Two Can Play (Celeste and Dominic) novel Chapter 350

Chapter 350

CELESTE

The corridor went quiet around me, and I stood there with my hand pressed over my mouth, the doctor’s words ringing in my ears. Misoprostol. Medication abortion. Pat was pregnant. Pat had tried to end her own pregnancy, alone in her apartment, with no one to hold her hand, and she had nearly bled out on her living room floor while I’ was sliding a diamond onto my finger in a garden full of roses.

Dominic’s hand settled on the small of my back, steady and warm. “Celeste. She is going to be fine. The doctor said so.”

“She did this alone, Dominic.” My voice came out thin at the edges. “She went through all of that by herself, and I did not even notice she was missing. I was too busy being happy.”

“Hey.” He turned me to face him, his palms cupping my cheeks. “You found her. You broke into her apartment. You carried her out. She is alive because of you. Do you hear me?”

“If I had only called her that morning, she would never have…”

“Stop.” His thumb caught a tear I had not felt falling. “Pat is alive. That is what matters.’

The doctor reaffirmed that Pat would sleep through the night, that we should go home and come back in the morning.

I turned to Dominic. “I am so sorry. I know this is not how you planned the night.”

“Celeste…”

“I know how much effort you put into the proposal, and the moment it was over, I ran off to a hospital.” The words tumbled out. “You deserve better than that.”

“Do not apologize.” He took both my hands. “Not for this. Never for this.”

“But I have to stay with her, Dominic. I cannot leave her alone in there. Not after what she went through.”

He was quiet for a moment. “Doesn’t she have family? Anyone else who could sit with her?”

I sighed. “If Pat had the kind of family who would sit with her, she would not have taken this drastic step in the first place. I cannot leave her in their hands.”

He nodded slowly, then kissed my forehead. “Wait here. I will be back.”

“Where are you going?”

“Just wait for me.” He was already moving toward the exit. “I will be back in no time.”

I watched him disappear around the corner, then pushed open the door to Pat’s ward.

It was a VIP room. Of course it was. Dominic had not hesitated when they wheeled her in, and gratitude swelled in my chest for that man all over again. The room was warm and quiet, the lights low, and Pat lay on the bed with her chest rising and falling in a soft, steady rhythm. She looked small in that bed, smaller than I had ever seen her, and I sat down in the chair beside her and watched her breathe.

This was the woman who had kept Helix alive while I drifted, who had forgiven me a hundred times when I did not deserve it, who had tried to solve the worst thing that had ever happened to her with a handful of pills and no one to hold her hand. I leaned my head back against the chair and closed my eyes.

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