Fateful Encounters - chapters 36-39

 

36

The water was warm and soothing, engulfing her like a beautiful, secure shroud.  She was floating on the soft white and green tips, letting her body drift, feeling weightless and suspended. 

“Lisa, come back!”

She attempted to open her eyes and felt as if the sun was suspended right above her face.  What was he hollering about?  Was he worried that she had ventured out too far? He was so overprotective at times.

“I’m right here. Stop freaking.”

“Miss Presley…Lisa.  Can you hear me?  Can you open your eyes? Are you ok?  Her pupils are reactive- that’s good.”

Who was this stranger and why was he intruding on her paradise?  She had heard Michael’s voice only seconds before. Where did he go?  And why was she not able to open her eyes?  Maybe some of the salty water rocking around her had seeped in?  Ben and Riley always hated getting salt water in their eyes. 

For a moment, she thought she heard voices calling her name again.  But they seemed so far away, so drowned out by the loud crashing of the waves and the roaring of the ocean.  Why could the voices not let her rest?  Michael should have made sure reporters were not able to get into their private beach area.  It was not like him to be so careless.

“Michael…”

“Baby, I’m right here, I’m not going anywhere.  Please open your eyes, please look at me.”

Why did he sound like he was crying?  His voice was full of panic and fear; she had no idea why he would be so freaked out.  She had just swum out a bit far, but she was not in any danger.

“Please be careful, she might be pregnant.”

What was Michael talking about?  She was not pregnant.  They had run tests earlier, had they not?  Once again she would let him down.  She was so tired of disappointing him.

“I…I’m sorry.”

“Lisa, please, can you hear me?  Please don’t be sorry.  You have nothing to be sorry about.  It was all my fault.  Oh, my God, if something happened to you…to our baby…”

“What baby, Michael?  What are you talking about?”

Debbie?  How had Debbie gotten to the beach?  Lisa attempted to right herself from her cushion of sea water and immediately felt the waves taking hold of her body and tumbling it toward the beach.  An undertow grabbed her leaden limbs and pulled her under, making it impossible to hear, see, or breathe.  She panicked and started thrashing, afraid of drowning…afraid of the beckoning vacuum taking her over and sweeping her away.

“Miss Presley, please hold still, we have to move you onto the board.”

What board?  Why were they moving her?  Her head hurt so much…why could they not leave her alone?

“Lisa, come on baby, you can do it, you can open your eyes. Please, Princess, I love you so much, please just look at me.”

The love in his voice almost made her smile.  Sadly, she was not in command of any muscles as she was oddly separated from all physical functionality. 

If there were any way to force her lids to cooperate she’d listen.  Hopefully, he would not take this the wrong way, as always thinking there was something wrong with him. Of course she wanted to look at him.  He was the most gorgeous human being she had ever laid eyes on, after all.  Her very own miracle.  Her personal force of nature.  If only the pain would not keep her anchored, if only the light was not so bright….

“Mr. Jackson, sir, you have to give us some space.  We are taking her out to the chopper now.  You can meet us at the hospital.”

“No way, it takes way too long to drive out there- you said you are flying her to the nearest trauma center.  I want her taken to UCLA at the very least. And I want to come along.”

“Sir, she has not opened her eyes and we are not sure how alert she is, we need to get her to the nearest facility to get her immediate attention.  Plus, you said you are her husband…but…”

“He’s not her husband.  I’m his wife.”

Tempted to seek refuge in the foggy abyss, Debbie’s voice made her fight the noises and the forces pulling her back into darkness with all her might.  How dare she rub it in?  Did she not listen to anything that had been said earlier?

Earlier….

Confusion added to her feeling of nausea and disorientation.  What had happened?  She was not in an ocean, was she?  Why was the weird rumbling still going on in her ears, and why was she so dizzy?   It seemed she was at the bottom of a very steep staircase and had to climb up toward the voices, toward the light, fighting gravity every step of the way.

The stairs…Michael had made love to her on the stairs.  Debbie had been there…screaming at them…

Flashes of memories filtered into the darkness like shreds of pieces of film.  Debbie at the door….Her own laughter and Michael’s confusion.  Her holding and playing with Prince… Debbie and her fighting.  Michael telling her to leave the house, kicking her out. The pain of her heart shattering into a million pulverized pieces.

The stairs. She had fallen down the stairs.  She opened her eyes and had to close them immediately, the nausea overwhelming her.  They carried her now, she understood, and the noise from inside seemed to have seeped to the external world.  Feeling cold, she attempted to wrap her arms around herself and noticed she was strapped down.  As the EMTs lifted her into the helicopter, she was seized by immense fear.  She called out for him.

“Welcome back, Miss Presley, good to see you awake.  We will take your vitals as soon as we have you secured. Do you know your name?”

How hard did they think she had hit her head?

“Lisa-Marie Presley. Where is Michael?  I want him here with me? Where is he?”

How could he just leave her to strangers like this?  And the children, - oh my God, she was supposed to pick Riley up from a friend’s house later.

“Miss Presley, do you know what day it is?”

Why would they not just answer her questions?  What was she? Their calendar? Understanding that they had to make sure she was coherent, she gave them the date and then asked to have them contact her mother.  She felt tired, and her eyes started to close.

“Miss Presley, we were informed that you might be pregnant. Is there a chance you are?”

“Where is Michael…Mister Jackson?”

“He will take his private chopper- we did not have room for him in here.  He will meet us at the hospital.  Your vitals look pretty good; your blood pressure is high, but everything else seems ok.  We still have to get you checked out- you took quite a little fall.  Were you pushed?”

Pushed?  They thought she was pushed? Well, that depended on the definition of ‘pushing.’  But no, she had not been physically pushed.  She remembered having run up the stairs to get her things after Michael had wanted her gone.  And Debbie’s triumphant smirk was edged into her mind.  Well, Nursey should celebrate: she had won.  Lisa had been pushed to the brink of her endurance, but the fall was only her own fault for letting them getting her riled up like this.  And that damn dizziness…

“I fell.”

“Ok, well, you might have to answer some more questions later, since this might be a domestic dispute, but our concern is that you are alright.  So, we need to know, any chance you are pregnant?”

Domestic dispute?  No, no- this was all wrong! Her eyes closed once again, the hammering of her headache tuning out the sounds of the rotating blades outside.  The pain reverberating though every cell however, had nothing to do with her fall, and everything with her heart being in tatters.  She knew this topic had to be addressed on this day.  What she had not counted on was that it would be to a total stranger in midair on her way to a hospital. Oddly enough, the current situation was preferable to the expression in those dark eyes.  What would she find there when she’d see them next? Relief?  Sadness?  No matter how she imagined the outcome, she was not sure she was ready to face him and his reaction.

“No, no chance. I am not.  They told me, I wasn’t.” Her voice was a whisper yet rang loudly through the curtain of pulsating engine noise. A tear was the silent witness to her defeat.

37

 

The flight took entirely too long.  And they had wanted him to drive- no way would his frayed nerves have survived a drive back to LA. He had attempted to get information on Lisa’s condition, but once again, medical staff was utterly uncooperative, repeating in robotic voices that he was not her next of kin.  As if he had forgotten. Dam this frigging divorce!  In a flash of genius illuminating the chaos of his mind, he called Janet who was in LA and filled her in on a short version of Lisa’s accident.  Janet immediately, and without grilling him, agreed to meet him at UCLA.  He asked her to find out what she could and to get back to him as soon as possible.  Janet did not linger or ask unnecessary questions, and assured him she was on her way to see her friend.  Bless her competent nature and her ability to keep a cool head!

Debbie had been pissed as he raced off, but for once he had not invested any time into efforts to pacify her.  He could only attend to one distressed wife at a time.  And right now, Lisa and his worry about a possible pregnancy trumped Debbie who was healthy as a horse.

Lisa had to be ok, right?  She had finally opened her eyes, which had to be good news.  He had followed the EMTs out to the medical transport, and had witnessed her becoming increasingly alert.  Still, she was pale like a ghost and looked like a little girl, lying there, bundled up on that gurney. For a second he thought her heard her call his name, but then decided it must have been wishful thinking and that surely her voice would have been drowned out by the noise of the idling engine.  Had she really called out, no force in this world would have sufficed to keep him behind, and he would have fought his way into the helicopter. 

In midflight, he frantically made some more calls and twisted enough arms, pulling strings that allowed him to land on the medical landing spot of the hospital.  He was rushed downstairs by a cantankerous administrator, who assured him he was honored to meet him, and in the next breath commented on the irregularity of having a private chopper land on site.  Well, Michael would make sure to write an extra large donation check to make up for any inconvenience.  And if they fixed Lisa up, he would even build them a new wing.  Right now, all he wanted to do was see her.

“Mister Jackson, we will take you to a private waiting room downstairs.  Your sister arrived a short while ago and is also waiting there.  Miss Presley has been moved to a private, sectioned off room.”

“I don’t want to see my sister, I want to see my…Miss Presley, please.” It took all the control he could muster to remain calm. 

“Sir, I understand.  However, she is being examined right now, and if she is up to it, you will get to see her.  We also have notified her mother, who is her next of kin.”

Wonderful.  Priscilla would be here soon, no doubt breathing fire and ready to decapitate him for harming Lisa.  If she was in a good mood, she might kill him before she took him apart limb by limb. The logical part of his brain knew full well he had nothing to do with Lisa’s fall.  However, every time he was almost successful in believing his own story, he flashed back to Lisa’s eyes, huge and full of agony, thinking he had ordered her from the house.  She must have thought he had finally done it and chosen Debbie over her.  Why would she ever think that?  It had never been about a choice between her and Debbie.  He never loved Debbie like that.  All he had done was make a choice to have a child. 

The thoughts of a child caused his guts to twist again and he felt his heart pounding in his chest, firing up his breathing, increasing his temperature.  He fell into a chair, his head dropped into his hands, and he fought nausea and dizziness as he felt cold sweet gathering on his forehead. 

Breathe, Mike, breathe deeply.  You can’t be doing this now.  You have to keep your cool, man.  Lisa needs you.  She needs you to keep it together.  She needs you to be ok, so she can be ok… Breathe…

“Mister Jackson?  Are you ok, sir?  Is there anything I can get you while you wait?”

He had forgotten about the presence of the little grey man.  Yeah, he could get him some Xanax.  This was a hospital after all.  He was just about to raise his head and ask for some water instead, when the door opened and a pale Janet rushed into the room.  She hurried over to him, and he threw himself into her arms, which was a complicated accomplishment, given that she was so much shorter.  Janet hugged him tightly and he heard a sob escape from his throat.  Relief at her comforting presence washed over him.

“What the hell happened, Mike?  I just tried to get some info again, but they won’t tell me anything.”

“Yeah, we are not relatives or anything.” He glanced over her shoulder toward the admin guy who was still standing at the door, gazing in shock at his two famous visitors. 

“Sir, if you could get us some water, I would really appreciate it.  Thank you so much.” 

After the door shut behind the man, Michael pulled his sister down with him onto the little sofa.

“Mike, you look like shit.  What is going on?  How did Lisa get hurt?  Why were you two even together?  I thought you are split up again.”

“Dunk, it’s crazy.  Lisa came over to the ranch earlier.  We had something to discuss…some unfinished business.”

“Yeah, I can imagine.  No details, please.” Janet gave him the dirty look as he called it, and he blushed.  She rolled her eyes, having received the confirmation she obviously did not need.

“Mike! What the hell?  You guys have not been talking for weeks. Last thing I knew she was pissed as hell at you for following her to her check-up.  You told me you guys were done- now what? You screwed her so hard she had to be hospitalized?  If anything I thought she would knock you out cold next time you’d meet- so what did you do to her?”

“Nothing – I didn’t do anything.  And no, I did not hurt her, Dunk.  I would never hurt her.”

His head fell into his hands once again as he shielded his eyes.  “Not physically, anyway.  But yeah, I fucked up.  She was so mad…she just ran up, and she, she…fell, and she was out cold, I thought she was dead…but…”

Janet reached out and grasped his hands. “Michael.  Slow down. I have no idea what you are talking about.”

He took a deep breath.  His fingers raked through his hair and he realized for the first time he had left the house without his hat or his glasses. 

“She came over, I told you.  We talked…and well, we…uhm…got closer.  Debbie caught us and was upset. She made this huge fuss and I went to talk to her, and…”

“Whoa- wait.  She caught you?  Please tell me she caught you gardening…or reading together.  I mean, shit, I thought I was just making up stuff.  She ‘caught you’ caught you?”

Heat rushed into his cheek, scorching his face.  Did Janet really have to bite down on the unimportant details?  He would never make it to what happened at this rate, and he needed to know what was up with Lisa.

“Yeah, on the stairs. Shut up- don’t say a word.” His eyes widened in warning.

Janet’s hand had flown to her mouth and she tried to suppress a shocked giggle.  Her blushing, nerdy brother never failed to amaze her. She motioned with her head for him to continue.

“So, then Debbie was pissed and I tried to make her understand the boundaries of our relationship and that she really needed to start knocking…”

“Hold up- you told her she needed to knock?  How about you don’t do your ex in your house if you know your wife is around?”

Michael stared at Janet.  He jumped out of his chair, pushing it back, then started pacing.

“Janet- can you be supportive for like five minutes? You sound like the brothers ribbing me.  I don’t need to be made fun of here, this is really bad.”

“Ok, fine, I’m sorry.” So, you and Lisa did the stair-climber limbo, you were discovered, and then you had a fight with Debbie. Go on.”

“Ok, so after a while, I had almost calmed her down, and Lisa came down with Prince…”

“Prince was there, too?  Shit, Mike!”

“He lives at my house, you know.  Of course he was there. So, then they got into it while I took him back upstairs.  I don’t know what went down, but they were yelling at each other and I asked Lisa to leave for now.”

“You kicked her out?”

“No!” His voice was raised now, and he once again felt his heart racing, pumping blood through him with erratic, frantic beats.  “I wanted her to go upstairs. She thought I wanted her out and got pissed.  As usual, she over-reacted.  So, she dashed upstairs to get her stuff, then all of a sudden she stopped, and fainted.  She was about four steps up- and she just crumbled and rolled down. Oh God, it was horrible.  I couldn’t stop her, Dunk.  I tried.  I was almost there, I almost had her….but I couldn’t get to her…”

His voice dropped to a desperate whisper and he had stopped in front of Janet, who rose and once again hugged him tightly. This time he was not able to hold back tears as he rested his head on her shoulder.

“Mike.  She will be ok.  It sounds like she only took a small fall…she will be good, I am sure.  She’s tough.”

“What about the baby.  Dunk, there might be a baby…what about the baby?”

He felt Janet stiffen in his arms before she pulled him closer, not staying a word for a second.

“Well, you need not concern yourself with that, Michael.” The voice tore into him like a bull whip, ripping him to shreds.  Immediately, he backed away from the comforting touch of his sister and stared into the glacier of Priscilla’s eyes.  His defenses rose as his protective armor closed in around him.

He cleared his throat and swallowed his bitter tears.  The last thing he wanted was for this woman to see him when he felt weak and vulnerable. 

“Hi Priscilla.  Any word on Lisa?”

“As I said, Lisa is not any concern of yours, Michael.   People who love her are here now. I have to say, I am shocked to see you here.  Is it not enough that she got hurt by you again?  What are you trying to do, kill her this time?  Was it not enough you nearly destroyed her by using her and then throwing her out like yesterday’s wash water?  Now you have to physically attack her?”

Michael took a step toward the woman with the stoic face whose eyes contained enough poison to render whole planets uninhabitable. Suddenly, he realized she failed to wield her old power.  The expected fear and panic at her words and her appearance did not set in.  When had be become immune?  All he felt now was scorching anger: How dare she?  How dare she insinuate he would ever physically harm Lisa? 

Janet stepped up and fearlessly entered the space between her brother and her best friend’s mother.

“Priscilla, I know you must be upset, but Michael would never hurt Lisa like that.  Even you have to realize this.”

“Janet, all I know is that my daughter was flown here after falling, or being pushed down the stairs. You aren’t a mother, so you don’t understand how shocking I was to get this call.  I hope you never have to hear that your loved one was hurt as you are driving down the highway, with your grandson in your car.”

“Ben was with you?  Is he ok?”

“He is now, Michael.  I called Danny and he and Ben went to see Lisa.  I had Riley picked up and she will be here any minute.”

Great.  Now Danny was here.  Strangely, for once, Michael was glad to hear that the children’s father was around to comfort them.  And, if they let Ben see his mother that must mean she was ok.  He sent a quick prayer of gratitude towards heave as he breathed out a sigh of relief.

“So, she’s ok, then.  Lisa is ok?”

“No thanks to you.  They ran some tests and she has a headache.  You can leave now, thank you both for your concern.”

Priscilla’s tone could make icebergs feel at home in the Sahara. She had turned and started to head out the door.  Janet reached for Michael’s hand.  He was not sure if the gesture aimed to offer support or comfort.

“Priscilla, I want to see her.” 

Priscilla stopped, her back still turned to him.

“Michael, there is no reason for you to bother her.  She does not want to see you.  And there is no reason you have to concern yourself with her welfare any longer.  Lisa does not carry your precious child, so you can go back to ignoring her.”

Pain ripped through him, and he felt the floor drop from beneath him. Janet’s grip on him intensified.

“And I’m just supposed to take your word for it?” Reaching for straws, he held on to the fragile hope that she was lying.

Priscilla turned her head slightly. “She had tests run a couple of weeks ago.  They told her the tests were negative.  Like I said, this should kill any interest you have in her.  Let it be and get out.”

This time, she stalked from the room.  Michael stood still, frozen in place, paralyzed by the stunning force of the new revelation.  This is what he had wanted, right?  This was good news.  He did not have to worry about how another baby would figure into his already complicated family situation.  Plus, the fall would have been less complicated then, and Lisa should be ok.  Lisa.

Woken by the single thought of her name, he went from zero to one hundred, propelling himself toward the door, aiming to follow the old witch to find Lisa’s room.  Janet, too stunned to react, came rushing after him, calling out his name.  He spotted the bright red hair down the hall, and ran after her, almost slipping and falling on the glossy tiles.  Scrambling up, he made it to the door at the same time, Priscilla did.  She faced him once again, and hissed at him like a snake ready to strike.  She really reminded him of a poisonous viper.  Well, bad for her, he had vast experience with snakes and was not scared of her theatrics.

“Just leave, Michael.  Please spare her a scene.  I told you she does not want to see you.  She is with her family.  Leave her alone.  You have hurt her enough.  Let it be- leave it alone and go home to your wife and your children.  Don’t you think you owe her a little peace for once?”

Michael was torn.  His breath was still coming in gasps from his efforts to catch up to Priscilla.  He knew better than to believe an utterance leaving her mouth, but he also remembered the hurt look in Lisa’s eyes earlier.  Maybe he needed to give her some space.  She was with her kids, and could he really burden her with another fight between Priscilla and him? Maybe he really needed to back off; maybe for once, she was right, and he owed Lisa some distance. 

Michael took a backward step, backing away slightly from the door.

“Tell her I love her.” He knew she would rather bit off her tongue than share this sentiment with her daughter, but maybe, just maybe she would do it in return for his retreat.

Walking down the endless seeming hall, he met up with Janet who had stopped a little distance away.  She shook her head, but reached for his hand, ready to walk be by his side.

“Jackson!” He startled when he recognized the sound of the man’s voice.

Danny.

What now?  Exhaustion seeped into his veins, filling him with metallic fatigue, weighing him down.  Each step he had taken had drained him of another ounce of will to fight.  She was ok and he could go home.

“Hey, Michael, wait up.”

Michael stopped, but did not turn.  He could not stomach another confrontation.

“Danny- Michael has agreed to leave.  Just leave things be.” His sister had stepped in once again.

“Hey, sure.  But Lisa wants to see him.  She sent me after him.  Dude, believe me , if it was up to me, you could vanish into thin air, but she just got some news and she wants to see you.  So maybe you can get over yourself and turn around.”

Michael’s eyes closed. Once again his emotions shifted, but he was too stunned to recognize the relief and joy cursing thought him. She wanted to see him?  How funny, she had sent Danny after him.  This was ironic.  When he changed course yet again, he felt as if he was walking in slow motion.  Negative thoughts immediately filtered into his mind, sounding like a chorus to the beat of his steps. 

News? What news?  She must have gotten the results of the tests they talked about. He prayed she was ok.  How bad must the news be, if she asked to see him.  How ill was she? 

Fears and dread overtook every neuron in his body, renewing his energy, and making his exhausted resignation of just moments ago blow away like dust in the wind. 

He opened the door and all he saw was her slight form in the bed.  She still looked pale, but some color had re-entered her cheeks.  The kids had sat on the bed with her, and Ben jumped up, screaming in excitement when he saw Michael enter.  Before Priscilla could intercede, the little boy rushed up and hugged Michael, who had sank to his knees, holding out his arms to him. He looked up and noticed Riley slowly had risen from her mother’s bed as well.

“Do I get a hug?” He gave her a smile and she approached him somewhat hesitantly, before giving him a tight squeeze.  Above the heads of the children, he found Lisa’s eyes.

“Hey you.  You scared the daylights out of me.  Are you ok?”

“Hey, yourself.” Her voice sounded hoarse and the smile she sent his way seemed forced.

He straightened and walked toward the bed.

“Mother, can you take the kids to get some snacks?  They told me they are hungry. Hey, Jan.  How are you?”

Janet stepped up to hug Lisa, and they exchanged some words that failed to enter Michaels’ consciousness.  All he could see was her face, hear the tone of her voice, see her eyes.  He reached for her hand that felt warm and alive, and she did not withdraw it from his grasp, but instead gave it a small squeeze.

She was ok… she looked ok anyway.  Her hand felt warm and her eyes were clear.  Maybe the news was not all that bad after all.  How bad could it be, if she continued to talk to Janet instead of filling him in on everything?

Patience, Michael.  Just give her a moment.

He heard the door open and close and blocked Priscilla’s disapproving look from his mind. She looked like she just drank battery acid, but his worry about Lisa prevented any glee at her obvious displeasure. Janet, finally gave Lisa one more embrace, then informed him she would wait for him outside.  Good, she must have caught onto the fact that he was dying to know what the heck was going on here.

After the door closed, he stiffly stood next to her bed for another moment, staring to the floor, still holding on to her hand.

They both started speaking at the same time.

“So, are you ok?”

“You’re  alright?”

 

His eyes finally left the sterile white tile and instead dove into the blue comfort of her eyes. A smile danced in the azure depths.  He sank onto the bed next to her.

“Lisa, look.  I am so sorry.  I am just destroyed you got hurt.  I never wanted you to leave the ranch, I wanted you to just wait upstairs…I never…”

“Mike, I know. I got it.  I guess all I needed was a good knock on my head.”

He reached out and held her face in his hand, turning it this way, and that, assessing her heath, ensuring she had no bruises or bumps.

“My face is fine and you know I have a hard head.  Hey, you should see my back.  Even though, I think that was bruised up from the encounter with the stairs from before my fall.”

His eyes scrunched together. “Before?…Oh…that…” He blushed, but felt immense relieve at the fact she was joking again.

The door opened and a doctor entered.

“Michael, this is Doctor Lockhart.  I thought he should be the one filling you in on what is going on.”

Michael tried to read the impenetrable gaze directed at him from the doctor.  Were doctors trained in their poker face dead pans?

“Well, as Miss Presley, said, we have figured out what is going on and what caused her dizziness, leading to the fall.  I have to say, we are more than a bit surprised and perplexed.”

Perplexed?  Well, that didn’t sound good at all.  Perplexing doctors is hardly ever good, he knew.  Michael felt faint and Lisa held his hand tighter. Waiting for the other shoe to drop, he took in a deep breath that would just have to suffice to sustain him through whatever disaster was to come next.

38

As he stared at the stranger in the mirror, he realized the noise he had attributed to the fuzzy thoughts buzzing around his mind was really the water running form the faucet he had neglected to turn off.  It really was not a good thing to waste water like this.  Really?  What in the world was wrong with him?  With everything going down, he worried about wasting water?  Well, water shortage was a serious problem, but it was not one he could solve here and now. 

Holy shit! This day just kept getting more and more stressful.  It had been bad enough to know he and Lisa would probably end up fighting when he had asked her to come over, but never, in his wildest dreams had he imagined the wild rollercoaster spree he had been on in the past hours.  How many emotions could be crammed into the seemingly small and insignificant space of a day?

A day was nothing in the grand scheme of things.  It was not even a blimp on the radar of a human lifespan.  Nothing but insignificant dust in the history of this planet and barely an entity worthy of thought when held up to the infinite chronos of the universe.  And yet, a day- actually less, less than ten hours actually, had sufficed to turn his life inside out and upside down.  He was in serious need of some road signs telling him where the hell was up. On this day, he seemed to have the perspective of a little fly: one day was an entire life.

The phone buzzing in his back pocket startled him. Retrieving it, he glanced at it and flipped it open.  The surge of exasperation and annoyance caused him to tap his foot impatiently.

“Why do you keep calling?  Is everything ok with Prince?”

“Is that all you ever care about, Michael? The kids?”

He rolled his eyes.  Yes, he loved his children and cared deeply for them.  This should not be a newsflash to her.  His children…what a different meaning these words held suddenly. Another dizzying surge raced through him.

“Yes, Debbie, that’s all I care about.  I am a heartless bastard.”

“You don’t have to be so sarcastic, you know.”

Taking a deep breath, he closed his eyes and counted to three.  Patience, he could do this.  He could get through this conversation and then return to his efforts of orienting himself to his new world.

“Look, I’m sorry.  I didn’t mean to take it out on you.  I am just a bit stressed, that’s all.”

“Is she ok?  I thought you would call to let me know if she is ok.”

Like Debbie cared.

“Why?  Since when do you care?  I thought you hated her?”

“I don’t hate her.  You keep telling me it is bad to hate, Michael.  I just hate what she has been doing to you.  And I hate that she can’t keep out of our lives.”

Out of his life?  His eyes found their reflection before him once again and a smile stole onto his face.  The sudden rush of the most intense, thrilling sensation startled him. 

“Michael…you are so quiet.  She is not…oh my God, she is ok, right?”

“What?  Oh, sorry.  Yeah, Lisa Marie is ok.  She is fine.  Debbie, tell the nanny I won’t be home till late.”

“You won’t?  Ah…ok.  Well, I guess you are worried about her.  I…I understand.  Do you mind if I stay here?”

“In the house?”

“No, Michael, I will use one of the guest cottages, like I normally do.  Don’t worry. I know the rules.”

He chose to ignore her testy tone.

“Yeah, sure- make sure you get some nice food and some dinner.  I will call cook to let him know to make you and the little one a nutritious dinner. And get some rest.”

“Thanks for caring, Michael.  And you don’t need to tell me how to take care of our child.  I am a nurse, remember?”

He failed to see how exactly her knowledge of dermatology made her an expert on prenatal nutrition.  On the other hand, Prince had been born just fine and well nourished, so she obviously was reliable when it came to taking care of herself during pregnancy. 

Shoot! He had to ask Lisa some questions. Like, when…it happened, and if she had been drinking…or smoking.   She finally had to break that nasty habit once and for all.

“Yeah, fine. I know.  So, I have to go.”

“Michael? What is that noise?  It sounds like you are standing by a waterfall.”

Damn! The faucet was still running.  He turned it off finally.

“Oh, just the bathroom.”

“Ah…ok.  I won’t even ask. Well, take care.  Again, I’m sorry Lisa Marie was hurt and I’m glad she’s ok.”

“I hope you won’t ask me to pass on your well-wishes.”

Lisa could not be exposed to any more stress.  Her blood pressure had to be monitored closely, according to the doctor.  It was her blood pressure that accounted for her dizzy spells and her fainting after all.  The doctor has said that Lisa also had told him she had not been sleeping well, which also contributed to the overall stress. 

A chuckle escaped Debbie. “No, Michael.  I won’t go another round with her till she feels better.  We have to be on equal footing after all.”

On equal footing.  Well, they kind of were on equal footing now in some ways.  But he thought it was wiser to not inform Debbie of details.  She also had to watch her blood pressure.  What was it with the women in his life and hypertension?  Was he that taxing on their systems?  He thought of himself as rather undemanding and easygoing.

After he hung up with Debbie, he checked out the person in the mirror one more time.  This morning, he had thought he knew his world and nothing could surprise him.  He was sure he had all he needed and that he if anything else he had to hold strong to keep his boundaries with Lisa intact.  Then Lisa had come by.  They had made love and his armor had cracked.  He had suspected she was holding back or was even lying to him on purpose.  However, now understood that she had not been in on the truth, either.  If he thought her fall had jarred him, the revelation that followed on the heels of Priscilla’s ill-spirited revelation that Lisa was not pregnant, had felt like a drop through space, including weightlessness, breathlessness, and red-hot incineration at re-entry into the atmosphere.  Now, if only the parachute would deploy so he could land softly. What a wild ride!  And what a rush!  He felt a natural high as he usually only experienced on stage.

His face was serious once more as the doctor’s words from minutes ago rang in his ears:

“Well, as I just told Miss Presley here, we ran another HCG test, even though she informed us that a recent test came back negative.”

Lisa’s fingers felt warm in his hand and he was barley aware that he increased the pressure on his grip.  All he heard was pregnancy test and negative- so Priscilla had been right.  Of course, she had been- she could not have faked that gleeful grin distorting her usually masklike countenance.  Wait… Why did they run another test if the first one had come back negative? 

“I don’t understand.  If she was not pregnant a week ago, why bother to do another test?”

“Well, we do a barrage of routine exams and tests when we have a trauma admission. Anyway…I don’t know how to explain it, other than to say it must have been some human error or some mistake when they ran the test at Cedar the other week…”

“Mistake, what do you mean mistake?” 

“Michael, will you let the doctor talk?” Lisa returned the squeeze of his hand.  He looked over at her and then back at the doctor.

“I’m sorry.  I just don’t understand.  What human error?”

“The tests we ran definitely showed the presence of HCG- of the hormone produced by the placenta when a woman is pregnant…”

“I know what it is, doctor.  I have been through pregnancy tests a time or two. So are you saying…”

“Michael! Shut up already! Let him talk.”

“What?  He is not talking- he takes forever.”

Lisa’s reply was an elbow to his ribs.  Well, nice to see someone was feeling well enough to abuse him already.

“Mr. Jackson, what I am telling you is that Miss Presley is indeed pregnant.  I can only assume the fainting resulting in the fall was due to her elevated blood pressure.  I have to say I am a bit worried about it, but it has been stabilizing in the last hour, so I think she should be fine with proper care.  Also, Miss Presley informed me about having been diagnosed with Factor V irregularities, but since she is being treated I am confident that with proper care the complications regarding the pregnancy should be minimal. That is- if she stays away from stairs for the next 8 months or so. You could always take the elevator.”

Michael totally missed the doctor’s attempt at humor.  The last words he heard were that Lisa was pregnant.  Pregnant! With his baby!  Those were words he had longed to hear in another life-time like a suffocating man longed for oxygen.  Words he thought he would never hear, and certainly not in connection to their child.  Their child. Their very own baby.  A baby with the woman he had always envisioned as the mother of his children.  A child created in the most amazing rush of love and passion- not in a sterile lab.

A sudden wave of heat threatened to choke him.  The blood rushed through his body like a tidal wave and his limbs felt fuzzy and tingly.  Out of his peripheral vision, he barely noticed Lisa staring at him, taking in and assessing his reaction.  Her hand was his connection to reality, his evidence that he was not dreaming and that all this was not just another torturous fantasy that would dissolve as soon as he opened his eyes.  Just like his baby was anchored to her placenta, he was anchored to her…she was his source of life once again.  The thought delighted and horrified him.

“Mister Jackson?  Are you ok?  You look like you are about to pass out.  I mean, I have seen expectant fathers being close to fainting, but usually it is not until delivery.”

“I’m…I’m not…”

While not sure of his emotions right now he was pretty sure he was not about to faint. 

“Oh, I am sorry, you are not?  I just thought….since Miss Presley asked me to come back and explain it all to you… I was under the impression…um…that you…that you and her…” The young doctor had flushed profusely and his stammering brought Michael back to reality.  Or maybe it was Lisa yanking her hand back from his grasp in one swift movement.

He turned to stare at her, confused by her reaction as well as by the sudden tears in her eyes.  No, those were not tears of joy.  She looked…pissed.  Why was she crying?  Was she sad? Sad about their child?  Was she upset she was going to have his baby?  This woman really should have come with a user’s manual. 

“Lisa, what is it? What…”

“Are you serious?  I thought we went over this. What the hell…”

Confusion mingled with the other emotions he faced.  What was she talking about? They had been over him not fainting?  Was she accusing him of faking a panic attack like she had that other time they had a fight in the hospital when it had been him in the bed?

Sudden nausea hit him.  This was all just too much.

“I’m sorry- Lise.  I…I have to go to the bathroom.”

He had hurried out of the room, rushing past Janet, who called after him, seeking refuge in the bathroom adjacent to the private lounge he and Janet had been waiting in.  It had taken a moment for his breathing to return to normal, his heart rate to settle down.  Funny enough, the conversation with Debbie had also served to dissolve his shock and re-establish grounding. 

He was about to be a father.  Again.  A father to Lisa’s child.  This time, the smile lightening up his image was like a new sunset, a new beginning.  The feeling from earlier hit him full strength again and this time he grasped its meaning: it was unadulterated happiness.  He had thought he had been happy when he found out about Prince and the new baby, but those sensations were nothing compared to this unexpected, surprising, crazy development.  The escaping laughter startled him. He had to get back to her, back to Lisa- he had to look at her, hold her, share this intense joy with her.

Shit!

Another realization crashed in on him:  He had just rushed out of Lisa’s room.  And worse yet, as he replayed the past half hour in his mind, he noticed that she probably thought he had denied paternity.  Holy crap!  This was not good.

“Michael, open the damn door! What are you doing in there so long?  Get your butt out of here and talk to me.”

He ran his hand through his hair before he reached over and unlocked the door, staring at his confused sister.

“Dunk.  I think I really fudged up.”

“Fudged up?  Are you back to not cursing? What did you do this time?  I went back to talk to Lise and she was crying.  Can’t you be nice for like two seconds?  I mean, the woman just fell down the stairs after being in a fight with your bossy wife.”

“I gotta get back there.  Come on Dunk, I’ll fill you in on the way…Auntie Janet.”

Giggling, he pulled his sister along.

“Say what?  Did you hit your head, too? Mike, stop kidding around, and you better hurry up.  Cruella de Ville was on her way back to Lisa’s room when I came to look for you, and she looked like she was about to slaughter some Dalmatian puppies.”

Crap! He forgot all about not cursing as he raced back to Lisa’s room.

39

She was such a fucking idiot.  She deserved every single pile of shit Michael was shoveling her way.  It was like God had sent him to ensure she kept humble and did not indulge in more than ten seconds of happiness at a time.  Angrily, she wiped the tears away from her cheeks and blew her nose noisily.  For such a short, incredible, stunning flash in time she had been so incredibly exultant she almost forgot everything else that had happened on this forsaken, dreadful, fucked up day.  She must have hit her head harder than she had thought.  Or maybe the fall finally had knocked some sense into her.  The bastard was never going to change, and if he thought she would ever let his crazy, unreliable ass near their child, he better get ready for a fight.  Their child.  Her hand stole to her flat belly, still not believing it was home to the little human whose father was a thoughtless, self-absorbed, distrustful…

“I knew it! He hurt you again.  Why, oh why did you have Danny go and get him?  Lisa Marie, what has he done this time?  Do you need me to call the police?  I still don’t buy that you just randomly slipped on the stairs.”

Mother. Great.  Just what she needed: strong, supportive, maternal words of caring.  Too bad her mother was incapable of such things. 

“I don’t need the police.  And what are you of doing back?  I thought you took the kids to get snacks?”

“No need to roll out the welcome mat, dear. We ran into Danny and he took them out to get some ice cream. So, what did Jackson do?  And when will you finally tell me what had you get Danny and chase after that man. The ice blue eyes regarded her suspiciously.

Well, here was her chance to give her mother an aneurysm. Let’s see if she would get those facial muscles to move.  On the other hand, could she really afford any more drama?  Lisa eyed the blood pressure machine hooked up to her.  Surprisingly, the values read normal.  The only thing normal on this day so far. 

“His name is Michael.  And- nothing is going on .  I have high blood pressure.  Stress, tension, I’m high strung- you know the usual suspects.  Just like I told you.  So don’t stress me out more. I am not in the mood for another round of Michael bashing.”

“Why did you send me out of the room- if nothing’s going on?”

“’Cause I wanted to talk to Michael.”

“For what? So he could hurt you again?  Is it not enough he pushed you down the stairs?”

“Mother! Michael did not push me down the stairs.  I told you this a million times.”

“Lisa, you need to stop protecting him.  I don’t care if he physically pushed you or not.  I am sure you got into a fight and somehow you ended up in the ER.  Then you act like everything is peachy and you ask for him.  I just don’t get it.  I swear he has some kind of weird spell on you.  I mean, how else can he show you he doesn’t care for you?  He married his nurse, for heaven’s sake and keeps mass producing children with her.”

Lisa chewed her lip.  As painful as it was, her mother was right on.  Her guess about the events at Neverland had been pretty accurate, as well as implication that basically Lisa had been a nitwit yet again, when she has asked for Michael.  Why had she thought he would be happy to hear the news.  How silly her hope for a new start seemed now.  As shocked as she had been to hear the news, she also could not help but feel thrilled that her longtime secret wish had come true.  She had not been using birth control, but not in an effort to trap him, but remembering that she had not been able to conceive in the early parts of their marriage when she had desperately tried to become the mother of his child.  What were the chances that their random, passionate encounters now would lead to the baby fate had denied them earlier.  However, would Michael see it the same way?

She had not been shy about her frustration regarding the continued casual nature of their relationship.  As much as she had tried to convince herself that she had not cared, that her hesitation to commit to him fully was a perfect match for his doubts, still…her secret wish had been to end her dirty existence as the very public concubine.  And by ending it, she did not mean to be out of his life, but quite the opposite.  Understanding had dawned that possibly, she would not again survive a complete separation. 

So, when she looked him into his eyes and told him that this pregnancy was completely unplanned, would she be able to believe her own half-truth?  Had someone accused her weeks ago of trying to snare Michael by giving him exactly what he had longed for in the past, she would have chewed that person’s ass out.  Now, faced with the sudden reality of the little person growing inside, she questioned her own motives. However, she was not about to let Mommy Dearest in on this secret right now as she could not risk to hear her give voice to Lisa’s own fears and insecurities. 

“Lisa, are you listening?  Stop chewing your nails.”

Lisa felt like a four year old for a moment, then remembered that she was an adult and a mother herself and did not have to respond with guilt and shame when chided by her mother.

“Can you stop this shit?  I’m all grown up, you know.  And stop going on and on about Michael.  You don’t have a clue about what’s going on, so stay out of my life.”

“You are correct: I don’t know what’s going on, because you are acting like the spiteful teen I remember so well.  Since you insist you are grown, can you give me a hint of mature behavior, here, Lisa?”

The door flew open and Michael stood in the frame, looking out of breath, staring from Lisa to Priscilla.

“Can you not talk to her like that?”

Lisa was amazed at his words.  While Michael had often expressed his displeasure about her mother to her in private, he had avoided open conflict with Priscilla at all cost.

Priscilla turned and looked like steam was about to escape her ears as venom, calm, but deadly none-the less, dripped from her lips.

“Surely, you must be joking, Michael.  I know you did not just give me advice in how to talk to my daughter.”

He straightened and his face took on a rosy tint, even as his stance indicated he was standing his ground.

“I was not giving you advice, Priscilla, even though I believe you could benefit from some suggestions in how to talk to people.  Your superiority is as annoying as it is misplaced.”

Priscilla inhaled sharply, her skin blanched, and her eyes shot darts at her former son-in-law. She turned sharply once more and faced Lisa while pointing angrily at Michael.

“Do you hear how he talks to me?  The man who treated you like trash is now attacking me?  And you are quiet?”

“I think you can take care of yourself, Mom. Plus, he was not attacking you.”

What the hell was wrong with her?  Why was she defending him?  She should throw his ass to the lions- or the dragon, more appropriately. 

“Yeah, I was not attacking you at all, Priscilla.  I just wanted you to chill and stop stressing her out.”

Lisa felt a bit left out as her mother and Michael continued their ridiculous game of who would blink first.  They reminded her of two dogs fighting over a bone. Only, she did not feel like being a passive price right now.

“Ah…I’m right here.  I don’t need to be talked about in the third person.  And just to set things straight: you both are more stressful than a trip up Mount Everest without oxygen, so why don’t you take your little pissing match outside and let me rest.”

Michael’s eyes suddenly softened as he turned towards her with great concern.  He took a couple of steps into the room just as Priscilla made her move by getting right into his face, basically barring him the way toward Lisa’s bed.  This was getting really ridiculous.  Maybe Lisa should ring the call bell, getting staff in here so people could place bets on those two. 

Michael and her mother stood toe to toe, neither budging.  Michael spoke first.

“Priscilla, I will stay here, and I will talk to Lisa.  She is carrying my child, so I have every right to be here, and you might as well get used to the thought of having me around again.”

His child.  He said, the baby was his.  Thank God- he had come to his senses again.  Not like she was not still mad for his earlier comment or would let him down easy, but the words were an instant balm on the previously inflicted wound.  Of course, now he had spilled the beans to the very person she really, really had hoped to keep in the dark a while longer.  Somehow, she could not be mad, though, his heroic stance facing down her steaming mother had softened her up considerably. Well, she should have said, formerly steaming mother.  Michael’s comment sure took the air out of her! At the current moment, Priscilla looked even more surprised than normal as evidenced by her gaping mouth. She slowly turned back toward Lisa, and Michael took the chance to walk around her, arrive at Lisa’s bed, and reach for her hand.  Which she withdrew.  She had not forgiven him all the way, after all.  He looked down at her with a million questions in his eyes, then placed his hand on her shoulder.

“Lisa, what is he talking about?  Tell me he is lying.”

Sadly, the shock had worn off and her mother had found her voice again. 

“Well, not that it’s any of your business, but no, he’s not lying.”

“Are you ok?  Is your blood pressure ok?” Michael eyed her with concern while at the same time checking out her blood pressure machine.  He obviously had decided to ignore Priscilla.  Lisa knew better than to be flattered by his concern as it could mean anything from him being worried about the new incubator of Jackson baby number 3, to wanting to send her mother into nervous seizures. 

“Lisa! Not my business?  You are my child! They told you a couple of days ago that you were not pregnant.  How…how is this possible…you need to get a second opinion.  This has to be a mistake.”

“Third opinion, mother.  And they ran the test three times here to make sure there was not another mistake.  I have no clue what happened at Cedar- but their test was wrong.  Maybe it was too soon to show up and the last couple of days made the difference…who knows.  But I was obviously sick and dizzy due to the pregnancy coupled with high blood pressure from all the stress…”

“The stress he put you under.”

“Whatever.  Right now I need to talk to Michael, please, Mom.  I will go over all this with you later. But give us a minute right now, will you?”

“Lisa, if you have this baby, you know he will never be out of your life.  What will you do?  What if he tries to take the child from you?  You need to think this through…you have options, you know.”

Lisa could not believe her mother’s words. If she had this baby? Of course she would have this baby.  This child was her baby- hers and Michael’s .  It certainly had been a surprise, but how could her mother even for a second assume that she would not want this baby? 

Michael sat down on the bed, and this time, Lisa reached for his hand that had slipped off her shoulder as he stared at Priscilla trying to decipher the alien life form she represented to him.  Lisa half expected him to reload and commence to verbally fire at her mother, but instead his eyes sought hers.  She returned his gaze, answering his silent question.  As messed up as their verbal communication was at times, it was startling how their ability to read the nonverbal cues always seemed to be the most direct route.  The light in his dark eyes seemed to intensify and she knew he had understood.  Turning back to her mother, a clear calm, similar to a cold breeze after a crazy summer storm, rushed through her and extended to the strong tone in her voice.

“Mother, there is no way in hell I would not keep a child just because I was afraid of what the future would bring.  I am able and willing to have this baby- no matter what will happen between Michael and me.  That’s all you need to know right now.  I realize you are surprised and it has been a difficult day, but I don’t know how I can ever forget what you just said.”

“Lisa, darling, I am simply trying to protect you.”

“Priscilla, I think it is best you leave us alone now.  Lisa just told you she doesn’t need your protection.  She is capable of fighting her own battles.  But really, there are no battles to fight right now.  So, please leave us in peace for five minutes before I take you out of here myself.”

Priscilla’s mouth gaped open once more and Lisa also regarded Michael as if she had never heard him before.  This was highly unusual.  Funny, but out of the ordinary. 

Priscilla turned slowly, but seemed hesitant if she should withdraw.

“Oh, Cilla?  Can you please tell Janet to hang around just a bit longer?  I appreciate it.”

Priscilla made a chocking sound then stalked out the door, which she would have slammed had the hospital door not been shut by its self-closing mechanism.

Lisa tried to suppress a chuckle.  Michael turned to her and reached for her chin with his hand, his other hand, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear.  He leaned in to kiss her and Lisa almost surrendered, before she recalled she was mad at him.

“Why do you want to kiss me? I thought I was this horrible whore who got knocked up by someone other than you.”

He backed off slightly, but kept his hand on her chin while the other one gently cupped her cheek.  She had to summon all her defenses to hold on to her righteous indignation.

“Princess.  I never said that.  You misunderstood.”

Her eyes narrowed in suspicion.  How would he try to talk himself out of the manure pit now?

“Don’t look at me like that.  Actually, the doc misunderstood.  He asked me if was about to faint, and I said I wasn’t.”

“No, you said you weren’t the father.”

“No, I did not.  He said he had never seen expectant fathers faint before birth, and I said I wasn’t. He just assumed I said I wasn’t the father.  Why the hell would I say that- to a stranger?  Plus, I told you earlier that if you were pregnant, I was the father.  I mean, I know we had been slightly…ah…active and all.”

If he was lying he was pretty quick on his feet.  Her head started hurting again, and she was not sure which version of the truth she could afford to subscribe to.  She continued to stare at him, hedging her bets.

“Lise, you said you were using birth control.  How did this happen?”

Here was the question she had been dreading.

“Well…you know, Mike, sperm meets egg and the rest is history.  In our case…lots of little swimmers.  I mean, I guess the poor little egg never stood a chance.”

Maybe a little humor would distract him from the actual question.

“Yeah, but what?  The pill didn’t work?  You said…”

“Well, actually, I never said. All I said was there would be no baby for us.  I had been getting sick on the pill; horrible headaches and the doctors had said that I should go off it.  Now, looking back, they said it was smart, having the clotting disorder and all.  So, I thought, well, I didn’t get pregnant before when we really, really tried, so what were the chances of it taking now.  I mean, I didn’t think…”

The blood pressure machine was starting to beep, calling Michael’s attention to the values.

“Lisa, lay back, baby.  Take some deep breaths, your bp is going up again. It’s ok, just relax.  Who cares how it happened…well, I am pretty clear on how…but...um..you know what I mean. ”

“Well, maybe you should stop the Spanish inquisition.”

“I’m not.  I was just surprised.”  He leaned in and over her, this time, not letting her stop him from kissing her dry lips gently.  Her breath quickened and she deeply inhaled his unique sent.  Michael was her very own calming aromatherapy. 

His lips left her again, but he stayed only inches above her.  “I’m surprised, stunned…and so very, very happy.” He sat back up, and tried to shield his eyes from her for a minute.

An emotional firestorm once again assaulted her.  Had he said he was happy?  Was he crying? Was that a tear she felt gliding down her own cheek.  Reaching up, she took his hand.

“Happy? You’re not mad?”

His eyes looked bleary and she could still detect the moisture beneath them.

“Mad?  Are you nuts?  I mean, my heart stopped and I thought I would die when you fell.  I didn’t know if you were ok, and no one was telling me shit.  I was freaking out on the way here- you have no idea.  Then, your charming mother informs me that you are glad to not be the mother of my kid, only to have your ex come after me, like some guarding angel, bringing me back here, where I finally see you are ok.  Next thing I know, the doc tells me we will be parents.  Mad?  No, why would I be mad?  I’m stunned, happy, thrilled, scared…you name it.  But I’m not mad. I mean, I am married to Deb and I have to figure that out.  I have another baby to be born in about a month.  But all I can think about is that we are about to have this little person in common, and all I can think about is that my heart is about to explode like in some kind of weird supernova.”

She had to laugh. “A supernova, Mike?”

His hand came to rest on her abdomen and hers closed over it.

“ Yeah, or a magical firework.  Man, you are so little, Lise.  You need to eat.  You need to take care of yourself, believe me, I know what I’m talking about.”

“Ok, Doctor Spock, aka Mister Expert on prenatal care.”

“I am an expert on crazy Lisa Presley.  You don’t take care of yourself. And the smoking has to stop.  You don’t fool me- I know you still do it when we’re not together. You will move into Neverland and I will take care of you, I will make sure you and the baby are ok.”

“Hold up, Michael.  I have not said anything about moving into Neverland. Debbie hangs out there and unless you will convert to be a Mormon soon, you have one wife too many right now.  I don’t plan on having this big commune with your other wife and all our kids.  Well, the kids are ok, but I’m not living with Debbie looming over me as I sew the letter A onto all my clothing.”

Her comment earned her a startled look.

“You’re not adulteress. Lisa, I promise I will deal with the Debbie situation…”

“Your marriage?”

“Yeah, that.  I promise.  But you need to come and move in.”

“Forget about it! I will stay at Hidden Hills with the kids.”

“The kids and Danny?”

“Danny doesn’t live there.”

“He hangs out there.  I don’t want him around my child.”

“Well, I don’t have a problem with having him around my children- all three of them. Plus, you can’t tell me what to do- you are still married and can you really afford to have news of you getting your ex pregnant get out right now?”

The trapped look in his eyes did not escape her.  Bulls-eye- she knew he was not ready to face the court of public opinion with this.  And really, she was also not too keen about being hounded by the press about what should be a private affair.

“I want to be a part of the baby’s life, Lisa.  I want to be a part of your life.  And you can cut the  crap, because after all the bitching you have done about me not being ready to make changes, I know you want me to commit to you- to us- again.”

What did he think?  Did he really expect he could just do a three sixty on his attitude about their relationship and not have her suspect that it was all due her being his newest baby-Momma? She was not about to be Debbie#2.  She did not need a child to keep a man.  And she sure as hell was not about to use this little miracle to assure her place in his life. Her mind was made up.

“I didn’t say you can’t be a part in the baby’s life.  You are its father.  I just am not sure I want to be a part in your life right now.  I am not sure I am up for the drama and the constant excitement.  If we commit to each other again, and that can only happen if you are not married to someone else, by the way, it will be because we love each other, not because I failed to take the frigging pill.”

“I do love you!”

“Michael, I want you to get some distance on this and really think about it.  You just told me yourself how worn out you were by my fall and the worry about me.  Then, you found out about the baby- it has been a long day.  I want you to go home and to think about all this.  Think about what all this would mean.  Think about the media circus.  Think about your family- and think what you would get into being part of my family again.”

Michael fell quiet and she held her breath as she waited for his answer.  His face was averted and half in the shade of the room.  The suddenly noisy clock in the room ticked precious seconds of her life away.  Her words had made so much sense.  They were so logical.  She should be so proud of her new maturity.  With all this deliberate wisdom, how come that all she wanted was for him to take her into his arms, kiss her senseless, raise her blood pressure, and assure her that he did not give a rat’s ass about anyone’s opinion.

“I guess you’re right.” His words were whispered.  She swallowed.  Since when was he listening to her?

“Yeah, I know I am.”

“Fine.  I’ll go.  But don’t think I won’t be in touch tomorrow.  I will be around and I want to talk about this after you had some sleep.”

How considerate.

“Yeah, don’t call.  I’ll call you.  I need some space.”

He rose from the bed and walked toward the door.  Uncertainty about how much space she actually needed expanded in her chest.  She averted her eyes from the departure as he seemed to take her heart with him.   

Suddenly, he changed course and came toward her in large strides. Before she had a chance to react in any way, he reached for her face and cupped it, his lips lowering and capturing her mouth in a scorching kiss.  She immediately and without wasting another thought, opened to him, granting access to his hungry tongue as she met it feverishly.  As one hand continue to frame her cheek, the other came around her pulling her toward him, and she sighed into his mouth.  Her own hands found his hair and she held on to him, not willing to let him go.  Personal space was highly overrated and totally unwelcome.

The peeping of the machine startled them apart. Michael stayed close to her.  When her eyes finally opened she found herself staring into his dark depths. 

“You can say what you want.  I know you want me and you love me.  I feel the same and because I do, I will give you some space now.  You better enjoy it, because you better get used to me being your shadow.  I’ll be in touch, Princess.  Try not to miss me too much.”

 

With that, Michael once more headed for the door, just as several nurses and Doctor Lockhard came rushing back in, having been alerted by her newly elevated blood pressure.  Michael blew her a kiss from the open door, and Lisa could not suppress a smile as her fingertips touched her swollen lips.

(to be continued)

 

©2012 Erika B Michaels. All Rights Reserved. This story is a work of fiction. Any names, places, and other identifying features are used in a fictional manner, for entertainment purposes only, and are in no way representative of actual events. This work may not be reproduced, copied, transmitted, or stored without expressed written permission by Erika B Michaels. All photos and images, mentioned songs or song titles are copyright their creators. ABSOLUTELY no disrespect is intended to any persons portrayed in this work.