Chapter 45: Forest's POV

This can't be happening. This can't be how I lose my best friend ... because that's who Charlotte is. She's my best friend. I couldn't tear my eyes away as doctors shouted over one another and tried to stop her body from convulsing violently. Her heart monitor was going up and down as if it belonged to two different people. "Don't do that!" One doctor stopped the other before they injected something into her. "She's pregnant." I almost lost my mind. This baby is going to kill her. I shouldn't have told her that having a baby was the only way for us to get back together. I saw those scars. I touched them. They're deep scars. I should have stopped to think about what those scars could mean for her. I shouldn't have pushed her. Now she might die because of that baby - our baby. She and I can almost never say no to one another. It's always been the strangest phenomena. We're the most assertive people when it comes to others, but where the two of us are concerned, a no easily turns into yes. No one can meddle in my company and yet I let her bring Jona on board. People have applied to be my assistants over and over again and kept getting rejected, but I let her bring someone I didn't even know after just a few days of her being back in my life. I would never let anyone else in my life do that. Not even mom, Belle or Christian would be able to convince of something like that. And then I convinced her to live under the same roof as me and another woman ... a woman who has no respect for my relationship. She endured living under the same house as me and someone who didn't even bother hiding her feelings for me. Charlotte kept a straight face each time Lauren pranced around half naked or when she kept touching my arm or shoulder or when she just happened to have a panic attack each time Charlotte and I wanted to be alone. My fiancé did that because I was the one who asked her to endure that. I feel so stupid everytime I think of the fact that I did such a thing to her. How could I do that to her? I shouldn't have insisted that we try to get pregnant. She told me she wanted to make partner. I should have f*****g let it go. I should have known that the second I reminded her that I've always wanted a big family, she would go as far as putting her life in danger just to make that dream of mine come true. And now she refuses to let me talk her out of having this baby. The one time her no remains a no and it has to be when her life is on the line. "I have a steady heartbeat." I heard one of the doctors shouting. "Aaaaaand", they all waited and stared at the screen for a few seconds, "there's the baby's heartbeat as well!" They all almost jumped out of relief. "Mom and baby are fighters!" The doctor said while looking right at me. "They're stable for now." I almost punched the glass I was looking through out of the relief that they're both okay for now. "Mom and baby are fighters." Those words kept repeating in my mind as I watched them prepare to take her elsewhere. Mom and baby are fighters. I kept thinking to myself. Now I can focus on ridding this world of the Mitchells. "Mr Greyson", one of the doctors rushed out of the emergency room, "your fiancé and baby are going to be fine. I'm sure you saw how hard they fought in there. We're taking her to another ward right now. She's been poisoned with a substance that was meant to start shutting down her organs. That's why she fell ill. There was a catalyst in the poison she was given so it started working faster than usually does, but", she smiled with her eyes, "they got here in time and we should be able to flush out the poison. Mom and baby will both be as good as rain and on their way home by tomorrow. The food samples your people brought us saved us A LOT of time so we didn't need to waste time to figure out what was given to them. They're going to be fine." She smiled with an even brighter smile. "Good." I tried to hide the fact that I was about to annihilate an entire family from existence. "What about Jona Nolan? He was brought in before her." The excitement and joy on her face dropped instantly. "He ingested a significant amount of the poison." She started explaining. "By the time he got here, his kidneys were on the verge of shutting down. We're trying our best to reverse that, but he'll live. We have to wait and see the extent of the damage caused to his kidneys and once we have determined that, we can forge a plan forward." She rushed to follow Charlotte to the next ward they were taking her to. My people followed them while I stayed behind to talk to Joshua. This is not a mistake someone like him should be making. I put him next to her because he doesn't make mistakes like this. The man who poisoned her wasn't supposed to get that close to her. He wasn't supposed to be able to poison her f*****g food while Joshua just watched. I could see the disappointment on his own face growing with each step I took. My rage was almost blinding me. I am mad at so many f*****g people right now. Since when is Charlotte so careless about what she eats or drinks in public? How does she have people constantly watching Sandra Mccarthy from afar, but she doesn't even think of having people protect her? But ultimately, without even knowing what Joshua found out, I already know who I'm truly angry at - the Mitchells. "You better have a f*****g good explanation for dropping the ball like this." I gritted through my teeth. "I don't." He said earnestly. "Ms Ericsson had me assemble a team to watch Ms Sandra Mccarthy and at the time when she and Mr Nolan got poisoned, I received a call that there was an attempt on Ms Mccarthy's life. The team got her out in time and the Mitchells think she is dead, but in the few minutes that it took me to take that call and get confirmation..." He closed his eyes momentarily and exhaled through his nose. "I will understand if you wish to replace me." He gave up trying to give me his explanation. I pinched the bridge of my nose. I need to punch something or someone right now. I almost lost her. I just got her back and just like that, I almost lost her. "Just tell me what happened." I started walking towards the elevator and pressed the floor for the VIP suites where they would be taking her and Jona. "The restaurant says it was the man's first day." He stood behind me in the elevator. "They gave us his personal information, but it was all fake. He used a fake identity. We searched the area for him, but he was already gone. We're now trying to find out his true identity and who he was working with." "We know who he is working with and who he is working for!" I roared and punched the elevator door. "I want their assets frozen. I want Lawrence and Liza without a dime to their name. Whatever case Charlotte has made against the Mitchells, I want at least ten more companies filing law suites against them. I want class action law suites against that entire family. I want this whole country to shame them and then forget about them. I want each member of that family to be suicidal, Joshua. I want their lives to become so miserable that they decide to end it and if they don't, then end them. Am I clear?" "Yes." He said calmly. "I'll make sure of it." We reached the VIP floor. She and Jona would each get their own suites.Their rooms are as big as apartments and even I have to admit that they look more like five star hotel rooms and suites than hospital rooms. "Tell me why she and the Mitchells are taking things so far?" I asked him after he closed the door to her suite. "She can't just be doing her job. I read the pleadings and evidence she filed on behalf of the City against the Mitchells. She's been gathering evidence for years. Why?" "I-" I raised a finger to stop him from talking. I could already tell from the look on his face that he was going to tell me that after three months, he still doesn't know what the hell happened to her back then or what the hell is happening right now. This is how people lose their jobs. If something so simple is going to take him so long to figure out, then I might as well fire him. "I'm close to connecting the dots." He spoke out of turn. "I know Ms Ericsson is hiding something that has to do with a hospital near her alma mater. There is such a web of cover ups with so many dead ends and an overwhelming amount of information that's intended to send even the best investigator on an endless wild goose chase, but I'm getting close. Mr Greyson, I promise I will have the answers you're looking for in a month. I know I failed you today, but do not remove me from her side. Something like this won't happen again." I sat down on the grey couch in her suite and rubbed my forehead. I wouldn't trust anyone but him with her safety. He may be older, but Joshua is at least three times better than the best investigator or head of security out there. He's fast, he's strong, he has connections that most people would literally have to die to get and he has a sense of loyalty unlike anyone I've ever met. Plus, he's really good at looking like an unsuspecting driver. "I don't want you taking your eyes off of her." I sighed. "And all the hospitals and doctors we've vetted so far, I want them all vetted again before her surgery. The Mitchells don't have any influence anymore, but I don't want to take any chances." A small smile crept up on his face. He and Charlotte have really gotten close. She'd fight tooth and nail to keep him. "Have you found out why Jona hasn't told her that he's her brother?" I asked him. "Yes." He answered quickly. "Mr Nolan is still in contact with their mother. Ms Ericsson is a very private person. However, I've observed from the one time that I asked her about her parents that she hates them both. She wants nothing to do with them and I suspect that if she found out about Mr Nolan, she would start seeing him as her enemy." "Well is he her enemy?" I asked a question I never thought I'd ask about Jona. "Is he reporting things about her life to their mother? Because I can't have that. She hates her parents, Joshua and rightfully so. They don't deserve to know anything about her or to be a part of her life in any way whatsoever." "From the messages I've read between Mr Nolan and his mother, he's keeping in touch with their mother because he wants to build a relationship with her. He refuses to talk about Ms Ericsson when he talks to her. I don't think he hates his mother as much as Ms Ericsson does. He wants a relationship with both of them, but understands that Ms Ericsson will most likely cut all contact with him if she finds out about this." I sighed into my hand. This is a secret that's bound to come out at one point or the other. When it does, she's going to be crushed. "Thanks, Joshua." I decided to be done with this conversation. All that matters is keeping her safe. Everything else can wait for now. *** She remained unconscious for a few more hours after they brought her to her room. All I did was stare at her while her chest moved up and down as she breathed. It hurts that I lost five years with her. We've been inseparable since we were nine years old. We were supposed to have a family by now. We were supposed to celebrating our fifth wedding anniversary, but we've barely even started building our lives together. I love her, but no matter how hard I try, I can't silence the little voice in my head that keeps telling me she and our baby wouldn't be in danger right now if she hadn't broken up with me. And now, I can't help but wonder if her insisting on keeping secrets is going to keep putting her and our baby's lives in danger. It's either she doesn't trust me or she doesn't want to rely on me ... whatever it is, it's not how I want our relationship to be. I shouldn't have to go behind her back to find answers. Her secrets are going to come between us eventually and if that happens, I don't think I'll be able to wait another five years for her to come back. The moment her eyes opened, she sprung up straight on her bed and started looking around the room frantically. She was shaking and no matter how much I tried to make her look at me and calm down, she didn't seem to notice me. She was already on the brink of tears while I held her face and those gold eyes of hers looked so lost despite how hard I was trying to calm her down. "You're going to leave me." She started crying. "Please, Forest. Please don't leave me." She started crying. She hasn't woken up this shaken up in quite some time. Even with her pregnancy and her wanting to be close to me almost all the time, she hasn't woken up this shaken up and disoriented. I don't understand where this fear is coming from. She was barely back in my life for an hour before I carried her to the car and started kissing her. I could never leave her. "I'm not going to leave you." I said in a soothing voice. "I promise. I'm not going anywhere, Charlie. " There was still fear and confusion in her eyes. She didn't believe me. "I'm sorry!" She started sobbing. "I don't know how to fix myself, Forest. Please, just, please don't leave me. I need you. I-" I climbed into her bed and let her trembling body curl into mine as much as she wanted to. "I'm not going anywhere." I held her as tight as I could and that seemed to start calming her down. She kept pressing her body against mine. She hid her face in the nook of my neck and just kept inhaling deeply while I held her. "I love you." She whispered. "I love you so much, Forest. Please, just bear with me. Okay?" I didn't answer her. I kept running my fingers through her hair and kissed her forehead. I could feel her body tensing up with each passing second no matter how hard she tried to calm down. "Did I lose our baby?" She hid her face further into my neck. "Did Jona die because of me?" She started sobbing without restraint. I tried speaking to her, but her sobs were too painful for me to bear. I will love this woman with all her secrets. She's my soulmate. I just want her to be safe and happy. There's nothing I won't do to keep her safe and happy. I untucked her head from the crook of my neck and made her look at me. She looked scared, confused and so painfully heartbroken. Charlotte Ericsson doesn't cry, but since coming back, she cries infront of me. Whether it's because of the pregnancy hormones or because of the therapy sessions she's mentioned, she trusts me enough to cry infront of me without restraint. Every night, she curls her body into mine and she tries to hide from everything she thinks can hurt her by standing behind me. Whether she realises it or not, ever since she's come back, she's constantly coming to me for protection and that's all I've ever wanted. "They're both okay." I smiled at her. "Our baby is a fighter just like you and Jona is still under observation, but he'll be okay." She almost laughed and started kissing me through her tears. "Thank you", she whispered against my lips. "Thank you so much, Forest." She went back to hiding her face in my neck and inhaling my scent as deeply as she could while I wrapped my arms around her body. "Our baby is a fighter." I felt her lips curl up against my neck. She fell asleep after a few seconds while I held her. Each time I tried getting out of the bed, she grabbed my shirt and refused to let me go, so I stayed with her. We had security on the entire hospital floor, but I couldn't sleep a wink. I spent the entire night holding her, playing with her hair, kissing her and admiring the mother of my unborn child. "Mom and baby are fighters." The doctor's words kept sounding in my head the entire night. I glanced at the little wrapped box that I put on the couch. In all the mayhem, I ordered my people to go buy those tiny pair of shoes I couldn't bring myself to buy earlier today. When I saw how much she and our baby fought to live, I couldn't stop thinking about those shoes. I couldn't deny it anymore that I also want this baby just as much as she does. So I let myself get our baby those shoes. They're a pair of pink, soft sole baby shoes. I doubt they'll fit a newborn, but I can see our baby wearing those shoes and I can see Charlotte holding our baby and me planting gentle kisses on both of their heads. I imagine us having a girl. She'll look exactly like Charlotte and the two of them will probably always gang up against me. They'll always get their way and I'll spend my life spoiling them like no one has seen before. However, Charlotte will probably stop me though. She won't let any of our kids end up spoiled. Those are thoughts I've been trying not to think about since we found out how dangerous this pregnancy is for her and the baby. But after seeing them both survive getting poisoned, how can I not think about a life I've always wanted with her? How can I not think about the family she and I have dreamt of since we were eighteen years old? "I'm never leaving you." I whispered into her hair. "And from now on, I'm going to fight for our baby just like you. I'll protect the two of you."