fantasty kiss, raj say hello [bill gates best books .TXT] 📗

was going to be painful. I yelped as I lost my footing and fell off the dock and onto the frozen lake. Things went a little hazy as my back met the ice then my head.
I looked up at the grey sky a little dazed with the loud high pitch ringing in my ears. But what was louder than the ringing was the sound of the thin ice cracking under my body. I fell through before I could get the strength to stand.
When I fell through I tried my best to swim to the top but I couldn’t find the opening. The water was too cold for me to open my eyes and for my body to want to save itself. My head was throbbing and I was finding it harder and harder to focus. Finally I felt my body numb and to be honest I didn’t care.
I was certain I was drowning and I only found the irony suitable. Things slowly went dark as I couldn’t hold my breath anymore.
Then all at once I could breathe again. I was choking on the air that was being forced into my lungs and the freezing water that was leaving them. Devin’s dripping face hovered above mine as he said something my ears couldn’t hear. His face was concerned and began to fade away and get darker.

  Chapter Forty-Eight

I woke groggily and with a headache.
“Layla?” A familiar voice asked next to me.
“Devin?” I croaked rolling my head towards the voice. My vision hadn’t adjusted to the bright lights above me.
The person hesitated then replied, “No, it’s papa.”
Now I tensed. Where was I? It was silent and smelt somewhat stale. I definitely wasn’t at the dock anymore
“Papa?” I tried to sit up only to have a strong hand push my arm back down. “What happened?”
My eyes finally adjusted and I could now tell I was lying on a hospital bed. The three walls were a light blue but the one with the door was green and had a large window with large blinds covering it.
“Layla,” he said deflating. “Is there something you’d like to tell me?”
I didn’t say anything. What did he know?
“Layla,” he said again. “Why…why were you with Devin and Jack at the dock?”
Dammit.
“Jack and I had an English project. We went to the dock to ask Mr. Simmons…”
I broke off ass my father lowered his head in disappointment. “That’s not what they told me. Actually neither of them really said anything but are you really going to lie to me in your condition? Did you think you could hide this from me? And for how long, Layla?”
“What are you talking about?”
“Please, don’t act stupid. You can’t tell me you didn’t know you were pregnant.”
This shocked me. “Pregnant?” I couldn’t- No, there was no…We had been so careful.
“Words cannot express how…” He sighed. “Why have you been lying? Who’s the father? It’s the boy isn’t. Jack. I could just kill him.”
I didn’t say anything. I didn’t think there was anything I could say to make this situation any better. Even if I could think of something, he probably wouldn’t believe me. Everything seemed to be crumbling down around me. My relationship with Devin, with Jack, my honor…my life…
It all seemed worth it at first, but now?
I looked away from him, trying my best to keep the tears from pooling over but failed.
“I’m sorry.”
He stood abruptly. “You can’t just cry your way out of this one, Layla. This is why I’ve tried my best to shelter you. Because when you’re out on your own you act…you don’t know how to say no. What was the one thing you mother and I taught you? Be your own person. Since we moved here you’ve…you’ve changed. I thought you were just maturing, hell, I guess you were. How long have you been…been…”
I looked at him. “For a while. Jack and I have been seeing each other for a while.”
“When were you going to tell me?”
“I wasn’t. It wasn’t supposed to happen like this.”
“How long have you known you were pregnant? Geez, Layla. You just went to the doctor. Did you tell them. Please tell me you told them so they could help you.”
I shook my head. “I didn’t know.”
“You didn’t know. You didn’t know? How the hell could you have not known? You’ve been having sex, no? Exactly, why the hell weren’t you being careful?”
“We were.” I mumbled. I was certain we were.
He rubbed his forehead.
“Papa, you need to calm down.”
His stare was stern and his eye twitched slightly. “Do not tell me to be calm. My baby is have a baby.”
“I am not a child anymore, papa.” I sighed.
“Clearly.” He scoffed. “But that didn’t stop you from making childish decisions.”
He turned and walked away from my bed. “I don’t know what you all were doing out there but you better be glad Devin jumped in after you. Apparently you little boyfriend was going to let you drown.”
“Jack can’t swim.” I explained, feeling tired. “He didn’t mean to make me fall off the dock.”
“He made you fall off? He’s the reason you’re here, fighting for your life?”
I rolled my eyes. Clearly I wasn’t dying. I was cold, yes. A bit of a headache, sure. My throat even hurt a bit. But dying I was not. Right?
There was a knock on the door, or I guess on the door frame since there wasn’t really a door there that I could see. My father turned, revealing Devin in sweats and a tee, wrapped in a heating blanket. There was a small towel on his shoulders but I could tell his hair was still a bit wet.
“Are you alright?” He asked staying in the doorway.
I turned my head away from him and stared at where my father once sat. It was a moment before I answered him. “I’m fine.”
“Layla…I didn’t mean…”
“What’s going on here?” My father asked causing us both to look his way.
“Nothing.” I answered a bit too quickly. “It’s nothing, papa. Mr. Simmons was just leaving.”
He stared at me for a moment. My eyes met the blanket that covered me quite a few times as I tried not to look at Devin, knowing if I did the waterworks would start all over again.
I met my father’s gaze once more and realized he wasn’t just looking at me curiously, he was putting two and two together.
His face turned a shade of red I hadn’t seen in years as he turned to Devin. “You son of a bitch. What the hell did you do?”
Devin said nothing as he stepped inside the room a bit more. He looked at me once more, eyes pleading.
“Is it true?” He asked me, ignoring my father’s question.
As I wiped away the stray tear that had escaped from the corner of my eye, he sighed. Though he wasn’t too upset, I could see the corner of his mouth twitch as he held back a smile. There was also that glimmer of hope in his emerald eyes.
Devin took a step towards me only to have my father intervene. He blocked Devin’s path and I quickly sat up despite the pain in my stomach and the fuzzy edges around the world. Before I could stop him, my father grabbed Devin and thrust him roughly against the wall.
“What the hell did you do to my daughter?” His voice was low and dangerous. “What the hell is going on here?”
I got out of bed, wobbling a bit as the world spun, and quickly went to my father. I wasn’t exactly sure what I was going to, if I should have done anything. Devin lied to me, made me feel like an idiot for trusting him. For letting him into my life. I should have let my father rough him up, just to scare him, but I was certain we would gain unneeded attention. And despite the fact Devin had lied to me, cheated on me…I still felt something for him. I still loved him. I didn’t want to see him harmed. Let alone, locked away.
“Papa,” I pleaded, tears streaming down my face and clutching one of the arms that had Devin pinned against the wall. Devin didn’t move, I doubted he would even if he could. “Let him go. You can’t hurt him.”
“And why not, Layla? Did he force you to..” He slammed Devin against the wall once more and Devin just took it. “Tell me what’s going on, dammit! Tell me!”
“I love her.” Devin blurted. “Alright? I’m in love with your daughter.”
I clutched my father’s arm a bit tighter as the pain in my head intensified. When he pulled back his hand to connect his fist with Devin face, my grip slipped and my knees went weak. Black splotches danced behind my eyes and my vision blurred even more as I slumped to the floor.
It was all just too much to take in. I was cold, the pain in my stomach and lower back had returned and my body just felt…weak. My arms and legs hurt but not as much as the pain in my chest. I was certain the crying I was doing wasn’t helping any. My chest burned and there was a pain somewhere in there. A pain far worse than all the others.
“Layla?” My father asked turning his attention on me. I could feel his warm hands on my chilled arms as I put one hand to my eyes and the other to clutch my aching chest. “Get a nurse, something’s not right.”
I couldn’t stop my sobbing and it only made the pain in my chest worse, making it harder for me to breathe. My father pulled me to his chest and rocked me just as he had when I was a child and had scraped my knee resulting in the same blubbering. Just like when I was smaller, it calmed me a bit but now only added to the pain in my stomach. I didn’t tell him this, though.
I worked hard to get my breathing under control knowing that if I didn’t I’d pass out.
Once my sobbing ceased a bit my father stoked my hair gently. “Everything’s alright now. It’s…okay. You’re okay. It’s going to be fine. We’re going to be fine.”
He kept repeating his words, and I knew he only did this to help himself. He needed to know that everything was going to be alright, that we would make it out of this situation.
“Is she alright?” A female voice asked entering the room. “Why is she out of bed?”
I opened my eyes as they helped me from the floor and back to bed.
Devin was in the doorway again while my father watched as the nurse placed a hand to my forehead.
“She’s clammy. Let me get a warm blanket. In the mean time, no stress and no more getting out of bed. The cold water really did a number on your body’s system. We don’t want you going into shock.”
My father nodded as she left.
“Layla…”
“Get out.” My father cut Devin off. “Get out, now. It is all I can do to stand next to my impregnated daughter and not beat you to a pulp. Get out, or I will call the cops.”
I noticed that my father said or, not and. I was certain Devin realized that too because after a moment of hesitation he left.
My father took his place next to me and watched me as I watched him.
“What has he done to you?” It was a question but it