The Rebel's Own(2)

Kennedy turned her attention to her savior, Kevin, who had gone unnoticed for the past couple of minutes.

“Oh! Sure. Thanks again, Kevin.”

“No, problem,” he said, with a smile. “If you need anything else, call me. I’ll let the supervisor know that you won’t be coming in.”

Kennedy waved goodbye as Kevin walked away, and scowled when her mother said, “Why don’t you go out with him? I’m sure he would be a wonderful father to Riley.”

“I don’t doubt it. But there’s just one problem.”

“What is that?”

“He’s a man,” Kennedy retorted. “Besides, we have bigger problems, Mama. What do you think this hospital will do when they realize my insurance won’t cover shit? I probably won’t even be able to afford the medicine they’re gonna give him!”

“Then I think it’s time you visited a certain Boston Rebel.”

“I’d rather slit my wrists first,” Kennedy swore unthinkingly, making her mother flinch. How could she be so insensitive? Kennedy had tried to block out the memory of her high school overdose. She’d been trying to kill herself, kill the baby. She was a teenager, and she couldn’t handle the disappointment in her parents’ faces each time they looked at her.

Looking away from her mother’s pained expression, Kennedy breathed a sigh of relief as she saw the doctor approaching them. He had a grim look on his face that told Kennedy to bear down.

“He’s dying?”

“No, no, but he is quite ill,” he replied. “We have to wait for further test results to confirm my diagnosis, but I’m afraid your son might have leukemia.”

Kennedy actually stumbled back as the weight of the word hit her in the chest. She felt like she was caught in a soundless slow motion clip as everything around her kept rolling in real time. She watched as her mother and the doctor talked, as patients and nurses rushed past her. But her mind registered nothing but the fact that her son was probably going to die.

“What do we do now?” a feeble whisper escaped her lips.

“Well, you need to get tested as a possible bone marrow donor. His father should get tested too, and all your relatives.” His father, Kennedy closed her eyes. She had sworn that she would rather die than see Ryan Carville again. Death would have to wait. She had to save the life of her little boy. Still, she wouldn’t relish seeing him again.

“Is there any other way?” she blurted. “I mean, is there anything else that might help?”

“Well, an infant’s cord blood can be an even more effective source for stem cells than bone marrow, especially a sibling’s cord blood. If you were pregnant…”

The wheels in her mind started to turn even before the doctor finished talking. It took Kennedy only a split second to decide what she was going to do. She was sure she could get Ryan to get her pregnant without revealing the existence of their son. It would mean deceiving him, but after what he did to her, she certainly didn’t feel any guilt or remorse.

And Ryan definitely shouldn’t have a problem with sleeping with her.





Chapter Two





Kennedy knew she was stalking him at this point, but she was determined to talk to Matt Brown at whatever the cost. She had endured being kicked out of functions by his security and cozying up to his many “girlfriends” to find him today. And since Matt had been part of the original problem, he was going to come up with a solution for her.

“Hey Matt!” Kennedy yelled, as she stepped out of her car. She could see immediately that he didn’t recognize her, but the look of desire in his eyes did not escape her.

“Hey sweetheart,” he said, as he walked towards her, a sly grin on his lips.

Kennedy felt her body cringe as he sized her up, probably wondering if he could take her home. His pungent cologne nearly choked her when he got closer. Ignoring the repulsed tremble of her body, Kennedy put a smile on her face and pulled Matt in for a hug.

“If you don’t want me to go to the press, you will walk me into that café and talk to me,” she whispered in his ear.

She felt his body go rigid as he took a step back. Matt studied her once more, this time probably trying to size up exactly what kind of a threat she was. “What is this about?”

“My name is Kennedy Bailey, though you might remember me as the prom sacrifice.” Kennedy smiled in victory when the suspicious sneer on his face dropped and a worried frown replaced it. “This is the thing: I need to get to Ryan. He and I have some business to settle.”

“You must be crazy,” he growled, as he took a step back, his fingers running through his hair.