Vanished

Chapter 2

2

“Look, something happened. Maybe it’s not a good idea she goes home just yet. Did you see how freaked out she was? Her eyes, I haven’t seen her like that since…” Eric paused. Well, since he’d rescued her, when she first opened her eyes on the deck, or in sick bay after a nightmare had forced her into early labor. He remembered the wildness, the fear, the panic that had come over her, pulling her back into the ordeal she had lived through. Each time, Eric had been able to soothe her and yank her from her fear, reassuring her she was safe.

The doctor scribbled something on a chart. “She was exhausted, in labor for how long, and even you told me she hasn’t been sleeping,” he said.

“You’ve been her doctor for how long?” Eric asked, pacing the hall of the maternity ward of the naval hospital in Norfolk. He knew that Dr. Hargrove had transferred in only a week earlier.

“Okay, I may not know her, but I’ve been an OB long enough that I’ve seen how exhausted some of these new moms come in. Military wives have it a lot tougher, especially with other kids at home and no support. Exhaustion is all it is. She just needs a few nights’ rest. Make sure she has support at home, and she’ll be fine in no time.”

Eric wasn’t so sure. There had been something in her eyes when he walked into the hospital room, with the way Abby had been sitting in that bed. Even with the nurse holding her wrist, touching her shoulder, and talking to her, Abby hadn’t responded. She had stared off at the door, sweating above her lip and on her forehead, and Eric knew this wasn’t from the labor. He had seen her trembling, with goose bumps on her arms. For a moment, her eyes hadn’t seemed to register, and when she saw him, she hadn’t relaxed as always. It had taken her a minute, and he’d had to pass the baby to the nurse. He knew he could bring her back and steady her from whatever fears plagued her, but this time, as he approached the bed, her eyes had been locked on to the bundle in his arms. She had worn a cold look filled with apprehension and fear, the opposite of what should have been on a new mother’s face. Even after Rachel was born, she’d never looked like that.

“Look, I’ll check in on her again. We’ll keep her overnight. The baby is in the nursery. Sometimes a good night’s sleep is all that’s needed.” The doctor set his hand on Eric’s shoulder. “Why don’t you go home, get some rest?”

He left Eric standing outside the closed door of Abby’s room, thankful there were no patients in the other beds. Eric wiped his hand over his face, which scratched like sandpaper, and then ran it through his cropped hair. He needed to get cleaned up after being here all night with Abby in labor. He was pretty sure he looked rough. He pushed open her door and spotted her on her side with her back to him. When he stepped closer, she didn’t move, didn’t turn, and he was sure she was sleeping.

He should really pick Rachel up from Joe and Mary-Margaret. Taylor, their eldest, was twelve, and he’d been babysitting Rachel, but then, all Joe’s three kids loved her. He would swing by later, after he was sure Abby was all right. He crossed his arms and walked around the bed, freezing when he realized Abby’s eyes were open and she was just lying there, staring straight ahead.

“I thought you were asleep,” he said.

She glanced up at him but didn’t move. “I’m trying. I’m so tired I can’t sleep.”

Eric moved the bar down and sat in the chair beside the bed. He took her hand in his and slid back her rumpled blond hair over her plump cheek, which had a hint of color again, before resting his hand against the side of her head. Her blue eyes were dim and appeared weary and dull. The tiny lines around her eyes, which hadn’t been there before tonight, seemed deeper. There was a hint of gray under her eyes, and her eyelids appeared puffy. As he looked closer, he wondered if she’d been crying.

“What’s going on?” he asked.

She slid her hand over his, the one with the gold band he’d slid on her finger, a reminder she was his. She shut her eyes, but he could feel her hanging on to him in a way that was different from before. “I don’t want you to go,” she finally said.

“I’m not going anywhere. You go to sleep. I’ll stay right here.” He leaned forward and pressed a kiss to her forehead, and she gulped and started fighting tears. “What’s going on?”

She shook her head as her eyes watered, and she choked on a sob. “I just need to feel that you’re here.”

“Abby, it’s okay. I told you I’m not going anywhere. You’re tired, and I know it’s been hard lately. You just need some sleep and you’ll feel so much better. I won’t let anything happen to you.” Her gaze flicked to his, questioning, wondering. He saw the worry, too. What the hell was going on with her? “Is there something else, something you’re not telling me?”

“When do you ship out?” she asked.

Ah, so that was it. He hadn’t told her because it was soon. “A week.”

She shut her eyes for a second and took a breath. When she opened them, she seemed to have pulled herself together. “Well, that was quick.”

It was. He was supposed to be in port for three months, but he’d just gotten word he would be replacing the captain on the Vincent Carrier, and he couldn’t say no, not to this.

“It’s for two months, Abby. It’s short this time. I’m just filling in. It was sudden. Joe and Mary-Margaret are here. They’ll be around to help.” He smoothed her hair back again, then rubbed her shoulder, and she stiffened, so he slid his hand over hers. “Look, Abby, don’t be mad. You knew what you were getting into when you married me. This is my life, but that doesn’t mean I don’t love you.”

She flicked her gaze back to him and frowned. “I know that, but you were supposed to be home longer. I just feel better when you’re here.”

“Have you been having nightmares while I’m gone?” he asked.

She glanced over his shoulder and wouldn’t meet his gaze. He always knew when she was holding on to something. She’d become stubborn and wouldn’t look at him, and he knew she did that when she didn’t want him to worry. These two years of having her on base, in his home, as his wife, waiting for him when he came back, had changed something in him and filled him with a sense of purpose he didn’t realize he had been missing until he found it. The first deployment, he knew she’d struggled. He’d seen how straight and tall and proud she’d stood, but he knew her better than she knew herself. She was still finding her feet and her place. Mary-Margaret and the other wives helped, and he’d Skyped her as often as he could, but it was hard when he had little down time, commanding a destroyer.

“Abby, come on.” He touched her hand, rubbing her arm until she was blinking back tears. “I know this is bad timing, but we’ll talk every day this time. When I’m finished, I’ll be home for six months.”

“But I need you now,” she said. “Eric, I’m tired, and with the baby… I just wanted you here longer.” This time, she allowed him to hold her hand, playing with her fingers. Some of her tension relaxed.

“You didn’t tell me about any nightmares. Have you been having them again?”

She flicked her gaze away again, her mouth tight. Now he was sure she was holding on to something. He slid his hand over her cheek and turned her face back until she was forced to look at him, and he gave her one of the looks he knew made others nervous, everyone except Abby.

“Some. It’s hard, Eric. I wake up and reach over and you’re not there. You make me feel safe. I’ll be okay, don’t worry.” She gave a smile that he knew meant she wanted him to drop it, but he couldn’t. He had a week at home to help her, and after that, he’d make sure Mary-Margaret and Joe stopped in every day. That was all he could do, and he didn’t like it one bit.

“Let’s talk about it before we go,” he said, taking her hand in his again, holding it as she settled in. She seemed to relax some, and then her eyelids lowered. She blinked them open again, but he could tell she was so tired. “Don’t worry, I’m not going anywhere.”

“You’ll stay here while I sleep? You’ll hold my hand?” she asked, and he picked up the edge of worry in her voice.

“Right here beside you.” He set his other hand on the side of her head and smoothed her hair back. “Go to sleep.”

He saw the relief fall over her, as if everything she’d been holding on to—stress, worry—could finally leave, and Eric realized he played a huge part in making her feel safe. He continued to stroke her hair, her face, until he felt her breathing even out, until he knew she was asleep. Maybe the doctor was right: Maybe it was just exhaustion. After all, she’d just given birth. That had to be it.