Something Unexpected

Chapter Twenty-Seven

~Laura's POV~

I woke with a start as my phone buzzed noisily beside the bed. How long hand I been asleep?
Wiping the sleep from my eyes, I reached out and grabbed my phone, not bothering to look at who it was before answering.

"Hello?"

"Laura," A familiar voice grumbled through the phone. "it's Julien. Kaiden's been in an accident."

"What?" My stomach sank as I sat up a little more. "What do you mean accident? I thought he was home, he was when we went to sleep."

"He came to his Moms to grab something and it got a bit out of hand. He didn't want me to ring you but I thought you'd be pissed if we didn't say anything."
Pushing the covers back, I shakily got out of bed. The cool wooden floor bit into my bare feet as I hobbled down the hallway and downstairs into the kitchen.

"Tell me where you are," I ordered, scanning the kitchen for my keys. "I'm on my way."

Julien coughed, "He doesn't want you to come down Laura, he doesn't even know I've called you."

"I don't care what he wants," I spat, finally finding my keys. "he can't expect me to stay away when he needs me. That's not how this works. Now, where are you?"

"The private hospital on Wilson Street."

"See you soon," I rushed before waddling down the hall.
Tapping on my parents' bedroom door, I waited a second before entering. The room was cloaked in a thick blanket of black, the only noises were the repetitive tick of the wall clock and the soft snores from my father's side of the bed.

Tiptoeing over to where my mother usually slept, I whispered loudly. "Mom... Mom wake up."

"Laura," My Mom yawned, the light catching her weary gaze that slid over my face. "is everything ok? Is it the baby?"

I shook my head, "Kaiden's in hospital. Julien wouldn't tell me anything but said he thought I should know. Can you drive me please?"

"Of course, let's go."

I stepped back out into the hall while my Mom got dressed. My mind raced as I went over every possibility that could've resulted in Kaiden being hospitalised. I knew his mother was crazy, but she wouldn't actually hurt her son... would she?
Mom stepped out of her room, closing the door quietly. "I left a note for your father. Now, let's go."

She walked quickly beside me as we made our way to the car. We were roughly a fifteen-minute drive from the hospital Julien had mentioned on the phone. At this time of night, I knew there wouldn't be many cars on the road but I fidgeted nervously in my seat the entire way to the hospital. As soon as Mom threw the car in park, I was out the door and pregnant running toward the main entrance.

Running while pregnant, yeah not so attractive.
The attendant at the front desk gave me a curious look when I tapped on the counter. "Are you in labour, dear?"

"No," Shaking my head I tried to regain some breath. "my partner was admitted earlier tonight. I need to see him."

"Visiting hours aren't until 11am tomorrow morning. You'll have to come back." The sweet voice shed used when asked if I was in labour, was gone.
Slamming my hand on the table, I held back a smug grin at her shocked expression. By this point my mother had caught up, her eyes locked on the desk attendant. "Immediate family is allowed in to see someone who is admitted. I am Mr. Hunters current guardian as he is living under my roof with my pregnant daughter. Now, let us in."

The woman behind the desk heaved a heavy sigh before plastering on a fake smile. "What's his name?"

"Kaiden Hunter," I replied.
She typed something into an older looking computer before writing a room number down on a piece of paper. "Take the elevator to floor three, then do a left. It's the seventh door on the left."

"Thank you," Snatching the paper from her outstretched hand, I rushed over to the elevator. My fingers absently tapped on my leg as I watched the floor numbers descend. "He's going to be ok, right Mom?"

"I'm sure he will be honey, try not to stress." My mom assured just as the doors opened.
We travelled up to the third floor in silence, my mind a million miles away. As the metal doors clicked open, I stepped out and caught sight of Julien straight away.

"Julien," My shoulder sagged slightly as he wrapped his arms around my shoulders. "What happened?" I mumbled into his shirt.

"Liz crossed the line this time, Laura. He can't go back there, hell, I don't even think I'll ever go back there." Releasing his hold, he gave me a reassuring smile. "It's good to see you, Kid." Julien was only six years older than myself but he seemed to put off this air that he was older. He always seemed to smell of grease and cigarette smoke.

"Can I go in and see him?"
He gave a small nod, "Of course, seventh door down on the left. Your mom and I will wait out here, give you guys some time to talk."

With a small smile, I started in the direction of Kaiden's room. "Thank you, Julien."

When I was finally in front of the hospital door that had Kaiden's name written on a whiteboard out the front, I heaved a deep breath before pushing the door open. Sitting up in a stiff bed with a remote in his hand and a sling around one arm, was Kaiden. At the sound of the door opening, he looked over, a large smile spreading over his face.

He looked fine.
The familiar dimples still pressed into his flushed cheeks as he motioned for me to move over to the bed. "Hey, beautiful."

"Kaiden," I breathed, a heavy weight in my chest lifting. "What the hell happened?"
His good hand found mine, pulling me down to sit on the bed beside him. "I went to grab something from Moms and when I was leaving, she threw a knife at my back."

She what?

"Say that again because I swear it sounded like you said your mom stabbed you?" I repeated.

"Well threw the knife but yeah, she stabbed me."
Blind hot rage tore through my body as I thought about that woman and what she was capable of. "Don't you ever refuse to tell me something like this. Julien called and thank god he did otherwise I wouldn't have found anything out."

"I didn't want to worry you," Kaiden sighed. "it's nothing serious anyway."
I scoffed, "Kaiden, you got stabbed! That sounds pretty serious to me."

"Only in the shoulder," He defended, as if this was something he'd experienced in the past. For all I knew, maybe he had. "they're only keeping me in because they want to do some x-rays to make sure everything is how it should be. I'll be out by morning."

"I'm not going anywhere," Running my hand over my belly, I gave him a stern look. "We, aren't going anywhere. Now, move over so I can get some sleep."

"Of course," He grinned, moving over so I could scoot in beside him.
Smiling slightly, I wrapped my arm loosely around his abdomen, careful not to knock his arm. We sat like that for the rest of the night, dozing in and out of sleep until finally, the sun rose on a new day.