Forced (1st book in The Forced Series)

Twenty

Twenty

The glow of the sun streaming into the windows irritated Van out of bed. His head felt as heavy as a log whilst he felt for Hazel beside him. But as usual, she had disappeared.

It had been a week since he had cheated, and a week since he saw Hazel. She got up hours before he did, made breakfast then locked herself in her studio. By the time he got home from work, dinner was waiting and so was the empty house. If it weren't for the fact that he kept finding pencils around the house, he would have thought she'd either didn't live there or was dead.

Her absence was starting to wear on him too. Van knew she hated him, knew he hated her, but he was quite certain that their current arrangement of hide-and-seek wasn't going to work out either. He didn't know, or want to know, if she was involved with someone else. The thought had occurred to him several times. What he was positive of, was his need to feel her as he had done on their wedding night.
So as usual, he ate breakfast, showerd then left for work.

"Van. Van. Van!" his head snapped up to look at Dean Foster, one of his business partners, who shared a look with Zash.

"Yeah?" Van got out.

"If you want to go home to your wife, you should go. Zash and I can handle it here."

Van shook his head,"I won't see her if I leave now or tomorrow. She's, avoiding me."

Zash quirked an eyebrow,"China said she saw her last night."

Van gave a bitter laugh,"More than I've seen her in a week."

Dean frowned but didn't ask. Zash, on the other hand, didn't let it go.

"Did she find out about Monday?"

Van shook his head, leaning back in his chair. She might not have been sleeping when he got back that night, but she sure as hell was out of it.

Before he could tell his partners that he was leaving, his office land line ringed. Sighing, and expecting extra work load from HR, Van took up the receiver.

"Steel."

"Van goth Steel?" the gruff voice on the line questioned.

"Yes."

"Your wife, a Mrs. Hazel Steel is at Memorial Hospital. Can you-"

"What's wrong with her?" Van all but shouted into the phone.

"Sir, she's okay. In the ER. You need to come bring her home."

A frown marred Van's forehead. Nevertheless, he thanked the officer for calling.

"What happened?"

Van grabbed his coat, stuffing his wallet and keys into it,"Hazel is in the hospital. I'll call you later."

On the way to the hospital, Van thought over the month he had known Hazel George for. She wasn't the nicest of the bunch but he'd be damned if anything happened to her.

Van arrived at the ER within the hour. It wasn't overly crowded but it took him a while to pin down a nurse to ask for directions. The poor thing blushed a deep red when he held on to her hand, and a flushed a deeper red when she realized he was looking for his wife.

He spotted Hazel's wild hair instantly over the heads of others. She was sitting on a bed, her hair in a slack knot and hand scribbling at her cast. His eyes ran over her as he sighed in relief that she was okay.

"Hazel." he got out gruffly, putting his hand awkwardly on her knee.
A doctor came up to them.

"Mr. Steel, I assume. Don't worry too much. Her body must have just been getting used to her medication and pregnancy. That's why she fainted."

Van's eyes bulged,"What?"

He turned away from the doctor to the weary eyed Hazel.

"You're p-pregnant?"

Hazel swallowed nervously, feeling a wave of exhaustion hitting her. She dared not look into Van's eyes, by the feel of it burning through her skull, she knew that he wasn't too happy. Her worst fear was realized.

"But. You- you didn't tell." his anger was replaced by bewilderment which soon turned to rage.

"What were you planning on doing? Did you plan on getting rid of our child?" Van hissed.

The doctor had disappeared by then, not wanting to eavesdrop.

Hazel swallowed again, her nails digging into her hand. Getting rid of the fetus was on her mind, but she couldn't bring herself to do it. Throughout her whole life, a baby was the only human being that hadn't betrayed her. They were joy within themselves. Hazel knew that she wouldn't be able to live with herself if she got rid of her child.

A tear traveled down her face,"No."

Van scoffed,"Don't start with the water works. When were you gonna tell me? When it was born?"

His hands grabbed at his ruffled hair, yanking at the strands. A vein in his neck throbbed, looking ready to pop. Van tried -he honestly did- to regain self control but the situation knocked him off his feet.

"What's going through that mind of yours huh? What?"

Hazel's right arm was going numb, and she felt blood in the middle but ignored it. Her eyes couldn't meet Van's. She knew what fury looked like, she had been foolish enough to bring that out in three men in her life and she couldn't bare to see it in Van's eyes.

Out of all that she knew, Van was by far the nicest. He made jokes out of things and gave her deadpan answers when he was annoyed.

Closing her eyes, Hazel said."I wasn't going to do anything."

The anger shook in Van's voice,"No more bullshit. You do as I say. You don't leave the house without my knowledge, hell, you don't ***king pee without my permission. You may not want me, but I'll be damned if you let your hatred for me harm my baby in any way."

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