The Other Side

Chapter 9

Mark blinked at the blunt question.

“Excuse me?”

“From us.” Charli opened her eyes and looked at him. Her eyes were shimmering with unshed tears. “Do you want more from us? Or are you just here because you want to do the right thing?” She sniffed and swiped at her nose with her sleeve. “I just need to know because my emotions are screwed up right now.”

Mark was stunned to hear all of this. He had thought they had been through this; he was there for the long haul. He wasn’t going to turn away because she was pregnant. True, he wanted more but he was waiting for Charli to be more confident in herself about them.

He could guess why she was feeling like this.

“Has Andy made you insecure, honey?”

“A little.” Charli admitted.

Mark wanted to go out and find the bas*ard. He wanted to beat the crap out of him until Andy got the message about how much he had screwed up. Charli deserved more than him. And Mark was willing to give her what she wanted.

“Well, let me tell you what I want.” He cupped her neck in his hand, his thumb on her hammering pulse. “I want to be with you. I’ve wanted you from the start but because of how close we were together after Andy I didn’t want to push you into another relationship so quickly. I’ve been going at your pace, waiting until you decided what you want.”

Charli stared at him.

“So you want to be with me?” She asked in a small voice.

“Of course I do.” Mark kissed her, pulling back to smile as her. “You must have noticed by now. I love you, Charli. I fell in love with you a long time ago. I want us to be a family. Before we met I was trying to keep up with the younger ones, drinking as much as I could and doing what they did. I was denying the fact I was getting old.” He rested his forehead against hers. “Knowing I was going to become a dad made me realize I had more to live for. I want this. I want us.”

“You love me.”

Mark nearly fell over backwards as Charli launched herself at him with a squeal, wrapping her arms around his neck and hugging him tightly. He laughed and held her as she pressed kisses on his jaw and mouth, urging her to slow down before pulling away with a grin.

“I take it you’re happy with that choice.”

“I certainly am.” Charli nuzzled his hand when he reached up to stroke her cheek. “I wanted to tell you but I thought you’d walk away.”

“Didn’t you just hear me? I’m not walking away.” Mark kissed her. “As long as you want me, I’m not going anywhere.”

Charli smiled, her eyes now sparkling.

“I love you.” She tugged at his t-shirt, urging him forward. “Please stay with me.”

“I was planning to stay the night.” Mark moved up onto the bed beside her and Charli lay back, rolling into him. “Keep an eye on you.”

Charli grinned coquettishly up at him.

“Sounds like an idea.”

She reached up to kiss him but Mark moved his head back, narrowing his eyes at her.

“But we’re just going to sleep.” He said as sternly as he could, which was difficult with the smiling on his face. “The doctor said no s*x until you have your stitches taken out. I don’t want you back in the hospital because they were busted with our wild lovemaking.”

And their lovemaking was wild. Even when they started slowly and tried to make love slowly they always ended up going crazy. They couldn’t get enough of each other.

Charli moved back and pouted.

“No fair.”

Mark grinned and shifted off the bed, urging Charli to stay where she was. Charli raised up onto her elbows as Mark unbuttoned her jeans.

“He said we weren’t to have full s*x.” He slid her jeans down her long legs. “He didn’t say anything about any other type of s*x.”

Charli grinned and lifted her hips as she pulled off her panties.

“That’s more like it.”

*****

Mark saw the ball coming but he couldn’t move fast enough. His legs felt like they were made of lead. Nevertheless he tried to swipe at the ball but missed it by a long way. It bounced past him and Mark staggered, trying to stay upright.

“Dammit!”

He ran into the wall and leaned against it, pressing his head against the cool bricks. His head felt like it was going to explode and he was sweating in a way that wasn’t from exercise exertion. Everything around him seemed to be bobbing about.

“Mark?” Stephen appeared beside him. Mark could see him going in and out of vision. “You okay? What’s up?”

Mark was about to say that he was fine but he knew if he stood up now he would be on the floor. His legs were feeling rubbery.

“I don’t know.” His throat felt like he had swallowed a cactus.

“You’re not on par today. Are you sick?”

“I guess.” Mark swallowed and that hurt. “I’ve probably got a bug. Charli wasn’t well a few days ago. I’ve probably caught it off her.”

Although Charli’s cold hadn’t been anything like this. She had had a runny nose and a cough with a slight temperature but she hadn’t experienced what Mark was experiencing. Maybe he was more susceptible to colds than she was.

“It looks like more than a bug.” Stephen pressed on his shoulder. “Sit down.”

“I can’t.” Mark could feel himself complying as his legs slowly folded under him as he tried to resist. “We’ve not got the court for long.”

“Fu*k that. Practice is over.” Stephen knelt beside him and put the back of his hand to Mark’s forehead. He flinched. “Sh*t, you’re burning up.”

Mark didn’t know why he was saying that. Despite the sweating he was freezing. He could feel goosebumps coming up on his arms. He pressed his head against the wall and closed his eyes.

“Why is the world spinning?”

“That’s it. I’m calling an ambulance.”

Mark opened his eyes to see Stephen standing up and fishing out his cell phone.

“I don’t need it.” He protested weakly. “It’s just the flu.”

“Not when you’ve gone a shade of gray no one should go.” Stephen snapped back.

He walked away, putting the phone to his ear, as Roberto stepped onto the court. Dressed in a light gray suit and dark blue tie, his badge was clipped to his breast pocket.

“Hey, Stephen.” He approached Stephen. “What’s the noise about?”

“Take a look.”

Stephen looked in Mark’s direction. Roberto looked and his eyes widened. He hurried over to Mark and crouched before him.