Promises
        Chapter 3
 

"More than the fact that I was poisoned," she groaned. "What else could it possibly be?"
"Michelle," he began. "You're pregnant."
She slowly moved her arm and stared at Rick, "What?"
"I had the lab tech run the test five times," he sighed. "It came back positive."
"Pregnant?" she said in astonishment. "How can that be? We were careful. I even had my suspicions so I took a test at home. It was negative."
"Well, I don't know what to tell you, but there's no doubt you're pregnant," Rick said.
"I don't believe this," she said, covering her face with her hands remembering that one night on the beach when they were vacationing a couple of months ago. Suddenly she remembered. "Oh, my God. Rick! The poison! Did it hurt the baby?"
"It wasn't enough to hurt the baby," he reassured. "But I talked to Dr. Sedwick and we think it would be best if we kept you overnight and let her check you over just to make sure."
"Okay," she nodded. "Can you find Danny for me?"
"Are you sure you're up to talking to him about all this?" he asked. "I can talk to him."
"I have to," she explained. "He has to hear this from me."
"Michelle," he begged. "Please try to get some rest. I'll come get you when they have a room ready."
Rick took one more look at this sister before closing the door. He wondered if she would ever be safe as long as she was married to Danny Santos.

Danny quietly closed the door behind him. Something was wrong. Rick had a worried look on his face when he had told him Michelle wanted to see him. And now Michelle had the same look on her face.
"Hey sweetie," he forced a slight smile as he sat down beside her, reaching for her hand.
"Danny, we need to talk," she said quietly.
"Okay, Michelle, you and Rick are really scaring me," his voice cracked. "Please just tell me what's going on. Are you okay?"
She began to push herself up, trying to sit up, but stopped as she had a sharp pain through her abdomen, which heightened her fear considered what she now knew.
"Just lie back," he panicked. "You need to take it easy."
"I'm fine," she grimaced. "I have to tell you this."
"What is it?" he asked.
"Rick got the test results back and he found out what is wrong with me," she explained.
"Is it serious?" he swallowed around the lump in his throat.
"They found a trace of arsenic in my bloodstream," she whispered. "But it was just enough to make me sick. I'm going to be fine."
He squeezed her hand tighter as he dropped his head. "I don't believe this!" he screamed. "Michelle, I am so sorry. This is all my fault. I promised I would protect you and I will. I will find out who did this and when I do…"
"Danny, wait," she interrupted. "There's something else you need to know."
She hesitated not knowing what his reaction was going to be. "What?" he asked.
"Danny, I'm pregnant," she blurted out.
He sat there for a minute, thinking he had misunderstood her. "You're…I mean we're going to…you're…"
"Going to have a baby," she finished for him.
"But how…I mean we were careful," he said.
"I know, I said the same thing," she said. "But then I remembered that one night on the beach in San Cristobal."
The more he let it sink in, the more sense all of this made. That night had been magical. Being careful was the last thing on their minds. And now they were going to have a baby. The woman he loved more than anything in this world was going to have his baby. A smile crept on his face as the idea sunk in. "This is wonderful," he laughed. "We're going to have a baby!"
He leaned over to kiss her, but pulled back when she barely returned his kiss. When he looked into her sunken eyes, he came back to reality and remembered why she was so sick. "The poison! Is the baby okay?"
"Yes," she nodded. "But Rick and Dr. Sedwick want to keep me here overnight."
"Overnight?" his voice cracked. "Are you okay?"
"The arsenic wasn't enough to kill me," she forced a slight laugh. "I guess we should thankful for that."
"This isn't funny," he demanded. "I'm going to find out who did this. And I promise you there will be hell to pay."
"Please don't talk like that," she winced.
"I'm sorry, but somebody tried to hurt you," he said. "I have to find out who did this."
"Let's just forget about it and concentrate on us and our baby," she pleaded.
"Forget about it?" he asked in amazement. "Michelle, somebody poisoned you. I can't just forget about it. What if they try this again? What if the next time the dose is a little higher? What then? I would lose you and I can't…no, I WON'T let that happen."
"Danny, I'm sorry," she said as new tears began to fall. "I know this is serious, but you've worked so hard to break away from the past and I don't want you to go falling right back in. I don't want our child to grow up in that kind of environment."
"I promise you our child will be safe and sheltered from all of this," he drew closer, wiping her tears away gently with his fingers. "I will never let anything come between us, ever, but I have to know who did this to you."
"I understand," she whispered, barely able to keep her eyes open. "But please work with the police on this and don't do anything by yourself. I don't know what I would do if anything happened to you."
"Now you know how I feel," he said. "You're exhausted. Close those beautiful brown eyes and get some sleep."
"Stay here with me," her hand closed tightly over his as she looked at him with pleading eyes.
"I told you I'm not going anywhere," he smiled, brushing a stray curl from her face. "Now close your eyes."