He yawned and got to his feet. “Yeah. She went to bed about two hours ago. I think she was trying to wait up for you, but she gave up after she fell asleep on the couch, twice.”
“But she’s okay?”
“She’s fine. Worried about you, but fine.”
“What did you tell her?”
“I told her you had something come up, so she was stuck with me for the evening. She asked if everything was okay, and I told her everything was fine. We had dinner and watched a movie. Then she went to bed.”
“She made dinner?” I asked hopefully.
“Yes. Leftovers are in the fridge.”
“I haven’t eaten anything since breakfast,” I said. “I haven’t been able to.”
“How is she?”
“Not good. I barely recognized her,” I said and sat down to eat. “She’s lost so much weight. I bet she doesn’t weigh more than a hundred pounds. She’s got those dark, sickly looking circles under her eyes, and her cheeks are sunken in. Oh, and she’s pregnant.”
“She’s what?” Ink blurted in surprise.
“Shhh! I don’t want to wake Daphne.”
“Sorry,” he said quietly. “She’s pregnant? You’re sure?”
“Yes, the doctor confirmed it.”
“Is that why she agreed to go to rehab?”
I swallowed the food in my mouth and didn’t hesitate to tell my best friend the truth. He’d support me no matter what, and I knew he’d keep it to himself until I was ready to tell other people. “It is, but it’s not what you think.”
“What did you do?” he asked knowingly.
“Other than their vice of choice, what’s the one thing addicts want?”
“Money,” he answered immediately, and inhaled sharply. “Did you bribe her?”
“No,” I said slowly. “I don’t think it’d be considered a bribe. I told her if she went to rehab and stayed there for the duration of her pregnancy, I’d buy her baby for twenty-five thousand dollars.”
“Bloody hell,” Ink said, causing me to chuckle.
“You know you’re not British, right?”
“Sometimes, like in this instance, there is nothing more perfect than bloody hell.”
“You have a point.”
“I take it she agreed.”
“She did, but she refused to be admitted to the rehab facility until we had a signed contract in place. That’s part of the reason I was gone so long. I had to drive to Cedar Valley and meet withTina, who graciously worked me into her schedule and drew up a contract in record time.”
“Hold on. You have a contract to purchase a child, and it’s legal?”
“It’s not worded that way. I don’t remember the exact term she used. Maybe a pre-adoption agreement? That part’s not important. It’s basically set up like a private adoption. According to the contract, the money is to help her get started after completing rehab, not for the baby. But it’s worded in such a way that she doesn’t get the money if I don’t get the baby.”
“Have you thought this through?”
“Not at all,” I admitted. “But I couldn’t let her go back out on the streets. It was the only way I could think of to get her into rehab. And I know it probably won’t work because I forced her into it, but at least her body will have a chance to get stronger and healthier before the next overdose. She almost died this time. Technically, she did die, but they got her back. I just … I didn’t know what else to do.”