ONE NIGHT....8

I don’t know why I offered to drive.  I was shaking so badly inside.  All I could think was that the woman I love needs me and I had to get there quickly.  Jason had told me in the elevator that Donna had fainted.  Damn, my heart was beating so fast.  I love her so much and the thought of her being in pain was tearing me apart. 

 I pull up to St. Luke’s and Jason jumps out before I can come to a complete stop.  I head to the parking lot and park the car. I jump out the car and make a run for the emergency room entrance.  I head for the nurses station and ask for Donna Brooks.  The nurse asked me who I am. , and I tell her I’m her brother, and I came with her husband and had to go park.

She tells me she is room 7 around the corner and I head in that direction.  I come to another corner and I see ER room 7 on the wall and walk in.  I find Jason sitting on the bed holding Donna in his arms, and asking her if she is OK.  He is kissing her on her lips and cheeks. She is laughing, and telling him that she is OK.

Standing there watching them is making me nauseous.  That should me holing, and kissing her.  Not Jason.  He does not deserve her.  How can he sit there and fake being the devoted husband, when less than an hour ago, he was contemplating leaving her.  Donna pulls away from Jason, and sees me standing there, and instantly her expression changes from happiness to contempt.

 “What the hell are you doing here Brandon?”

 “Sweetheart Brandon was kind enough to drive me here.”  “He was just as concerned about you as I was.”

 “Hhhmmm I bet he was.”

 “Donna I know right now you don't like me very much but, please lets put that aside.”  “You can give me a piece of your mind later.”  “I really came to see of you were OK.  I was really worried”

His expression was so soft and seemed so real that Donna almost caved.  Then she remembered that he was screwing Jason’s assistant, all the while telling her that he loved her.  Whenever she thought about it she felt so stupid.  She had almost fallen for his lies.

 “Well you see that I’m OK, so you can leave now”

 “Donna come on, you are just being mean now.”

“Please Jason I know he is your friend but, he is not my friend.”  “maybe you should be checking in on your pregnant girlfriend and see how she and your baby are doing.”

“Donna, you are being unreasonable, Brandon, is our friend, and he is concerned about your well being.”

“He is your friend not mine and I would like him to leave.”

“I don’t want to upset you so I will leave.” “I hope you feel better.”

“Yeah, yeah, hit the bricks”

Just as Brandon turns to leave; the door opens, and the doctor walks in. He introduces himself to Jason and proceeds to go over the test results.

“Well, Mrs. Brooks, you were almost right. All your tests came back normal.  “You are in perfect health.”

“Dr. you said almost right.”

 The doctor smiles.  “Yes I did, one of your tests did come back positive.”

Brandon is standing right outside the door listening.  His heart drops when he hears the doctor say this.

Jason stands up and holds on to Donna’s hand.  “Doc, give it to us straight.”

“I’m sorry, I am scaring you.”  “This is not bad news.”  “The results of this test explain the dizziness, the fainting, and the nausea.”

“Okay I’m not going to torture you anymore.”  Mrs. Brooks, I am happy to tell you that you are pregnant.”

Donna and Jason looks at the doctor like he has lost his mind.

“Mrs. brooks, did you hear me?”  “You are pregnant; you are going to have a baby.”

“I’m sorry doctor, you must be mistaken.”  “I cant have children.”

“Well my test says different.”  “I cant tell you exactly how far along you are.”  “You will need to see your obgyn for that.”

“Dr. McAlister, Donna and I have been married 6 years, and have been unable to conceive, are you sure your results are Donna’s?”

“Well we can test her again, but this test is pretty accurate.”  “May I ask what made you think you could not have any children?”

‘I was raped when I was 9.”  “The doctor told my mother I would never have children.”

“How many doctors did you see after that?”

“Just one and he told me the same thing.”

“I suggest you go to your obgyn as soon as possible and have them check you out.”  “I’ll have the nurse bring you discharge papers, and then you are free to go.”

All the while Brandon is standing outside the door.  His mind is going a mile a minute.  He is thinking back to the that week a month ago, when he and Donna were together.  He did not use any protection.  He was about to jump for joy, when reality hit.  Donna could have also slept with Jason; he is her husband and all.  Shit, but the possibility is there.  This changes everything he had planned.  If Jason thinks this baby is his, he is more likely to fight for his marriage, rather than leave Donna to be with Vanessa who may be carrying his child.  This news is great, and at the same time can put an end to all his plans.  Brandon quickly heads to his car to get his phone and make a phone call.

“Hey it’s me Brandon.”  “Where are you?”  “Well I will be there in like a half and hour.” “I need to talk to you.”  “It looks like things have changed, so we need to make adjustments to the plan.”

“Ok, I’m glad you called cause I’ve been meaning to talk to you about something as well.”

Brandon gets in his car and heads to his destination.

Meanwhile back in the hospital room Jason is still in shock.  After years of trying, and having Donna finally tell him after they had tried for 2 years, that she cant have kids, this is the most shocking thing he has ever heard.  A baby, he can’t believe it.  Then out of nowhere is cell rings, he looks down at the screen, and its Vanessa calling from the office. Oh shit, Vanessa; how could he have forgotten about Vanessa and the baby.  He silences the phone, he will deal with that later right now he has what could possibly be the miracle that may save his marriage. 

“Who was that Jason?”

“Huh?” “oh it was Vanessa calling from the office.”  “I’ll call her when we get home.”  “Right now I am too shocked to even think about work.”

“You look pretty upset Jason.”  “You’re not happy about the baby?”

“Of course I’m happy, but I don’t want you to get your hopes up only to have the obgyn tell us that the test was wrong, and that you still cant have children.”  “Honey there is nothing more I want than for us to have a baby together, but I don’t want to have our hopes crushed again. remember this has happened before.”

“I know Jason, but maybe this time its real.” “Maybe this is our chance to complete our family.”

The door opened and the nurse came in.  She tells me that once I sign these papers I am free to leave.  She turns to leave, and then stops and says; “I could not help but over hear your conversation.”  “If you don’t mind I would like to give you this card, it’s for an obgyn.”  “She is the best in the business, and I’m not just saying that cause she is my niece.”  “Give her a call; she might be able to help you.”  “I’ll call her and tell you to be expecting your call.”  “Good luck to you both.”  She pats my hand and then leaves the room.

I look down at the card and I see the woman’s name on the card, and gasps.  Patricia Bailey is the best obgyn in the state.  To get to see her is like trying to super bowl tickets the day of the big game.  As soon as I get into the car I will giver her a call.  Jason tells me that since Brandon left we have to take a cab.  I am fine with that; I don’t want to be in his presence anyway.  I did not need anything to ruin my mood.  I finish getting dressed and we leave the ER and take a cab home.  I’m not in the house but 5 minutes before I am on the phone with Dr. Bailey office.  Amazingly enough they were expecting my call just like the nurse said.  The receptionist told me she could fit me in tomorrow at 3pm.  I set the appointment and went to bed under Jason’s strict orders.  He then went to the kitchen to cook me something to eat, after he told he did not want me to get out of the bed.  He will be catering to my every need.  It’s times like this that I realize how good a husband Jason is.

Across town…

Brandon pulls up to one of the most expensive apartment complexes in town, and races to the front door.  He presses the apartment number, and is immediately buzzed in.  He did not wait for the elevator but took the stairs to the 4^th floor.  He knocked on 4f, and the voice inside said the door was open.  He turned the knob and walked in.  Every time he came here he was amazed at the apartment’s decor.  The occupant had amazing taste. He heard a noise from one of the back rooms and follows it.  He got to the door of the bedroom in time to see a stack of money on the bed being stuffed into a bag.

“What are you doing?”

“I am giving you your money back.”  “Now of course it’s not all there, but if you give me some time I will come up with the rest.”  “I just want out of this.”

“What do you mean you want out of this?”  “We had a deal.”  “Now you want to go and change your mind?”

“This is getting too serious, and a lot of people can get hurt.”  “I have booked a flight out of here for Friday afternoon, and I…

Brandon moved with such speed it was amazing. One second he was standing at the doorway of the bedroom and the next second he had his hand around a throat squeezing tightly.

“Bitch who the hell do you take me for?”  “You must think I’m stupid Vanessa.”  “I should snap your neck right now.”

She was holding on to his wrist trying to pull his hand away. He was not choking her but his hand was closed tight enough around her neck to scare her.

“Brandon you are hurting me.”  “Let go of me.”

“I’m not hurting you yet.”  “How quickly you forget that if it wasn’t for me finding you, and offering you this job, you would not have this fancy apartment, or the shiny Mercedes out there.  I am the reason you are living the good life.”  “You would still be fucking strangers for 20 bucks in the back seat of car if it had not found you.”

“Brandon please let me go, think of the baby.” 

“I don’t care about your little bastard”

“This could be your baby too.”  “Remember you and I were also sleeping together while I was sleeping with Jason.”

“Do you think I would claim a baby with a whore like you for a mother?”

 “I know that you are angry, but please understand, I have fallen I love with Jason.”  “At first I did not care about him at all he was just a job to me, like any other john.  But over time I grew to love him so much.  He treated me so good.  Then when I found out I was pregnant I was so happy.”  “ I was all for going along with your plan but, today when the hospital called, I could see the look of panic on Jason’s face, they way he rushed out of there.”  “he loves her and will never love me that way.”  “So why should I try to break up his marriage?”

“Because I told you to, and I paid you to.”  “the last time I checked, I own you so you do what I tell you do.”

“I don’t want any part of this anymore. I want out.”  “You don’t have to worry I wont tell Jason that you brought me here and paid me to be with him.”  “I just want to leave.”

“We are this close to getting what we both want.”  “Jason was telling me right before the hospital called that he wants a child more than anything in this world.  And if he had to choose between his child and Donna, he would choose his child.”

“Did he really say that?”  “He would choose the baby?”

“Of course he did. Jason has wanted kids since we were teenagers.”  “Since Donna can’t have any kids, right now you are his only hope.”  “He also said that you and he get along great, and that yes at first he will miss Donna but he knows that he can grow to love you over time.”

Brandon did not want to tell Vanessa that there might be a chance that Donna is pregnant.  He knew all that would do is make her want to leave faster.  He still needed her, and when he does not need her anymore he will get rid of her.  So for now he has to do anything he can to keep her here, and to make sure that she did what she was paid to do.

“Even if I do stay Brandon, and Jason leaves Donna to be with me and the baby, there is still the fact that this baby could be yours.  I cant deceive him like that.”

“Even if the baby turns out to be mine, Jason does not need to ever know.”  “Now have you come to your senses?  “Can I trust you to stick around and continue with the plan?”

Vanessa looked like she was thinking about it, and all Brandon wanted to do was shake her till her teeth rattled...

“Yes, I will continue with the plan.”

“Good, I will have another 100 thousand wired to your account this afternoon.”  “Vanessa, I don’t want to have this conversation with you again, are we clear?”

“Yeah, crystal.”

Brandon left and got on the elevator.  During the ride down he decided that Vanessa would have to be dealt with.  When he got to his car he made another call.

“Hey its Brandon.”  “How have you been man?”

“I have been well and yourself?”

“I’m good.  Listen I’m going to need your expertise real soon man.”

“Really?”  “Is that so?”

“I will text the names and info to you as soon as we get off the phone.”

“Okay.”

“I knew I could count on you Anthony.”  “I just need you to do what you do best.”

“The best is all I have.”

“Okay then I will contact you soon.”

“I’ll be here”