Heart of a Stripper (20 page)

Mitchell growled furiously as he shot to his feet and walked over to his father.

“You have no right to be here.”
Mitchell bit.

“You’re starting to sound like her.
” Bruce replied, meaning Nevaeh. “Come talk with me in the hall son.” Bruce ground out.

“Yeah, let’s do that.” He agreed and they stepped into the hall.

“Kate called me and told—”

“Fuck Kate! You tell me what the hell happened between you and Nevaeh.”
Mitchell shouted.

“I have no idea what you’re talking about.” Bruce answered.

“Bullshit! Don’t be a pussy now, you tell me what happened you son of a bitch!” Mitchell yelled.

Bruce smiled and applauded his son.

“Bravo. Could that finally be the man I know exists inside you?”

“Stop toying with me and tell me.”
Mitchell insisted.

“Kate told me
Nevaeh called you. Then I heard some interesting news from her father.” He gritted.

“That she was pregnant.”
Mitchell said as a matter of factly.

“Yes, that she was pregnant. So I went to ask.” He answered.

“What did you do to her?” Mitchell grumbled.

“Nothing, other than tell her to get rid of it.” Bruce said truthfully.

“How dare you try and force her to get rid of
my
child?” Mitchell asked shoving Bruce.

“That’s why, right there. I knew once you found out, that you would throw away everything I worked hard for you to get.” Bruce snapped.

“I worked hard for it! Not you!’ Mitchell corrected. “You never gave me anything without making me beg for it.”

“
None the less, you’re still the screw up I knew you’d grow up to be.” Bruce sneered.

“I’m done trying to please you. Anything I do isn’t good enough.”
Mitchell responded.

“You took your mother away from me, so no. Nothing you do will ever be good enough.” Bruce ground out and that was like a kick in
Mitchell’s chest.

“It was an accident.”
Mitchell whispered as tears burned his eyes.

“And so was what happened to Nevaeh. She refused to get rid of the
thing
inside of her, so we argued.” Bruce bit.

“You
killed
your only grandchild just because you want to dictate my life? How can you hate me that much?!” Mitchell pondered.

“It was an
accident
—she fell.” Bruce insisted coldly.

“It was my
child
dad. Not a disposable “
thing
”. You had no right to try and force her to get rid of it.” Mitchell repeated trying to get him to realize his faults.

“There was no way she was giving birth to a bastard!” Bruce shouted and that was it for
Mitchell.

Seeing red, he threw a punch
at his father. Hitting him in the mouth, blood spurted out as Bruce fell on his ass, to the floor beneath them.

“Stay away from her and me.”
Mitchell ordered before walking back into the hospital room.

“Why waste your time on someone who told you she never loved you?!” Bruce shouted with a laugh.

Mitchell froze before spinning around furiously.

“How do you know she said that?”
Mitchell barked as he stalked to his father and stood over him.

“I didn’t, so it must be true.”
Bruce lied.

Sucking in a shaky breath,
Mitchell didn’t know whether to believe him or not. So instead, he shoved the thoughts to the back of his mind and focused on the task at hand.

“You stay away from her. Do you hear me?” he ordered before disappearing into the room and closing the door.

Sitting back in the uncomfortable chair, he grabbed Nevaeh’s hand and prayed for her to wake up quickly. He knew the longer she stayed unconsciousness meant more complications. His mother had taught him that lesson years ago. That was something he didn’t want to go through again.

“Come on sweetheart.” he willed. “Open your eyes.”

Pulling her hand closer to his face, he kissed it gently and closed his eyes.

Chapter Eighteen

Nevaeh moaned as she tried to move. Her body was sore all over, and she felt like she had been in an accident. Fluttering her eyes, her vision went from blurred to clear in a matter of moments. Hearing the heart monitor, she realized she was in a hospital. The first thing that crossed her mind was how she was going to pay for the hefty bill. Being a retired stripper left no room for health benefits. Searching her surroundings, she found Mitchell sitting in a chair beside her hospital bed. He was slumped over in the hard chair, with his head lying on her bed. In his hand was hers. A smile touched her lips as she realized he’d obviously stayed the night with her.

Trying to sit up, she groaned in pain, startling him.
Mitchell jolted upright and stared over at her. Relief washed over him as he saw her awake. Getting up out of the chair, he immediately wrapped his arms around her. Holding him back, she groaned again and he let her go immediately.

“Sore?” he asked concerned and she nodded.

“I’ll get the nurse.” He replied turning quickly and leaving the room.

She wanted to say that she could’ve pressed the buzzer for the nurse, but had already disappeared. Sitting for a moment, she tried to gather her thoughts. Closing her eyes briefly, the memory of her tumbling down the stairs flashed through her mind. Letting her eyes spring open, she sucked in a frightened breath as
Mitchell rushed back into the room with a nurse trailing him.

“Good to see you awake.” The nurse smiled. She had a white outfit, and was carrying a few tools. There was obviously going to be an exam done.

“Very.” Mitchell chimed in. “You scared me.” He said running a hand through his hair.

Nevaeh could tell he had really meant it because he had always ran a hand through his hair when he was worried.

“Can you give us a moment?” the nurse inquired turning to Mitchell.

Nevaeh saw the angry glare he shot at her. It was obvious to both of them that he was going to refuse.

“I’d rather not leave me fiancée alone.” He barked. “She’s been through enough already.”

Fiancée?
Nevaeh found that interesting to say the least. Looking at her hand, she didn’t see a ring. Suddenly she realized he must’ve felt obligated to marry her for getting her knocked up. If that was the case, she wasn’t going to accept it. Getting married over having a baby was irresponsible to say the least.

“I understand Mr.
McCallister, but I need to examine her.” The nurse insisted politely.

“I’ll give you a minute.” He insisted.

“That’s all I need.” She smiled walking him to the door, and once he was out she closed it.

“How do you feel Nevaeh?” she asked turning and walking back to the hospital bed.

“Like I had a fight with the stairs.” She shrugged.

“I’ll give you some pain meds in a minute. My name’s Alexandra, but you can call me Alex.” She smiled taking her blood pressure.

“How’s the baby?” Nevaeh whispered touching her stomach.

“Your fiancé out there has been a worry wart. He stayed with you all night and barely
let anyone in to see you.” She smiled bypassing the question.

“Sorry.” Nevaeh blushed.

“No, it’s cute. Most men don’t do that.” Alex insisted placing the thermometer in her mouth to take her temperature.

After doing her vitals and checking her eyes, she gave her the pain medication just as she promised before letting
Mitchell back into the room.

“Everything ok?” he asked concerned.

“Fine.” Alex smiled shaking her head. “You have a good one here. Don’t let him go.”

With that, she sauntered out of the room.

“You hungry?” Mitchell asked walking over to the bed.

“Yeah, but I think we should talk.” She whispered.

“After you get something to eat, you need your strength.” He insisted.

“I’m guessing you know I’m pregnant.” She blurted out.

Waiting wasn’t an option to her. She wanted to get everything out in the open.

“Nevaeh, please.”
He insisted not looking at her.

“We
need to talk about it Mitchell.” She said.

“And we will, but let me feed you first.”

  “It is yours, I know I’ve been dating Jaxon, but we’ve never had sex. I’ll do a DNA test as soon as they’ll let me.” She responded.

“I would never ask you to.” He said walking to her. “I believe you. I take your word.”
                      

“Just like that?” she asked narrowing her glare at him.

“You’ve never lied to me before—well…” he trailed off.

“
Mitchell, I know I hurt you—I’m sorry.” She said looking away from him ashamed.

“After everything, you’re still here with me. I’m such an idiot.” She muttered.

“You’re
not
an idiot.” He retorted.

“I am. I let the one guy I’ve ever truly loved go.” She said and he looked her in the eyes.

“Loved?” he whispered.

“Love, as in present tense.” She
said clearly.

“
You said you didn’t love me.” He grumbled, revisiting the raw memory.

“Well I did, and I still do. You’re the only person for me, and now we can be a family.” She insisted.

“We can’t.” he sighed, running a hand through his dark hair again.

“I said I was sorry.” She offered. “I want to try and raise this baby together.”

“We can’t.” he replied again.

“Why not?” she asked holding back tears.

“Because you lost it.” He replied looking at her, and he saw the sorrow etched on her face.

“What?” she whispered.

“You lost the baby.” He replied as her tears finally drenched her cheeks.

“No.” she whispered, shaking her head in disbelief.

“Yes.” He said walking to her and grabbing her hand to comfort her.

“No! I just found out! I
couldn’t have lost it already.” She cried and he immediately climbed in the bed beside her and wrapped his arms around her.

“I’m sorry.” He replied, crying along with her.

He didn’t know what else to say.

“I want to go home.” She cried.

“I’m not letting you go back there.” He insisted. “You’re going to stay with me.”

“I want out of here. I want to go home.” She sniffled holding him back tightly as her tears flowed endlessly.

“Ok, I’ll get you out of here.” He nodded.

Mitchell
helped Nevaeh into the guest bedroom she stayed in when she had stayed with him before. He had fought tooth and nail to get her released from the hospital. The doctor on call was adamant that she needed to be kept hospitalized, but Mitchell refused to hear it. Nevaeh wanted to go home, so that what she was going to get. And home was now going to be with him, for the time being anyway.

The ride home had been a little bumpy. Nevaeh had grown carsick and threw up twice before making it home. The doctor warned that her body was still going to go through the motions of pregnancy until the hormones fully left her body.
That was torture in itself. Mitchell helped her upstairs to the bedroom she had when she had stayed there with him. She slipped into the bathroom and he watched as she grabbed her toothbrush.

“Do you need anything?” he asked as she ran the sink water.

Shaking her head, she grabbed the toothpaste.

“Are you going to be ok in here alone?” he asked still watching her.