Page 26 of Sassy Surrogate
“Thank God.” The relief I feel at hearing her voice is an actual physical sensation. “I’ve been going out of my mind trying to reach you. What’s going on?”
“I really am sorry, Heath. I shouldn’t have called you. We’ve been here so long I’d completely lost track of time. I had no idea it was so late when I called.”
“Where are you?”
“Parkview Hospital.” Her voice wobbles on the last word, and I get the impression she’s hanging on to her composure by a thread.
My blood runs ice cold. “Why? Are you hurt?” I repeat for what feels like the millionth time. If she’s been hurt because of her lowlife father, I’m going to hunt the man down and kill him myself.
“My grandparents brought my mom in. She’s been hurt.” The raw emotion in her voice cuts me open.
“Do you need me to come to you?”
The long pause that follows that leads me think she might actually be considering it. Eventually she replies, “No, I’m okay. Rebecca’s here with me.”
A sliver of unease washes through me. Academically, I know she’ll need to be informed if Danica chooses to go ahead with the surrogacy, but I’m uncomfortable with her knowing that the two of us have reached even this low level of intimacy that her friend is calling me in the middle of the night.
“Is she close by?” I can’t prevent myself from asking.
“No. She’s gone to the cafeteria to get something to drink.” A deep, emotion-ladened sigh echoes down the line. “I really am sorry to have disturbed you. I have no idea what I was thinking when I dialled your number. Or maybe I wasn’t.”
“It’s fine. I was awake anyway. What’s on your mind?”
“Um…” The nervous hum in her voice carries clearly over the connection. “I’ve been giving your offer some thought. Well, a lot of thought actually. Becca and I were chatting about it this evening. Before the call–”
“Danica. Slow down. You’re speaking as if you’re late to catch a train.”
“Yeah, sorry. I tend to do that when I’m nervous.”
“And stop apologising. You’ve got nothing to be sorry about.”
“Sorry, I do that when I’m nervous too. Damn, I just did it again. Sorry.”
I can’t help but laugh. Nervous Danica is definitely Chatty Danica. “All good. You were saying?”
“Um, so I– er, I know it’s pretty quick, but I was thinking I would take you up on your offer. That is, if you’re still interested. I mean, you could have changed your mind by now and–”
My heart feels as if it’s about to explode in my chest. Her words seem unreal. This dream of mine is now within touching distance, and suddenly I’m scared. Scared to reach out and grab it just in case it’s all a figment of my imagination. But I’m also scared that if I don’t, itwilldisappear, and I’ll never have the chance again. Jesus. Suddenly I’m as much of a mess as she sounds.
“Yes. Yes, of course the offer still stands.” Absently, I notice my hands are shaking as I reach for my pen. “We can meet in the morning to iron out all the details, and then I can get my attorney right on it, setting up all the legal documentation.”
“Well, okay. Um, sure. Yeah. We can do that.”
“What time suits you? To meet in the morning, that is.”
“I have a feeling tonight is going to be a late one. So, maybe ten thirty?”
“Ten thirty is great. I’ll come to your house again.”
“Oh bugger. Here comes Becca. I’ll see you in the morning.”
For the second time tonight, Danica hangs up on me. She is quite possibly the only person to have ever done so. Not just once, but twice. Also probably the only one who might get away with it too.
Now that I have time to assimilate the conversation, I can’t help but wonder how much of what happened to her mother is connected to her father. And since my gut is screaming that it has everything to do with him, then I need to come up with a plan to keep not just Danica but her family safe. If they can get to her mother, they can get to her, and that thought makes me want to punch something.
What happens if she’s pregnant with my baby and they hurt her? It doesn’t bear thinking.
Thoughts of visiting Felicia are all but forgotten as I begin to plan how to keep Danica and her family safe so that in turn I can ensure the baby’s safety. I guess it’s time to let Kieran in on my little secret since he’ll be an integral part of the plan.
