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At the same time, he was so angry with her, so bitterly disgusted, he could hardly look at her.
“Your cast is gone.”
“I told you it was off. What happened? To Molly,” he clarified. “Did she fall?”
“No. Nothing. She felt fine. A little tired, but only because the baby woke her early with a big k-kick.” Her voice hiccuped. “We were talking. She was upset about Gio, but she was just a bit weepy, not... Anyway, she stood up and we realized she was bleeding.”
Her hand shook as she wiped beneath her seeping eye.
“I called for the helicopter, then the nurse. She flew in with us. She thinks it could be a placental abruption. That’s when...” Her voice faded with a fear so visceral, it made the hairs on his arms stand up. “When the placenta p-pulls away...”
“I understand.” He couldn’t bear it. He might want to shout himself hoarse at her, but he couldn’t see straight. This was their baby. He crossed to her in a few lurching strides and yanked her against his chest.
She shuddered and clung to him, catching back sobs.
They stood a long time like that, clinging to each other as though cast away at sea. They clung to hope, not relaxing their grip until the doctor came in and confirmed the nurse’s suspicion.
“The baby’s vitals are strong and Molly’s bleeding has subsided, but we’ll keep her here on strict bed rest and monitor her closely. Hopefully, we can buy a week or two, but she will deliver early. We’ve started her on steroids to help the baby’s lungs develop. We’ve also given her a mild pain reliever so she’ll be drowsy when you see her. They’re settling her in her room now. It won’t be much longer.”
“Can I ask you to speak with Molly’s mother?” Rafael asked the doctor. “She’s on her way here, but I’m sure she’s anxious for news.” He gave the doctor Patricia’s number and the doctor left to make that call.
“Thank you. I don’t know that I could have repeated any of that,” Sasha said.
Or should he call her Alexandra? He didn’t know who he was talking to anymore! He felt raw, absolutely peeled down to his core that she had lied to him so cold-bloodedly. For so long, too.
He had known she was capable of deception, but not like this. Not something directed at him. It made her seem like a stranger all over again. Like their whole marriage had been one long lie.
At the same time, she was exactly the woman he knew as she absently pulled the tie from her hair, then gathered it into a fresh bun to resecure it. He’d seen her do that so many times it was imprinted on him as her.
“Did Molly call Gio to bring them?” he asked.
“I did. You hung up on me,” she reminded him flatly. “And—” She looked with frustration between the kettle and single-cup coffee maker. “God, I could use a drink. I know you’re angry about...what I did.”
“I’m angry that you enlisted Gio to do something that was my responsibility,” he said stiffly. “‘Angry’ doesn’t begin to describe how I feel about you lying to my face for two straight months. Is that what really turned you on while we were having all that phone sex?”
She stared at him through a long, drawn-out moment of silence, then blinked once in a way that was decidedly withering, but her voice shook as she said, “No, Rafael. I don’t get off on power the way you do.”
“Kýrie and Kyría Zamos?” A nurse poked her head into the lounge. “Kyría Brooks can see you now, but only for a moment. She needs to rest.”
Molly was on her side in the hospital bed, various tubes and wires emerging from beneath the blankets that covered her.
“Moll?” Sasha brushed her hair off her face with such tender familiarity, it struck a knife into Rafael’s heart. “You doing okay, pal?”
“Mmm-hmm.” She left her eyes shut. “Baby’s okay, too, but they’re going to keep me.”
“I know. Your mom is on her way.”
Molly’s eye opened. “With Lib?”
Sasha nodded, mouth pressed into a grave line. “Yes. It’s okay. I think it will be.”
Molly’s somber gaze shifted to Rafael.
“I haven’t told him yet, but I will,” Sasha said.
Molly’s arm wormed its way out from beneath the blanket. She wiggled her fingers at Rafael, beckoning him closer.
“I know you’re mad at me, too, but...” She reached out farther, insisting he give her his hand.
