Love's Bind

Ch. 20

Alexis's POV
I froze.
"Bryce. I need you to calm down. What hospital are you at?" I asked. He gave me the name of the the hospital and I grabbed my keys and walked out my room. I went looking for Mrs. Raymond and found her sitting in the den with Mr. Raymond.
They looked up when they heard me run in.
"What is it?" Mrs. Raymond asked looking at my face.
"It's Danielle," I said trying not to cry. I saw Mr. Raymond look at Mrs. Raymond.
"What about her?" Mrs. Raymond asked looking concerned.
"She died," I said starting to cry.
I saw Mrs. Raymond's whole demeanor change.
"She what?" she asked what tears forming in her eyes.
"She died," I said again. Then she broke down.
"No no no no," she said. "Not my baby," she yelled crying. Mr. Raymond pulled her in his arms and rocked her. She continued to cry loudly and I stood there confused.
"I'm going to the hospital," I said.
"We're coming with you," Mr. Raymond said. Mr. Raymond helped Mrs. Raymond up as she continued to cry. We went out to my car and got in. I drove to the hospital and when we got there we went up to the maternity ward. When I saw Bryson, I ran up to him. He looked at me and hugged me and cried.
"Where is she?" I asked. He pointed to her room and I walked in with Mrs. Raymond. She looked at her and walked over to her and broke down crying again.
"My baby," she said.
"She was your daughter?" I asked.
"Yes. She's Christian's twin," she said still crying. Then I remembered where I remember Christian from. I had met him once before when I was with Danielle.
"She stopped claiming me as her mother after an argument we had when she was 13. After that she went to live with my sister and considered her as her mama," she said crying. "It was all so stupid. She held a grudge against me ever since then. I tried to make it right several times, but she never budged."
I didn't know what to say. I'm just in shock. I looked at Danielle and saw that she looked so pale and cold then I remembered the baby. I went out into the hallway to talk to Bryce.
"What happened?" I asked him.
"She had preeclampsia and while she was in labor, her heart rate kept dropping and she finally pushed the baby out. But she kept losing blood and she flatlined and they weren't able to revive her," he said.
"How's the baby?" I asked.
"He's fine. But something is telling me to get a paternity test."
I looked at him and he looked at the floor.
"Why?" I asked.
"Because I don't think he's mine."
I didn't say anything. I just sat down on the floor. He sat down next to me.
"Lex, I'm sorry. I really am. I never wanted to hurt you."
"Then why did you do it?" I asked starting to tear up.
"I don't know. I wasn't thinking and it cost me my entire world."
I wiped my face and got up off the floor.
"I can't do this with you today Bryce. Danielle just died and I think we just need to leave the situation alone."
"I can't Alexis. I love you and I want you back and I'm not stopping until I do," he said pulling me into his arms. I pushed him away from me and shook my head.
"Your head isn't in the right place Bryson. Danielle just died and you're acting like nothing happened. Like she didn't just give birth to your son."
Mrs. Raymond came out of the room and walked up to me.
"I want you to head back to the house. I'm going to stay here and take care of everything," she said.
"Okay. Are you okay? Do you need anything?" I asked.
"No. I'm fine. Cameron is going to ride home with you and come back up here in his truck. You go home and get some rest. I know you're tired," she said forcing a smile. I hugged her and left. The ride home was really quiet. I could feel that Mr. Raymond was upset.
"Are you okay?" I asked him walking up to the house.
"No," he said trying not to cry. "Tiff never cries and to see her like this hurts me."
"Well, just be the best husband you can be and support her through this," I said walking into the house.
I saw Chris sitting on the couch and he got up and walked towards us.
"Where's Ma? I heard her crying earlier," he said. I looked at Mr. Raymond and he gestured him to sit down.
"Your mother is at the hospital," he said.
"Why? What happened?" he asked. Mr. Raymond took a deep breath.
"Danielle died," he said finally. Chris looked at him funny.
"What do you mean she died?"
"She died after she had the baby."
"Man no," he said starting to cry. "I just talked to her earlier today." I felt myself about to cry again so I went into my room. I closed the door and just cried. Even though me and Danielle weren't cool anymore, she was still my bestfriend at one point in time. We made so many memories together and to just think about her being gone and being able to raise her son made me cry. I unlocked my phone and called Caleb.
"Alexis," he answered. "I'm so sorry."
"We need to talk," I said.
"Okay. Do you want me to come to the apartment?"
"No. Meet me at the McDonald's in the shopping center," I said.
"Okay. I'll be there in a few," he said hanging up.
I hung up the phone and walked out.
"I'll be back," I said to Mr. Raymond and walked out. I drove to McDonald's in silence just to take everything all in. When I got there, I saw Caleb standing outside of his truck. I got out of my car and walked up to him. He looked at me and hugged me. I just stood there with my arms by my side. He let me go and looked at me.
"Alexis, I'm sorry. I don't know what happened that night or why I snapped, but baby please forgive me. I promise it won't happen again."
I didn't say anything. I just stood there thinking.
"Baby, say something to me. Please," he pleaded.
"I'm giving you one last chance. For the sake of our child. One more fuck up and I'm done," I said.
"Thank you," he said hugging me. "Can I come back to the apartment?" he asked.
"Yeah, but not to stay. You need to work for that."
"Alright. I love you," he said kissing my forehead.
"I love you too," I said. "I gotta go."
"Alright. Text me when you get home," he said.
"Okay. Bye," I said starting my car up. On my way back to the Raymonds' house I stopped to get some food for me and Christian since I knew Mr. Raymond was probably already gone. I got to the house and looked around for Chris but didn't see him anywhere. Then I looked in the backyard and saw him sitting out there. I went out there and sat next to him.
"I brought you some food," I said handing him the bag.
"Thanks," he said taking it and putting it down.
"You alright?" I asked.
"No. That was my little sister. She was my bestfriend," he said. I didn't know what to say so I just took a bite of my burger.
"I heard about what happened with you, her, and that dude," he said looking at me. "That was fucked up."
"Yeah. But it doesn't matter now. It's in the past."
"Man, my sister is really gone. I just can't wrap my mind around that. I just talked to her earlier and now she's not here."
"I know. It's fucked up," I said. He looked at me.
"You've been through so much. How did you get through it?"
"I just stay prayed up. You know? I keep my faith strong and remember that everything has a season. Weeping only endures for a night," I said.
"That just helped me," he said.
"Glad I could help," I said.
"You're really a great girl Alexis. And you deserve the world whether you realize it or not. You've got so much in store for you. And I'm not just saying that."
"Thank you," I said smiling. "I'm going back home tomorrow."
"Why so soon?"
"I think it's time. Plus, I need to start getting ready for my baby."
"So you're still pregnant?"
"Yeah. I don't know what happened at the hospital that night, and I'll find out but right now I'm just thankful."
"So you're going back to your ex?"
"Yeah. We just met up to discuss it."
"Oh. I just want you to be safe. If he did it before, he'll do it again."
I sat quiet for a little while.
"Well, I'm going to get ready for bed," I said getting up.
"Alright," he said. I walked inside and got my stuff ready for bed. I took my shower and laid down. What Christian said kept running through my head and made me reconsider my decision.