Chapter 15

Chapter 15

December 6th – 2 ½ years later

I woke up not realizing where I was at first, or exactly what the hell was going on. I was in the hospital and automatically my hands flew to my now deflated belly, I started to panic. It's still too early, I still had six weeks left. The harder I tried to remember what happened, the harder my head pounded. I looked up when the door to my room opened, and a nurse came in.

"Finally awake I see, how are you feeling?" she asked with a smile on her face.

I thought about it for a minute before answering her, she was just to damn perky for me. "What happened?" I croaked, oh my God, what the hell happened to my voice.

"Well, you had some problems and you have been out of it for six days now. Let me check your vitals and then I will go and get the doctor, so he can check you out. I will also let your family know that you are finally awake."

The nurse finished up and left, I guess to get the doctor. I just laid here trying to piece together what happened and wondering what happened to Jacob, the nurse wouldn't tell me anything so I had to wait for the doctor. OK, maybe the nurse would tell me something, but she hadn't volunteered a word.

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Six Days Ago

I was sitting on the couch bored out of my mind when the doorbell rang, I managed to get myself off the couch without falling over; for me that was a definite plus. I made my way over to the door and wasn't surprised to see who it was when I opened it.

"Hey Steph, Julie and I were on our way to the mall and wanted to see if you would join us." Rachel said to me.

"Sure, it beats sitting here watching television all day. Come in and let me freshen up real quick."

We had a great day shopping, and when we returned to my house Rachel and Julie suggested that I drop my bags off and pack an overnight bag.

"Come on Steph, it will be fun. We can watch movies and pig out on junk food all night," Julie said very excitedly.

"How can I say no?" I smiled at both of them.

I drove my car over to the house, because I knew I had to be in the office early in the morning. When I arrived I went upstairs and put my bag in the guest room and then went to join the girls in the living room.

"So Steph, what do you want for dinner?" Julie asked.

"Hold on, let me ask Jake." I leaned down and asked my bulging stomach. "Pizza...and Chinese, and we will need some dessert."

Rachel looked over at me and started to laugh. "Hungry tonight are we?" she asked.

"It's all the shopping we did," I replied.

We ate and ate 'til we couldn't eat any more, and we watched movies. First it was BabyMama, and then Maid of Honor. All in all it was a good night. I was getting tired so I went to bed, unfortunately for me, Jake had other ideas and was practicing his tumbling skills in belly, or at least that's what it felt like. I managed to fall asleep even with all of the movement going in, I had the alarm set for six am; when it went off I felt like tossing it across the room. I got up and got ready to head into work, I got all of my things together and headed downstairs. I set my bag by the door when I heard voices coming from the kitchen. As I got closer I could distinctly hear male voices, so I stood there listening and I couldn't have been more shocked. I ran out of there as fast as I could, got in my car and took off for home intent on packing my bags and getting the hell out of here.

And that is the last thing I remember before waking up here.

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There was a knock on the door and Val came in.

"God Steph, I am so glad you are finally awake. You gave us all a good scare."

"Val, what the hell happened? Where is Jake?"

"You don't remember?" I shook my head no. "No one is really sure what happened, I talked to Rachel and she told me that you tore out of her house. I told her that I would go over and check on you, when I got there the door was open and you were at the bottom of the steps bleeding. I called 911, your blood pressure was through the roof and we thought you were having a stroke. They did an emergency c-section and you have been unconscious for six days. Jake is doing well, he is in the NICU. He was a little small and he needed a little help breathing for a few days."

"I need to see him Val." I pleaded with her.

"As soon as the doctor comes in and checks you out I will take you to him. Now could you tell me what had you so upset?"

I told her the whole story up until the point of standing outside the kitchen. "Val I know this is going to sound crazy, but I know that was Lester's voice. He was talking about his fiancé, Courtney."

"Steph, Lester is gone. It has been almost six months."

"No Val I am telling you it was him. You need to find Ranger and get him here now."

Just then the doctor came in and asked Val to leave.

"Well Mrs. Santos, you gave everyone a good scare. Your son is doing very well in the NICU and as soon as I check you out, you will be able to go and see him." He looks down at the chart and then at me. "How are you feeling?"

"I have a headache right now, but other than that I don't feel to bad."

"Well that is to be expected with the medication you have been given, right now and for a while you are on blood pressure medication. We can lower the dosage and see how you feel, if everything is okay I expect you can be out of here in a day or two."

He does a quick exam and says everything is looking good and then he leaves. Val comes back in a few minutes later.

"Hey Steph is everything..."

I cut her off. "Val, did you get a hold of Ranger?"

"Yeah, he said he will be by as soon as he can. Now how about I take you down to meet your son?"

Val then helped me out of bed and got me into the wheelchair and we made our way to the NICU. I had to wash my hands and put a gown on to go in there. I would have walked through fire just to get into that room and see my son for the first time, I feel horrible knowing that my son has spent almost the first week of his life without me.

"Ready Steph?"

"Try and stop me."

She walked me over to his little incubator, he already had a visitor, Grace, Lester and Ranger's mom. She was telling Jake stories about Lester when he was a child, right away the scene brought tears to my eyes. Grace looked up and smiled at me.

"Stephanie, I am so glad to see you up. I think this little guy would very much like to be in your arms right now."

Grace handed me the most perfect little angel, he looked so much like Lester.

"Val tells me that you and my mom have been keeping him company," she nodded. "Thank you Grace, I am glad he wasn't alone and had family with him."

"I wouldn't be anywhere else." Grace responded with a smile. "Val, how about you and I go and let these two get acquainted." Grace leaned down and gave both Jake and I a kiss on the cheek and told me that she would see us later.

"Steph, I am going to head home and see Jack and the girls. Mom and Dad will probably be by to see you later, as well as Ranger."

"Thanks Val, I will see you later."

They both left and it was just Jake and I, it was strange sitting her with him now that I knew Lester was alive, he should be here with us. I sat there telling him stories and staring at him, I was in complete awe of this little boy in my arms and I never wanted to let him go. A few hours later one of the nurses came over and told me it was time for me to go back to my room and rest. I tried to protest, but she told me that I needed my rest for when I brought Jake home. I kissed my little boy and told him that I would be back later. I had just gotten settled into bed when Ranger came into my room, and my anger started to flare.

"Ranger, would you care to explain to me why my husband who I was told died in a plane crash was in your house alive as can be?"

TBC

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