Nick watched his sleeping girlfriend and sighed nervously as she stirred. How in the hell was he going to break this to her? Still, it was better she hear it from him than the doctors. Her gray eyes fluttered open and stared up at him. “How am I?” she whispered.
“You’re fine,” he replied, giving her as much of a smile as he could. He leaned down and kissed her forehead. “You scared me last night.”
“I scared myself last night,” she answered. “What about the baby?”
Nick looked away. “There were some complications in your pregnancy. The doctor told me about them, but I’m not a girl, so I hadn’t the slightest idea what he was talking about.”
“So…”
“You lost the baby,” he choked. “I’m so sorry, Alexandra. God, I wish I didn’t have to tell you that.”
A few moments later, after she was able to take it all in, she muffled a sob. “I’m not pregnant anymore?”
“No, sweetie.”
“Does Craig know?”
“I don’t think so. I certainly didn’t call him. I thought it was up to you whether or not you want to tell him.”
“I don’t. He doesn’t care anyways,” she muttered bitterly.
He sighed. “How do you feel?”
“I don’t know. I should feel sad that my baby died, and I should feel somewhat relieved that this is all cleared up and that I didn’t have to intentionally kill the baby, and I should feel guilty for feeling relieved, but I don’t feel anything. I’m just numb. This is all so surreal to me.” She hesitated. “Will you hold me, Nick?”
He nodded and wordlessly pulled her into his arms.
As soon as she got back to the hotel, Ally was bombarded with questions. “Ally, are you okay?” Brian asked.
“How you doing, kiddo?” Kevin said.
“How are you?” Howie asked.
“Are you all better now?” AJ demanded.
Ever since she had opened up and made peace with the boys, she had become one of their favorite people. She was like a little sister to all of them. Even Nick acted like her big brother to an extent. Feeling somewhat overwhelmed, she backed up into Nick’s sheltering arms and answered their questions. “I’m fine. A little upset, but okay.”
“I’m so sorry,” Brian said softly. “Nick told us what happened. We want you to know that we’ll be here if you want to talk.”
She nodded in appreciation and shifted her teary eyes to the floor. “Thanks, guys. You’re wonderful.”
“Hey, no problem, Al,” Kevin said. “You should go upstairs and get some rest.”
Nick grabbed her hand and pushed the button for the elevator. When they got up to their room, their weary eyes locked and she fell into his arms, exhausted and beginning to cry again. “This is just too much, Nick.”
“It’ll get better, sweetie. I promise,” he whispered in her ear. He kissed the top of her head and stroked her hair softly. “Let it out, Ally. Let it all out.”
After a few minutes of crying, she looked up and kissed him softly on the mouth. “Thanks.”
“No problem,” he replied after kissing her back. “I love you.”
“I love you, too.”
A few hours later, Ally woke up to see her boyfriend perched in the chair next to the bed, watching her. “What are you doing?”
“Just making sure you’re okay, baby,” he answered. He moved to the bed and sat down next to her.
“Have you moved from that chair at all the whole time I’ve been sleeping?” she asked.
“No - well - yeah. I got up to use the bathroom and get a drink of water about an hour ago, but other than that, no, I’ve been here the whole time” he replied.
“You didn’t have to do that for me, you know. I would have been fine by myself.”
“I know, but I didn’t mind. I like looking at you. You’re beautiful, Ally,” he said.
She smiled and pulled his face down to hers for what was supposed to be a short, sweet kiss. However, he had different ideas. He deepened it and tenderly ran his hands down her sides. They stopped at the hem of her shirt and started to pull it up, but she casually wrapped her hands around his and brought them back up to her face. “Not now. I’m not ready,” she whispered into his mouth.
Despite his disappointment, he respected her decision and continued to kiss her. “Okay, baby.” Still, he couldn’t forget how frustrated he was getting. This was the fourth time she had stopped him. It hadn’t taken her this long to be ready for Craig…