Faith Sullivan - Meant for Me

“Yes, he did tell me about your list of demands, but it doesn’t mean I have to agree to them,” she chuckles, drawing some paperwork out of her purse. “You’re in no position to tell me what to do. I have in my hands a copy of your latest bank statement. I believe you’re several weeks behind on a loan payment? You wouldn’t want me to call the manager and have him start taking the necessary steps to foreclose, would you?”

“You’re bluffing,” I retort, placing my hands on my hips.

“Try me,” she spits back.

I’m just about to tear into her when I hear shuffling behind me.

“What’s going on?” It’s Ivy. She’s out of bed and standing outside in nothing but my shirt. I instantly see red.

“Well, speak of the devil,” Lauren drawls, smirking as Ivy shivers. “Ivy, tell this Neanderthal boyfriend of yours to step aside. We have work to do.”

“I don’t think so,” I growl, stepping in front of Ivy, blocking her from view. “You’re not coming in. Don’t even think about it.”

“Eric, it’s okay,” Ivy says, catching me off guard. “She’s right. We have a lot to catch up on.”

“You can’t be serious,” I spin around, searching her eyes for some kind of explanation. “You’re in no condition to—”

“She’s a big girl. Why don’t you let her decide for herself?” Lauren advances again, causing me to lean into Ivy. “Or maybe you want to hear a little bit more about what we intend to work on. I’m sure it’ll blow your mind.”

“Lauren, don’t,” Ivy warns, and there’s no mistaking the fear in her voice.

Lauren has something on her. It’s the only reason why Ivy would so readily give in to her demands. Ivy is in no state to go head-to-head with her. It’s not a fair fight. That’s why she’s caving. It probably involves me somehow and she’s trying to protect me so that I won’t get hurt. That’s the only explanation for why she’s backing down when Lauren’s coming on so strong. She must be feeding her a line about me. But I’m not afraid to set her straight. It’s about time someone put Lauren in her place once and for all.

“Will, take Ivy inside. I’ll settle this,” I seethe, not even looking at Ivy as she protests behind me.

Will closes his eyes and curses under his breath but obeys my command. He slips his arm through Ivy’s, trying to get her to retreat inside, but she grabs a handful of my shirt, attempting to push me out of the way so she can get to Lauren.

“Eric, stop! You don’t know what you’re doing,” she cries, desperately trying to hang on to me. Will lifts her off feet but she continues to struggle against him. “I’m begging you, please don’t do this. Please!”

“Get her upstairs!” I roar as her nails dig into my skin.

She’s nearly hysterical, and I don’t like it. She’s gotten herself too upset over this. It’s the last thing I wanted for her right now. She fights Will with all her might, and he ends up tossing her over his shoulder as she continues to scratch and claw at him.

“She’s going to tell you that Cassidy was cheating on you!” Ivy shouts before Will has a chance to close the door. She’s panting in his arms. Tears are streaming down her face. But for a minute, my mind goes blank. I know she’s in distress, but all I can focus on are Lauren’s red-painted lips as they curl into a hideous smile. This can’t be happening. Not again.

“You beat me to the punch once again, Ivy. Bravo!” Lauren smirks as Ivy pounds Will with her fists to let her down.

“Get out,” I say, my voice deadly.

“I guess my work here is done,” Lauren says, calmly lowering her sunglasses onto her nose. “Ivy, I’ll be in touch to schedule our next writing session. We’re going to have to flesh out all of the juicy details of Cassidy’s affair. Can’t wait. Oh and Eric, if you think I’m lying, which I’m not, you might want to talk to Ben’s brother. I’m sure he could provide you with a ton of information about their secret trysts. Like I said, fascinating stuff. It’s going to make such a great movie, don’t you think?”

“I’m going to count to ten and you better get the hell off my property!” I completely lose it, advancing on Lauren until she stumbles backward, gripping the railing before making her way down the porch steps. I chase her to the door of her car, standing there until she gets in and starts the ignition. It’s taking all of my willpower not to physically pull her out the vehicle, but somehow I restrain myself. But she still has to have the last word.

Sliding down the driver’s side window, she calls out, “Oh and Will? You might want to change your shirt. You have blood all over it.” She peals away, but not before I manage to pound on the hood.

Rage is coursing through my veins as I raise my eyes to the porch in fear. Ivy has gone completely still as Will lowers her carefully to the ground. Lauren was right. His shirt is covered in Ivy’s blood as it continues to trickle down her legs. For a split second, I think I’m going to collapse, but somehow I find my feet and clumsily charge up the steps, my heart pounding.

“Will, call an ambulance!” I shout over Ivy’s muffled cries as she begins to shake. “Ivy, it’s okay. I’ve got you, baby. Just relax. We’ll get you to the hospital and everything’s going to be all right. Take some deep breaths for me. That’s it.”

I gently lift her into my arms, following Will into the house. I rush into the kitchen, laying her on the table. Frantically, I root through a drawer for a clean towel before returning to Ivy’s side. I’m terrified of what I’m going to have to do next.

“Ivy, honey? Open your legs for me, okay? I’m going to have to try and stop the bleeding until they get here, all right?” I swallow hard as it turns into a steady flow, dripping onto the floor. She complies, her breathing ragged. There’s so much blood. I bite my lip hard. There’s no way she’s still pregnant. There are thick clots on her upper thighs, and I try not to look as I apply pressure to the towel to stem the flow.

“They’re on their way!” Will cries, running into the kitchen. He stops dead when he sees just how bad things are. “Umm…do you need me to do anything else?” He runs his hands through his hair, not even realizing they’re covered in Ivy’s blood. It’s everywhere—on him, on me, on her.

“No, just get out!” I yell at him, and he hastily departs.

This isn’t something he should be a part of. There’s no place for him here. He brought this to our doorstep. We were done with Lauren and he had to bring her back into our lives. I should’ve never encouraged Ivy to work on that damn screenplay. Just look at the havoc it’s caused. It’s probably going to cost us our child.

Ivy’s face is white as her eyes roam across the ceiling, guessing the magnitude of the situation. She’s conscious but she’s miles away from me. Her body’s rejecting what our love created. If only she’d stayed in bed. Why the hell did she have to come to the door? At this point, I don’t care who Cassidy slept with. It’s not important. That part of my life is over whether I like it or not. This second chance is what I dreamed of, hoped and prayed for on my knees, and now it’s being taken away from me too. A shudder runs through me as I try to contain my emotions. I can’t break down in front of her. I have to be strong, just until I can be alone. She didn’t have to protect me from Cassidy. She already saved me from her.

I hear the wail of the ambulance pull up as Will directs them inside. I pray that somehow it’s not too late. Somehow they’ll be able to save our unborn child. Ivy shouldn’t have to go through something like this. I’ve already experienced the loss of a child. I know what it feels like, and I should’ve done everything in my power to spare her such a fate. I should’ve put my foot down. I should not have let her go to L.A. I should’ve slammed the door in Lauren’s face when I saw her coming.

But now it’s too late.

I watch helplessly as the paramedics transfer her body onto a stretcher and rush her out of the kitchen. I follow behind them blindly, not even reaching for a coat and forgetting about my wallet and keys. My only thought is about her and how I’m going to get her through this.

Ivy

My baby. My sweet, precious baby…

My fingers find the corner of the hospital bed sheet as I stare at a pumpkin decoration hanging on the wall. Oh yeah, today’s Halloween. I almost forgot. With everything going on, I lost track of time. I remember thinking about what I was going to dress the baby up as next year. I’ve always loved those fuzzy lamb costumes. But now there might not even be a baby. I scrunch up my face to keep from crying. I don’t know how there can be. I lost so much blood.

After being rushed to the city hospital twenty miles away, the doctor stemmed the bleeding and conducted a barrage of tests. Eric is sitting motionless beside me as we wait to hear the results. It doesn’t look good. One of the nurses even gasped when she was cleaning me up.

Eric isn’t saying much either. Besides repeatedly asking if I’m okay, he remains pretty stoic. This has to be hell for him to have to go through this again. I’m young. I’m strong. I’m healthy. I can’t understand why this is happening. I hate not having control over my own body. I didn’t mean to get so upset this morning, but I couldn’t let Eric find out about Cassidy. It was up to me to protect him, and I failed. And now he’s shutting himself off from me. I can feel it. And I’m powerless to do anything about it in this state.

I study his profile. He has a far away look in his eyes like he’s zoned out to where I can’t reach him. I thought he’d be angrier, but he’s not. He seems more defeated, like someone took the wind out of his sails. It pains me to see him so listless, so lethargic. It’s like he’s closing in on himself, his spirit drained. And it scares me because this must have been how he looked after Cassidy died. Those months when he shut out the world and retreated into his anguish. I don’t want that to happen again. I’d do anything to bring him back to me—to restore his hope, to make things okay. I just don’t know how.