on the machine that beeped quietly. With nowhere to put her, they had settled her into a room in the ICU, a floor that was eerily quiet. Terrified by her surroundings, Cristina pressed the button for the nurse, hoping that she would come and explain to her what happened. While she waited, she tried to calm herself. But something felt different. Something felt off.

A young male nurse walked into the room minutes later, a warm smile pulling at his features. He was lanky, with ruffled brown hair and warm green eyes that put Cristina immediately at ease. "Hello, Ms. Lucia," he greeted. "How are you feeling?"

She thought about the course of events of the day, about Maryse pinching at her arms and tugging at her hair. Cristina winced as she recalled Maryse's attack, her words that she was still with Mike, in spite of everything. Cristina shut her eyes. "The baby...?"

"I'm really sorry, Ms. Lucia. The way you fell...it was just too much too early." She nodded, not at all surprised to feel a thick tear roll down her cheek. The devastation hit her like a tidal wave, more overwhelming than she realized. It had terrified her, the idea of being a mother, but she still didn't want things to end this way. She looked at the nurse. He offered to get her something to eat, to help her keep her strength up, but she declined. After a moment, he stood to leave, to give her some time to process what had happened. When he was out of her vision, she broke down and cried. Outside it was raining.

Another nurse, this one a female with blonde hair and hazel eyes, walked into the room while Cristina was wallowing. For the first time since arriving in California, Cristina had never felt more alone. "Ms. Lucia, we are going to send you home tonight. Do you have anyone that we can call to come and get you?"

She thought about it. There was no way she could call her boss; she couldn't bring herself to explain what she had done. Mike wasn't answering his phone, and she wasn't sure she wanted to see him at the moment. Even though she wanted nothing to do with everyone at the moment, she gave the nurse Eve's phone number, under the condition that Cristina got to explain to Eve what happened.

Eve stood in front of her car, her arms crossed over her chest. A few minutes ago, the downpour had turned into a light drizzle of rain. Eve enjoyed the smell in the air that came with the rain. She watched the sliding doors of the hospital and tried to put her thoughts in order. The phone call had come out of nowhere, and she had ran out of the house without thinking, yelling to her boyfriend that she would be home late.

The sliding glass doors opened and Cristina walked out, her arms crossed over her chest. Eve called to her, jogging across the parking lot. She hugged Cristina tightly, but she didn't react. Eve's eyes narrowed. Pulling back, she studied Cristina at arm's length.

"What happened?" Eve asked.

"I blacked out," Cristina answered numbly. She didn't want to explain anything. She didn't feel ready to talk about it. Cristina half-heard Eve lecturing her about safety and taking care of herself as they walked towards Eve's car. They drove back to Cristina's apartment in silence, Cristina resting her head against the cool glass of the passenger's side window.

Once inside Cristina's apartment, Eve settled her down in her bed. "I'm going to stay for a little while," Eve told her, readjusting the blankets so Cristina was a little more comfortable. "Just in case you need anything. I'll be in the living room."

Cristina looked into the face of a woman who had become one of her closest friends. She nodded. "Grazie."

"It's what friends do for each other. Rest up," Eve told her. Cristina rested her head back against the pillow. Eve left the room and turned off the light behind her. Eve walked into the living room, the evidence of the fall still on the floor. She took it in: the overturned table, the broken lamp.

"Hell of a fall," she commented to herself, moving into the kitchen to grab a broom to clean up the mess. She used sandwich bags and disinfectant wipes to clean up the blood. After she finished, she took everything into the bathroom to dispose of the mess. She looked into the garbage can, her eyes narrowing. Reaching down, she pulled out the box and the stick, examining them. Eve turned her head, then back to the box, her eyes wide.

Mike stared at his cell phone on the coffee table. It had been a long time since he had spoken with Cristina, and he felt guilty for letting the time pass. He ran his hand through his hair. There was so much that he wanted to say to her, so much that he wanted to do, but he had no idea how to proceed. She made him nervous; he thought she would see him for his imperfections. But he wanted her to become a permanent fixture in his life. He wanted to come home to her every week.

He was drinking a beer with Alex, watching reruns of Viva La Bam. "Are you ever going to come right out and tell her how you feel about her?" Alex asked. Mike shrugged.

"I should. But she's going to hate me." Alex shook his head.

"I don't know if she ever could." Alex shook his head. "There's no shame in telling her how you feel, Mike."

"She's not answering her phone, anyway," Mike said, motioning to his phone. He shook his head. "She doesn't want to talk to me anyway." Alex shook his head.

"Then go see her sometime. You need to talk to her."

Cristina opened her eyes, startled to see Eve sitting beside her on the bed. Her eyes drifted, stopping on the pregnancy test Eve held in her hands. Cristina readjusted quickly, her eyes wide. Eve held it up. "We need to talk, Cristina." The two of them were quiet for a long time. Eve shook her head. "You're pregnant."

"No. Not anymore," she said quietly. Eve realized it was why she had picked Cristina up from the hospital. Her face softened, her lips pursed into a narrow line.

"Oh, Cristina, what happened?"

"I don't want to talk about it," Cristina told her softly.

"Was it because of the blackout?" Eve asked. Cristina nodded. Eve's eyes fell down to the test. "Was the baby Mike's?" Cristina looked away from Eve, her silence telling the Diva everything she needed to know. Eve sighed. "Does he know, Cristina?"

"Please...not a word. Do not tell him. Do not hurt him," she said quietly. Her eyes fell on the test. "Please...get rid of that...I do not want to look." Eve nodded, getting up to throw it back into the bathroom garbage can. She turned to the room, noting that Cristina looked even more pale and frail in her bed.

"He needs to know, Cristina. You should tell him," Eve told her. "Please. I can call him now. He'll come over..."

"No. Not now. I can't." She looked down at her hands. For the past month, she had been missing Mike. She wanted to see him, but the truth was that she wasn't ready to talk about things. Looking up at Eve, she shook her head. "Not now. Please."

Eve nodded, but she did not like the situation at all.