The Surrogate Is My Mistress|✔︎

Chapter 38: In Your Arms

Mercedes

Rebecca looks at me with astonished eyes when she wakes up. I take heavy breathes as she looks at me with the blood coming from her forehead. "What the fuck have you done" she screams as she looks around. "What" she says as she sees the pieces of the plate and her phone. She starts slapping Franklin's face who fainted a while ago. "What did you do" she says as she strangles me. I desperately gasp for air before I grab her hair. As I pull her down she strangles me tighter. "Do it. Go ahead and fucking do. I have nothing to lose" I say as she starts laughing. 

I had made peace with the fact that James might not come in time. If the baby dies at least I would not be the one to be blamed. "Do it bitch" I say as I scream from the contractions. She lets go of my throat as she hears police sirens outside the house. "NYPD" I hear as tears of joy start falling down my cheeks. "No" Rebecca screams as they start running into the house. I try to stay calm as they start going around the room. "Merc" I hear James' voice. "James" I say as I scream again. I feel his arms around my body and hug him back. "I'm so sorry" he cries as he puts his head on my shoulders.

James

I sit in the hospital's hallway as I wait for Cathy to show up. As I'm about to go back into Mercedes' room I hear Cathy's voice. "How is she" Cathy asks as she stands next to me. "Okay" I respond as I notice McKenzie behind her. "I'll give you two a moment" she says as she sees me looking at him. "What do you want" I ask impatiently. I am not proud for proving him wrong at all. That was the last thing I wanted to do. Now here we are pathetically looking at each other. "I'm sorry man" he says with a fruit basket in his hand. "Rebecca isn't here they took her to some mental hospital" I say dismissively. "I know. They called me this morning" he says. "I'm getting a divorce James" he says as he starts crying. I wrap my arms around him as he cries onto my shoulder. "Do you want to go get something to eat" I say and he nods. I grab the fruit basket and walk into Mercedes' room. "I'll be back soon. McKenzie and I are going to get something to eat. Would you guys like something" I ask before leaving the room. "McDonald's" Mercedes responds. I give a little chuckle before going back to McKenzie. 

We drive in silence as we're on our way to the nearest restaurant.  As we settle in we both order some food. "Are you better" I ask as he puts down his phone. "Yea I'm okay." he says before taking a sip of his beer. "It's been going on for months. She had this obsession with Mercedes" he says and I chuckle nervously. "But that's not why we're separating." he says and starts fiddling with his glass. "I love her James, I really do. But these stunts she keeps pulling are really getting old. I can't keep landing in the press because of stupid issues like this" he says with irritation in his eyes. 

"Maybe this mental institution will help her" I say and he laughs. "I know how Rebecca is. She won't let go until she gets the last laugh. Do you know how much money I've paid to get her out of situations like these?" he says as the waiter puts our food on the table. "She might get jail time. You know that right" I say and he sighs. He nod before eating one of his fries.

Mercedes

"James kept saying he had a bad feeling about this and I kept insisting you were okay. I feel like such an idiot. For leaving you when you're so vulnerable and for trusting Rebecca" she keeps saying as we go through the book of baby names. "Have you thought about baby names yet" I say trying to change the subject. "No first name but his middle name is definitely going to be James." she says with a little smile.

"I've always wanted to name my baby boy Levi. It means miracle or blessing. And having a baby is truly a blessing. You're blessed Cathy" I say and she looks at me with a smile. "That's beautiful" she says with a smile. "I know it isn't my place to ask but what did Rebecca say to you. Why did she want to kidnap you and the baby" she asks with curiosity in her eyes. I take a deep breath as the horrible memories come back. "She said she wanted to take something very important from you like you took James from her. She feels she was forced to live in the shadow of your perfect life and when she finally had James she had something you didn't. And you took that from her too because you always got what you wanted." I say and Cathy stands up.

"That's too bad because I feel the same way" she says to my surprise. I sit up straight as she's about to give me the tea. "Rebecca was the only real friend I had and I adored her. You know her family might have not been the richest but they had each other. She had a loving mother and father and amazing siblings. I did my best in everything just to make my parents see me and be proud of me, but they had bigger things to worry about." she says as she fiddles with my bottle of water. "They controlled my whole life then disowned me when I finally stood up to them. They refused to pay for my college studies if I didn't study business. I wanted to do art and guess who paid for that. Rebecca's parents. They took me as their own, had I known it made her feel this way..." she says in a sad tone. I find myself actually feeling sorry for her. "Cathy what she feels like does not justify any of this" I say and she looks up at me. "Go see her and tell her how you feel. Maybe that'll make things between you two better" I say and she nods her head.