I Believe in You

After the Fall

Conrad slammed through the hospital double doors towards the emergency surgical wing while Nic wheeled me quickly behind him and Mina ran to scrub in to assist with Marshall's surgery.
Conrad and I leaned against each other as we watched the surgery.
Bell looked up and caught our eye as Marshall's vitals crashed again.
Conrad buried his face in my hair in his panic. Bell looked determined as he fought to get Marshall's bleeding back under control with the help of Mina.
Two weeks later, Marshall was still on a ventilator following his emergency surgery.
I found Conrad sitting by his bedside again at the end of our shift.
"Baby, this isn't helpful." I sighed sitting next to him.
"I know. I can't help it." He sighed taking my hand.
On the bed Marshall started moving frantically.
"Dad?" Conrad stood up and walked over to his father's bedside.
"The vent's too high. He's suffocating." He exclaimed.
I rushed to the doorway flagging down a nurse.
"Get Dr. Martin. The patient is awake and get me someone in here to turn down the ventilator. He's suffocating." I instructed.
Once Dr. Martin removed the ventilator tube and left us alone again Marshall turned to Conrad and tried to speak but Conrad raised his hand to stop him.
"You have to be honest with me, all the time. I love you and I'm not willing to lose you now that we're just starting to find our way back. I spent half my life without a father." Conrad explained as the muscles in my womb contracted painlessly indicating a Braxton Hicks or false contraction.
"We're going to fix that. Son, I love you." He answered hoarsely.
"I'm going to hold you to that. My daughter deserves to grow up knowing both of her grandparents."
The brief flash of a face on the television in the room caught my attention.
I glanced up, my mouth dropped open and my hand rested on my stomach.
"Conrad." I said his name after I read the headline across the bottom of the televison screen.
Lane Hunter released on bail before her murder and fraud trial.
I felt his hand on me but couldn't focus on anything aside from the images of her walking out of the prison.
"Hey. Baby. It's going to be okay. I've got you." Conrad's voice said in my ear.
Finally, I looked at him.
"How? How is it going to be okay?" I asked touching my stomach again.
"Nothing's going to happen. I promise you. Nothing's going to happen."
"What's going on?" Marshall looked at us.
"You remember when Lane Hunter was arrested right before you took over as chairman?" Conrad asked wrapping his arm around me.
I didn't want him to say it but he and I couldn't ask him for full transparency if we didn't give him the same.
"She killed Meghan's mom and a close friend we'd cared for for years here in the hospital, Lily." He explained.
"Then she tried to attack Meghan with a knife in the sleeping quarters."
"Son, take Meghan home and stay with her. She'll be safest there. I'll find out how she got out and how quickly we can get her put back in." He instructed gently.
Conrad helped me walk out into the lobby.
I caught Lane's eye as she walked passed us towards the elevator. I covered my pregnant belly with both hands protectively and refused to break eye contact with her. I was fearful because of my pregnancy and for my unborn daughter but my motherly protective instincts kicked in and I felt defiant.
I wouldn't confront her but I wouldn't back down either.
Once out of her line of sight I sighed and leaned into my husband.
At home I sat on the couch with my feet up attempting to take deep breaths which is extremely difficult when your unborn daughter is resting on your diaphragm.
Conrad answered the door when Devon came over having officially moved out of the apartment he'd been sharing with Priya before their break up on their wedding day.
"How is she?" He asked Conrad clearly having heard the news that Lane was out.
"As okay as she can be. Ace and Lily haven't left her side since we've been home." He answered as they walked into the room.
"Hey Devon." I muttered watching my daughter move in my womb, pressing her arms and legs against my stomach.
"Wow. Does she do that often?" He asked walking towards me causing Ace to growl from his spot next to me.
"Ace. He's okay." I stated firmly taking Devon's hand and placing it on my stomach so he could feel her move.
"Incredible." He mused.
"To answer your question, yes. Fairly often actually. It's not always so noticable but she's almost always moving."
"What do we do about Lane?" He asked.
I shook my head. I didn't know.
"My father's looking into it. Turns out he's really protective of his family. Meghan's father is the district attorney. I doubt she'd have the gull to show up here." Conrad answered bringing me a water bottle.
"You finally finished moving out?" I asked.
"I don't have anywhere to go but yeah." He sighed.
I glanced at Conrad who nodded silently before retreating down the hallway.
"I'm due in just under two months. You have until she comes to find an apartment." I smiled at him.
"What? Seriously? Thank you so much." He smiled at me.
"Really. Conrad's making up one of the guestrooms right now."
"I'd hug you but I'm scared Ace is going to eat me if I try."
I laughed.
"Have you talked to Julian?" I asked.
"I've tried but I can't get ahold of her. Her phone is going straight to voicemail." He answered shaking his head.
"Nic is saying we need to turn on the news." Conrad said coming into the room.
I flipped on the television and found a local news station.
"Accused murderer Lane Hunter found shot to death in her hotel room. Hunter was accused of killing Lily Kendall and Sarah Bishop among others and defrauding insurance companies by treating cancer in patients who didn't even have cancer in a possibly odd case of munchausen syndrome by proxy." The reporter stated standing in front of a local high end hotel surrounded my police and rescue workers.
I glanced up to look at Conrad in shock.
She was dead. She certainly would've be able to hurt anyone else. Was it wrong that I was glad she was dead?