Story: Phoenix
Chapter 13
Disclaimer: See Chapter 1
Previously: Abbey felt some pain when she and Jed tried to get intimate; Jed told Abbey she was carrying another daughter; Ellie had a secret and the possibilities scared Abbey
Summary: Jed and Abbey's confrontation with Ellie's teacher ends in disaster
Ellie gazed up at her mother through twinkling blue-green eyes filled with so much emotion that salty tears overflowed her lashes and began to trickle down her rosy cheeks. She laid back against her pillow. Her short arms were folded in front of her, wrinkling her hot pink pajama top and covering the light pink embroidery across the chest.
Abbey's upper lip curved into her lower one. She didn't move. She couldn't move. She simply locked eyes with her young daughter as she wondered how to pry this secret from her pouty red lips. Ellie never looked so fragile to her. Barely sitting up in her white four-poster bed, the large sky blue walls surrounding it, she seemed so sweet and vulnerable, like a baby completely dependent on her mother to make everything right.
With some help from Ellie, who wiped her face with the back of her hand, Abbey took a tissue to the little girl's eyes, erasing every tear-stained track that marked her peaches-and-cream complexion.
"I'm sorry," she whispered softly as she leaned across Ellie's petite frame and scooped her up into a hug.
"What for?"
"For making you cry."
Ellie shrugged. "You won't make me tell?"
Abbey pulled herself away to tuck her daughter back under the covers. "No, Sweetheart, not if you don't want to."
"Good!" A smile finally broke through her sad exterior as she fell back against her pillow.
"Go to sleep," Abbey muttered in a compassionate, loving tone.
She stroked her forehead for several minutes as Ellie squirmed to curl up with her stuffed bunny and drift into a restful slumber. Abbey watched her so carefully, it reminded her of the nightly checks she made when Ellie was a newborn wiggling around in her crib for comfort. Any stray thoughts lingering in her mind were forced out, replaced by an engaging game of second-guesses.
Abbey retraced every move her daughter made since the beginning of the school year. Was there some sign, some clue to let her in on the secret Ellie was keeping? Had the kindergartner misinterpreted a benign little whisper from her teacher? Or was it something else?
Ellie had been clinging to her mother for months. The whole family assumed it was because of the baby growing in Abbey's tummy, but as she moved from Ellie's bed to the blue and white rocking chair in the corner, Abbey wondered if it was something more. Was her daughter reaching out to her, pleading for her attention, maybe even her help, all these months?
She rocked for close to a half hour, never looking away from Ellie's sleeping form. Each memory of the past four months hit her with a jolt, every one more vivid than the last, every flashback embroiled in a penetrating hunt for answers.
She was eventually relieved of the damaging, mind-boggling analysis by the sound of the door creaking as Jed opened it. He had changed from his Santa suit, now dressed in a Notre Dame sweatshirt and a pair of modest boxers. "Hey."
"Hey." Abbey gave him a quick glance of recognition, then looked back at their daughter.
"What are you still doing in here?"
"We have to talk." Her words were barely coherent, laced with a faint, discouraging tone.
Jed took her hand to lift her to her feet, then followed her out into the hall. The same chilly undercurrent that he heard in her voice was now dominating her body language. "Abbey, what's going on?"
"He got to her."
"Who?" For a second, he thought that she was in shock. Not the kind of shock that comes from a surprise, but a physical kind of shock. The kind that happens when the body shuts down due to lack of blood circulation. Her face paled by the second. Her eyes were glazed and somewhat despondent. Her usually straight shoulders rounded themselves as she slouched forward. A sign of defeat, he supposed, or maybe even fear.
"He did. Her teacher." She turned suddenly and headed towards the master bedroom, Jed trailing right behind.
"Abbey, what are you talking about?"
"He got to her!" she shouted as she summoned the adrenaline running rampant through her body to slam the door shut. "Her teacher! She's keeping some kind of secret."
"What secret? What in God's name is going on?"
"Ellie said that Mr. Chappelle shared a secret with her and she won't tell me what it is."
"Why?"
"She says that he'll get mad at her if she does."
Jed finally understood. He raised his head with a subtle nod, his own suspicions now matching Abbey's. "Maybe it's something he told her?"
Abbey paused for a long moment before finally answering with words shadowed by obvious distress. "I don't know."
He didn't have to ask. One look at the confusion that plagued his wife's face answered all his questions. She had built herself into a frenzied jumble of nerves, teetering at the brink of climax. He had to talk her down from the damning thoughts. "You know, it's probably nothing."
"Yeah."
"Abbey..." She wasn't buying his nonchalant attitude, but he continued anyway. "I know what you're thinking." He covered her wobbly hands with his, rubbing her skin as he held them up. "Don't."
"Don't what?"
"Don't assume you know what's going on. You know how kids are. They misunderstand the tiniest little things"
"Not Ellie!" Abbey pulled out of his hold. "You should have seen her tonight, Jed. She's terrified that her teacher will be angry at her if she tells me." She took a sharp breath as she prepared herself to say it out loud. "What if there's something going on? What if he..."
"Stop it!" He couldn't bare to hear the words. Just the notion of someone - anyone - hurting his baby girl was a crushing blow to his paternal psyche.
"Jed."
"Abbey, stop it. If this was something awful, we would know. She'd be acting differently." Denial came more naturally than an inkling of suspicion.
"She is acting differently! She use to tell me everything, Jed. Now, all of a sudden, she has something she can't tell me." Her panic was slowly melting into anger towards the man who, at the very least, told her daughter it was okay to keep secrets from her parents.
"Kids change. They don't always want to open up." He was grasping at straws now, partly to convince her, partly to convince himself.
"Fine. If that isn't enough, how about the fact that she's been attached to my hip since the first day of school?"
"And that also happens to the be the day we told her about the baby." Jed eased his hands down on her shoulders, soothing the tense muscles with a gentle massage. "Honey, I'm not saying that you have no reason to be concerned. I'm saying lets not jump to conclusions before we know anything for sure."
"I don't want her going to school tomorrow. Or Lizzie. Not until we know what's going on."
"Okay, we'll keep them home tomorrow and I'll have a talk with Ellie's teacher."
Jed's powerful resolve calmed her. So strong and protective, Abbey had no doubt he really would take care of it. But he wouldn't do it alone. Asking her not to be part of the discussion he would have with Mr. Chappelle was inconceivable. She was going to be there. She had to be there.
"I'm going with you."
"No. Absolutely not."
"Jed..."
He put up his hand to stop her before she could say anything else. "You're pregnant. And we already know what happens when you get upset. The last thing you need is to barge into Ellie's school for a heated confrontation with this man."
"I thought you said it was probably all innocent."
"I'm saying if it's not...IF there's something to this, I don't want you there."
"If there's something to this, I need to be there."
"Abbey, I'm asking you, as your husband and as Ellie's father - the man who loves you and our daughters more than life itself - to trust me to take care of this. Stay home with the girls and let me talk to Ellie's teacher."
He never threw the word 'trust' around lightly. Of course she trusted him. More than anyone else in the world, she trusted him. But to her, this wasn't about trust. This was about Ellie, the defenseless little girl so desperate to maintain peace and harmony that she refused to break a confidence.
Abbey turned away from Jed in what he hoped was a silent surrender to his argument. She straightened out the rumpled sheets and sat down, her arm protectively crossing the dull ache she felt in her pregnant belly as she laid back and slipped under the covers. "Good night."
Jed walked around her to his side of the bed. He plopped himself down on the mattress, his body so tense from the mere speculation of impropriety that he immediately slumped forward, his head falling into his hands as his elbows rested on his legs. It was his job to be optimistic, to keep Abbey a smidgen away from an emotional collapse that could harm her and their unborn child. But truth be told, in a world defined by the war between good and evil, his Pollyanna outlook was nothing more than a fruitless act.
When he allowed himself to lie down an hour later, he wandered off into a haunting sleep, interrupted by the tosses and turns of a restless father wrought with concern. His eyes opened every so often to catch a glimpse of the time as it dragged through the night. Morning couldn't come too quickly.
Before the sun even rose high above the New Hampshire sky, Jed had showered and changed. His stomach tied in knots, he wrestled with his simmering temper and the fears that would cause it to erupt. As he made his way across the room, he softened at the sight of her. Abbey was asleep under the comforter, only her head peeking through the top hem. He traipsed towards her on the tips of his toes and kneeled down quietly to place a kiss on her forehead.
She didn't make a sound. In fact, even when he stood back up and walked out of the room, she didn't move. He had no idea that she was wide awake and eager to get herself ready.
He arrived at the school before the first bell, making himself comfortable in the administration office while he waited to be seen by the principal. His hands were clasped around each other with his fingers laced. He twiddled his thumbs in an attempt to distract himself. It didn't work. Instead, his eyes wandered to the clock and his feet tapped the carpet in rhythm with the big hand. Boredom had barely taken hold of him when a flash of auburn hair caught his attention.
"What are you doing here?" he asked as Abbey walked into the office.
"I told you I wanted to be here," she replied. "Paige is sitting with the girls."
"I thought we agreed..."
"I never agreed to anything. I just stopped arguing."
That valiant stubborn streak of hers could always test his spirit. "Abbey..."
"I think you know why I need to be here."
Her timing couldn't have been more perfect. Any objection he had, he was forced to stifle as the secretary called them in. Jed followed Abbey through the adjoining door, both of them shaking hands with Principal Kathleen Hart before taking their seats in the two leather chairs in the center of the office. Michael Chappelle stood beside them, pacing back and forth in a short, steady tempo.
"I understand this is about Eleanor," Kathleen began.
Jed's fiery eyes burned holes into Michael's, his intensity provoked by obvious mistrust. "Yes. Ellie mentioned to her mother that..."
"That Mr. Chappelle has asked her to keep secrets," Abbey finished. "Even from me and my husband. That's unacceptable."
Kathleen pulled her black-rimmed glasses off her face. "What kind of secrets?"
"She won't say, out of fear that Mr. Chappelle will be angry with her if she does ."
"Wait a minute!" Michael intervened. "She said I told her a secret? That I would be upset if she told?"
"Yes, she did." Jed's glare hadn't changed a wink. "And I know my daughter. She doesn't lie. She's never told a lie in her life."
"I'm not saying she lied. I think this is a huge misunderstanding." Like an animal fighting for its life, the twenty-two-year-old teacher looked around the room, startled and afraid when he noticed the steely stares looking back. "It's not exactly a 'secret.'"
Kathleen leaned back against her chair. "What is it?"
"I cast Ellie as the lead in the Christmas pageant. That's all. She said she couldn't wait to go home to tell her mother and I suggested that we keep it a secret until opening night."
"Why?"
Michael faced the emerald orbs that held more than a hint of contempt. He was sympathetic to Abbey's concerns, but he was also scared about the implication. "As a surprise. That's the word I should have used. It was a surprise. That's all."
"A surprise?" Jed repeated, his disapproving expression becoming harder to read.
Michael nodded emphatically. "I'm sorry. It's my first time doing this. I wanted the children to have a good show and I thought it would make things more exciting for everyone if the parents were surprised by the cast. I've never put on a show before and with Mrs. King out sick, I..."
"Mr. Chappelle is a new teacher. This is his second year," Kathleen supportively added. "That's why we assigned him to assist Mrs. King."
He made a mistake. An innocent mistake that he now wished he could change. "I never meant to make Ellie think I'd ever be mad at her. I would never be upset with her if she had told you. She's an absolutely adorable little girl and a wonderful student, but the only secret I've ever asked her to keep was about the production. I swear. You can ask her."
"Don't worry. I intend to," Jed assured him. "I don't like my daughter keeping any kind of secrets from me, no matter what it's about."
"Of course, you're right. I...I wasn't thinking. It was stupid of me to suggest it was all right to keep secrets from her parents. She just talked about how proud you'd be of her..."
"We're always proud of her." Jed stood up, a bit more relaxed as he realized the sincerity of Michael's explanation. "I just don't want her to think it's okay to leave us in the dark."
The conversation had dulled to a whisper in Abbey's mind. The words blended together. Syllables were heard in chaotic intervals. She clutched the bottom of her chair as if immobilized by what she saw, frightened by what she remembered. Her concentration was held hostage by the ID tag dangling off the lanyard around Kathleen's neck, the silver clip catching the light as it danced around her chest. It reflected the fluorescent bulbs on the ceiling and the streaming rays of sun coming from behind the gauzy curtains.
"Excuse me?" she called out to no one in particular.
"Abbey?" Jed sat back down beside her and covered her hand to relax her strong grip on the chair. "Is something wrong?"
"What is that around your neck?" She had seen it before. For the past two years, the school district required the ID tags for all employees.
"It's a badge," Kathleen answered. "An identification badge."
Abbey's gaze shifted to the tag around Michael's neck. "You all wear them?"
"They've been wearing them for a couple of years, Abbey. You knew that." Jed furrowed his brows, struggling to understand the unexpected change in Abbey's demeanor.
"All of us do. It's district-wide policy." Michael grabbed the edge of his badge as Abbey inspected it. His hand moved it to the side, the perfect angle for optimum reflection. The light nearly blinded Abbey, causing her to squint as she jerked her head to the side.
"Abbey? What is it?" Jed crouched down in front of her. "Talk to me."
She wasn't looking at her husband. Her eyes went right through him as a barrage of memories overwhelmed her. "Oh God."
She stood with such urgency that Jed gasped. "Abbey?"
Her arm cradled her stomach. She stumbled and would have fallen forward if Jed hadn't caught her. "Jed!"
"What's wrong?" Kathleen followed her erratic movements.
"Oh God, Jed..."
He didn't recognize the anguish in her voice. He had never seen her like this. "Please call an ambulance."
Jed eased her to the ground, sitting down first to cushion her head. She mumbled under her breath as she bore down on the carpet and bit her bottom her lip to avoid screaming out from the agonizing pain that seemed to invade her entire body.
Within minutes, she was encompassed by a cloud of confusion. A voiceless crowd mulled around her, only the noisy beat of the sirens breaking through the soundproof barrier she had created to shelter herself. She leaned into every twist of the gurney as she laid on her side while the ambulance raced towards the hospital.
The EMTs rushed her in past emergency and into an isolated room where she was bombarded by a flood of questions both she and Jed tried to answer without much conscious thought. Dr. Gibson greeted her submissively in her haste to begin a physical examination.
"Jed?" Abbey reached out for him when she noticed him grounded to one spot, dazed and bewildered.
"I'm right here, Honey. I'm not going anywhere." He rapidly approached her, his hand ready to take hers into a guarded hold. She was sweaty and shivering.
"The school! We have to keep the girls out of school."
"They're out of school. They're home, remember?"
"Keep them home. Don't let them out of your sight, not even to go to school, especially to go to school." She was losing the battle with the escalating pain, succumbing to a couple of short screams.
"Anything you want, Abbey." He wasn't sure what was going on, but he'd agree to anything if it would offer her some comfort. "Can you tell me what happened?"
"The badge. It's the ID badge! That's what I saw that night. I thought it was a flashlight, but it wasn't. Susan was right." Too much to tell in too little time. The little spurts of information confused Jed even more.
"Susan was right about the badge?" It took him a minute to remember a specific therapy session with Susan all those months ago.
"About me not wanting to remember! I couldn't remember, not because of a bright light, but because the clip was reflecting off something. It was a school ID badge."
His energy abruptly zapped, Jed stopped in his tracks. "What are you saying?"
"It was someone I don't know. I hadn't seen him before, but he had that badge." Her memory had cracked its protective shell. She had seen the face of her attacker for the very first time.
"Oh God."
"Please! Promise me you'll keep them out of school until I can figure this out!"
"Abbey..." Dr. Gibson maneuvered between husband and wife. "You're in pre-term labor."
"What?" Abbey blinked away the cobwebs that blocked her vision as she struggled to change her focus to Dr. Gibson. "You can stop it, right?"
"I'm afraid not. The membrane has already ruptured."
Jed pushed his way through the small gap between the two women. "What does that mean exactly?" He feared he already knew the answer.
"She's having the baby - now."
"NO!" Abbey cried. It was like a nightmare come true. This is what Jed had been warning, what Abbey had dismissed since the moment she found out she was pregnant. Her breathy protests came from deep inside her lungs. "It's too soon!"
Dr. Gibson held Abbey's flailing arms as she turned to one of the nurses. "Tell the NICU I need a fully equipped incubator YESTERDAY! I have a mother ready to deliver at 28 weeks!"
"No, you don't! I can't deliver! I won't!" Abbey clawed at the hospital sheets, shrugging off the doctor's restrictive hands. "Give me the drugs to stop it."
"Abbey, I can't. The membrane has ruptured and once the membrane ruptures, we have to deliver the baby. You know that."
Abbey defiantly shook her head, her desperation becoming more pronounced as she looked at her husband, who tenderly tried to restrain her. "The baby won't make it! She isn't supposed to come yet. It's too soon and I'm still underweight."
"Is there any other way?" Jed wasn't just asking the doctor. He was pleading with her. "Please?"
Dr. Gibson was an open-minded individual, as willing to explore other options as she was committed to a traditional approach. But this was beyond her control. Her hands were helplessly tied and all she could offer was a heartfelt promise.
"We'll do everything we can."
TBC