*Thank-you for the reviews on the last chapter they were greatly appreciated. I am sorry that it has taken me so long to update. I have been pretty busy as of late planning a wedding, packing up to move but I promise I will be back to updating more soon. Please be patient with me.*
We arrive at the hospital not too long after we left the hotel room. I'm fuming as I drove us down the highway and to the hospital. I feel like I was blindsided by the news that my new quarterback is the same man that raped my wife in college. There is no way I can co-exist with him and respect him as a player especially when he was accused of raping another woman not too long ago. I don't know why he's not benched or not allowed to play for a while until the truth comes out that he's a serial rapist with no respect for any woman in this world. He will not be a player on my team if I have anything to say about it. "Roman," says Hayden snapping me out of my thoughts as we walk through the doors. "What if something is wrong with the babies?"
"Let's hope that there isn't anything wrong with the babies and that you're just having some normal cramping. I would hate for anything to happen to the babies," I say as I rub her back.
"I'm so sorry, Roman, this is my fault. I should have listened to you and dropped the case and shouldn't have pursued it. I am so sorry, Baby," she says apologetically. "I should have listened to you if something happens to these babies it will be my fault."
"Don't say that, Hayden," I say, "if something happens to these babies it's not your fault."
"I'm just going to blame myself," she says. I pull her close to me and wrap my arm around her shoulders. I kiss the top of her head comforting her.
"You are not going to do that," I say as we walk up to the reception desk. "Everything is going to be fine."
"I hope so," she says.
We give her information to the reception desk and they put a hospital bracelet on her. We take a seat waiting to be seen and that takes forever before they finally call us back to be checked out by a doctor. "Hayden Reigns," calls the nurse. Hayden and I stand up and make our way over to the nurse. "What brings you in today?" she asks as we make our way to the back.
"I'm pregnant and I am experiencing really bad cramps," answers Hayden.
"I see," she says. "How far along are you?" she asks.
"About 10 weeks," she answers.
"Okay," she says as she escorts us into a private room. "I'm going to hook you up to have your blood pressure checked then a doctor will come in to check you out. Are you spotting at all?" she asks.
"No," says Hayden. "I'm not spotting at all just really bad cramps."
"No spotting is a good sign," she says, "cramping is normal in pregnancy," she says getting her hooked up to the blood pressure machine.
"I know but I'm nervous about the cramping," she says as the nurse checks her blood pressure.
"Well, your blood pressure is extremely high," she says, "170/98."
"That's not good," I say rubbing her back.
"We're going to do what we can do," says the nurse. "The doctor will be in soon."
"Thank-you," I say before my cellphone starts to ring. I pull it out of my pocket and look to see it's the owner of the Steelers calling me. I decline the call and put it back in my pocket my wife and children are far more important than that mess with Mack. I need to make sure all three of them are okay before I focus on getting Mack off my team. "So what happened?"
"I don't know, Baby," she says, "I went to her house and she started telling me that she was dropping the charges and she couldn't go through with the case. I tried to talk her into it and told her dropping the charges would mean he would get away with raping her. She said she can't prove that he raped her and then next thing I know he shows up at the door talking about how he didn't rape her, he didn't rape me and that they were trying to be a family. Then he dropped the lovely bombshell that he is the new Quarterback for the Steelers."
"Damn it," I say. "I can't stand that son of a bitch."
"Neither can I and his smug little face today made me sick, so I guess they are together now. I don't know if it was a game or if he paid her off to keep her silent."
"I'm hoping that it wasn't a game but the whole thing seemed a little sketchy from the beginning. I'm not denying how amazing you are at your job because I know you're amazing. I'm not discrediting that but to come from Ohio all the way to Louisiana to ask you to be their advocate seemed a bit off to me. I want to give her the benefit of the doubt that maybe she thought you two could relate to one another since you both have been through the same thing technically with that animal but I just feel like this was a game. She sought you out for a reason, Hayden."
"I am thinking the same thing. I should have listened to you and just not taken the case. It's not like they don't have victim advocates up here that are far more accessible than I am. It had to be an inconvenience to fly all the way to Louisiana for help," she says. I knew since the beginning that this entire thing was a little shady but I didn't want to say anything to Hayden. I was hoping this girl wasn't playing with her but it seems like she was and I am sure Mack had everything to do with it.
"So did Mack actually rape her or was that a lie?" I ask.
"I don't know," she says. "If it was a lie she filed a false police report which is a crime so maybe he did rape her and has her brainwashed into thinking that everything will be fine between them."
"I don't know," I say, "I think she was lying."
"Like I said, the police are going to start investigating her claims now that she has chosen to drop the charges and when they find out she's living with him and with him now they are going to dig into her story, see if she was lying or not if she filed a false report she can face her own charges."
"And if she lied about being raped she deserves nothing less," I say.
"I agree," she says, "but I will never understand how a woman could lie about being raped the emotional turmoil, the pain that you go through, the fact that the memories will be with you the rest of your life and when you think you're over it a certain smell, a certain place will trigger those memories back to you and you feel that pain all over again and then you just face all that pain again. If anyone went through a rape they would understand the emotional turmoil you face the rest of your life. I will never be the same after what Mack did to me. I find it hard to trust people, I find myself scared to travel alone most places especially at night, I don't trust any drinks offered to me and nothing can be opened when given to me. I don't trust a lot of people because of Mack. I know I can't keep living in fear but after what happened to me I am constantly looking over my shoulder."
"I understand," I say kissing the top of her head. I remember the turmoil she faced shortly after her rape. She was an emotional mess, she was hurting in ways I knew I could never help her, she tried to drown it away with alcohol which made her worse. She went through a tough time dealing with the aftermath of the rape and I know lately she's been struggling with the memories. "I love you, Hayden."
"I love you too," she says. I lean down and kiss her lips softly.
The doctor comes in shortly after introducing himself as Dr. Conrad and asks Hayden questions about her symptoms. He asks if she has been spotting which thankfully she hasn't been but her blood pressure is too high for him to like. He does a vaginal exam on her making sure there are no signs of miscarriage before he decides to do an ultrasound just to make sure everything is looking okay with the babies. "All right, Hayden," he says preparing the ultrasound. "I am going to do an internal exam because it's more accurate, it may be a little uncomfortable at first."
"Okay," she says as she prepares herself for the ultrasound. I take her hand as the doctor inserts the Doppler into her vagina. She squeezes my hand along with the discomfort she must feel.
"All right, let's just take a look," he says moving it around and looking at the screen. "There we go two healthy babies," he says pointing to the screen. "They look pretty good and pretty healthy," he says. "They have a good strong heartbeat so everything is looking pretty good with them. Although the next 24 hours are crucial, you did the right thing by coming here because of cramping but from what I see everything looks good but like I said the next 24 hours are crucial. I am going to give you some medicine to keep your blood pressure down and I think that it would be best if we admitted you to the hospital for the night so that I can keep monitoring you," he says.
"Okay," she says.
"And I think it would probably be best if we put you onto bed rest for a couple weeks, just lay around, take it easy stay out of stressful situations."
"Okay," she says, "but I am supposed to be traveling to Florida in a couple weeks."
"Traveling to Florida should be all right as long as you remain stress free, keep your blood pressure down."
"Okay."
"Like I said I am going to give you something to bring your blood pressure down and keep you overnight for observation to make sure it's working so we can keep those beautiful babies healthy and safe and keep them cooking till they are due."
"Sounds good to me," I say.
Once I have Hayden comfortable and settled into the hospital room she will be staying in tonight I get her something to eat from Chick-fil-A; her favorite place to eat, getting her a grilled chicken club sandwich, with waffle fries and a chocolate milkshake before I take care of business with the team. I don't want Mack to be one of my players and I am going to make sure that he isn't one of my players. "Baby, are you all right?" I ask her.
"Yeah, I'm doing all right," she says digging into her sandwich. "The babies love some Chick-Fil-A sauce," she says with a smile.
"That's good to know," I say with a smile. "If you need anything I will be right outside. I need to make a phone call and take care of some things with Mack."
"Good luck with that, how much is he getting paid to play for the Steelers?" she asks.
"Far more than he deserves," I say shaking my head, "far too much for the scoundrel he is."
"This whole thing makes me sick, Baby," she says.
"I know it makes me sick too but please try not to think about it, we are trying to keep you out of stressful situations and get your blood pressure down."
"I know but I can't help but think about that smug look on his face today, I feel like this was a setup."
"I wouldn't be surprised," I say, "I'll be right back. I am going to go sort out this mess."
I walk out of the room and pull my cellphone out of my pocket just as my mom starts to call me. "Hey, Mom," I say answering the phone.
"Hey, Roman, is everything all right? I heard the news about that football player being contracted by the Steelers. How do you and Hayden feel about that?"
"Hayden is in the hospital because her blood pressure was pretty high, they are keeping her overnight to monitor it and then we will be heading home to New Orleans tomorrow and then she's on bedrest so she's not taking it well as for me I am ready to put my hand through a wall. This is NOT going to happen. It has taken years for Hayden to be at peace with what happened and now it's like everything is being thrown in her face again. She doesn't deserve this, not at all."
"No she doesn't, is everything okay with the babies?" she asks.
"Yes, the babies are doing great despite the fact their mother is going through hell. I am actually getting ready to call the owner and see what can be done to eliminate this issue."
"All right," she says, "I hope that you can work this out."
"I hope so too, I love you, Mom."
"I love you too," she says making me smile before I hang up the phone and get ready to dial the owner's number.
"Reigns," says the owner as he answers the phone after two rings. "I've been trying to get a hold of you."
"Yeah, my wife is in the hospital with high blood pressure," I say, "so I have been a little busy."
"I'm sorry to hear that about your wife."
"What the fuck were you thinking contracting Mack to the Steelers given our history?" I ask.
"I wasn't aware there was history until everything came out this afternoon, he raped your wife?"
"In college yes, when he was one of my players on Georgia Tech. He drugged her and raped her, he denies it."
"There are no charges against him?" he says in the tone of a question.
"Because they were dropped because there was not enough evidence," I say. "That doesn't matter, what matters now is I don't want him on my team. I refuse to be his coach and he brings bad publicity. He was just accused of raping another girl, is that the kind of image you want for the Steelers, I know I don't want them. I want him off the team."
"I can't just fire him especially if there was no evidence or proof that he raped your wife. I know that you have history but you're going to need to see past that and do what you need to do as a coach."
"It's a conflict of interest," I argue. "I don't want him on my team!"
"It's MY team and we need Mack as Quarterback he has talent and he could probably take us to the superbowl this year."
"And what about the rest of the team? He's not the only player," I say, "I don't want him on my team."
"I understand that but it's not just your team," he says, "I'm not trading him, Reigns. You're going to need to bury this under the rug and move on, that's it." He says before he hangs up the phone and I find myself thinking if this job is truly worth it or not, if it's worth jeopardizing my wife and my children. I have wanted this my whole life but I don't know if it's worth the stress of my wife. I need to make a decision on whether I want to keep this job or not, it's not going to be easy.
*A/n: So what do you think? Should Hayden blame herself for being in the position she's in now? What do you think about the babies being so healthy? Do you think this whole thing with Bayley was a setup or do you think Mack paid her off? What do you think, is this job worth it for Roman, should he continue with the job or wait for another one to come along? Please review and thank-you for reading.