Jilted at the Altar

Chapter Ten

Dalton removed his tie and suit jacket as he turned on the news channel on the LED in his hotel suite. He had traveled to Boston on a business deal. He had come this morning and was planning on leaving by tomorrow afternoon.

He stripped out of his suit and wrapped a towel around waist as he waited for the water to warm up in the shower.

His phone pinged and he looked at the text

"Hey babe, when do you want to meet again? Missing your hot bod, xoxo"

Dalton ignored the text from Jessica, a woman back in New York he had met in a club and hooked up with a couple of times. He couldn't settle down with one woman because those steel grey orbs and auburn tresses refused to release him.

He threw the phone back on the bed but it started ringing and Aidden's name lighted up the screen.

"What do you want Clark?"

"What crawled up your ass and died?"

"Get to the point"

"Sienna told me you were in town. I needed a favor"

"What?"

"Can you go check up on Ariella? I  promised mom I would go tonight but I have two deadlines for general surgery assignments tomorrow and Sienna also needs help on her Pathology reports. I will go visit her later in the week. Plus it would be change for her"

Dalton closed his eyes and took a deep breath. He knew through Sienna that Ariella wasn't doing well. She was in Boston, locked up in her apartment.

"Yeah alright"

"Thanks man."

Dalton hung up and grabbed a pair of jeans and a jacket. He hurriedly dressed up. What was he suppose to do when he reached there? He was scared to see what her current condition was. Kaden was still off grid and now rather than worrying and missing his best friend, he was pissed. Who ran away like that? What were the circumstances that he couldn't tackle head on?

Dalton got into his car as the valet brought it around. He grabbed dinner for two from a local diner and parked outside the building complex. He sat in his car and looked at the building. They had all lived here. However now that William had also moved back to NYC for his residency, they had sold the apartment here.

Dalton grabbed the food and stepped out. He got into the elevator and rode to her floor. He paused outside her door and then pressed the doorbell reluctantly.

Ariella was sitting in the living room, a little too drunk. She was flipping through the TV channels which were on mute. The doorbell startled her and she frowned at the door. Azalea had checked up on her day before yesterday. Who could it be now? It rang out again and Ariella thought about simply ignoring her. The room was already tilting and swaying.

"Ariella!"

The voice registered through her alcohol hazed brain. Dalton? What was he doing here? She hadn't seen him since the day of the wedding.

She staggered to the door and pulled it open.

Dalton sucked in a sharp breath as his mind registered the woman in front of him. He couldn't find Ariella in this woman. Her steel grey eyes were dull and dazed. Her auburn hair had lost its luster and was stuck to her scalp, greasy. Her cheeks were sunken in and she was all bones.

"Ariella?"

"So you are also on the "checking up on me" squad?"

"You are drunk" Dalton said as he stepped in. He watched her sway and stagger towards the living room.

"Good observation Mr. Reynolds" Ariella spun to face him but lost her balance and crashed on the sofa.

Dalton rushed forward to steady her. He felt lost. She was broken beyond repair. The whole place smelled of alcohol. He didn't even want to think of the current condition of her liver.

Ariella tried to focus on Dalton's face but she felt dizzy and a wave of nausea swept over her.

"Dalton..." The next moment she felt a severe pain shoot through her abdomen and she screamed out at the pain.

"Ariella!" Dalton kneeled down next to her. She was screaming out in pain. He hurriedly gathered her in his arms and dashed out of the apartment, rushing to his car.

He reached the lobby when Ariella threw up.

Dalton was now scared. He could feel her cold sweat on his forearms through her t shirt.

He removed his jacket and bundled her in it. He cleaned her face with the sleeve of the jacket and buckled her in.

"Kaden...it is paining...take me to a doctor"

Dalton simply closed the door and rushed to the driver side. He drove like madman to the hospital. He parked outside the emergency bay and hurriedly took her inside. A nurse and a doctor rushed to their side when they heard Ariella's blood curling screams.

"What is wrong with her?" Dalton asked looking at the doctor.

"We need to run an immediate examination." he replied as he checked her vitals and wheeled away her stretcher.

"Sir, this way please" One of the nurses motioned him and handed him a bunch of forms.

"Fill them immediately please"

Dalton nodded and took the forms. He pulled out his phone and called Aidden. He informed him of the current situation. He told him to stay on the line as he asked him a few questions from the forms he wasn't aware of like her allergies and past medical history.

He finished filling out the forms and handed them to the nurse. He started pacing the waiting room. The nurse who had gone with the doctor walked by and he called out to her.

"Is Ariella okay?"

"The doctor is still carrying out the examination. She has been given sedatives for her pain"

Dalton nodded and ran a hand through his hair. Why hadn't anyone objected on the amount of alcohol she was consuming? He had seen several empty bottles of whiskey and vodka at her place and even now she was wasted.

"What have you done to her Kaden?" Dalton thought, anger coiling his muscles.

"Dalton!"  Sienna saw her brother pacing a hole in the carpet.

Dalton stopped pacing and looked up as his sister, Sienna and Aidden rushed up to him.

"What happened to Ari?" Aidden asked.

"I went over to her place. She was wasted and then the next minute she had this severe pain in abdomen and started throwing up. I rushed her to the hospital" Dalton said looking at Aidden's worried face. "Why isn't she in New York with your folks?" Dalton asked him.

"She doesn't want to go" Aidden replied, pressing his temples. He had tried talking to her so many times especially about the way she was wasting away with booze and poor diet.

"Force her" Dalton shot at him.

"She is a grown woman. You can't just drag her back" Aidden replied.

"You told your parents?"

"Yes. They are on their way" Aidden replied as he sat down and Sienna sat down next to him, rubbing his back. His mother had started crying and he knew his dad would let all hell loose.

Dalton sighed and prayed for her health. He had started pacing again as Aidden and Sienna sat there.

"Sit down" Sienna told him but he couldn't. The doctor showed up half an hour later.

"Is she okay?" Dalton asked as they rushed to the doctor.

"Are you aware that your fiancée is almost two months pregnant?"

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