AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Chapter Thirteen
Julian
“Phoebe!” The last syllable of her name lodged in my throat. Climbing the stairs, I called her name again, this time with escalating panic. “Phoebe! Answer me, goddamn it!”
The only response was a sickening thud in the room to my right. Swearing repeatedly, I turned the corner and saw her on her knees, her palms reached out in front of her. Frozen, I gripped the wooden doorframe as her hand pressed into the red carpet.
“Oh god.” I tumbled into the room and fell beside her. Her eyes were clamped shut, her face white. Sweat rolled down her forehead and into the blood, the two liquids fusing together. I took her face in my hands. “Baby!” Turning her head toward me, I gently increased the pressure on her face. “Phoebe, open your eyes and look at me.”
She jerked her chin out of my grasp, her lips trembling. “Quiet…contraction.”
“Phoebe…”
She opened her eyes. “I said shut up!”
She took repeated slow breaths, her fingers still digging into the puddle of blood. My arms ached to hold her and take her out of this fucking house—out of Los Angeles. There was no question in my mind now—she had to leave. She’d get on that plane if I had to physically put her on it myself.
Her breathing finally regulated. Pushing off her hands, she crawled to the wall and collapsed against it. I immediately found myself at a loss for words…something I’d never been in my life.
I managed to speak one phrase. “The baby?”
She slowly blinked as a lone tear slipped out of the corner of her eye. “The room started to spin, that’s all.”
I sank beside her. “That’s all, she says.”
Lifting her hand, she traced a trail of blood from the tip of her middle finger, down her palm, and across her wrist. Shifting, she turned her palm against the wall, and ran it down the white paint. Streaks of red instantly dried to a brown stain.
“I’m fine,” she repeated.
I didn’t buy it. “No, you’re not.”
“I just got dizzy.”
“Phoebe, you need to go to the—”
“No!”
I pulled back and stared at her. “Why?”
“I’m not going to the hospital again. I’m fine, the baby is fine. Don’t make me go back there, Julian. I hate hospitals.” Her blank stare was fixated on the discoloration of the splotched carpet.
Swallowing, I fought back my own emotion. “Can you walk? We have to get out of here.”
“I’m not going anywhere.”
“I don’t think you understand.”
Pushing herself off the wall, she threw herself at me, her fists closed. “You’re right! I don’t understand. But you do. I know you do. You think you can internalize everything and make it look pretty and perfect from the outside, but I know you. You aren’t hiding shit, so why don’t you come clean for once and tell me. I won’t shatter…no matter how weak you think I am.”
She’d obviously reached her breaking point. Something had to give, and one look at her face, I knew it wouldn’t be her. I swore and grabbed my phone out of my pocket. “I have to make a call first.”
“You do that.” She watched me like a hawk as I dialed. I lowered my eyes as a pre-recorded voice gruffly demanded the caller leave a message, which would be returned when he gave a damn.
“Hey, it’s me. There’s been a situation. I need you to call me back immediately.” Ending the call, I drew in a deep breath and returned her hard stare. Tightening my grip on my phone, I begged her one last time, my voice tinged with exhaustion. “We have to leave.”
“And go where?”
“I don’t know. Somewhere other than here. Phoebe, someone broke into the house, there’s glass downstairs and blood everywhere. For all we know, they’re still here. We have to get out, please.”
