Restless, p.22
Restless, page 22
"It's okay. We need to get you cleaned up, then we'll get you warm," he whispers to me as he strokes my hair.
"I followed her," I admit as he holds me close, washing the blood out of my hair. "I saw her walk into the woods, and I followed her to confront her. I knew she was the one who called the hospital about me. She kept taunting me about the baby, about you..." I trail off as tears fill my eyes. "She wouldn't stop, so I made her."
"She was already marked, babe. If the cops didn't find her before we did, we were going to put her down," he says to console me before he kisses my temple again. "She had it coming ten times over."
"Maybe, but a normal person wouldn't just snap and kill someone because of the things she said to me. What I did is called overkill. I hit her over twenty times with a thick branch that broke her legs and an axe. That's not normal." I try to get him to understand my point, but Finn seems stuck on me not being at fault here or being a psychotic bitch.
"Neither is hitting a pregnant woman in the stomach. You got lucky. She could've hurt the baby," he justified. "No matter what you say, it won't change how I see it. She had no right to touch you, and she deserved to die. You're worth way more than a conniving little bitch like Gloria Santos. More than anyone else, anywhere. At least you are to me," he says, full of conviction and devotion.
"I am?" I gingerly touch his jaw as I gaze into his blue eyes.
"Of course you are. I'll always protect you. I'll never let anything happen to you," he vows as I run my fingers down the length of his bare chest.
My first instinct is to tell him how much I love him, how I'm scared I'll never be able to stop loving him, but I don't say that. The one time I told him that I loved him, he pushed me away with a coldness that was out of character for him.
No, I can't put myself through the pain of that rejection again. Not with Finn.
I avert my eyes and pull my hands away from his body to keep from losing it over his sweet words. The sound of his defeated sigh puts me on edge, but I don't address it.
"Is all the blood gone?" I ask, my voice timid, before I look back at him, trying to keep my features as unaffected as possible.
His eyes are emotional, but he doesn't say anything. He scans my skin and hair before giving me an encouraging smile.
“All clean, Princess.”
I gulp nervously before nodding. “We should probably get out. This water is freezing.”
***
Finn helps me hobble out of the woods and helps me into his truck without irritating my stomach. I watch through the windshield as he walks around the truck and gets in on the driver's side.
He seems stressed but doesn't say anything.
"I'm taking you to my house. I know a doctor who can check you out there, and you can rest without your mom harassing you about your injuries," he says once he drives out of the parking lot. "We need to keep this between us," he adds.
"Even from the guys?"
"Even them."
I know Finn is putting a lot on the line for me. I was right. I'm not supposed to be spared for what I did, but Finn is putting me above his ideals. I broke the rules.
"Okay," I mumble. I send a quick text to my mom so she knows I'll be at Finn's house.
Finn pulls into his driveway and carries me up to the front door in his arms.
Once again, I feel safe, protected, and cared for by Finn, and it's the best feeling in the world. To have a big, scary, dangerous man who would tear the entire world apart to get what he wants and make me feel safe is euphoric on a level beyond comprehension.
There is a loud barrage of questions from multiple directions. I hear Finn tell everyone that I was jumped before setting me on my feet near the couch. I hiss in pain as I press my hand against my aching ribs.
"Call the doc," Finn demands as he helps me ease down onto the couch.
"Geez, Harley. Who the hell could get the jump on you? Mike Tyson?" Colin asks.
"Only if Mike Tyson had claws," Eoghan intercepts.
Rian stands off to the side, eying me sympathetically, with something like remorse crackling in his eyes as Sorcha walks in.
"Oh my god! Francine, are you okay?" she explodes when she sees me and runs over. "What the hell happened?"
"Mike Tyson's twin sister jumped her," Tiernan jokes.
It will be an awkward as hell conversation when I have to tell Tiernan about my pregnancy. That's going to cause a massive argument, especially if Finn finds out Tiernan is the other possible father of this baby.
"Why didn't you just take her to the hospital?" Sorcha asks with concern.
Finn doesn't speak, only scowls at Rian to do as he says.
"Any other kind of pain?" Finn asks me while eyeing my stomach.
He wants to know if the baby is okay.
I really did get lucky. I should be in pain down there, but I'm not, and I take that as a good sign.
"No. It's still just my ribs," I say.
"What? Do you think she's in shock or something?" Rian asks while pressing his phone to his ear.
Finn and I exchange a look. We know we need to keep the truth of where my injuries came from a secret, but explaining about my pregnancy might cause more problems in its own way.
I look around at all the faces and see genuine concern. Even Tiernan is upset as he drinks his beer.
"I, uh..." I trail off before clearing my throat.
"She's pregnant," Finn explains.
I'm so shocked that it takes me a moment to smack his chest for throwing it out there with so little tact.
"Finnick!" I yell.
Tiernan chokes on his beer so viciously that he drops the bottle and falls to his knees, choking.
"T, you okay?" I ask with worry.
I knew it would be shocking for him. It might've been better if I'd been able to talk to him alone about it.
"What the fuck?" Tiernan rasps as he moves to his feet. "How? What? You're pregnant? How is this the first I'm hearing about this?" He's clearly upset by the news, and he's making it completely obvious to everyone else, even Finn, who seems to be connecting the dots in his head.
"Um, I just found out earlier," I say, shrugging awkwardly. "Finn was with me when I found out."
"Doc's on his way," Rian announces, hesitation in his voice.
"Good," Finn grumbles. "T will probably need him if he doesn't make himself scarce in the next five seconds."
Tiernan's face pales as I scowl at Finn.
"Finn!"
"Being completely honest, babe," he says unapologetically before smirking at me like he thinks he's completely justified.
Tiernan sends me a look to say this discussion isn't over before he turns and walks out the door, completely unbothered by Finn's threat.
Well, at least Finn gave a warning and didn't just attack Tiernan because of his possessiveness over me. I guess his friends do get small reprieves like that.
"T? Seriously?" Finn looks at me with a bit of disgust and confusion.
I just shrug.
"Now, do you understand why I wouldn't tell you?" I sass.
Sorcha fusses over me, asking if I need a drink, food, or a blanket until the doctor arrives thirty minutes later.
He's a young man who could easily pass for a high school student. He doesn't even look old enough to drink.
"Sorry it took so long. Loads of traffic," he says as he walks inside before his eyes settle on me.
My face must look pretty bad from the fight with Gloria. The doctor cringes like the sight of my face gives him sympathy pains.
"What happened here?" he asks cautiously as he squats down in front of me and looks over my cut-up face.
"I was attacked," I say, unsure what else to say about it. It's pretty obvious I was attacked.
"There are some deep scratches on your face, but other than that, I don't see anything else," he assesses.
Finn moves close to me and helps me roll up the hem of my shirt without hurting myself. The top half of my stomach is nearly black from all the bruising.
"How bad does that hurt?" the doctor asks.
"It only hurts when I use the muscles in my stomach, and it hurts really bad," I admit, scared he's going to need to touch it.
"I need to check if your ribs are broken. The only way to do that without causing you pain is an X-ray, which I can't just carry around with me," he says with concern.
"No, no X-ray." Being the brainiac I am has its advantages, like knowing how dangerous it would be to an unborn child to have an X-ray performed.
"It's going to hurt a lot if I check for breaks without it," he presses.
"I'm pregnant. No X-ray."
The young doctor's eyes widen before he looks between Finn and me.
"How far along are you?" he asks.
"I don't know."
The others clear out of the room and head outside as Finn stays by my side, squeezing my hand reassuringly.
"You should lie down, ma'am," the doctor instructs.
Finn assists me in laying down flat on the couch before moving behind my head, offering support through clutching my shoulders.
"I apologize ahead of time for any pain, miss," the doctor says before pressing his fingers against my ribs.
The bellow of agony leaves my lips without my approval, and my gut tenses with anguish as the doctor examines my ribs.
He's right. This hurts worse than when Gloria first hit me. It's like he's rebreaking whatever she did, putting it back together only to break it again.
The doctor pulls back as tears soak down my face, my arms cradling my chest.
"I can't feel any breaks, which means either there aren't any or they're hairline fractures. Either way, it should be okay. What you're dealing with right now is swelling and sore muscles. My main concern is for the fetus."
I've always hated that word.
Fetus.
It makes the baby sound like a parasite—a disease instead of a person.
"Have you been experiencing any pain in your lower abdomen, your hips, or your lower back?" the doctor asks.
"No," I tell him as I calm my pain-filled tears.
"After an incident like this, you still need to be checked out by an obstetrics specialist. We have one in my office. I can get her to squeeze you in tomorrow if you'd like. Most others will take you at least a few days to be seen, and for the safety of you and the fetus, you need to be seen as soon as possible," the doctor explains before standing to his feet.
"Thanks," I mumble, exhaustion taking over from everything.
The news of my pregnancy.
The confrontation with Gloria.
Disposing of her.
Explaining my pregnancy to Finn's friends and Sorcha.
The visit with the doctor.
It's all weighing down on me, and all I can think about is passing out.
"I'll send you the information, Finn," the doctor explains before he turns and leaves.
Chapter Eighteen
Him
As soon as Doc leaves, I carry Francine upstairs and put her to bed in my room. I make sure she's comfortable before I leave her alone.
This entire situation is draining both of us.
When we were at the hospital, I made my stance crystal clear. I want her back. I'm done fucking this up and listening to the doubts.
We're better together than we are apart. We're both miserable without the other.
Still, I know there's a long road ahead of us. I saw it in her eyes. She's not ready to trust me. From her perspective, I abandoned her, and it's a repeat behavior.
I walked away from her ten years ago, not knowing how truly sad her life was. Her life is better now, but I know the pain I caused her will stay there for a while. I'll have to prove myself to her so she accepts that I'm not going anywhere.
She was ready to put everything behind us at my party when she bared her heart to me, but I pushed her away. The message she left on my lawn afterward was a statement. It wasn't the words themselves.
I burned her, and she wasn't going to forget it.
I walk into the kitchen and pull the pack of Marlboros out of my pocket before tossing them in the garbage.
This is for Francine. She doesn't need me smelling like one of her triggers. I have to be what she needs, and if that means quitting smoking a second time, I'll do it, no questions asked.
I grab myself a beer from the fridge before heading to the couch. I light up one of the joints rolled up on the table before cracking open my beer.
I need to destress after the shit today, and what better way than with a beer and some weed? My favorite way to get rid of all the drama and reboot my psyche.
"Hey, man," Rian greets me as he walks into the living room, looking heavily dejected.
He's been like this for weeks, but this has to be the worst I've seen him. Between Halloween and the night he seemed to explode before prom, he was in a much better headspace than I've seen him in a while. Smiles, laughs, jokes that weren't morbid as fuck, and he didn't seem nearly as irritated with Francine being around all the time.
I thought he was finally moving past the shit with his mom and getting on with his life, but then he regressed and became more of a killjoy than he was before.
"Hey," I respond.
"Did she go home?" he asks.
"Nah. She's passed out in my bed. Francine will be here for a couple of days so she can recuperate without her mom being up her ass about what happened," I tell him, watching how his features darken.
Something is bugging him. I just don't know what it is.
"Is the kid yours?" he inquires, looking guilty as fuck.
What the fuck is going on with him? I sure as fuck know he’s not the one she screwed since Tiernan made it apparent that he was the guilty party. Plus, they hate each other’s guts.
"Doesn't matter. I don't care who knocked her up. That kid is mine. All that matters is Francine's pregnant, and she's still trying to process it all. I already know where my head is at. I don't care if it was T or Malloy or me that got her pregnant," I say with conviction as Rian leans against the side of the couch.
"I have something I need to tell you, and you're probably going to want to kill me," he mutters as he lights a joint for himself.
I've never wanted to kill Rian. There have been times when I've wanted to punch him or throttle him for his hardheadedness but never kill him. We've been best friends since we were toddlers. It would have to be something pretty big for me to want to hurt him.
"I'm listening," I say, preparing myself for whatever is about to leave his mouth.
"I'm so sorry, man. I'm such a fuck up. I never wanted to screw shit up for you or put you in this place. We've been thick as thieves our whole lives," he utters, his voice shaking with emotion. "I never expected you to take me seriously when I mouthed off about Francine the day before that stupid dance. I was just frustrated, and I took it out on you because I was..." he starts, and sure enough, the anger in me starts rising.
What the fuck?
Is he seriously coming to me, saying all that bullshit he spewed that has been spinning in my head for almost a month was him venting and taking his frustrations out on me?
I crush my joint in the ashtray before turning to him, my expression telling him how much he has already pissed me off.
"Because you what?" I grit out the words.
"Because I was pissed at Sorcha," he admits, hanging his head in defeat.
Sorcha?
My blood starts to boil.
"Why?" I growl before slamming down my beer bottle.
The regret grows across his face as he runs his fingers through his hair. "We were seeing each other," he admits.
This kind of shit doesn't surprise me at all. I know Sorcha has had a thing for Rian for years, and I know he's always had her back for more than her just being my sister. As long as whoever she fucks around with doesn't hurt her, I couldn't care less where she gets her rocks off. She's a good person who works hard and deserves the same respect as everyone else.
I wouldn't give a damn that Rian was dating my sister if it wasn't for his twisted mind, using this as a reason to plant that seed of doubt in my head the way he did.
"What. The. Fuck," I growl as I stand to my feet, rage rippling from my bones and burying itself in my aura.
"Man, I didn't mean to fuck shit up for you. I didn't think you'd take me seriously," he says.
"You didn't mean to fuck shit up for me? Well, newsflash, you fucking did, and all because you were fucking my sister? What kind of ass backward reasoning is that?" I snarl before shoving him away, and his back hits the wall.
Rian shows no sign of fighting back, of defending himself, which should make me back off, but it doesn't. He wants me to beat the shit out of him.
"If anything, I should be fucking your life up because you were fucking my sister," I hiss at him before shoving him against the wall again.
"I'm sorry, man," Rian mutters, deflated.
"Stop fucking apologizing!" I yell in his face, screaming out my frustration.
"Woah, what's going on here?" Colin and Eoghan charge in, looking at the two of us with concern.
"I fucking trusted you, and you pulled some shit like this on me? Do you have any idea what I put her through? How much I hurt her? She's fucking pregnant," I yell before I completely lose it.
I punch Rian so many fucking times that I lose count, and my mind doesn't even retain where I hit him. I'm so fucking gone, pummeling him into the fucking wall until he drops to the floor, and I start kicking him.
I fucking want him dead for all this pain, frustration, and absolute misery he has put me and Francine through.
"Finn, stop! You're going to kill him!"
The only sound that pushes through my rage is the sound of my sister's horrified voice. It bursts past the red haze taking over my mind, but the anger isn't alleviated.
She pushes me back, and my raven-haired, light-skinned, sweet sister stands as a barrier between me and my enemy.
"Move out of the way," I growl in a warning.
"Stop it, Finn. You can't kill your best friend."
I see it in her eyes. She's not stopping me for my own good. She's stepping in for herself. Her eyes plead in a way I've only seen reflecting at myself in the mirror.
