A/N: In desperate straits.
I don't know if I'll ever make this anything more than a plot bunny, but I'm clearing out a bunch of old files, so here you go…
APoV
Something told Ana to make use of the card he'd offered. Honestly, she's surprised herself by taking it. As she'd left the building, she'd almost thrown it in a trach receptacle nearby. But after all this time, she was sure he wouldn't answer, but she knew she had to try. She'd heard he was generous. He'd even financed a decade of WSU's farming division, so surely he might be charitable in this regard, wouldn't he? If he even knew anyone she could call, that would be all she could possibly ask for.
CPoV
Christian Grey picked up on the third ring. He immediately knew it was her addressing her by name. "So what do I owe this pleasure?'' he asked, sin and laughter in his voice. He'd long given up the expectation she would reach out.
"I realize that this is extreme, but I need a favor. Do you know anyone I could call to save my boyfriend's life?" she had asked in a rush. But the words, extreme, favor and boyfriend had definitely grabbed Grey's attention.
Christian Grey was stunned. Many things have been requested of him over his lifetime but never something as audacious as this. And she had to know that the only reason she had his personal number was that he wanted her. Was that what she was offering? Her body for her boyfriend's life. He'd take it.
It was an awful thing to be so powerful. To know he could reach out and touch people be it for good or bad. It made him feel like a god. And it bothered him to know he couldn't buy her. But Lady Luck had dropped her into his lap. He only wondered what the poor bastard waiting at home would think.
After several more calls, all was decided; Ana would report every weekend to Escala, under the pretext of working there as his manager. Gail was off on the weekends, as his subs usually did all the cooking and cleaning.
He could tell her heart wasn't in it, her body moved by rote as he thrust over and over and over again trying to chase an elusive orgasm. It was the look in her eyes that brought him up short. She was unhappy. He knew she was no longer having relations with her boyfriend as he was deathly ill. That's why he didn't care how unhappy she was; he wanted to own her.
He tried to get his money's worth. She didn't love him and she certainly didn't like him. When he had transferred the final installment for the operation, he knew it would be the last time he saw her. Years later, however, they met again in a very unexpected way.
He'd found out inadvertently from his mother that a young cardiac patient who had undergone a heart operation had recently died, leaving behind his distraught, loving girlfriend. Finally, she said something that put him on alert. Oh, and their poor baby! To be left without a father.
He knew that the child could not have possibly been Cole's. Based on the timeline, It could only have been his and she had never told him. She lost her boyfriend and she was left with a baby. Still, she refused to reach out.
She had taken their deal literally; after it was over it was over. But surely she knew he would have made an exception for something like this? She wouldn't have taken his child from him, would she? It was too awful to contemplate. What a bitch!
She had sold her body for money, losing both Cole and her freedom. Because there was no fucking way his child would go without him another day. And if he had to take in his mother too, so be it.
It didn't take very long to find her. Poor women with children who aren't exactly easy to hide if one actually bothered to look. She was at the park pushing her son in a stroller. She had a huge smile on her face, and the baby was shaking his hands and legs in animation.
She was poor, but she hadn't turned to drugs and she had apparently made their baby, his son, happy, even with her limited resources, which was more than he could say for Ella.
"What's his name?'' he called. "His name is Cole Harrison,'' she said proudly, turning around to face him, before backing away in fright, as she'd finally recognized him. She held her hands to her throat. "What are you doing here?'' she asked.
"Oh, I thought I would just take a walk and breathe in the fresh air,'' he replied. "What the fuck do you think I'm doing here?" he demanded. "What did you expect me to do when I found out I had a son? And why didn't you tell me? Was I so evil? Was I not good to you?"
"No, no," she denied. "It wasn't like that. It wasn't planned; it was an accident and I wasn't going to make you pay for it with me because you had helped me in good faith. It wouldn't be fair for me to burden you."
"But it's okay for you and my child to suffer? If that's what you're saying, then that's the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard. Why would you want him to live any less than as a Grey?" he demanded.
"That might mean something where you come from, but it means less than nothing to me, and it means even less now since it couldn't save Cole," she whispered bitterly. I understood how she felt completely. We'd both wanted something that neither of us got.
But she was still alive, and I still wanted her and I darn sure wanted our kid. How did she manage to use that boy's name? Did Cole know that she carried another man's child? He would've had to. Especially as my son looked like a combination of both of us, when Cole Senior had possessed hair as black as his name. There was no way he would have believed this child was his.
She was working a very menial job. I somehow doubted it came with any health care benefits. And the most horrifying thought occurred to me. Was my child on some form of Public Assistance, and left to depend on the charity of others? How could she think this was an optimal situation?
If I'd known any better, I would have simply just taken custody, because she had betrayed our son too. The only thing I wondered was whether or not I should change his first name along with his last, but it would be unfair to take away his legacy since she had gone so far to sustain it. I would be very happy to oblige her in any other way, but she would not be taking my son away from me. I'd see her in Hell first.
