She Was Grace

Chapter 12

I woke up the next morning with my head in the toilet once again. My head was pounding and my throat was itchy. Maybe I should stay home today...

I flushed the toilet and walked out of the bathroom to the kitchen.

Derek was standing there in a pair of dark gray Abecrombi sweatpants cooking eggs and bacon.

"Hey, Grace." He looked up from the pan on the stove.

I smiled and took a breath of bacon-scented air. My stomach immediately turned and I grabbed my mouth.

I ran for the bathroom, and Derek was on my tail. He grabbed my hair and pulled it out of my face. I threw up repeatedly then turned to face Derek.

"Grace, are you okay?" His face was sympathetic and concerned. Shit. He doesn't know yet. I forgot to tell him that I could be carrying his child... I was sitting on his lap in front of the toilet.

"Grace?" I looked to him.

"Derek, I-I'm-"

I couldn't spit out the words.

"GRACE, DEREK!" A voice from outside screamed at us, starting us both. "COME OUT HERE, YALL GOTTA SEE THIS!" I recognized the voice to be Mikey's. His deep southern accent wasn't hard to depict.

I stood up slowly making sure not to breath in until we made it out the back door. The boys were all sitting outside with binoculars.

"What the hell are you guys screaming about?" Derek's voice drew the attention of the three boys sitting in front of us. They handed me the binoculars and sat me down where Caleb was sitting.

"Look-" he pointed to the deep blue water about 50 feet out. "Dolphins- at least 20 of them - all gathering right there." He pointed to the same spot once again.

I held the lenses to my eyes and searched. When I looked closer, I saw them. Not only were they gathering, they were putting on a show. They flung their bodies in and out of the water. Splashing, the smaller ones jumped over and over again.

I sat there, awed, at the beautiful sight. The boys yelled and took pictures, but I just sat there and watched. They looked so graceful and free.

What have I gotten myself into? I'm pregnant, and I don't even know who's the dad. It could be Daniels, my boyfriend who let me move across the country to live with him, or, it could be Derek's, my bipolar ex boyfriend who let someone rape me... Then basically raped me himself.

My parents have no idea what's going on, and my bestfriend, Lily, doesn't know I'm pregnant because it could be her boyfriends baby inside of me right now.

What do I do? I wish I could just turn into one of those dolphins out there. I could swim away and never come back. I can't hide the fact that I'm pregnant forever...

My vision went blurry and I dropped the binoculars onto the wooden porch. It felt as if it all happened in slow motion. All I saw was black when my head hit the boards. I heard sirens and faint voices talking to me.

*the next day*

"Grace?"

I woke to the sound of machines beeping and five boys surrounding me.

"Oh God, she's alive!" I heard Eli's voice break the silence.

I went to lean up, but my arms were tied to IVs and tubes.

"No, sweetie. Mommy isn't allowed to get up yet." There was a red-headed nurse by my hospital bed. "You and that baby need some rest. Seems to be you're sleep deprived. You're not getting much sleep, huh?"

"Uh, what?" Derek's voice became loud all of a sudden. "Mommy? Baby? What is going on?" He stood up. And He didn't intend on sitting back down.

"Derek. Sit down..." Kaleb spoke softly. "She's awake and we should be happy for her and Daniel." His eyebrows raised and his voice was quiet so it wouldn't echo off of the walls.

I watched Derek's jaw clench and he sat down."So how far along is she?" He looked to Daniel.

He looked at me and swallowed. His face was beginning to get red and his freckles were more visible than ever. "Uh, nurse..." He looked to the red-headed nurse again. "Can you please find out how many weeks my girlfriend is? It would mean a lot to know for sure."

She looked surprised. "Oh, sweetie, She's only 13 weeks. You're gonna have a while till that baby pops out." She smiled and caused us all to laugh.

I looked at Derek who was smirking. He knew exactly when we had an affair... 13 weeks ago.