Page 28 of Out of Nowhere

Anna sighed. “Yeah, I had an ultrasound yesterday. I haven’t told Mom or Dad yet, though. I’m afraid they’ll start making plans to put him up for adoption when he’s born.”

“So, you want to keep him?”

“I don’t know, but I get to make that decision!” Anna said fiercely.

Dex shook his head in frustration, hand tightening on his cell phone. Working hard to sound soothing, he said, “I haven’t heard anything about a plan to take away your baby. You’re just overwrought and worked up. Please try to be calm and let the people there take care of you.”

“Mom and Dad put me in here like some kind of a criminal.”

“You agreed to go.”

“I only did meth a couple of times.”

“Well, that was a couple too many. Besides, that’s not the only reason you’re there, Anna. You were fixating on that guy, right? The baby’s father. Just like you did with West.”

“I didn’t call to be lectured at. I called because they’re planning to take my baby from me when he’s born.\”

“No one is planning that. Mom and I wouldn’t let them, and neither would Tom. He’s family. How are you even calling me right now?” The residents were required to turn their cell phones in when they entered the facility and had to sign them out when they wanted to make a call, which had to be before six p.m. Dex had to call the front desk and leave a message for Anna to call him when he wanted to talk and they hadn’t scheduled a conversation.

“I took a new person’s phone before they could turn it in,” Anna said, adding defensively, “It was the only way I could call you without them listening in.”

“You stole a phone.”

”Iborrowedit. I’ll give it back.“ She paused, then, lowering her voice, whispered fiercely, “Dex, I don’t like it here. I shouldn’t even be here. Why can’t I fall in love without people attacking me?”

“Have you talked about it with the therapist there?” Dex asked patiently. Anna still didn’t seem to understand that her brand of love was completely overboard and obsessive. He couldn’t help but feel sorry for her though, being in California all alone. Tom flew there when he could, but he had a job, and he might make everything worse by coming on too strong. Their mother was too busy with her committees to bother, although Dex knew she frequently talked with Anna on the phone.

“He says I’m obsessed, and I’m not!” Anna’s voice rose in agitation. “Dex, you have to get me out of here. You’re the only one I trust.”

“You signed papers agreeing to stay there for the rest of your pregnancy because you agreed you needed to get better for the baby’s sake. It’s a nice place, isn’t it? Mom said it was.”

Anna snorted. “All she knows is what she’s seen in the brochures.”

“Your dad wouldn’t leave you there if it wasn’t a reputable place.”

“They put on an act for him. He doesn’t know what goes on here.”

Suddenly uneasy, Dex asked, “What are you saying, Anna? Do they physically abuse you?” He’d heard about places—nursing homes and mental hospitals—where bad things happened. Could some of what Anna was saying be true?

Silence, and then a noise as though Anna had dropped the phone. “I was only talking to my brother!” Her voice came from a distance. Dex could hear another female voice, but the words weren’t clear.

“I only borrowed it!” Anna said heatedly, and then, “Fine, Nurse Ratched, have it your way. I’m going to bed!”

Sounds of someone picking up the phone, and then, “Hello? Is anybody there?”

“Hello. This is Dexter Price, Anna’s older brother. She called me.”

“I’m sorry, Mr. Price. This is one of the night nurses. I just came on shift. Your sister took a new resident’s phone out of their bag. We only just realized it.”

Rubbing his eyes with his finger and thumb, Dex said, “Anna claims she can’t sleep, worrying that her baby is going to be taken from her after it’s born.”

“She’s been agitated the last few days. I’m sure she’ll settle down for tonight.”

“Thank you.”

Disconnecting the call, Dex lay down and tried to go back to sleep, tossing and turning for nearly an hour before finally deciding to get up. Frustrated that he couldn’t do anything for his sister and feeling restless, he decided to go ahead and take his run. Seo-jun usually arrived between seven-thirty and eight, but Dex couldn’t wait for him. The sun was just coming up over the ocean when he headed to the beach and began stretching, his mind blanking out once he started to jog on the hard sand next to where the surf broke. Anna’s problems, his mother’s daily texts about calling Penelope—a bone she refused to let go of—all of it melted into the background as his feet pounded the sand. He ran farther up the beach than he’d intended to, and by the time he trudged through the heavy sand to the back of the mansion, he was exhausted. The pool looked incredibly inviting, and he was tempted to strip off and dive in, but, with his luck, Kasey or one of the other women on their team would walk out and catch him bare assed, and he’d never live it down.

Sliding open the glass door to the lower floor, Dex entered the airconditioned hallway, shucking his shoes into the pile by the door before making his way to the locker room. Now that he’d had a long run, he felt better but couldn’t help but wish he’d waited for Seo-jun. He cherished their time together in themornings. He couldn’t deny to himself anymore that his feelings had developed into more than simple attraction. Deep down, he knew something was happening between them, but he was having trouble believing it. An insecure part of him told him he had to be mistaken. And could Dex even handle a relationship with a man? He’d only recently come out of the closet and had almost zero experience.

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