Into the Garden Ch. 25-27

"I'm on my way," Sam answered, trying to hide the fear in his voice. "Can I talk to Lindy? I'll call the cops as soon as we get off. You just stay focused on her."

Ben reached the phone toward Belinda. He had tilted the seat as far back as it would go to try to make her comfortable, and she was curled up, pulling her knees up as far as she could. She looked pale and tiny and very, very scared. Some fucking bodyguard he was, he swore silently to himself.

"Belinda, it's Sam. Take the phone."

"Lindy, you there?"

At the sound of Sam's voice, Belinda, broke into tears, "Sam, I'm so scared. Come now. You have to come now. It hurts and I think it's something with the baby."

"It's going to be okay, baby. It's going to be okay. I'm calling Dr. Davidson right now. I'll be there in a minute and Ben is going to stay with you until I get there."

After that, everything seemed to move double-time. By the time Ben pulled up at the ER, Sam had reached Dr. Davidson, and the OB had a team waiting to help Belinda. When Sam arrived just a few minutes behind, Belinda was already in a trauma room, with an IV in her arm dripping drugs that would hopefully stop or at least slow the premature labor that was causing the pain and speed up the baby's lung development. At the same time, the campus police, with help from the town police was dusting the hallway and signs for fingerprints.

"Sam and Belinda," Dr. Davidson was telling them, "I want you try to stay as calm as possible. The calmer you are, the more likely the drugs will work and we can stop this labor. We also have stronger drugs we haven't tried yet. In the meantime, your baby's lungs are getting a boost every minute it is on the steroids we are sending into your bloodstream, Belinda. A full 95 percent of babies born at 28 weeks survive, although it will mean a long stay in the NICU. And your baby doesn't have any other health issues we can see, so I see no reason why it wouldn't be in the 95 percent. I'll check in on you in an hour, but the nurses have orders to page me immediately if anything changes."

Colleen was on the first plane she could catch out of Chicago, "Having a doctor in the family has advantages. There's no reason not to use them," she told Sam. "It's going to be okay, I promise. Just stay calm for Belinda. I'll be there in a few hours."

"How am I supposed to stay calm, Mom?" Sam asked, crying now, as he crouched down in the stairwell near Belinda's room with the phone pressed to his ear. "Everyone keeps telling me to stay calm, but I don't know how. I just want to get her out of here. I tried to protect her, but I can't. Mom, what will we do if something happens to the baby?"

"Sam," his mother answered, "you don't have to feel calm if you can't, but you can fake it. If that's what you have to do, do it. If she sees you upset, and she gets upset, the drugs she's on aren't going to be enough to keep her from going into labor. Cry as much as you need to, baby, but when you walk back in that room, you have to look confident. You have to tell her everything is going to be okay and mean it."

Belinda was sleeping, unaware that her mother in law was on her way or that her dad had jumped into the car after speaking to Sam and was speeding up the freeway. Assured that Belinda was stable and not in any danger, he went not to the hospital, but to the police station. "How much of a reward do I need to put up to make sure someone turns this bastard in?" he asked the detective.

"$10,000 should do it," the detective answered. "These are college students, so that's a fair amount of cash. You can up it if you don't get results."

John pulled out his checkbook and wrote a $10,000 check. "And I'll make a $25,000 gift to the police department when he's brought to trial. I'm sure there are some things you officers could use to make your work easier," he said as he handed it over.

Belinda slept on through the evening newscast where the police chief announced the $10,000 reward for anyone with information that led to the arrest of the person responsible for hanging the signs, which had now been designated a hate crime. They didn't indicate the stiff penalties that might attach if anything happened to Belinda or the baby, for fear of scaring off any informants.

The police worked hard, but in the end, shitbags have shitbags for friends, so their job wasn't too difficult. Shitbags are happy to rat someone out for $10 grand. A suspect was in custody by noon the next day: Ed Hollis. Big and dumb, he claimed he was just doing something a former fraternity brother had paid him few hundred dollars to help out with. He hadn't made the signs, he told the detectives. He'd just gotten them emailed to him, printed them, and delivered them, either to Belinda's desk or the hallway. The detective rubbed his eyes when Hollis gave up the name of the frat brother, not a student, but a guy who had graduated a few years back. This was not going to be pretty.

Belinda was safely being cared for by Colleen, Dr. Davidson, and a team of nurses, so when the police called asking for Sam and John Sutter to join them at the station the next afternoon, everyone assured them it was fine to go. The detective sat them down in a quiet room, offering the two men coffee, soda, or water before they got started.

"Ed Hollis we got straight up. The charges will depend on what happen with Mrs. Greene and the baby, but in truth, as long as they are okay, I don't expect him to do a lot of time if any. He will most likely walk with a fine, community service, and a suspended sentence. He's got a totally clean record and his lawyer is going say this was just a prank gone too far. I know that's not what you want to hear, but that's realistic. In the win column, he's going to wind up charged with a felony. They'll plead him down, but he's not going to walk away without a criminal record, especially as he confessed to sending the previous notes. And," the detective went on, "we've turned everything we have over to the campus police and the university has already begun the process of expelling him. He's not getting off scott-free."

The room was silent for a few seconds, both John and Sam releasing the breath they didn't realize they had been holding, then the detective spoke again.

"There is one more thing you need to know. Hollis claims that he did everything he did at the request of a former student, a frat brother of his. The former student allegedly paid him a little money and Hollis went along with it. We've got proof of some of what Hollis claims from his computer. We can't confirm all of it, but enough of it to indicate the second person made the signs and told Hollis where to put them and when. What we don't have is any proof of a promise of money, or any sign that cash changed hands. Based on that, this second person won't be charged. The district attorney doesn't feel it is worth it." The detective fell silent again. Sam and John Sutter waited.

"The person Hollis says paid him," the detective said, handing a pile of printed emails to the two men, "is John Sutter IV, who I understand goes by the name Chip."

John Sutter III sat still for a moment. His own son had done this-- done a thing that could kill his grandchild. He looked at Sam and then the detective. There was nothing to say. His mind raced as he read through the emails, saw the attachments that showed his son had created an image of his daughter with a noose around her neck. He had fathered a person who could do such a thing, who did do such a thing. His insides seething with anger, pain, and disgust, John Sutter did what had made him the successful man he was: he got down to business, flipping open his cell phone and calling his executive assistant.

"Janie, you got a pen and paper? Make a list of the things I want done by this time tomorrow."

"One: Chip is fired, effective now. No severance pay. Pay him out for any vacation or sick time we owe him. His health insurance gets cancelled as soon as it can be. I think we paid for him through the 30th. Cancel his corporate credit card effective five minutes ago. As soon as he is notified, send a mass email to anyone he could place an order with informing them he is not with the company and is not authorized to assume any debts on our behalf as of right now."

"Two: Call the company lawyer. Confirm that if someone is fired for breaking the law, moral turpitude, that kind of thing, we don't owe him residual commissions. I think that's the standard contract, but have him double-check it."

"Three: I want all the physical locks reset and the passwords changed on all the networks. Not just the locks on the office and warehouse, but on all the vehicles as well. Actually, make that priority one. No new keycard or network access for Chip, of course, and have the IT guy make sure the network is locked down tight. As soon as that is all done, fire him—I'm emailing you the termination text in a moment. Have security with you when you do it. And make sure security gets the keys to the company car."

"Four, but this is actually a one too. I want my house completely rekeyed, and I want the security company notified that Chip should be treated as a trespasser if he steps foot on the property. Make sure to have all the security codes reset, disabling Chip's access to turn off the alarm. Ask Mrs. Sims to box up all of Chip's things at the house and have them delivered to his apartment by a delivery service. Mr. Sims is driving Mrs. Sutter up to the hospital right now. Tell Mrs. Sims I want her in the main house, not the caretaker's residence, until I get back to town. And I want security to step up patrols on the house and the business."

"Five, check on this with the lawyers too. We need to send a letter out to all of our suppliers and regular buyers, letting them know about the staff changes. Find out how far we can go letting people know that if they want to continue working with us, they won't offer Chip a job without getting us sued. Oh, and make sure security takes Chip's iPhone too when you fire him. The company owns that and I'm sure it's got plenty of data on it."

"I think that's it, but I'll call you back in a bit."

He flipped the phone closed.

Janie hung up the phone and got to work. Chip had treated her like an ignorant bimbo ever since he came to work for his father; this was going to be a pure pleasure.

"Officer," John Sutter said, "Even if he doesn't face any legal penalties, although I hope you find something that will stick, in 24 hours, John Sutter IV is going to be unemployed, mostly unemployable, and broke."

Sam didn't say a word. He couldn't imagine what his father in law was going through—he just knew he had acted in full support of Belinda and their baby, with not a thought for Chip's future, except to destroy most of it in a matter of hours. The anger that had been building in him, the plans he had begun to form of finding Chip and beating him with a baseball bat, all had dissipated as he listened to his father in law calmly do more than the law likely would or could ever do to Chip.

"Do you want to talk about what happens next?" the detective was asking.

"Sam, I hate hospitals. I can do something useful here. You go on back and check on your wife. We'll call each other as needed."

Sam didn't need to be asked twice; he almost flew out the door, deciding as he strode out of the police station that he would keep Chip's involvement a secret for as long as possible. Not for Chip's sake, but to protect Belinda. He called John, "John, I thought of one thing. I don't know how Susannah is going to take this, but can you get her to keep it from Belinda for a while? Dr. Davidson says she needs to stay calm for the drugs to work."

Sam found it hard to stay even-keeled when he got back to the hospital and learned that the first-line labor-blocking drug they tried wasn't so successful, so they were teaming it with a second drug. Still, the nurses assured him, every extra minute in the womb was helping his baby. The steroids they were putting in the IV were speeding up the infant's lung development, which was one of the biggest challenges for preemies. Fighting his fear, he remembered what Dr. Davidson and his mother had both told him, that he had to stay calm for Belinda's sake.

He gave Ben a big hug before he went in the room. Ben was sitting in the hall studying. He had left the hospital only for a few hours at time since this ordeal started, just to shower, change, hit the one or two classes he couldn't miss, and pick up food for everyone. He had even spent the night on a sofa in the visitor's center. "It's all over bro. They caught the guy. Why don't you go home and get some rest? Looks like you could use it. And thank you, Ben. I don't know what would have happened if you hadn't been there..."

"Hey baby," Sam joked as he entered the room. "Are you sure there wasn't a simpler way to get out of bio class..."

Belinda gave him a thin smile, then reached out her hand to him. "Dr. Davidson says the second drug is really knocking down the contractions," he told her. "That's good news. I guess he's going to meet with us later today when he gets done with his appointments to talk about where we go from here, but it sounds like baby Greene might be willing to hang out in your belly a while longer," Sam continued talking, stroking Belinda's hands and her hair, just assuring with his calm demeanor and soft voice, that everything was going to be okay. She had heard it from the doctors and nurses, even from her mother-in-law, but it didn't sink in until she saw how unruffled Sam seemed to be. Maybe it was okay to relax. Belinda drifted off to sleep again.

Colleen, who had left the room to give the couple some time alone, came back in and showed Sam what the different monitors meant. "This is the best I've seen them look all day, Sam. I know you need to finish school, but we can make it quiet so you can do all your studying here. I think you being here helps her. I'm going to have to fly back to Chicago tomorrow as long as things are still stable, but we'll make sure that everything you need is taken care of. And your father or I can fly right back if you need us."

"Thank, Mom," Sam said, wiping not a few teardrops on his mother's shoulder as he hugged her.

CHAPTER 27

The room was quiet as two laptops clicked away, Sam on his writing up his final paper, Belinda taking her last college exam. Professor Dunfee had set up a camera in class, allowing Belinda to complete her final course via email and Skype without actually returning to the classroom.

Occasionally, a monitor beeped or a medical assistant stopped by to take Belinda's vitals. "I can't believe I've been in this hospital almost two months. I'm so bored and frustrated."

"Total bed rest is total bed rest, baby," Sam answered. "And don't talk to me about frustrated. Look at you all curvy and voluptuous and I can't touch you. You should have heard Dr. Davidson explaining that an orgasm could put you back into labor. I don't know who was more uncomfortable, me or him."

"I can imagine. He had one of the nurses explain that to part of it to me," Belinda answered, patting her belly as a lump that was maybe a hand or maybe a foot poked her forcefully. "Yeah, yeah, kid. You are getting out soon. The doctor said they'll stop the drugs at 38 weeks and you can come out any time after that."

Sam watched Belinda patting her belly. Although he was happy the doctors had been able to keep the baby from being born for so long, he couldn't wait until they saw this hospital room for the last time.

"Not to change the subject," Sam said, "but did you have a chance to look at the information on that house my parents looked at for us? I know it's weird to buy a house sight unseen, but my parents think it's perfect for us. It's in great shape and Mom said she stopped by the neighborhood a few different times and it's got a lot of families with young kids and a good racial mix. She feels like we'll be very comfortable there."

"I know it looks amazing, but it's such a big house for a starter home. Five bedrooms seems like so much. We agreed I'm going to stay home and try to just build a little interior design business out of the house until the baby is bigger. Can we even afford this house on just one salary?"

Sam's pride got in the way of telling Belinda the whole truth about how they could afford the house, but he offered part of it. "Your parents and mine both put in some money for a down payment. They said it was a wedding gift since we never really got any." It had been hard for him to accept the cash, $30,000 from each set of parents, but a $60,000 down payment would make their mortgage manageable on his salary. "And five bedrooms isn't so big: one for us, one for a nursery, one for a guest room and one for an office. That only leaves one spare bedroom."

The door swung open and Dr. Davidson poked his head in. "Okay kids, tomorrow's the big day. We're going to take Belinda off the terbutaline and no more progesterone. Baby's looking good and the lungs should be all ready for the big world. We'll have you stay 24 hours just to see if you are going to start labor right away. No use discharging you and then having you back six hours later. Any questions? Okay then, goodnight."

****************************

Sam and Belinda Greene are pleased to announce the birth

Of Declan Monroe Greene

April 17, 11:49 a.m.

6 lbs., 5 oz.

****************************

"So what did the doctor say?" Sam asked as Belinda emerged to the waiting room from her six-week postpartum visit.

"Everything looks great. I'm cleared for 'all activities.' He also gave me some birth control pills."

Sam picked up Declan's car seat and swung it quickly onto his arm. Six weeks as a father and he still felt incompetent a lot of the time, but some things he did with ease and grace, Belinda thought.

"I got the keys to the house. The movers won't bring anything in until Monday, but why don't we stop by and walk through. We only got to see it the one time," Sam said as they walked down the hall toward the elevator.

"That sounds great. Staying with your parents has been nice, but I'm ready to be back in our own place. Although I don't know what I'm going to do without the extra hands." Belinda glanced into the back seat at little Declan, sound asleep in his car seat. Green eyes of course, with black hair and a skin color that was a mix of his parents, like he had had a nice Caribbean vacation. Belinda thought he was perfect.

"I don't want you to go on the pill, Lindy," Sam said out of nowhere, as they drove toward their new home. "We agreed you are going to work from home while we have little ones in the house. As long as you are up for it, we might as well have the kids close together. Anyway, think about it. We don't have to decide right now. Here we are. Wait here, okay?"

Sam jumped out of the car and grabbed Declan's car seat, the baby still sleeping inside. Unlocking the house, he set the carrier down inside and went back to the car. Opening the door, he took his wife by the hand.

"Come on, Lindy. I've got one last threshold to carry you over. I'm a man of my word," he said, remembering how he had carried Belinda over their secret rendezvous cabin on her parents' estate when no one knew they were married, and again over their first apartment together, back at college. He had promised when they were first married to carry her over the threshold over their first home.

Inside they closed the door quietly to so as not to wake their sleeping son and padded softly through the house. In the master bedroom, they looked out the window into their small backyard. "That tree looks pretty sturdy, Lindy. I think I'm going to put a swing up in it. I know Declan's too small right now, but he'll be big enough before we know it."