Page 96 of Poisoned Pawn
“My fine motor skills needed some work, so he comes in once a week and we draw, build Lego or play—”
Her words are cut off by the ringing of Roxy’s phone. As she pulls it free and sees whose calling, her eyes meet mine.
“Hey—” She doesn’t get a chance to say anything else as Maddox’s voice barks down the phone. Zak’s face appears in the small window from the front.
“We are almost there… Fucking hell… Okay we’ll be there as soon as we can.” She ends the call and immediately gets up and goes to the window.
I can’t hear what she’s saying, which only makes my fear of what the hell all that was about worse. Whatever she tells Frankie has him putting his foot down.
“Roxy, what the hell is going on?”
She turns around slowly, her face sullen. Her eyes flick to Erica, who has her back to Roxy, before coming back to me, and I know she’s hesitant to say in front of her.
“He’s fine. They are on their way back now, but we need to get back there as soon as possible.”
I narrow my eyes at her, trying to decipher what she’s not saying.
Erica on the other hand has no qualms about saying anything and making her feelings known. She bombards us with questions and demands answers for the next ten minutes, her voice getting hoarser and hoarser, until we pull up outside the address Rick gave us.
I shove the doors open and jump down needing some air. Something is wrong and I can relate to Erica’s frustration over being in the dark.
Roxy comes up behind me, her hand resting on my back. “He’s okay, Star. Lennox on the other hand…not so much. Let’s just get Erica settled here and head back.”
I give her nod as the soft rumble of the ramp being extended comes from behind us.
I look up at the house in front of me. It’s a complete contrast to the Victorian manor house we left behind. This is a modern newly built two storey house with clean lines and large windows to the front aspect.
The door opens and I ignore the voices of frustration behind me as Erica continues her barrage of complaints. Rick steps out pushing a wheelchair, closely followed by Jess, her face lighting up as she spots Roxy and me.
I let Roxy go ahead, but she falters as Jess steps out from behind Rick Her small bump visible beneath the longline top she’s wearing over leggings.
“Oh my fucking god!” Roxy exclaims, her feet moving forward to meet them. She wraps Jess up in a tight hug before stepping back and laying her hands on Jess’ belly. “Why the fuck didn’t you tell me?” She looks between the two of them, then slaps Rick on the arm.
“We wanted to wait and make sure everything was okay first. I’m sorry,” Jess says, and even from here I can see the tears swelling in her eyes.
Roxy looks back at me. “Did you know about this?”
“How the hell would I have known before you?” I say accusingly, trying to deflect from the fact I absolutely did know. She turns back to Jess, but I’m not fooled she believes me.
Rick steps away, stopping to hug me. “Thank you,” he whispers.
“I’ve got you,” I say lightly, although I have to choke back my own emotions. This is huge for them, and I’m so happy they are finally going to get the baby they’ve fought so hard for.
His eyes drift over my shoulder as he pulls back. “Jesus,” he mutters low enough that only I can hear.
“Yeah. She’s not too happy that we haven’t told her anything or why she’s been moved. We were hoping that Carter would be here to explain but…”
“I heard what happened,” Rick says, and I frown. “He called me to let me know that he’s been held up.”
“Why do I get the feeling that phrase is more literal?”
Rick laughs. “Something like that. Come on let’s get her inside. Jamie is inside with one of the other nurses.”
Frankie leads a still pissed Erica inside. She refused the wheelchair that Rick brought out and walks into the entrance where we are all standing as Roxy chats with Jess and Jamie. I’m not surprised to see Jamie here. She used to be a nurse, still is just in a different capacity now.
If Erica is surprised by so many people, she doesn’t show it. Rick introduces everyone before Jamie and the other nurse take Erica off to show her the place.
“Man, she is not fucking happy,” Zak states, tugging at the collar of his uniform.