Checkmate

Chapter 37

October

“Get the hell away from me with that, you psychotic harpy!” Andrew shouted, making Connor smile as he headed downstairs, more than ready for this morning’s battle.

It had been almost a month since Rory and her cousins kidnapped Andrew. Well, “talked him into leaving his house and come live with her” as Rory had explained it to the nice police officer that showed up when Andrew managed to get his hands on a cell phone and called for help. The two of them fought day and night and they seemed to hate each other more than ever, but Rory didn’t let that stop her from making sure that Andrew was cared for. She took care of him in the morning, came by several times during the day to check up on him and even had that little snot rag of an assistant of hers help out, and she took care of him at night as well.

Andrew, who’d been ready to give up, hated every last second of it. He bitched and whined and tried to make several escape attempts, but unfortunately for him, the Bradfords decided to take a special interest in him. They now had three Bradfords a week, two to work on Strawberry Manor and one to hang out at Rory’s during the day and keep an eye on Andrew. He’d only managed to sneak past a Bradford one time, but he didn’t get very far, not with Bunny on the job. One vicious growl and Andrew was making his way back to the bedroom Rory had set up for him on the first floor.

Thanks to Rory taking over, Andrew gained back some weight, had health insurance and all his medication. He also made it to all of his medical appointments and Rory somehow managed to browbeat the man into putting his name on the wait list for a transplant. He was somewhat lucky that a bone marrow donation should heal him. The only problem was that he had a very rare blood type, but that didn’t stop Connor from praying for a miracle.

“Take your medication!” Rory snapped.

“Go to hell!” Andrew shot back.

“Take it!”

“Make me!” Andrew snapped, making Connor cringe on his behalf as he stepped over Bunny and headed for Andrew’s room.

When he stepped into Andrew’s room and discovered that Rory had his best friend in a headlock and was trying to shove a pill into his mouth, he wasn’t all that surprised. The man had set down a challenge after all.

“Would you two cut the shit? We have to get going or you’re going to be late for your appointment,” Connor said, ignoring the little power struggle going on behind him and grabbed some clothes for Andrew.

“Actually,” Rory said, pausing just as Andrew muttered and made a few gagging noises, “if you have room for one more, I need a ride to the medical center, too.”

Frowning, he tossed the clothes he grabbed to Andrew, who was chugging down a bottle of water as he glared at Rory. “Are you okay?”

“Yeah,” she said, waving it off like it was no big deal, “I just have a checkup.”

“Then why do you have to come with us?” Andrew asked, watching Rory suspiciously, probably because Rory had a tendency of taking over Andrew’s appointments and interrogating his doctors, making Andrew feel like a five year old.

Rory rolled her eyes as she snatched the tee shirt out of Andrew’s hands and returned it back to the drawer only to pick out a different shirt and toss it to him. He tried to bite back a smile as Andrew shot him an “I told you so look.” The man bitched day and night about Rory babying him and even though Connor told the man that he was imagining things, he wasn’t. Connor wasn’t about to interfere, for several reasons. One, he knew that Andrew secretly liked the attention. It had been a long time since anyone took care of him. Secondly, it entertained the hell out of him and her cousins. It lightened the mood and helped relieve some of the stress of trying to get the manor done and it kept their minds off of what would happen if the doctors didn’t find a match.

“Because I lent my Jeep to Max so that he could check up on some orders in town for us and help with the manor. Now stop your bitching, eat your breakfast and get your ass dressed or you’ll make us late,” she said as she walked out of the room, only pausing long enough to give him a kiss and then she was off, probably to double check Andrew’s afternoon pills.

“I hate her,” Andrew said evenly as he picked up the toast that Rory had slathered with butter, peanut butter and jelly, part of her effort to put some weight back on the man.

Connor chuckled. “No, you don’t.”

Andrew sighed long and loud as he took a big bite, knowing the little general would just shove it down his throat if he didn’t eat it. “You’re right. I don’t. But if she tries to check up on me in the bathroom one more time, I’m going to throttle the little pain in the ass!”

“I’ll let her know,” Connor said, chuckling as he headed out the door to give his friend privacy.

“You be sure to do that,” Andrew mumbled and Connor didn’t need to look back to know that his friend was smiling. Rory was a hell of a woman and he’d been damn lucky to snatch her up before some other asshole realized how great she was.

Damn lucky.

“What's taking them so long?” Andrew asked as he fidgeted in the waiting room chair.

“No idea,” Connor said, looking at his watch, again. It was a doctor’s office so they usually were running behind, but never like this. They were running an hour and a half behind schedule and if Rory hadn't already gone in an exam room and Andrew needed this appointment, he would have told his friend to reschedule. He had a lot of shit to do today.

“Connor, can you go see how long Rory is going to be?” Andrew asked, sounding tired, which was a side effect of the medication and something the doctors should have considered before making him wait this long.

“Yeah, no problem,” he said, trying to figure out how to convince his friend to wait a little while longer.

He walked through the door that led to the examination rooms, not bothering to ask where Rory was since he overheard the nurse tell her which room to go into. Plus, they’d just tell him to wait in the waiting room since they weren’t related and he wasn’t her husband. Next month could not come fast enough as far as he was concerned.

“Rory?” he asked as he knocked on room ten’s door.

“Connor?” Rory asked, sounding happy, which of course pleased him.

“Can I come in?” he asked, already opening the door and walking in just as Rory pulled on her shoe.

“Yes,” she said, smiling and looking happy, which was a bit unexpected, but he wasn’t going to complain since he liked seeing her happy.

“Andrew’s appointment is running behind. I just wanted to see how much longer you were going to be,” he said, leaning in and kissing her.

“Just a few more minutes. Can you sit with me?” she asked, taking him off guard.

“Is everything okay?” he asked, not that he had a problem with sitting with her, but it was just an unusual request coming from Rory.

“Yeah, it’s just boring in here by myself. Do you mind?” she asked, giving him a sweet smile that he was helpless against.

“Sure,” he said, returning her smile as he moved to stand next to her as she sat on the exam table.

They didn’t have to wait long before a doctor came into the room, looking surprised to see Connor. But when Rory quickly explained that he was her fiancé, the doctor nodded and sat down.

“Your test results all look great, Rory. I ran a pregnancy test,” the woman announced, making his heart skip a beat.

Oh shit…………

“The test came back negative. You’ve been under a lot of stress and have been working too hard. I think once you’re able to slow down and take a break then your cycle will go back to normal,” the doctor announced with a polite smile.

“Thank you, Dr. Hahn,” Rory said, quietly.

Connor chuckled as he leaned down and kissed the top of Rory’s head. “I guess we got lucky, huh? Maybe you should see if you can get a prescription so that we don’t have to worry about this for a while.”

“I can write you a prescription for birth control if that’s what you want,” Dr. Hahn said, smiling. “But, I’d like to talk to you about your other request first.”

Connor was just about to ask what the other request was when a nurse popped her head in the door. “We found a match for your friend,” she said, worrying her bottom lip as relief surged through him before she added, “We also need you to help pick him up. He may have passed out when we told him the news.”

“Aw, shit,” he said, giving Rory a quick kiss on the cheek before he followed the nurse out the door, thanking his lucky stars that he’d managed to avoid becoming a daddy and been given a chance to keep his friend for a little while longer.

Definitely a great day.

“Do you think that you could swing by and visit Andrew in a couple of hours?” Connor asked, sounding excited when all she wanted to do was curl up into a ball and cry and mourn the child that wasn’t meant to be.

It had been foolish to let herself get her hopes up. She should have gone to the doctor sooner or at the very least, bought a home pregnancy test, but she’d been so damn positive that she was pregnant. She’d never been late before a day in her life. It was only natural to assume that she was pregnant. She’d been stupid, so damn stupid and now her heart ached and all she wanted to do was cry, but she couldn’t.

Connor was happy and she didn’t want to wreck that for him. He didn’t want a child yet and as much as that hurt, it would have hurt a heck of a lot more having a child with a man that didn’t want it.

“Rory?” Connor asked as he pulled into Strawberry Manor’s parking lot.

“Yes?” she asked, feeling like she was in a daze.

“Can you check up on him for me later?” he asked, reminding her that at least she had something else to focus on for a while.

“I’ll try to, but I might not be able to,” she said, avoiding his eyes as she lied to him.

“Why not?”

“I have to go away for a few days.”

“What the hell are you talking about? Now? You need to go away now when Andrew is getting his transplant?” Connor asked, sounding confused and a little disappointed.

“I’m sorry, but I got a call from Trevor while you went to check up on Andrew. I guess with the all the excitement I forgot to tell you, but Zoe’s not feeling well and Trevor is running himself ragged between work and taking care of both sets of twins. Everyone else is trying to help, but they really need someone to stay with them. I’ll only be a few days,” she said, forcing a reassuring smile.

“Okay,” he said, sighing and not sounding particularly happy, but at least he let it go. “Drive safe, baby, and give me a call when you get there to let me know that you’re okay.”

“I will,” she said with another forced smile as she gave him a quick kiss on the lips, glad that this at least bought her a few days to get over her heartache.

New Haven Hospital

The next day……

“We’re not supposed to release you unless you have someone to take care of you,” the nurse explained even as she helped Rory out of the wheelchair and into the waiting taxi.

“My brothers are going to take care of me,” Rory said as another wave of dizziness shot through her head and threatened to make her lose the green Jello lunch that they’d forced down her throat.

“Are you sure?” the nurse asked, looking uncertain.

“Yes,” Rory assured her, thankful when the nurse took her at her word and closed the door behind her.

“Where to, miss?” the driver asked.

“The Holiday Inn on Tremont Street,” she said, closing her eyes and letting her head drop back against the faded cloth seat as she did her best to ignore the throbbing that was starting to make itself known in her hip.

Thirty minutes later she was letting herself into the hotel room and praying for death with each step. She thought a soak in a hot bath would help, but by the time she made it to the bed, it was obvious that she wouldn’t be making it that far, at least not today.