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Resting felt like the last thing I could do.
Forty-five minutes later, the nurse led a very frantic Monica into the room.
“Oh, my God, Heart! What is going on?” she asked, rushing to my side.
“Your friend is having some pretty severe Braxton Hicks,” said a man’s voice.
I looked up and saw a doctor in the doorway. He gave me a warm smile before walking over to my bedside and studying the computer.
“We’ve been monitoring your contractions, which have most likely been brought on by stress. Is there a lot going on in your life at the moment?”
“A little,” I murmured.
A little if you count being pregnant, losing your job, your parents hating you, and you lying to the man you could have one day loved.
“Well, we need you and baby to be healthy. You need to take it easy. No unnecessary stress. Okay?”
“Okay,” I said.
Easier said than done.
Chapter 38
Daniel
I gripped the edges of the surfboard as I looked back over my shoulder for incoming swells. There were a few other guys out on the water, much better than me, who were riding in almost every wave. I had been studying their movements and trying to catch on, only getting lucky a few times.
It had been a spontaneous decision to rent a surfboard from the activity shack this afternoon. I wanted to do something adventurous. Something active. Now, here I was trying to stay balanced as I sat on the glossy wood that rocked beneath me.
I heard a couple of the other guys shout. There must have been a good one coming. I looked back and saw the swell. The others were beginning to paddle fast, so I joined them. When I felt the board begin to dive down, I hopped to my feet and spread my arms out like unsteady wings.
I felt the wave catch beneath my feet and the board went from wobbly to smooth. I had caught it. I gave a triumphant yell as I rode the wave close to shore before jumping off. That was exhilarating. I could see why people fell in love with it. The challenge of it. The thrill. I picked up the board and tucked it under my arm, dragging it onto the sand before plopping down. I shook the saltwater from my hair and watched as the other surfers continued picking and choosing the best waves to ride.
This was the fourth day here in Bora Bora, and I was starting to feel more like myself again. Everything about this place was so different from New York. The beach replaced the damp asphalt. Crystal-clear waters replaced the brooding waters of the Hudson. Straw huts replaced the glass skyscrapers. It was a completely other world, and I had been soaking it all in.
“Can I get you a drink, Mr. Jacobs?” said a voice.
I looked up, squinting against the sun, before I made out the face of Colette, who stood above me in her usual floral dress, the uniform for the female staff at the hotel. It looked best on her young body. One that I had yet to explore.
“I thought I told you to call me Daniel?” I said with a grin.
“That’s right. You looked good out there,Daniel.”
“Were you watching me?”
“Maybe,” she answered, biting her lip.
We were back at our usual flirting game that hadn’t gone anywhere because I hadn’t allowed it to go any further. Every day, I would see her in one way or another. Up at the restaurant or down here on the beach where she would serve drinks. We would banter back and forth, pass some sexual innuendos, exchange a few suggestive glances. That was it.
“It was my first time.” I shrugged, looking out at the water.
“Really? I wouldn’t have guessed that. You looked like a pro.”
“You,my dear, are a fantastic liar.”
She giggled. I watched as her eyes took me in and wondered what she was thinking. I knew I could easily find out. I still had a few daystofind out. She would be willing. That much was clear. I just couldn’t seem to pull the trigger.
“You know what sounds good? A pina colada,” I said.