A Love Worth Fighting For

Ch. 17

A/N at the end

Hannah and my mom didn't want to leave me at all. It took me begging them to go home and rest to get them to leave at all. Honestly, I didn't want them to leave at all but I needed them to take care of themselves.

After they moved me to the women's and children's floor, they brought in an ultrasound machine. I had been complaining about stomach pain and couldn't remember anything other than the slap across the face. We had to make sure that the babies were okay.

"Ms. Henderson, there's a Brent Buchanan here to see you," a nurse told me from the doorway.

"Yes, that's fine."

Brent came in and took the seat next to the bed. He looked at the nurse when she pushed the machine closer to me. He grabbed ahold of my hand and held it the entire time.

Brent stared worth amazement while the tech did what she had to do. She relieved some of my stress when she finally told me rehab the babies were fine. She congratulated me and smiled over at Brent.

"How much do you want to bet that she thinks you're the father?" I laughed.

"Nonsense," he said, waving his hand then went silent.

"What did you think of that?" I asked.

"They look like little aliens," he said which earned him a slap on the hand. "So... should we talk?"

"About what exactly?"

"Claire."

"Brent," I sighed. "I can't right now."

"I know. I'm sorry," he said and we lasted back into silence.

I knew I would have to talk about it eventually but right now, I wasn't ready. I needed to worry about healing physically and emotionally. I had two little humans to take care of.

After another hour or so, I started feeling sleepy and since I was under observation for the night, Brent kissed the top of my head and told me to rest well before he walked out of the door. I couldn't read anything on his face while he was there. We mainly just sat there and he flipped through the limited available television channels.

When I was finally sleepy enough for sleep, I turned the light off but left the tv on for the noise. I was afraid that if it was completely silent, I would go crazy.

The next day, I called my mom to come and get me. They did another ultrasound and saw that the babies were fine. I was suppose to be bedridden for at least a week just to make sure and if I experienced any problems, return immediately.

The nurse wheeled me down the the entrance where mom and the kids were waiting for me. We all decided that we weren't ready to go back to our house so we went to mom's. Cassie and Lacey were there with Bill. When I walked in, Bill gave me a hug and walked to the couch with me.

"You are not to get up unless you want to go lay down or go to the bathroom. Anything else, just holler. We will wait on you hand and foot," he said.

"Thanks Bill. I'm glad you and mom found each other," I said, earning a hug from my stepdad.

Hannah sat down next to me and curled against my side. I wrapped my arm around her and before I knew it, I felt my shirt getting wet.

"Hey, it's okay, Hannah."

"What if he did something to hurt you worse? What would happen to us?"

"Let's not think of that, okay. Your brother has needed some help for awhile and he was too proud to admit it."

"Claire, he could have killed the baby," she said.