* * *

“Your girlfriend has suffered a severe blow to the stomach and that caused irreparable damage to the placenta, and I’m sorry to have to tell you, but she lost the baby. We have also found evidence of internal bleeding and are prepping for surgery as we speak.”

I didn’t know how to deal. I’d lost all feeling.

“Will she survive?” I rasped out, my voice rough from crying.

“We’re going to try our best, son. Someone will be out to keep you informed of her progress.” And with that, the doctor left me alone in an empty family room while he raced off to patch my girl back together. He might be able to repair her body, but f**k knows what her mind would be like when she woke.

A light knocking on the door sounded, but I couldn’t look up, too entranced by the speckled pattern in the linoleum flooring.

“Rome!” a female voice cried, and I recognized it as belonging to Ally.

She wrapped her arms around my shoulders and sobbed uncontrollably. It went that way for a while—all of my friends crying, hugging me close. Even Austin, the strongest person I’d ever known, broke down, hugging Lexi afterward. Then when there were no more tears to be shed, we each took a seat in the room and sat in silence.

“Bullet, I can’t tell you how sorry I am, man. Molly and I were given a note when I took her to the bathroom. We thought it was from you. I can’t stop blaming myself.” Cass rubbed at his back as tears streamed down her face.

“What did it say?” I asked tiredly.

Ally shifted forward, her eyes darting to the floor nervously. “I managed to speak to Shelly before we left. Your momma set it up, darlin’. Apparently she wanted to scare Molly away for good. Shelly admitted she’d told your momma about the notes you give Molly before a game, and while your daddy stalled you with football talk, she used it to get her alone.”

I caught Jimmy-Don throwing his head in his hands at that bit of information, explaining, “The note said to meet you in the library, that you needed a break from the party, and for Molly to meet you there. I never doubted it was from you, not even for a second.”

Ally’s sympathetic gaze landed on Jimmy-Don, who’d broken into tears, but she managed to continue. “Apparently your momma starting telling Molly to leave you, had some private detective find out some real nasty things about Molly’s past and started using it against her. It didn’t work. Molly was unmoved, but when Aunt Kathryn began talking crap about you, Molly fought back, apparently in your defense and that’s when your momma lashed out. She was drunk off her ass again. Molls fell against the table and, well, we know the rest. Your momma and daddy were nowhere to be found afterward. The police want to speak to your momma, but she’s completely disappeared.”

If I wasn’t so numb, I’d have torn this room apart, but even my anger, this time, wasn’t enough to make my body move. My momma investigated shit about her? Most likely about her daddy and grandma dying. I vowed at that moment that if I ever saw her again, I’d make her pay. Christ, all this happened because my girl defended me. Like that didn’t make me feel even worse. She’d lost our angel because of me…

“I hate them. I hate them so damn much,” I whispered, almost breaking the sides of the plastic chair with my grip. “They’re dead to me. Fuckin’ six feet under, dead.”

My friends’ silence told me they completely agreed.

28

After several hours and a stupid amount of coffee, a nurse wearing pink scrubs entered the room and I froze and held my breath as my heart tried to cope with the fear suffocating my body.

“Rome?” the nurse asked as she searched the room. I stood and she moved before me. “Miss Shakespeare has made it out of surgery and she’s stable in ICU. We were able to repair the stomach rupture she suffered and transfused her with blood to replace the heavy blood loss from the miscarriage.”

“Can I see her?” I asked desperately. I needed to be there when she woke up.

“Soon. I’ll send someone to fetch you.”

After the nurse left, I slumped back on my chair and heard the sighs of relief from my friends.

“She’s going to be fine, Rome,” Ally said emphatically, trying her damnedest to be positive.

Nodding slowly, I replied, “Her body may heal, sure. But I still have to tell her we lost our baby, and I can tell you now, she’s going to be anything but fine.”

Silence resumed once again.

As I entered the small private hospital room, I had to grip onto the doorframe to stop myself from falling to my knees. Tubes and wires were coming from her pale skin, deep, dark shadows hung under her eyes, and she looked so small and broken, swamped under a mass of white cotton.

I focused on the constant beat from the heart monitor to control my breathing and slowly moved to the bed, kissing Molly’s cold cheek and pulling a chair beside her, holding her hand in mine, and began the wait for her to wake up.

I must have drifted off, and a hand running through my hair woke me from my sleep. Convinced I was dreaming, I startled when confused golden eyes focused on me, Molly’s hand weakly dropping to her stomach.

“Romeo? Did… did…?”

I knew what she was asking, but my voice was taken by grief, so I simply nodded, watching the complete f**king agony set on her pale, beautiful face and tears begin streaming from her eyes.

After days of missing my girl, needing her to share in my grief, I leaned over, holding her waif body in my arms, and whispered, “I’m so sorry… It’s all my fault.”