Chapter 84- Nelle's Sacrifice

Curtis paced back and forth outside of Trina's hospital room. The blood transfusion had worked, but she still had to stay in the hospital until she woke up. Portia left Trina's room and sighed when she saw Curtis.

"Hey," she said shakily. "H—how are you?"

"You mean since finding out Trina may be my daughter?" He shrugged. "Fine, I suppose."

"You haven't returned any of my calls," Portia commented. "Are we going to re-schedule the wedding or are you calling it off?"

He rubbed his chin. "I don't know yet. My mind is only on the paternity test."

"Trina can decide if that's what she wants when she wakes up," Portia said. "Even though I'm her next of kin while she's unconscious, I won't agree to that without her consent."

"We wouldn't even be in this position right now, if you didn't just say something right when you found out you were pregnant."

She chewed her bottom lip. "I did the best I could at the time."

"You did the best you could at the time for you. Not for Taggert. Not for me. And least of all for Trina."

"That's not true!"

"If it wasn't true, then you would've realized that the right thing would be for Trina to know her natural father from day one," Curtis said.

"We still don't know if Taggert isn't her father," Portia said.

"That's not the point." He sighed. "Have you even told Taggert yet?"

She shook her head.

"He deserves to know," Curtis said.

"But we don't even know the truth," Portia said. "What if Trina agrees to the DNA test and find out Taggert is her father after all. Then we upset Taggert for nothing."

"I don't know. This all just feels so wrong. I'm going in to see Trina."

He entered her room and went to the side of her bed.

"Hi Trina," he said softly. "It's Curtis. Please, you've got to wake up. You have your whole life ahead of you. And then we can get a DNA test to find out the truth."

GHGHGH

Nina arrived back home after the disheartening bail hearing. She opened the door and found it to be eerily quiet. "Willow? Nelle?"

GHGHGH

"Come on, Nelle…." Willow stood at the top of the hill nervously with Amelia. "I wish I was strong enough to save you myself, buddy."

Down in the water, Nelle swam as quickly as she could towards Wiley, who started to sink.

"Wiley, no!" She dove down and grabbed onto him. She pulled him to the surface and pushed him onto the land. Climbing up with him, she started pressing his chest and doing mouth to mouth. "Come on, Wiley, breathe!" She gave him another breath and he spat out water.

Wiley wailed and Willow heard him from on top of the hill. She sighed in relief.

GHGHGH

"Hey Mom, can we go to the pool now?" Jake asked after they finished dessert.

"You can," Elizabeth said. "But I suggest not swimming right away until your food has digested."

"We'll just hang out for a bit first."

"I forgot to tell Azami to bring a bathing suit," Cam said. "I kind of invited her last minute."

"The gift shop might have some," Jake suggested.

"Can you guys take Violet with you?" Elizabeth asked. "Jason and I will bring Aiden in a bit."

Aiden frowned.

When Cam, Azami, Jake, Danny, and Violet headed off to the gift shop, Elizabeth turned to Aiden. "Aiden, what's wrong?"

"Nothing," Aiden grumbled. "Just wish I could go to the gift shop and walk to the pool with the others."

"I know, but you were acting strange when Azami joined us," Elizabeth said. "Do you have a bad feeling about her?"

Aiden shrugged. "Maybe."

"Have you seen her before she started hanging around Cam?" Jason asked.

He went silent.

"Aiden…." Elizabeth reached for his hand. "You can talk to me. Have you seen Azami before?"

He stared at his lap. "No."

Elizabeth sighed.

"Aiden…." Jason leaned across the table. "We're concerned about your sessions with Dr. Collins. The man who you talked to wasn't Kevin. He was his twin brother, who isn't a good man."

"Do you remember your therapy sessions?" Elizabeth asked.

"I don't know," Aiden grumbled. "Can we please just go to the pool?"

GHGHGH

Nelle and Willow ended up calling an ambulance to make sure Wiley, who couldn't stop crying, was okay.

"Willow, you can ride with him," one of the paramedics who recognized Willow said as they strapped Wiley to the stretcher.

"Can I bring Amelia?" Willow asked.

"Unfortunately, you'll have to leave her with your friend. Only one other person can accompany Wiley."

Willow stared at Nelle.

"Or your friend can come with Wiley," the paramedic suggested. "Then you and Willow can meet him there."

Willow looked down at Wiley, soaking wet and tears streaming down his cheeks, then she looked down at Amelia in the stroller.

"You go with Wiley," Nelle spoke up. "You'll probably collapse again if you try to get Amelia to the hospital on your own. They can probably get you a wheelchair when you arrive. We'll meet you there."

Willow kept glancing at her baby girl. "But—"

"What do you think I'm going to do?" Nelle asked. "I'll call a cab and I'll take Amelia right to the hospital. Now stop wasting time. Wiley needs to see a doctor. He probably wants you more than me right now."

"Okay…." Willow agreed. "You don't have a phone. Take mine. Password is Wiley and Jonah's birthday—7-31-18. I haven't changed it since I had Amelia and—"

"Go!" Nelle prodded her towards the ambulance.

GHGHGH

Curtis left when Rory arrived at Trina's hospital room. He went out to the waiting room to find not only Portia and Taggert, but also Stella.

"First you kept this secret and now you won't allow Curtis to get a paternity test done?" Stella shook her head. "And here I gave Jordan a hard time."

Taggert was very pale and avoiding eye contact with Portia

"If Trina wants one when she wakes up, then she can have one done," Portia said.

"We wouldn't even be here if you spoke the truth from day one," Stella said. "We might have missed most of Trina's life."

Curtis nodded. "I'm with Stella. So, I take it you told Taggert?"

"No!" Portia scoffed. "He overheard Stella talking to me about it. He's devastated."

"Thank you for deciding for me what I'm feeling," Taggert said. "Just like you decided for all of us back then too."

Portia groaned.

Trina's door swung open and Rory rushed out. "Trina's awake!"

Portia's eyes filled with tears and she covered her mouth. She started to make her way over, until Rory spoke again.

"She wants to see Taggert."

GHGHGH

Jake and Danny cannonballed into the pool while Violet floated around the shallow end. Cameron started to follow them when Azami took his arm. "How about we watch for a bit?"

Cam shrugged and sat beside her on the edge of a sun lounger. "Don't like swimming?"

"Not really." She moved behind him and started massaging his shoulders.

He raised his eyebrows, but then relaxed. "Me and my brothers love swimming."

"I see." She moved her hands to his back and kept lowering them.

"Cam!" Violet shouted as she splashed some water. "Come swim with us!"

He smiled. "You sure you don't want to go in, Azami?"

"Can't we just hang out here for a bit?" Azami asked. "Just the two of us?"

"I guess a bit long—"

But Jake and Danny appeared at his side, each grabbed an arm, and pushed Cam into the pool.

Cam emerged from the water, laughing. "You got me good."

They dove in beside him and Azami groaned.

GHGHGH

Nelle sat on the park bench and pushed the stroller back and forth with her foot while she called for a taxi.

"Don't worry, Amelia," Nelle said. "You'll be back with your mommy soon. And hopefully Wiley will be back with his real mommy soon." Nelle frowned at the thought. She had the perfect opportunity to go with Wiley. Why didn't she take it? Yes, Wiley knew Willow as his mommy and likely longed for her comfort. But Nelle was his real mommy. He needed to know that and to know how much he means to her. But here she was sitting in the park with her niece instead of her son.

Down the path, Carly and Josslyn had just left the courtroom and were on their way home.

"We should've just called a cab and charged it to Dad's credit card," Josslyn said. "Hopefully you're right and Lorenzo won't let us down like everyone else has. And hopefully it won't take the judge long to let me off tomorrow."

They came to a halt when they noticed Nelle in the distance with a baby stroller.

"What is she—" Josslyn groaned. "That better not be Amelia."

Sure enough, when they approached, they spotted Amelia with her blonde hair and blue eyes, giggling at Nelle playing peekaboo with her.

Carly fumed, sped up, and tripped over her own feet. She face planted into the gravel. Her recently reconstructed face cracked.

Josslyn threw her hand over her chest and gasped. "Mom! Be careful." She raced across the path and tripped over Carly's feet and fell to her knees.

Nelle gaped at them. "Bertha?"

Josslyn rose to her feet and rubbed her scraped knees. "Are you okay, Mom?" She helped her up, blood trickling from Carly's crooked nose. "We better get you home."

Carly glared at Nelle and glanced down at Amelia. Amelia looked up at her and began to wail.

Nelle scooped up her niece. "Shh… shh…. It's okay."

Josslyn extended her hands. "Give me my niece."

Nelle scrunched her face. "She's my niece."

Carly started to grit her teeth but winced in pain when two of her incisors popped out.

Nelle's eyes widened and she turned when a man walked by with a pit bull bouncing all over the path. It pounced onto Carly, shoving her to the ground. She tried to scream when it bit her hand hard, but nothing came out of her mouth.

"Mom!" Josslyn screamed for her.

Nelle placed Amelia back in the stroller and pushed her away to safety.

Ring. Ring.

She pulled out Willow's phone and it said Nina calling….

"Mom!" Nelle answered.

"Oh my goodness, are you okay?" Nina asked. "The apartment is empty. Did something happen to Willow? Why are you answering her phone?"

"I'm at the park with Amelia waiting for a cab," Nelle said. "Willow went to the hospital with Wiley."

"What happened?"

"Wiley nearly drowned," Nelle explained. "The ambulance would only take one of us with him."

"Oh my gosh, is he okay?" Nina asked.

"He was really upset but was breathing when they left. I want to get to the hospital, but the cab is taking so long."

"I'll be right there to get you."

GHGHGH

By the time Jason and Elizabeth brought Aiden to the pool, Azami was sitting in the shallow end with Violet, moping and watching Cam, Jake, and Danny take turns jumping off the diving board.

Aiden plopped down on a chair and frowned seeing the other boys have so much fun.

"You can go in if you want," Elizabeth said. "You just can't overdo it."

Aiden shook his head. "I'll just watch."

Jason sat on the chair beside him. "I can sit with him if you want to swim with the kids."

Elizabeth smiled and started stripping down to her bathing suit. Jason swallowed hard but tried to turn his attention to the boys on the diving board.

Violet swam over to Azami. "Hold my hands!"

Azami reached for her hands.

"Spin me!" Violet shouted.

Azami spun her around as Elizabeth jumped off the diving board next.

"Say, Violet…." Azami whispered to her. "Can you tell your cousin that you really really like me?"

"Okay."

Azami grinned. "And maybe you can ask him to bring you to the big castle so you can meet baby Laura."

"I already met her!"

"Okay, then tell him you want to see her again."

"Okay."

GHGHGH

Taggert sat at Trina's bedside and held her hand. "How are you feeling?"

"Dad… can I even call you Dad still?" Trina burst into tears.

"Yes. Yes of course! I'm… very shocked and confused too. But I'll always be your dad."

"Why did Mom lie?" Trina asked.

He shook his head. "I don't know. But I'm not pleased with her. Listen, I'm going to support you no matter what. Curtis would like to have a DNA test done. If you want to have one, I understand. Just know that it will change nothing for me. You are my daughter, blood or not."

She smiled a little.

"And it's okay if you want to let Curtis in," Taggert said. "I know. I know, it's hard."

"But I don't want to hurt you," she cried.

"It won't hurt me," he assured. "The only thing that would hurt me is if you turned me away. But if you were to find out that Curtis is your biological dad, I'm not going anywhere. If you want both of us in your life, that's fine. Just please don't shut me away."

"I can't. I won't push you away. It's Mom I'm mad at."

"Just take your time. I know Curtis is anxious to know. But only do the test when… IF you want to. In the meantime, just get healthy."

"Can I—can I go home with you for a bit once I'm released? I don't want to be alone."

"Of course," Taggert said. "Stay with me for as long as you want."

GHGHGH

Nina hurried over to the park to pick up Nelle and Amelia. By that time, Jax came to take Carly and Josslyn home. Carly wasn't pleased to find Skye in the car with Jax.

The hospital was busy, but Nina and Nelle pushed Amelia through the crowd. Nina offered to drop them off at home first, but Nelle insisted on seeing if Wiley was okay. A new nurse led them to Wiley's room.

"I want Grandma!" Wiley cried out.

"Grandma is with Auntie Sash—" Willow turned and saw them in the doorway. "Grandma's here now."

Nina rushed to Wiley's side and hugged him. He sobbed into her shoulder. "Oh, buddy, I'm so sorry."

Willow walked sadly to the door and ushered Nelle out.

"Is he okay?" Nelle asked.

"From the water, yeah." Willow lifted Amelia from the stroller and sat on a bench. "But he wouldn't let me comfort him."

"Do you think he overheard us talking?" Nelle asked, sitting beside her. "Is that why he ran?"

"I think so. It's not like him to wander off like that."

Nelle exhaled deeply. "I didn't mean for him to find out like that."

"That was… a big sacrifice you made back there. Letting me go with Wiley."

She nodded. "I wanted to. But he was so scared. He might be confused right now but I know how much he loves you."

She smiled a little. "He loves you too."

"And I love him. He was the only person I remembered after my fall." She scrunched her face. "And now I remember you too. But I remember we couldn't stand each other."

"Thank you for not taking off with Amelia. And for saving Wiley."

Inside Wiley's room, Nina sat beside Wiley on his bed. "I know that was very scary for you. But Grandma is here, Mommy is here, your Auntie is here."

He looked up at her with sad eyes. "But Mommy and Auntie Isla said that Auntie Isla is really my mommy? Why did they say that?"

Nina's mouth dropped slightly. "They told you?"

"I listened in. I was bad."

"No, buddy, you're not bad. Is that why you went in the lake?"

He nodded. "I was sad and scared. If Mommy isn't my real mommy, are you my real Grandma?"

"Yes!" She kissed the top of his head. "Yes, I'm your real Grandma. And I love you so much. And do you know who else loves you?"

"Who?"

"Mommy and Auntie. They both love you so much. It doesn't matter what you call them. They are both so important in your life."

"So, can I still call Mommy, Mommy?"

She nodded. "If you want to."

"What do I call Auntie if she's my mommy too?"

She shrugged. "What do you want to call her?"

He thought hard for a moment. "Avery used to say Mama Carly."

Nina bit her bottom lip at the mention of Carly.

"Can I call her Mama?" Wiley asked.

"You can call her whatever you'd like."