Melyssa Grant, part 2 (I can't get the full current manuscript up.)

[debra_benge]

Kenneth's roar startled her, and she clutched at her belly, where the baby had jumped as well. "I'm gonna kill him!"

 "What? Why?" Lyssa asked, starting to get very tired of the word ‘why'.

 "He told me he was living with a pregnant woman named Melyssa, but I didn't know it was you! I thought your name was Lyssa!"

 "It is. Or my nickname, anyway. It's what I was always called growing up," Lyssa replied, then asked, "You've been talking to John?"

 "John's my damn best friend, or so I thought! Why the hell didn't he tell me you were the pregnant woman he was living with?" Kenneth ranted.

"Kenneth, keep your voice down. These curtains don't exactly add to the privacy of a conversation. John probably didn't tell you because I didn't tell him who the father of the baby is. I haven't told anyone. I didn't realize you guys were such good friends." Lyssa said, frowning slightly. Things were starting to develop between her and John, a situation she was beginning to thoroughly enjoy, and Kenneth's presence may prove to be a hindrance.

 Kenneth flipped out his cell phone again, and punched in a speed dial number, waiting impatiently for the recipient of his call to answer. "John, you asshole! Why didn't you say your Melyssa is also called Lyssa?"

Lyssa couldn't hear the reply, but figured it went something like, "Because I started out calling her Melyssa, and it's habit to call her by her full name. Why?"

"Because she's the one I said I'd made the mistake of hooking up with my last night in town, and I find out today she's pregnant, with my child!" He paused, listening to John on the other end, then said, "Yeah. I'm the scum that knocked her up and left. Is that the way she put it?" Kenneth's hot eyes burned when he looked at Lyssa, who sat calmly sipping her water with a slight smirk on her face. She thought again that his black eyes were very attractive, and while they'd caused shivers to run up and down her very buzzed body that night six months ago, they didn't compare to John's hazel eyes.

She could imagine John saying, "No. She always just said it was a passing acquaintance and she got a bit more than she'd bargained for the night of fun." It was always what she said, refusing to condemn the father of her child. There had never been any doubt that she'd keep the baby, and she refused to hold the father completely responsible, since she'd been there, too, and had been a willing participant. She had no hard feelings toward Kenneth. She just wasn't sure what her feelings for him were.

Kenneth was quiet for longer than it would take John to say that, so Lyssa assumed he was saying more. After listening for a bit, he sighed, "Yeah, okay. Well, you're going to want to come to the hospital in a bit. Lyssa got hurt and will be getting released in a while. She'll need a ride home." Another pause, then, "Yeah, she's awake. Here." Kenneth passed the phone to Lyssa.

Lyssa took it. "John?"

"Melyssa! Are you okay? Is Bean okay?" John asked, his voice tense with worry, drawing a smile from Lyssa for the use of his nickname for the baby.

"We're both fine. I should be getting out of here in an hour at the most. I had to come by ambulance, though, so can you come get me? We'll have to take Kenneth back to his vehicle, too, but then we can go home."

"You're sure you're both okay?" John asked again.

"The doctors here say we're good. I'll meet up with Shanna as soon as I can, and have her check me out. Will you come get me?" Lyssa let some of her weariness seep into her voice, hoping to make him hurry.

"I'll be there as soon as I can. The streets are pretty bad, so I'm going to put the chains on the truck before I head over, so give me an extra twenty minutes or so. I'll call before I leave the house. Do you need anything before I come?"

"No, just get here. You know how I feel about hospitals and prenatal care. They've been really good, but I'd rather get home and into my own bed, where I can get comfortable. You'll have to get groceries tomorrow. I know you already stocked your part, but I left the store before I could stock my part. I've got a full day tomorrow, and probably won't have the energy to do grocery shopping by the time I'm done." Lyssa said, shifting on the bed. She listened to John for a moment longer, then passed the phone back to Kenneth saying, "He wants to talk to you again."

Kenneth accepted his cell phone and listened to John again for a few minutes, while watching Lyssa take a blanket off, fold it awkwardly, and tuck it behind her back, before using the buttons to incline the head of the bed so she was sitting up more. "John, we'll talk about it later. There's a lot of talking that Lyssa and I are going to have to be doing." He paused then said, "No, John, later." His voice was full of frustration. Lyssa grinned inwardly, figuring John was pushing for answers, much as he'd done with her.

Kenneth closed his phone and tucked it back inside his khaki trousers before asking, "Should you be moving around like that?"

Lyssa sighed and said, "Are you going to be questioning my every move?"

"Probably, until I read up on this. Pretty much all I know about pregnancy is how it starts, how long it takes, vaguely how it ends, and that there are a lot of things you shouldn't do or eat, but no specifics." Kenneth said, shrugging, a strange light in his eyes making Lyssa think there was more than what he was saying.

Lyssa sighed again. "Well, stop. It's annoying. I've made it this far by myself, I think I know what I'm doing by now. My back hurts because of the fall and the fact that this bed is about as comfortable as a piece of plywood. I'm hungry, I'm tired, and I have to pee."

A nurse had just pushed the curtain back and heard her last comment. "You're looking pretty good on the monitors, so if you'd like, we can unhook you, and you can go down the hall to the ladies room. How are you feeling, besides hungry, tired, and needing to pee?"

"My back is a little sore, but I don't really think it's anything important. My back would be sore from that landing whether I was pregnant or not," Lyssa said with an unreadable glance at Kenneth.

"I agree. You'll have some sore muscles for a while, but should be fine. Lets get you unhooked from all this," she said, moving efficiently over and after baring just Lyssa's belly popped loose the two bands recording the baby's heart rate and the lack of contractions, then took the blood pressure cuff off Lyssa's right arm. Lyssa looked pointedly at Kenneth who looked back blankly.

"Go away, Kenneth. Let me get at least a robe on. I'm a little bare under this gown," Lyssa said, raising her eyebrows at him.

He sighed. "It's not like I haven't seen it before."

"Get out, Kenneth. Go wait outside for John. Or you could walk back to the Food Mart, for all I care, but get out!" Lyssa said, annoyed.

"Are you sure you should be alone? I mean, what if you get dizzy? Should you be walking that far?" Kenneth asked, stepping toward her, as though to help her.

The nurse gave him a dirty look. "What am I? Invisible? She's not alone, and yes, when it comes down to it, she can be alone, she should walk that far, and I seriously doubt Miss Grant is stupid enough to try to move around a whole lot when she's dizzy. Dizzy spells are common in pregnant women, and the smart ones learn to sit still until it's over, then go about their business. Now, my patient said to get out. She is my priority, so you need to leave. Now." The nurse turned from helping Lyssa, to physically pushing Kenneth out of the curtained area, before closing the curtain in his shocked and angry face. Lyssa could hear him spluttering from the other side of the curtain and waited a moment before throwing off the blankets, to make sure he wasn't going to barge back in. The nurse, after a moment, said, "Go ahead and put your own clothes back on. You'll be more comfortable, and you'll get out of here that much faster, when you sign your release papers."

Lyssa grinned, and after the nurse turned her back, quickly pulled her clothes back on, grateful for the nurse that had taken and dried them for her. Lyssa sat down in the chair and pulled her socks and boots back on, grunting when she leaned down to tie her boots. Kenneth, listening on the other side of the curtain, shoved through, his face dark with anger. "Are you okay?"

"I'm tying my boots, you idiot. You know, I'm pregnant, not dying. You need to just back the hell off and leave me alone. You didn't even know about this kid six hours ago, and now you act like a paranoid hypochondriac by proxy! I'm fine. The baby is fine. I'm an adult, and don't need to be treated like an idiot. If you can't leave me alone, you can't be around me," Lyssa huffed out the words, finished tying her shoes and carefully stood up. When no dizzy spell came, she brushed past him, and stomped down the hall in the direction the nurse blandly pointed. Kenneth was following immediately on her heels, his hands raised as if he was going to catch her. She had to physically push him back out of the bathroom when she got there, and quickly locked the door behind her. She was glad she'd gotten it locked when she did, because she could hear the knob rattle.

"Lyssa, you shouldn't lock the door like that! What if you pass out again? I can't get in to help you!"

Lyssa ground her teeth together and said, "Kenneth, let me pee in peace!" She could hear him sigh through the door and wondered how long he'd be a pain in her butt. When she was done, she washed her hands, and after looking in the mirror, saw pale splatters of mud from the parking lot. She washed her face, too, and was drying it when Kenneth knocked, again.

"Are you okay? You're taking an awfully long time in there! Do I need to call a doctor?" Kenneth's voice was deep with worry.

"No! Unlike you, Kenneth, I can't just whip it out and drain the tank! There's more rearranging that has to be done to clothing for women! It doesn't help that I have extra stuff in here, clogging up the works! I'll say it one more time! Back the hell off!!" Her last words were shouted in his face as she opened the door.

He stumbled backward a few steps and frowned. "You took a hell of a bad fall, as well as getting knocked out! If you're not going to take care of yourself, someone has to!" Anger made Kenneth's voice grind out like gravel.

"How dare you act like it's all my fault! I fell because you grabbed me! I hit my head, because you head-butted me! If anyone is at fault it's you! I tried to contact you, but you're a freak, and have your friends bullied into not giving out your contact info, and I wasn't about to discuss private matters with all and sundry! If you hadn't snuck out at the butt-crack of dawn, leaving me asleep, I would have exchanged phone numbers with you! From where I'm standing, about ninety percent of this is your fault! The only reason I don't say it's all your fault is because I was a willing participant in the activities that resulted in this!!" Lyssa angrily gestured at her belly, once again attractively clad in her emerald green sweater. Kenneth noticed in passing that she was still a very beautiful woman, despite her gravidity, and hadn't gained much weight. That thought had him frowning again, but he focused on her words.

He opened his mouth, thought harder about what she said, and couldn't find anything to argue with, since she was technically right on all points. The nurse that had helped Lyssa earlier showed up at his elbow, a devil's scowl on her face. "I'd say the biggest thing she's in danger of tonight, is being arrested for murder! You're one of the most annoying, ill-educated fathers-to-be I've ever met! Go to the library, check out some books on pregnancy and read up so you're not driving this poor woman batty! Now get out. If you're her ride home, she'll meet you in the lobby. If you're not, call her tomorrow, after you've done some researching!" The woman grabbed him by the arm and physically steered him out.

Lyssa let out a sigh of relief and made her way back to the curtained off cubicle she'd been assigned. The doctor was waiting for her with her discharge instructions, and after she signed the papers, she was ready to go. She found a text from John on her phone, and was glad to see he was on his way. Figuring it would take him about half an hour to get to the hospital, with the way the roads were, if they were bad enough he had to put chains on. "Can I wait back here for about twenty minutes?"

"Don't feel like putting up with your male friend?" The doctor asked with a knowing grin.

"No. I guess you heard him," Lyssa said ruefully.

"Everything. I think everyone in this area heard him." Lyssa shook her head at the doctor's words and sighed. "We've got some fairly comfortable chairs over around the corner that you're welcome to wait in. I can even let the ladies at the front know you're waiting back here for your ride, if you want to completely avoid the man."

Lyssa seriously considered it, but shook her head after a moment and said, "No. My ride is his ride. As much as I'd like to just get away from him for the night, it's just not possible. I'm afraid he's going to be around for quite a while." She followed the doctor to the waiting room down the hall and settled into one of the plush chairs in a dim corner with a moan and a sigh.

She woke to John shaking her and saying gently, "Melyssa, wake up! Its time to go home."

"Hmmm? Oh! John, I'm sorry! I didn't mean to fall asleep!" Lyssa shifted and groaned. "Ohhh, my back is killing me! Help me up, please?" John nodded and extended his hands to pull her to her feet. He levered her to her feet slowly once her hands were gripped firmly in his, then put his arm around her waist to help support her while she walked slowly and stiffly toward the door.

"Kenneth is waiting for us in the truck. I see you left your jacket in your truck again," John teased.

Lyssa grinned up into his face, and let herself settle into the circle of his arm. He grinned back and took advantage of the situation and kissed her quickly on the lips, no more than a quick press of his lips to hers. When her smile only brightened, he did it again, helped her outside, and into his truck. Because he had a single cab truck, and Kenneth was even taller than Johns' 6'2", Lyssa had no choice but to sit in the middle. John lifted her up and deposited her carefully on the seat and helped her scoot over. Kenneth, who got his hands smacked away when he tried to help, frowned at the obvious preference she was showing for his friend. He mentally added that to the list of things he wanted to discuss with her.

"John will you stop at that new burger place so I can get something to eat? I'm starving." Lyssa asked as John carefully pulled out onto the street running in front of the small hospital.

"Sure. I could go for one of their shakes myself. You joining us, Ken, or do you want me to take you to your truck so you can get back to the Inn?" John asked, keeping his eyes on the road.