Chapter 6

Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep.

I groaned as my head throbbed repeatedly at that annoying machine sound. My eyes opened slowly and I squinted as my eyes adjusted to the bright, white room. I looked down at my arms and saw needles stuck in them. What the.....I was in the hospital?

I turned my head and my eyes widened as I took in Daxton's figure, sitting in a chair, snoring lightly. His normally neat hair was wild and out of place, but as it fell into his face while he slept, I couldn't help but to admire how he still looked god-like.

I closed my eyes, trying to push my feelings away. I never stopped loving him, which was probably why he was able to hurt me so easily.

"You're awake!" I looked towards the door to see Rayna running towards my bed, Sam following close behind her.

I smiled weakly at her enthusiasm. "Yeah, I'm up. What happened?"

"You passed out after you took a bath. The doctors said you were severely dehydrated and lacked nutrition, or something like that." She scrunched her nose, trying to remember the medical term. But I wasn't worried about myself.

"Is...is the baby-" I was cut off mid-sentence.

"The baby is perfectly fine." Daxton's words carried to our side of the room and for the second time, I turned to look at him and he stole my breath away. He stretched and rubbed his eyes.

They were bloodshot from the lack of sleep and he ran his fingers through his already unruly hair. He walked over to my bed and I shrunk away automatically.

He noticed this and frowned, not coming any closer. I couldn't breathe when I was around him. Just then, Marco entered the room.

"Marc." I breathed, a smile breaking out across my face. I noticed Daxton freeze at my enthusiasm. Yeah, bitch. Take that.

Marco smiled at me and walked over to my bed. I struggled to sit up, but he quickly put his hands on my shoulders, stopping me.

"Take it easy, love. The doctors had to put some stuff through your IV to feed you and make sure you had enough water in your system." He explained and I slumped down, putting my hand over my belly.

"You really scared us, Ari." Rayna said quietly.

"I'm sorry. Trust me, this won't happen again." I told her, putting my hand over hers. She smiled at me and nodded.

"It better not." Daxton muttered, shoving his hands in his pockets. All heads swiveled to him and frowned.

"It's your fault she's this way in the first place." Rayna snapped. Daxton rolled his eyes.

"How is it my fault? I didn't force her to starve herself." I turned my head away, not wanting to look at him. My eyes burned, but no tears came. I was all dried out from crying for the past week.

"You're an asshole you know that?" Marco said, coming to my aid. Daxton laughed bitterly.

"Oh now you care about her? What, you think that after she has the baby, you can knock her up too?" I gasped and Marco's eyes narrowed with anger.

"Hallway, now!" He growled, walking out my room. Daxton spared one more glance at me before following Marco out the door. I sighed and Rayna looked at me, pity in her eyes.

"Ugh, don't look at me like that. I'm twenty-four. I can take care of myself." I said, absently drawing circles on my swollen belly.

"Daxton freaked out when he heard you were in the hospital, you know." My eyebrows raised.

"He did?" I asked, pressing the button on my bed to lift me up into a sitting position. I groaned as my muscles popped and adjusted myself. Rayna nodded.

"He stopped what he was doing and drove here. He's been here since yesterday, yelling at doctors and shit." She chuckled. "It was actually pretty funny."

"What's your point, Ray?" I knew there was a reason she was telling me this.

"My point is, even though Daxton acts the way he does, deep down inside, he really cares for you." I scoffed, offended that she would even suggest that.

"Like hell he does. He's an asshole and doesn't deserve to even see our child." I frowned.

"You're really going to let your baby boy grow up without his father?" She asked quietly. I was silent as I thought about what she said. I know I was being irrational, but these hormones tend to make me say irrational things. My baby didn't deserve to be caught up in this war between me and his father.

"Just give him a chance. For your boy's sake." Rayna pleaded with me, mouth pouting.

I sighed. "Fine." Just then, a soft pain hit the side of my belly. I gasped, putting my hand on that spot.

"What, what? What's wrong? Are you in pain? Do you need a doctor?" I couldn't answer as it happened again. "Oh, god. Marc! Dax!" Rayna yelled for them.

"Ray, no-" The two men burst into the room, eyes wild.

"What? Is something wrong?" Daxton sped to my side, eyes concerned. Marco did the same and I smiled.

"No, nothing's wrong." I said, rubbing my belly where I felt the pain.

"Then why the hell did-"

"I felt the baby kick." I said, interrupting Daxton. All of their eyes widened and Rayna squealed.

"Oh my god, let me feel!" I laughed and took her hand, guiding it to the spot where I felt him kick. When he did, Rayna just about fell off the bed with happiness. "That's so freaking cool!"

I let Marco feel and his reaction was just about the same. The laughter died down when they realized only one person in the room didn't get to feel my baby kick. I looked up at Daxton, wanting to straighten out his frown lines.

"Ray, Marc. Can I have a word with Arielle, alone?" They looked at me and I nodded. When they left the room, Daxton sat down in the chair next to my bed, chin in his hands. He seemed to be thinking hard about what he was going to say.

"Ari, I'm-" He stopped and closed his eyes. "-I'm really sorry for the way I've been treating you. I just didn't know how to handle the news that...I'm having a baby. I'm so used to females claiming to be carrying my child that I just..... snapped and took it out on you."

"You didn't deserve that and I should've just believed you since I know you don't sleep around, but I'm just not ready to be a father and-" His voice broke at the end and I reached out, putting my hand on his cheek. He looked at me, regret evident in his face.

"Hey, it's okay. Well, no it wasn't okay since you hurt me real bad, but I think you're going to be a great father, Dax."

"Can we....start over?" I must have frowned because Daxton corrected what he said. "I mean, like as friends. Can we start over as friends?" He asked, eyes searching mine for a reaction.

I didn't know what to say. Starting over as friends meant I had to forget every horrible thing he's said to me and about me. i decided to forgive him because every boy needs his father and I didn't want mine to grow up without his.

"Sure. Friends." I stretched my hand out to shake his and his face lit up as he shook my hand. I gritted my teeth when another kick came from inside me. I'm gonna have to get used to this. Without warning, I guided Daxton's hand to my belly, letting him feel when the baby kicked.

His eyes widened when he felt it and he looked at me, awe written all over his face. I smiled, knowing exactly how he felt. We must have been staring at each other for a while because Rayna and Marco came back in, stopping in their tracks when they saw Daxton's hand on my belly.

We broke away and I immediately blushed, feeling like I got caught doing something illegal. Just then, the doctor entered the room and smiled at me.

"How are you feeling, Miss. Fortunato?" He asked, a nurse trailing behind him. She checked my vitals, the IV, my blood pressure, and the baby.

"I feel great. I just want to go home now." I said, truthfully. He chuckled, writing something down.

"Well it's your lucky day. You seem to have responded well to what we gave you. Just make sure you eat right and drink lots and lots of water, okay?" I nodded quickly, wanting to get out of here as fast as I could. He and the nurse left, leaving me and my friends alone.

"Ari, I'm really sorry, but I kinda have to meet up with Sam and Marco drove me here so..." She trailed off, glancing at Dax.

"I'll take her home." Daxton offered and Rayna looked at me for confirmation.

"I'll be fine. Go have fun with your boyfriend." She breathed a sigh of relief and kissed my cheek.

"I'll see you later!" She waved, dragging Marco out with her. I laughed at my crazy friend and proceeded to get out the bed. Daxton jumped up and helped me.

"Here." He handed me a bag filled with clothes.

"Thanks." I walked to the bathroom and started to change. Rayna must have packed my stuff because she put a lacy black thong and bra set with a strapless black dress and black flats. Seriously? I rolled my eyes and put my undergarments on.

I started to put on my dress, but it slipped out my fingers. Bending down, I tried to reach it, but my large belly got in the way. I groaned and straightened up, not wanting to fall over.

"Dax!" I called out, brushing my blonde hair out my face.

"Yeah, what's-" He stopped and stared at me, eyes wide. They raked down my body approvingly, sending a wave of heat through my body.. Wait, no! I wasn't supposed to be feeling this way.

I cleared my throat and his eyes shot up to mine. I grinned smugly as his cheeks tinted red. I decided to make life hard for him.

"Can you help me put my dress on, please?" I asked innocently. His brows furrowed as he thought about what I just asked him.

"Um-uh, yeah sure." He bent down and picked up my dress before slipping it over my head and arms. As he dragged it over my belly, his fingers grazed it and he paused for a second, before shaking his head and finishing, letting it hang just above my knees.

When he straightened up, his face was right in front of mine. My breath hitched as his eyes flickered down to my lips and back to my eyes. I licked my lips and looked at his as they came closer. They were so plump and kissable and-no! Just friends, Ari, just friends.

"Dax, don't." I whispered and he seemed to snap out of it.

"Shit, I'm sorry. I don't know what came over me." He ran a hand down his face and looked at my dress. "I don't see why Ray got that tight ass dress for you anyway." He grumbled, picking up the hospital gown and throwing it away.

"You ready?" He asked, making sure to not look anywhere but my eyes. I nodded and we walked out the bathroom.