Chapter 38
I'm out of the hospital and at home chilling with the guys. It was lovely and decorated in balloons and gifts. I loved it. I'm sure baby Sarah loves it too. I look at Jacob in the reflection of the TV kissing on the pink teddy bear and shake my head. "You don't like that?" Mr. Howard asks walking in with a plate of food and glass of water. Did I mention he was in the kitchen.
"No, I love it." I say taking the plate from and he sit the glass on the coffee table and sit next to me. "It's whatever, Lacie. That's my daughter." Jacob say behind me. Quil shake his head from the floor. "I know, Jacob. I just want a boy." I say looking down at my plate of food. "I don't want a boy. I want my Sarah." He say and I just nod my head. "Lacie, are you okay?" Mr. Howard asks me.
Everybody in the living room looks at me. "I'm just feeling a little bit down. That's all." I say to Mr. Howard. "Are you sure?" He asks me as Quil looks at Jacob. He walks up behind me. "You okay?" He asks me. "I am. It's just feels good to be home. I'm okay." I say grabbing my glass of water and drinking some of it. "Do you want me to call Dr. Roberts?" Jacob asks me.
"No, I was sick of the hospital and I'll start taking care of myself from now on. I don't want to go back." I say shaking my head at him. "Okay." I nod my head turning back to the TV while Mr. Howard glances at me before watching TV too. I sip some more of my water. I hate water. I put the glass back down on the table and start eating my food.
It goes back to silent as Quil and Embry just watches TV. "So, what you boys been up too?" I ask them. "Just working and school." Embry say. Quil nods. "Winter break is coming up a few weeks then Christmas. I can't wait for it to snow." I say eating and looking at Mr. Howard. "I can't wait for it either." He say. "I think it's going to be nice to go school then walk to your car from the building with the snow all on the grass. I'm going to miss that." I say to him.
"It's for the best. You have to think of Sarah's health. It's a risk pregnancy." He say. Jacob and everybody else looks at me. "You don't care?" He asks me. "No, I care. I'm just saying that I'm going to miss that and how cool I think it is to be able to do that." I say paying Jacob no mind. I care about Sarah. "I'm just going to be so bored. Let's change the subject." I say looking around at them.
"What you wanna talk about?" Embry asks beating the rest of them who opened their mouths. I shrug my shoulders. "The killer has not been caught." I say eating and looking at Jacob. Quil looks at him. "No, we're not talking about that. It's no stress and that's not the conversation to have when you just got home." He say shaking his head.
"I understand that but I wanna talk about it." "Why?" Quil asks beating Jacob and I turn to face him. "What you mean why?" I ask grabbing my glass off the table. "It's how I said it. What are you doing about it?" He asks me. "Quil, what you talking about?" I ask sipping my water. I gotta hear this. "What are you talking about?" Mr. Howard asks leaning backward to see him.
He doesn't speak. We all look at him waiting to speak. I shrug my shoulders waiting on him. "Is there something that you know about the killer?" Mr. Howard asks him. "I don't see how. He's from the tribe." "Does not mean nothing, Ms. Thorne. Do you know something, Quil?" Mr. Howard asks him. "No, I do not." Quil say shaking his head no.
"Nor do I but I do want to know if maybe this killer-Okay, I never should've brought it up." I say shaking my head. Mr. Howard looks at me. "You feel like your life is in danger, Ms. Thorne." "I do feel like it's a little bit in danger. Maybe, it's my hormones or something but I feel scared." I say to him. I am scared. "I'm staying with, Lacie." Jacob say to me.
"I know, Jacob. I'm just real scared now. What's going to happen when you leave? You can't stay with me for life." "I'll protect you and Sarah." He say. I shake my head. "Doesn't make me feel better." "Maybe, you should call your parents." Mr. Howard say. "I have no parents, Mr. Howard. I'm just sick of it. My nerves are gone and shot through the roof." I say.
"You don't want to raise your blood pressure worrying about things like that. You gotta think positive." He say rubbing on my back. "Life is too short and it's no positive in what's going on." "You still have Sarah, Ms. Thorne." "For how long?" I ask. "Till she's born. You'll always have her." He say before Jacob can speak. He sits beside me and pull me into his arms.
"I'm not leaving you, Lacie. You know that I can protect you and Sarah." He say holding me tight. "I know that, Jacob. I just still have that fear. Life is too short and make you wonder who's going around killing people for no reason." "He'll be caught and everything will be fine." "Maybe go back to normal?" I ask looking up at him. "Yeah, it'll go back to normal. We'll have Sarah." He say nodding his head.
"Thank you." I say poking out my lips. He peck my lips. "Have some water." Mr. Howard say grabbing the glass off the table. Jacob takes it and put it up to my mouth. "I don't like to drink water." I say to him. "The water is for the baby and not you. Are you still going be like this?" He asks me. "No, I am not." I say shaking my head and opening my mouth up to drink the water. Nasty water.
I'm laying in the hospital bed with an IV in my hand. "Yeah, we just brought her back to the hospital." I hear Jacob say to someone. I breathe out shaking my head and hearing a beating noise. "Ms. Thorne, you have to calm down. Your heart is starting to pick up." Mr. Howard say sitting on the bed. I breathe out again trying to calm down. "I'll call you back." Jacob say and walk over on the other side of the bed.
He grabs my hands. "No one is going to hurt you nor Sarah. Calm down." He say looking in my eyes. I nod my head. "Is it a panic attack?" I ask still hearing the beeping noise. "Lacie." Quil calls my name. "I'm trying so hard." I say voice breaking. "You're not trying hard." Mr. Howard say rubbing on my back. I take a deep breaths. I feel my heart still beating.
"Where's the doctor?" Embry asks. "He should be on his way. He had another patient." Mr. Howard say and he touch my arm while Jacob kiss on my hands. "Am I miscarrying?" I ask him. "NO." They all answer at the same time. "You're just panicking and it's effecting your health. They're probably going to give you something to knock you out." He say rubbing on my arm but I just keep looking outside.
Jacob kiss on my hands. "I'm not ready for this and I know that killer is after me, Jacob." I say hearing the door opening up. "No one is after you, Lacie." "You asked me to look and I did." "And, what you find?" He asks. "Nurse Miller." I whisper. Quil and Embry looks at Jacob. "What she say?" Mr. Howard ask them. "Nurse Miller." Embry say to him while Quil looks at Jacob.
"She won't hurt you nor Sarah. I won't let her. I'll kill her before she even think to put her hands on you." Jacob say to me. "She won't hurt nobody. She won't hurt you, Ms. Thorne. Did she threaten you when she came to visit you the other day?" Mr. Howard asks me. "No, we just talked." I answer feeling my heart slowing down. "The medicine is taking in effect." A woman's voice say from behind me. That must be the nurse.
"You're start to feel calm then tired. Dr. Roberts should be on his way after he finish." She say. "Thank you." Mr. Howard say while Jacob nod his head and look back at me. I see her leaving out of the room through the reflection of the window. "What did Nurse Miller say to me?" Jacob asks me. "Just to not to have a relationship with Mr. Howard and don't cross that teacher and student line." I say and seeing Quil shake his head.
"I'm going to talk to her." Jacob say. Embry looks at him. "You can't talk to her." He say. "I'll talked to her. Did she come back today?" Mr. Howard asks me. "No, I haven't seen her since she came over with those flowers." I say while Jacob looks me dead in the eyes. "She didn't come but if she did I'll tell her off again, Jacob. I can handle her."
"Not while pregnant, Lacie. You just let her talk and don't let her get you upset." He say. "I will, Jacob. It wasn't like that but everybody is a suspect." "She had no business talking to you like that." Mr. Howard say. "She was just protecting you, Mr. Howard. She's your wife's best friend and she care about you." "She had no business, Ms. Thorne." He say ignoring what I said.
"Okay. It's just got to me. Where is Dr. Roberts?" I ask him. "He's on his way. You don't let her get to you. She doesn't have much to lose. She's not pregnant." Jacob say to me. "You're right. It was the killer, Jacob." "No one is touching you." He say kissing on my hand and forehead. I nod my head grabbing the pillow ready to rest some more while they all look at me worried.
I hear the door opening up. "There's the doctor." Jacob say kissing me again before leaving out of the room with Quil and Embry. "Ms. Thorne, I'm going to talk to Dr. Roberts. No one is going to hurt you." Mr. Howard say rubbing on my arm. "I know, Mr. Howard." I slur out. He rub my arm again before getting off my bed and leaving out of the room. I fall asleep.
I wake to the sound of an IV dripping and the heart monitor going. It's not beating fast so that must be a good thing. The sun is out meaning it's the next day. My room is empty and I'm sure the heat is blasting to probably 106. The nurses comes in my room and feel on my hands then turn the heat up. I'm cold. I don't think I'm ready to go home and it's all too real now.
Jacob doesn't give me the security as much as he gives Bella and that shows a lot. I'm sure he's still trying to win her heart and has been since finding out that Paul and Bella wasn't as together as he thought but he'll be in for a waken. I doubt she'll leave Edward for him. She left Paul for Edward. I don't see how he's as much different then Paul is.
Either way, I'm not going to be here with his open arms for him because he showed himself with his nasty attitude and I was going around making excuses for him. I just didn't want nobody else to see him as a nasty teenage boy who can't be there for his high risk baby momma but he lost that when he pulled that stunt again. I doubt he doesn't care.
My feelings for him are gone and it was a big wake up call again. "Do you mean that?" I hear Mr. Howard asks me and I turn over on my other side to see him sitting in the chair watching TV. "That's funny but I do mean that. He doesn't give me the security or love that I need." I say turning on my back. "A lot of girls say the same thing and always goes back to the boyfriends." He say looking at me.
"Well, I might. I'm not going to lie because it's arguments and nothing more and nothing less. I guess girls tend to take it as nothing and we're back together before you know it but this situation is different." "How?" He asks me. "Because it's a baby involved and my health is not as healthy as we hoped I'll be, Mr. Howard." I say. "They didn't change anything because you still went back to him and he still acted the way that he did." He say looking like Dr. Roberts. White coat and all.
"He did, Mr. Howard. I'm sure he didn't think that store stunt will turn into something as this big and nor did I. Everything is okay, right?" I ask him. "Everything is okay, Lacie." I nod my head. "Did you see the flowers?" I ask pointing to the nightstand where the flowers was at. "I was the one who took the flowers to my wife, Lacie." He say.
"Sorry, when you was talking to be early I thought you was Dr. Robert." I say. "You just woke up and give your eyes time to adjust." "The sun did blind me." I say pointing to the sun rays that's beaming through the room. "How you feeling?" He asks me. "A little bit better and I just want to cry because the killer is still out there and I don't feel protected no more." I say shaking my head.
"You'll always be protected. What did your parents say?" "That they're not coming home no time soon." I say hugging myself. "Are you cold?" He asks getting up and walking to the thermostat. "No, I was just hugging myself." I say watching him turn the knob. "I'm turning it up anyway." He say and walk back to his chair. "Sit on my bed. I can't hear from the chair." I say lying.
He gets up from the chair and sit next to the bed. "Can you hear me now?" He asks me. "I can plus I wanted to see if you was Dr. Roberts or not." I say looking directly in his face and mostly his clear glasses. "I'm not Dr. Roberts. He's not related to me." "Are you sure? Take off your glasses." I say. He take off his glasses and I look at the wide gap between his eyes.
"Okay, put them back on." I say grinning hard. He put them back on. Oh, it's a big difference. "Thank you, Mr. Howard." I say rubbing on his leg. He grabs my hand stopping me. I know he feels my cold hand. "You said it too many times already, Ms. Thorne." "I know I did but I want to thank you again and again. You know the best way to thank me?" I ask him.
"And, what's that?" He asks me. "By letting me move into your house." "You're not moving into my house, Ms. Thorne." He say. I breathe out. "If you say so." "I'm your teacher." "You are totally right and I don't want you to lose your job or anything else. I am so sorry. I seen an opening and I acted upon it." I say nodding my head. "It's okay." "It is. Have you talked to Nurse Miller yet?" I ask him.
"I talked to her and told her that it was no reason for her to act the way that she did towards you." "And, it wasn't. Did you accuse her of being the killer?" "No, I did not." She say. "It's just weird because I feel in my heart that she is the killer and is going around killing people or it's Ryan from the class." "It's neither of them." "So, what do I have to do?" I ask him.
"Meaning what?" He asks confused. "About the serial killer?" "You call the police and let them know you have someone who you might think is the killer." "It's just weird because Casey was in the clinic with me then she died right after probably finding out that she was pregnant and the boyfriend was not arrested." I say shaking my head.
"They didn't find the right evidence." "We joked about it being pregnant in Nurse Miller face and the vibe she gave off." "Anybody would've gave that vibe off because she lost her baby." He say. I breathe out. It's a good point. "What about her going to Seattle then it's another killing?" I ask him. "Does not prove anything. She's not a killer, Ms. Thorne." He say and I sit up and pull him into a hug.
He hug me back. "It's just so hard to know that maybe this killer is after me." "It's okay to think that. You're about to be a new mother." "And, she's not the one who could've broken into my house and stole my sonogram?" I ask him. "I don't know but I can ask her for you." "That will be sweet but I know she'll deny it." I say feeling heavy. He rubs on my back as I hug him tighter.
"I'm sure. She will. Nobody else took it? Jacob didn't take it." "He said he didn't. He said maybe I misplaced it but I hung it on the fridge. I don't know anymore. Maybe I did misplace it or something. It's up in the air." I say putting my face in his neck and breathing in his scent. "You probably forgot where you put it. It's been a hard month for you." He say.
"It's been terrible." I muffle out and start kissing on his neck. "Ms. Thorne." He say and I stop. "Sorry, I'm a little bit horny. Dr. Roberts tell me it's my hormones going crazy." I say and go back to kissing in his neck again for a few seconds. He takes a deep breath before stopping me. He looks me in the eyes and I look him in the eyes. "Sorry." I say grabbing the sides of his face with both hands and pulling his face close to mine.
"I really like you, Mr. Howard." I say leaning my face close to his and pecking his lips. "Okay, Ms. Thorne. It has to stop now." He seriously say. I nod my head sadly letting his face go. Silence fills the room. "Have you been here all day?" I ask him. "I came from school." "Right, school. What did Dr. Roberts say about my condition?" "That your high pressure was still up but they brought it back down." I nod my head. This is very awkward.
I start to play with his hands and see he's still wearing his wedding ring. He looks at his hands too. "It's very beautiful. Did you pick it out?" I ask him. "My wife picked it out for me." He say looking at my hand. "Right, it's real nice." I say rubbing my thumb across it. "So, are you doing anything for the winter break?" I ask him. "Nothing is yet." He say to me.
"I'm just wondering because I'll be spending it alone and maybe you want to spend it with me or I can spend it with you." I suggest. "You can't spend it with me, Ms. Thorne. I'll be with family." "And, I understand that. It's just I hope that I don't be in the hospital. He won't keep will he?" I ask him. "I don't know yet. You'll have to ask him and see how well you do. Your blood pressure spiked again."
"And, I don't even remember when it happened." And, I don't. "You wanted to talk about the killer then you was eating then you fainted." He explains. I nod my head. "That's crazy." I breathe out and it goes back to silent. "Well, I hope he doesn't keep me. You can go home now, Mr. Howard." I say looking in his face. "You want me to leave?" He asks me.
"No, it's just we get to talking then it goes awkward between us and I don't know what to say or do." I say shaking my head. "Sorry." "No, it's on me. Do you know what time Dr. Roberts is coming?" I ask him. "He works in the clinic, Ms. Thorne. You'll have a nurse and he'll come and check up on you." He say. "Right, let's go back to watching TV." I say looking the football game that's playing on the TV. Maybe he'll come later.
After Dr. Roberts checks out my heart rate, he comes to a conclusion. "So, what you think?" I ask him. He put the sethoscope around his neck. "Well, you don't have a heart problem. The tests came back negative." "On everything?" I ask him. "On everything." He say and I glance at Mr. Howard who's sitting in the chair. "So, it's just my blood pressure again?" I ask Dr. Roberts.
"It is. What was you thinking about?" He asks me. "I was thinking about how I'm in danger because I'm in my house alone with nobody in it." "And, your parents?" "Works is too much for them to come home. I'm one of those children who has parents like those." I say. "Who do you have to stay with you?" "Nobody. I'm alright staying by myself but it's that killer. Nurse Miller." I say.
He looks at Mr. Howard. "She thinks Nurse Miller is the serial killer." He say with his leg crossed over the other one. He turns back to me. "She is a good friend of ours and she's not a killer, Lacie." He say. "Dr. Roberts, she is a serial killer waiting to kill me for whatever reason and I don't trust her." "Because she confronted you about your relationship with Mr. Howard?"
"And, other things. It's clear she doesn't like me and she's only protecting her best friend's marriage." "She's not my wife's best friend." Mr. Howard say before Dr. Roberts can speak. "That's what she was telling me. I just go with it." I say shrugging my shoulders and looking at Dr. Roberts. "Maybe I can stay with you. Aren't you single, Dr. Roberts?" I ask him.
Mr. Howard looks at him. "I am single, Lacie." "And, do you not like me?" "I like you, Lacie." "And, are you not my doctor?" "I am." He say nodding his head. "What a perfect way for me to be watched by my own doctor who'll deliver my daughter or son." I say playing with his blue casual shirt. He breathes out. I hope he say yes. I glances at Mr. Howard who's looking at him.
"I'll really appreciate it, Dr. Roberts. I don't want to miscarry in my house by myself because I think the killer is going to kill me." I say pleading with him. "Okay, Lacie." He say making me hug him tightly. "I don't know how to think you, Dr. Roberts." I say putting my head in his neck. He wrap his arms around me hugging me. "Just need you to think positive. Nurse Miller is not a serial killer." He say but I hug him even tighter.
He rubs on my back. "You have to calm down. No one's after you, Lacie." "I'll try my best, Dr. Roberts." I say resting my head in his neck and feeling Mr. Howard's eyes on me.