A Prelude To A Dance by Kay Edwards
Chapter Thirty-Five
Logan looked at Helen sleeping. It had been four months since they had danced at the benefit and three since Helen’s graduation. Their lives together as husband and wife had happened fast. He knew that things would come up because of that. He also knew that God was in control. He tried not to worry about the fact that her rapist had not been caught yet. Every day that an arrest was not made their guard went down a little more. He knew that could be a very bad mistake. He hoped remembering that would keep his guard up. He smiled as Helen turned in his arms. He pulled her close and kissed her brow. It was time to get out of bed, but he wanted just a few more minutes with his sleeping wife. She suddenly opened her eyes and jumped out of bed making a dash to the bathroom. Logan followed surprised.
Helen loved Logan. She loved the way he held her close and was enjoying having his arms around her when a wave of nausea hit her by surprise. She suddenly realized she was going to be very sick and dashed for the bathroom. She felt Logan pull her hair back for her as she knelt in front of the toilet.
Logan held Helen’s hair away from her face. “Are you ok?” he asked gently.
Helen looked at him. “I think so. My tummy was upset yesterday but not like this. It settled down after I ate a little breakfast. Maybe I’m coming down with a bug or something. It comes on so suddenly but seems to go away when I eat.”
Logan thought about what she said and suddenly realized what could be “wrong.” He also knew his wife hated talking about certain things. “When was the last time you had your cycle?” He saw her blush and knew she was going to get up and change the subject. The first time she had her period after they were married, she dressed like she was getting ready to go to the North Pole when it was time for bed. He was a bit confused before he realized what the problem was. He tried telling her then that it was ok for them to talk about how her body worked but she just did not warm up to it.
“I’m okay now.” She stood up to make her point. “See?” she smiled up at him a bit too sweetly.
“I actually do think you are fine. I still need an answer.” Logan said firmly but gently. He had his arms folded across his chest.
“Really? Logan what could that have to do with me being sick?” Helen was now getting irritated. He knew how much she hated talking about this stuff.
“You are the MLT. Why don’t you tell me, Wife? A husband sees his wife sick in the morning and then he asks her about her cycle. Where do you think he is going with that?” Logan raised an eyebrow waiting for it to dawn on her.
Helen just hated it when Logan got so darn personal. She knew that some things were natural that did not mean she liked talking about it with him. Helen was getting ready to argue when it dawned on her what he had just said. Her eyes widened as she looked up at him and her hand went to her tummy. “The doctor said he was concerned I couldn’t. He said fifty-fifty.”
“The doctor said it could be an issue, but he would need to do a more intrusive exam. You refused the exam.” Logan said softly. He knew she needed just a little more time for it to sink in.
Helen thought about other signs of pregnancy. Good grief she had more. How in the world had she not figured this out herself? She had been having dizzy spells for two weeks now. Her breasts were feeling tender. She was also more tired than normal. She looked up at Logan. Helen wondered if he would be happy about having a baby. His smile said it all. “I think we are going to be having a baby.” She whispered in awe.
His hand covered hers on her abdomen. “Should I go get a test at the store?” he asked looking into her eyes.
“That would be great. I will….” Helen went red as she got all clinical on him “I will get a specimen ready.”
Logan threw back his head and laughed. He winked at her. “I will go buy a test, and you go pee. Sounds like a deal.” He let out a yelp as she punched him in the stomach when she passed to go down the stairs. “You, Sir, need to learn some manners.”
What a brat he was teasing her like that. She needed to find a container she did not mind throwing away to get a specimen. First-morning urine was always the best for an accurate result.
Logan got dressed and grabbed the keys from the counter. He knew he really should not be teasing her. He just could not help himself because she was so cute when she had her feathers ruffled. “I’ll be back in five. Make sure you do your part.” He laughed as he heard something hit the wall that was probably meant for his head.
Helen was really going to have to talk to Elaina about her son’s lack of manners. What a beast he was being. She found what she needed and went to the bathroom. She wanted to be quick because the store was not far away. He was not lying when he said he would be back in five. The last thing she needed was for Logan to see she had not finished her part. The teasing would never stop if that happened.
Breath hissed through the man’s teeth. He shook his head to clear it. He could not believe it. His time had come. She was never left alone, but now she was. He watched the car rounded the corner. He would wait just a minute. He needed to make sure that the car did not come back. He had been patient. He had waited for this moment. He would count to sixty and then go. He rubbed himself in anticipation. Helen would finally be his again.
Helen had finished collecting her specimen. It was in the downstairs bathroom on a shelf. She giggled and blushed as she started pouring herself some orange juice. The back door suddenly burst open and crashed against the wall. Helen dropped her glass on the floor causing it to shatter. She whirled around in surprise. Her eyes went round in fear as she looked into the eyes of the man that stood in the doorway. She knew those eyes. Helen also knew she could not panic she had to think.
The table was between her and him. She had to keep it that way. The phone was closer to him. She could not risk going for it. Logan would be back soon. She just needed to stay away from him until then. A small cry escaped her mouth as he moved toward her.
He looked at her. She was afraid. She should be. He was hoping she would cry more. It made him feel so good when she cried. She looked at him and did nothing. When he moved, she cried out. He smiled and continued forward. “It has been a long time, Helen.” She circled the table as he moved forward. “I see what you are doing. It will only be a matter of time before the table is not enough to keep me from you.” Pleasure shivered through him as a tear ran down her cheek.
Helen knew begging would do no good. She tried anyway. “Please. I have done nothing to you. Please don’t hurt me again.” She could feel the hot tears streaming down her cheeks. They blurred her vision. She tried to wipe them away, but they would not stop. She was so scared. Her body was shaking so hard her teeth started to chatter.
“Done nothing!” the man bellowed in rage. “You belong to me. You married another. Do you think I will let you live for that betrayal? I will hurt you again and again and again. This time I will not let you go.”
“I was nine.” Helen cried through the tears. “I was only a child, and you hurt me. I did not belong to you. You took me. I never belonged to you.”
How dare she talk to him like that? “I will teach you this lesson well.” He said quietly as he started forward in a charge. What she said next made him stop.
“I forgive you” Helen whispered. “I forgive you for taking away my innocence. I forgive you for causing me pain. I forgive you for raping me. Please let that be enough.”
The man’s eyes narrowed. Did she really think he was the one who needed to be forgiven? She was the one who had betrayed him. Hot fury went through him, as he charged again. She darted around the table escaping him. When he caught her, she would pay.
Helen had spoken the truth. That Sunday long ago when she had laid her anger and hatred for this man at the altar she had forgiven him. It had been freeing for her. She thought maybe it would free him too. It didn’t. She could see
His fist came down and hit her hard in the mouth. She could feel and taste blood in her mouth. She lost her footing, and he started dragging her. Helen screamed as she reached up clawing and scratching trying to free her hair from his grip.
Logan heard Helen’s scream. Dread filled him as he dropped the bag and ran toward the back door. He ran in without thinking. His heart stopped when he saw the blood running from his wife’s mouth. His body shook with rage as he watched the man drag his wife across the floor by her hair. He charged forward toward the man. His intent was clear. He was going to free his wife from this monster. Helen saw him coming and moved to the side. The man hit the counter hard and let go of Helen’s hair. Logan watched his wife grab the phone and run out the door.
“How dare you take what is mine!” the man screeched out of control. “I will kill you for humiliating me like this!” He grabbed a knife off the counter and lunged at Logan. He smiled when it sliced Logan’s arm. “You are no match for me. She will be mine again.”
Logan was furious. He knew he would not be heard, but he was going to confront this sick man anyway. “She was a child!” he yelled at him. “She did not love you. You hurt her. She was so embarrassed by what you did that she kept you a secret.” Logan tried to calm himself. He knew if he allowed his rage to control him that he would be the one to lose. He wanted this man to lose control not the other way around. “When I touch her, she likes it. When I kiss her, she kisses me back.” Logan taunted the man while holding a knife steady behind his back. If he charged, Logan would be ready.
The man’s eyes narrowed. What was this guy’s game? How dare he say that Helen liked to be touched by him? Didn’t he know that she belonged to him? Red hot rage took over him. He charged Logan with all he had. This man would die for taking Helen from him. So blinded was he by his rage, he did not see the officer in the doorway. He died before he hit the ground.
Logan dropped the knife as he looked into the lifeless eyes of the man who had raped his wife. His eyes went to Detective Benion. She was holstering her gun. He heard her say it was over.
Logan needed to make sure Helen was safe. He had to find his wife. He ran outside and yelled “Helen!”
Helen heard Logan’s yell. She ran toward his voice. When Helen saw him, she ran into his arms. Helen pulled back when she felt something sticky on her arm. “Logan, you’re bleeding!” She started to apply pressure to the wound.
Logan opened his arms the second he saw Helen. He closed his eyes and held her close. He felt her touch the knife wound and flinched. When she started holding pressure, he pulled her back into his arms. “That can wait, Helen. I need to hold you.” He whispered into her hair. Logan sobbed as he prayed. “Thank you, Father, for not allowing her to be taken.”
Helen curled up beside her husband. Her face and hip hurt, but she would recover. The hospital bed was small, but the couple would not be separated. She felt so cold. Logan had been given pain medication and stitches. His arm would heal fully. They had started an IV on both of them in the ambulance not knowing the extent of her and Logan’s injuries. They had taken blood hooked them up to blood pressure cuffs and hooked them up to pulse ox machines. The second they were unhooked from the machines in the ER, Helen got off her gurney and went over to Logan holding her IV bag. She hung it up on the pole with Logan’s and crawled into the bed beside him. The staff thought it was romantic. Most had watched them on TV. They had all been excited when Helen had started working at the hospital PRN in the lab. She was one of them now, and that meant she would get the best they had to offer.
Logan could not hold his wife close enough. Every time he closed his eyes, he could see that mad man dragging her by her hair. He saw the blood oozing from her busted lip. A knock sounded on the doorway, and the doctor walked in. A bed was being rolled in behind him. Another person was pushing a machine he did not recognize. He could feel Helen tense. “It’s ok. I’m here.” he pulled her closer.
The doctor pulled up a chair and sat down by the bed. He looked at Helen gently and smiled. “I have a couple of test results to go over with you Helen. By law, I need to ask if it is ok that Logan is here?” he said more than asked.
Helen nodded her head. The reality of what almost happened today was almost more than she could take. She could not seem to get close enough to her husband. Her body shuddered at the memory of the man catching her.
The doctor saw her shake. He knew he needed to continue, so he acknowledged her answer softly. “Very good. Now as you know the ambulance crew drew some blood on you. We ran the routine tests on it. One test came back positive.” He watched Helen’s hand go to her stomach. “I see you have figured out which test that was.”
“Logan was getting a test at the store before….” Helen trailed off. She closed her eyes trying to forget.
The doctor felt a wave of pity for this young lady. “I’m sorry this happened to you. I know you would rather be close to your husband now, but I would like to know if you two would like to see your baby.” he gestured toward the ultrasound machine. “I promise it won’t hurt at all.”
Helen felt like she was in a nightmare. It started the second the door was kicked in. She heard what the doctor said and tried to take it in. When he held out his hand to help her out of one bed and into the other, she took it before she looked back at Logan. He whispered for her to go. She lay down and looked over at her husband. He was sitting up in the bed. A nurse pulled a chair over to Helen and helped Logan into it. Her body started to shake again.
Logan sat beside Helen. He knew she was afraid. He took her hand and looked into her eyes. The nurse pulled a blanket up over her legs. When the doctor pulled her gown up to expose her abdomen, Helen’s eyes widened with fear. She pushed his hands away as tears gathered in her eyes. Logan knew she needed to hear him. “It’s ok. Look at me. I’m here.”
Helen heard the words and calmed down. She trusted Logan. If he said it was ok, it was ok. She gasped as they put cold petroleum jelly on her tummy. She tensed when she felt the probe touch her. Her eyes never left Logan’s until she heard it.
It was a song Helen had never heard before. It sang sweetly to Helen drawing her like a siren’s song does a ship. “Thump thump thump thump thump thump…” Slowly she turned her head toward the monitor and the song.
“Your baby has a very strong heartbeat.” The doctor pointed at the baby’s heart.
As if knowing mommy was watching, her baby started to move. The doctor moved the ultrasound probe taking measurements. She reached out and touched the screen. She turned to Logan. He was looking at her.
Logan looked at Helen. He had fallen in love twice in less than a year. The first was with Helen. The second was that little baby on the screen. He looked up at a discreet knock on the door. A nurse stood there. Peering over her shoulder were his and Helen’s mothers. He motioned that it was ok.
Ester saw Helen on the bed. At first, she did not understand what the doctor was doing. When Ester heard the heartbeat, she smiled. She looked at Elaina with tears in her eyes. “A baby they are having a baby” Ester whispered joyfully.
Elaina brought a shaky hand to her mouth. Her eyes were glued to the screen. She could hear her first grandchild’s heartbeat. A tear slipped out, and she gave a happy sob as the baby moved. She made eye contact with Logan. His eyes were moist. He held out his hand, and she went over to him. She watched Ester gently touch Helen.
“Do you remember Logan?” Helen said softly still looking at the screen.
“Do I remember what, Love?” he whispered back.
Helen took her eyes off t
“I do.” He answered softly. “It seems like a lifetime ago.”
“Are you happy Logan?”
“I am happy.” He said as he touched her cheek gently.
Helen turned back to look at her baby. She knew in her heart she was looking at a prelude to another dance. This time she was not afraid. She would embrace this dance when the time came. She knew Logan would too. The dance of parenthood would be a grand dance indeed. A dance she and Logan would once again learn and dance together.
Note From The Author
If you enjoyed the story of Helen and Logan continue to follow them in the next book of this trilogy: The Storm's Journey. Please join me as we tell the story of Tiffany and Toby as they each deal with dark pasts so that they can have a future together. This book is now available for purchase.
Other Books By Kay Edwards
Susquehanna Trilogy
A Prelude To A Dance
The Storm’s Journey
To Be Blessed
Crazy In Texas Series
A Time Of Seasons
A Season Of Secrets
A Season Of Hiding
A Season Of Justice
Felix Brothers Trilogy
Always Enough
A Heart’s Strength (released 1/16/2017)
A Beautiful Faith (release date 6/2017)