"What is going on?" Whitney asked as soon as he was out of earshot.
"My services have been retained by someone else apparently," Fallon said and rushed away to the staff quarters, not willing to endure the Whitney scrutiny.
She took a warm bath and put on a simple loose fitting top and leggings. In the half hour that doctor Cahill had given her, she was knocking on the room three door.
He opened the door and ushered her in. The room was now transformed into a temporary hospital room. The ultrasound machine was set up with a computer on the table. There were some gloves too and what looked like rows of pill bottles.
"Please lie down," he said, his tone professional.
He went through the motions that he had gone through during her visit at the clinic and after a few minutes of listening, he turned the computer to her and showed her the two heartbeats on the screen.
He smiled, "Seems like the kids are alright."
"Er, thank you," Fallon said. "But..."
"No."
"I didn't even say anything."
"You are not allowed to leave the villa unless you are with Gina and her bodyguard and you are going to class."
"You can't just waltz in here and try to control my life! You are going to be gone in two weeks, I need to learn how to do things on my own."
"Two weeks is enough time to have your security guaranteed. I am not going to let you endanger the lives of those babies."
"Why do you care? You are not their father."
"With the way your darling Tom and family are behaving, I might as well be. Get some rest."
He closed the door softly behind him, leaving her gaping at him. She had known he was intense, no man could have such an aura around him and not be intense, but she had not experienced the extent of it until now. He was no longer requesting, or telling her to 'humor him' he was now straight up commandeering her life. She hated to think that she was letting him get away with it. She hated it even more that she kind of liked it. It felt as if for the first time in her life, someone was letting her take the backseat and relax and be worry free.
Gina came in a few minutes later, "Are you okay? Why didn't you tell me?"
"Tell you what?"
"That you are pregnant?"
"I didn't think it was that important to bring up."
"Well, it is important to me."
"Why? You hardly even know me."
"You seem important to my brother and therefore important to me."
Fallon gave a dry laugh, "Me? Important to your brother? Nah."
"I have known my brother for twenty one years now and in all the time I have known him, I have seen him as shaken as he was when he met us at the campus. Trust me, you matter to him."
"I am just a patient. A non paying one for that matter, why does he care?"
"Only he knows. Let's go take some lunch, I have ordered take out. Oh, and I invited your sister over. I hope you do not mind?"
"My sister? How..."
"When you left me behind I went to find her to learn a little bit about her volunteer work and then Taylor called me to tell me Stephanie may try to attack her too so I just invited her over. She can stay until the issue is sorted out."
Fallon felt exasperated, "There is no sorting it out, Steve wants money and money he must get, there is no other way."
"If that is how you are going to handle your children's demands, don't bother having them because you are going to suck as a mom."
"He is not my child."
"But he is a person and you seem to think the world will come to an end if you don't do as he says."
"You don't know Steve."
"Maybe I don't, but I know for sure that I cannot seat still and let him tell me what to do just because he has got a small knife and an even smaller dick."
Fallon followed Gina downstairs where she found Mira seated at the Villa's kitchen, boxes and boxes of Chinese takeout lining the table. Mira was eating from one of them while she edited something out on her computer. She looked up when Fallon entered, her face concerned.
"You okay Alloy?"
"Yeah,I guess so," Fallon replied twirling her chopsticks as she took dig into one of the boxes.
"I have just thought of the best idea ever," Mina said her eyes lighting up, "For our project, a first hand take on the effects of paparazzi on a celebrity life, using Gina Fairway as our primary source of research."
Fallon looked at Gina apprehensively but was surprised to find the superstar smiling.
"You are willing to do that?"
"I wasn't at first but Mina convinced me."
"And we can record this while she does ballet technique training for the young gymnasts at the campus gym."
Fallon wanted to argue that Gina had already done enough for them but she realized that Mina was already recording Gina eating and she knew it was a lost cause.
"Where is your brother?"asked Fallon.
"His name is Taylor."
"Fine. Where is Taylor?"
"Out."
"Where?"
"Maybe at the clinic or maybe somewhere else, I don't know. Don't worry about your stuff though, someone is clearing your apartment as we speak. Everything will be brought here."
Fallon stopped in her tracks, "What do you mean everything?"
Mina suddenly found interest in her computer screen.
"Mina?"
"We are moving to a house, aren't we?and since Steve is hunting us down, why not move all the stuff out?"
"But those are after graduation plans! We can't move now. We can't...wait, whose idea was that?"
"Mine," said Gina unconcerned, "I mean after what happened today, I didn't like the sound of that apartment place of yours at all."
Fallon slowly rose up, feeling too angry and too drained to argue. She knew very well that it was not Gina's idea to move their stuff into the villa. The idea had Taylor Cahill written all over it.
She went to her room to lie down a bit and Whitney was there to inform her that she had been moved to room 4 upstairs. Groaning in frustration, she went to the ridiculously luxurious room 4 and was sound asleep almost immediately.
Hours later, her phone woke her up. It was ringing non stop. She was caught a bit by surprise when she found that it was Tom.
"Hello?" She said groggily.
"Where are you? Your apartment is empty."
"What do you want?"
"You. I need to talk to you."
"You are talking to me."
"It's about Steve."
Fallon sat up, "What about him."
"He has been arrested."
"Serves him right," Fallon said angrily, still feeling the cold edge of the pocket knife against her stomach.
"I need to post bail."
"So do it."
"I don't have the money."
Fallon let out a humorless laugh, "Are you fucking kidding me right now? You think I just have money lying around to bail your shithead of a brother out of jail?"
"You have half a million dollars."
"Goodbye Tom."
"Fal..."
"If you call me again, I will get a restraining order."
Fallon disconnected the phone, anger swelling in her every fiber. Doctor Cahill had been right, she thought with a smile, Tom was really a shitty piece of work.
The doctor was still not back by the time the three of them are supper that night. Fallon was still angry at the two of them so she gave them the silent treatment, ate her food and went back to her room. Fortunately, Blaire had send her a recording of the lesson she had missed that afternoon and she put on her headphones and listened, taking notes in the process. Her finals were coming up and as much as she had a lot of shit on her plate, she could not afford to fail.
It was way past midnight by the time she fell asleep switched off her light and tried to fall asleep. Some few minutes later,she heard a car in the driveway and new straight away it was doctor Cahill's. The wanted to rise up and go talk to him, ask him where he had been, or just freaking see him but her pride would not let her. She was angry at him for uprooting her and trying to control her life. She was going to give him the silent treatment too.
She lay awake, listening carefully to any sounds in the villa or any steps of his footsteps upstairs. After an hour or saw, she heard them, and miracle of miracles, they stopped right outside her room. For a few minutes, it was so quiet that she thought he had tiptoeing away, but then, the door softly creaked open and he tiptoed in.
Fallon closed her eyes and tried to control her breathing. Doctors couldn't tell if someone was fake sleeping, could they? The thundering of her excited heartbeat almost betrayed her when she heard felt the other side of her bed sink as he lay down next to her. He was careful not to come into contact with her, which she was grateful for because she was sure she would combust if he as much as touched her little toe. She could smell him though, lavender and spice with a hint of cinnamon, and he used apple scented shampoo on his glorious mane of hair, it took all of the self control in the world not turn around and cuddle to him.
After some time that ended too soon for Fallon's liking, he sighed and rose up. Fallon watched his silhouette with half open half closed eyes, still feigning sleep. And then, something strange happened. He bent down and brushed strands of hair gently off her face, Fallon breath hitched. Slowly, gently, as if she was made of the most delicate material on earth, he bent down and placed a feather light kiss on her forehead and in that moment, Fallon could have sworn she heard angels singing.
Then he walked out of the room and softly closely the door behind her, leaving Fallon with her happy thoughts and fantasies, to drift away into a neverland where they were together and loved each other.