Lizzy giggled. “It’s fine. Really.” She met his gaze. “Unless, you’re uncomfortable? The tinge of green around your mouth says you might be second guessing your choice of surroundings.”
“I…what are they going to do to you?”
She slipped out of the light blue scrubs the hospital had given her when she arrived and climbed up to sit on the exam table —naked from the waist down as if it were the most natural thing in the world. Paper crinkled and he stared while she unfolded a paper sheet and laid it across her lap. It looked like a napkin.
“Me and rooms like this are old friends, don’t look so worried. I’ve had female problems since I was sixteen. Dr. Harper has been great and has performed all of my surgeries.”
A rap on the door sounded just before it opened and a short, bald, red-faced man hustled inside. “Lizzy! Busy girl, aren’t you? One of the girls came back from lunch and said you were in the ER and reported you were pregnant.” The doctor pushed his glasses up his nose and peered up, meeting his gaze. “I suppose you are the one responsible for this miracle pregnancy.”
“Ethan Hart, sir. Yes, I—”
“Can’t wait to get a look? So glad you came up with Lizzy. The first sonogram is always the best.” He whirled, sat on a rolling stool, grabbed some gloves from the counter, and pulled them into place with a horrifying snap. Ethan shuddered. Doctors probing body cavities never elicited pleasant memories, yet Lizzy just sat calmly.
The doctor rolled to the end of the exam table and patted the stirrups. “Lie back and put your feet up.”
The door opened again and a different nurse came into the room rolling a small cart. “Lizzy! Is it true?” She hurried to the side of the bed, ignoring him completely. “Are you pregnant?” He stepped back to give her room.
“It was just one test, Jenn,” Lizzy said and flashed him a compassionate glance. “Jenn, the terrified soldier by the wall is Ethan. Ethan this is Jenn, another of Dr. Harper’s nurses.”
“So good to meet you, Ethan. You better take good care of our Lizzy. She’s a special girl.”
“Nice to meet you too, Jenn. Does everyone in this hospital wing know my girlfriend?”
The nurse paused for a moment and stole a peek at Lizzy.
“He knows,” Lizzy answered.
Jenn nodded and continued as she prepped Lizzy’s arm to draw blood. “Well, honey, when a girl visits us four times a year, starting in high school, and has four surgeries. We tend to get on to a first name basis. Plus, your little sweetheart volunteers in the nursery at least twice a month rock’in babies.”
“Okay, I warmed it a little for you. Shouldn’t be too bad.”
“You always say that and it’s always cold.”
The doctor chuckled.
Ethan eyed the white phallus-shaped instrument the doctor was squirting clear gel on. What the hell? He averted his eyes and stepped closer to the head of the bed. The situation suddenly felt like an invasion of her privacy. Maybe he should have stayed in the waiting room.
“All done.” Jenn ripped open a bandage and fixed it over the place where she’d drawn blood.
“Turn the lights down on your way out, Jenn, please,” Dr. Harper added before she slipped out. “Ethan and Lizzy, take a look at the monitor.”
It was a fuzzy black and white image with a dark black jellybean shape in the center. In the center of the black area was a small white form. Was that? It was! He could see arms and legs. A head. A heartbeat echoed through the room with a flip of a switch on the machine. I’m going to be a dad.
He swallowed and looked down at Lizzy. She was staring at the screen, tears running down her cheeks. Why was she crying? Fear choked him as he considered the possibility that she didn’t want the baby. Or that she wouldn’t want him involved in the baby’s life.
“There’s the baby.” The doctor pointed excitedly. “Lizzy, you are a miracle. The heartbeat is strong, so the placenta found an undamaged area of your uterus to attach to. I don’t see any signs of cysts that pose a problem for the pregnancy. The baby looks very healthy and about ten weeks along. As the baby grows we will need to monitor the placenta carefully. Also, I’ll get the lab to hurry your lab work to make sure your hormone levels are good.”
Lizzy reached toward the monitor and touched the screen where the baby was. “I’m going to have a baby…we’re going to have a baby,” she said, turning to meet his gaze. Her eyes were glassy and red from the tears, but she looked happy. And, she’d said we’re.
“Thank you Dr. Harper,” he mumbled, wiping away a tear from her cheek with his thumb.
“Due to your medical history, Lizzy, I’m not going to put you on bed rest…yet…but I’m restricting you to very light activity. No exercising, shopping marathons, and don’t lift anything heavier than a plate of food.”
She nodded and took a deep breath. “I can do that. I mostly sit and read already.”
“Oh, no. No school this year. I know you graduated early so you could start your doctorate, but that needs to be put on hold.”
“I know. I’ll do anything for this baby, Dr. Harper, don’t worry.”
“Good girl.” The little doctor looked up at him. “What about you? She’s going to need to be waited on hand and foot for the next seven months. What do you do?”
“FBI agent.”
The doctor hung his head and sighed. “Lizzzzzzy. A FBI agent? Could you have picked a man with a more stressful job?”
“We’ll make it work and she’ll have a personal assistant by tomorrow to stay with her when I can’t be there.”
“Ethan, don’t be ridiculous,” she snapped. “I live with my mom. I think we can manage between the two of us.”
“No stairs,” Dr. Harper added.
Lizzy whined. “There aren’t any bedrooms downstairs. Where am I supposed to sleep?”
“You can move in with me.” The words left his mouth easily and he hoped she wouldn’t be offended by the offer. They hadn’t dated that long and had yet to discuss long-term plans. Marriage. Kids. It appeared they’d skipped over the first part, though, and straight to the having a kid part.
Dr. Harper printed a picture of the sonogram and handed it to Lizzy. “You are fine to go home. But I want you to follow my orders explicitly.”
“Yes, sir.” She sat up and pulled her legs out of the stirrups. “What about sex?”
“As long as you keep it very vanilla, you should be fine. But, no marathon all-nighters either.”
After everything he’d experienced with her through the last hour, he didn’t think there was anything left that could possibly embarrass him. He’d been wrong. Heat crept up his neck and he popped his knuckles, trying to avoid eye contact with the doctor.
Not happening.
The doctor stood and shook his hand. “I can tell you will take good care of Lizzy. My biggest worry is her exerting herself. She has a lot of scar tissue from her surgeries that could cause complications later in the pregnancy.” He lowered his voice. “Just be gentle and she’ll be fine in bed. As long as it’s comfortable for her, it’s perfectly safe. And, don’t walk on eggshells around her. It’ll drive her crazy. She’s a tough young woman.”
Ethan nodded, grateful for the assurances. “Understood.”
“Good.” The doctor turned back to Lizzy. “I’ll see you back in two weeks, young lady. More blood tests and another sonogram.”
“Thanks, Dr. Harper.”
<><><>
“I want to go home, Ethan.” She leaned back in the passenger seat of his truck and sighed. The buzz of the busy street in front of the hospital distracted her momentarily. Both of them had left their cell phones at the lake house and she hadn’t been brave enough to use a landline to call her mother yet. “But, I can’t walk into the house looking like this.” She was wearing light blue scrubs and some house shoes the nurses had dug out of the lost and found for her. Her hair was ratty and there were still traces of blood it. There was a layer of greasy grime that coated her fr
om head to foot that only an hour-long steaming hot shower might remedy. The paramedics had cleaned most of the blood off, but she could still feel it.
He flipped on the ac and put the truck in reverse. “We’ll find you something at my place after you take a shower. I need one just as badly as you do.” The truck groaned as he pulled out onto the busy road. Saturday afternoon traffic wasn’t bad. She let her mind wander as the highway flew past, mile after cement mile. They had a bit of a drive to get from west Fort Worth to Irving where Ethan’s house was.
Everything in her life had changed in a matter of hours. She’d been ready to jump into her doctorate with both feet. She’d been toying with the idea of moving into her own place this fall. Making things between her and Ethan more official had been the direction she wanted to go, but now they were having a baby together. She was probably moving in with him, and school was on hold per doctor’s orders.
Her brain was a mess, and Ethan had shot and killed his half-brother to save her life, but not before Simon had mind-fucked her into thinking Ethan had died.
But Ethan was alive.
She was alive.
Her hand went to her stomach. There was a baby. Alive. Inside her. She was the girl who’d given up hope years ago of ever having a child. I’m pregnant.
“I’m pregnant.”
“I’m with you, one hundred percent.”
“You’re not upset or feeling trapped. I know we haven’t been together very long—”
He exited the highway and pulled the truck into the first parking lot and put it in park. “Elizabeth MacLaughlin, I love you. I want to have this child with you and raise this child with you. I want to marry you as soon as you’ll have me, and you think it’s safe to bring up the subject to your brothers.” He gave her a wink after that last sentence.
She smiled and put her hand in his. His strong fingers closed around hers. It was so rare to hear her full name used, usually she only heard it when her mother was mad at her, but he made it sound so special. He made her feel special, and strong, and not just the little baby sister whose brothers did everything for her.
Epilogue
Seven months later…
His phone buzzed in his pocket. Every head in the room turned and stared, except the assistant director giving the briefing at the front. His colleagues all knew what that phone call might mean. But, he didn’t want the assistant director of the Criminal Investigative Division to think he was rude.
“Check it,” Logan hissed from his seat on his left.
He shushed his friend. “I will in a minute. We are bound to stop for a break soon.”
“Have you checked that call yet, Hart,” his partner, Brandon Fuller, whispered from the seat on his right. He and Logan had hoped to get partnered together after training, but their division director had had other ideas.
He slipped the phone from his pocket and sucked in a breath. One missed call from Susan MacLaughlin and a text message from Lorelei that said -get to labor and delivery as fast as you can.
Shit! “I’ve got to go.” Adrenaline surged and he knocked his chair backward, sending it clattering to the floor. Both of his friends laughed, but Brandon grabbed the chair and righted it first.
The speaker at the front of the room stopped and frowned. “Sir. Is there a problem?”
“I’m having a baby…I mean—”
“Fuller,” his direct supervisor stood from her seat at the end of the table and spoke, “drive your partner to the hospital so he doesn’t wreck his car.”
“Yes, ma’am.” Fuller grabbed him by the arm and towed him out of the room.
Minutes later they were in the parking garage, peeling out onto the street in his partner’s Challenger. Fuller turned on the emergency lights on the dashboard and was taking full advantage of bypassing civilian traffic laws. Even so, it would still take a good thirty minutes to get to the hospital.
<><><>
“Breathe, Lizzy!” Her mom squeezed her hand.
She wheezed through the contraction and winced at the tightening pain in her abdomen. It hurt. A lot.
“Did you call, Ethan?” She gasped once the contraction passed.
“Yes, sweetie. I called and Lorelei texted him. But, honey, he’s not going to make it before this baby has to come.”
“Yes, he will. He’ll be h-here.” Her breath hitched. Another contraction gripped her stomach and squeezed down hard. She groaned and took several quick breaths. Something was wrong. Warm liquid rushed from her body, soaking the sheets beneath her. Spots floated in her vision and she shivered. The room was freezing. It hadn’t been only a few minutes ago.
Shouting voices roared in her ears —her mother’s, nurses, Dr. Harper’s. Everyone sounded like they were under water. Her bed started moving. What’s going on? Where are they taking me? She tried to ask, but her lips wouldn’t move. Darkness followed.
<><><>
Fuller drove under the emergency drive-thru and Ethan jumped from the car, running full hilt through the emergency doors and to the elevator bay just through the main lobby. He knew this hospital by heart. They’d been in to see Dr. Harper every week for the past six weeks. Lizzy had been put on complete bed rest, but everything had been fine. They’d been in for their appointment yesterday. She hadn’t had spotting in two weeks.
The pit of his stomach twisted. He could taste bile in his mouth. Please be okay. God, please let her be okay. He prayed the words over and over.
The elevator doors finally rang and opened. He rushed inside, jabbing the button labeled four over and over until the doors closed. When they opened again, he darted around the corner to the nurse’s station.
“Amber! Where’s Lizzy?” He gulped in a breath of air and stared at the familiar nurse. “Is she okay? Where’s my wife?”
“Shhhh, Ethan.” She took him by the hand and led him quickly down the hall. “She’s in the OR. She hemorrhaged badly. Dr. Harper is doing an emergency c-section right now.”
No. No. No. God, let her be okay. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. His body trembled. He couldn’t lose her. They’d made it so far. She’d fought so hard to carry their little girl to term, refusing to let them take her early. He leaned against the wall. Tears burned his eyes and ran down his cheeks. The double doors to their left opened and two nurses came through wheeling a cart with a screaming baby wrapped in a pink blanket. He recognized one of the nurses —Jenn.
She recognized him too. “Ethan, you made it.”
“Is Lizzy in there? Jenn is she okay?”
Jenn glanced at Amber and then back to him.
“Jenn,” he bellowed. “Is she alive?”
She squeaked at his raised voice, but finally spoke. “Yes.”
More tears ran down his face. He allowed himself to draw in a slow breath.
“Why don’t you come with me, Ethan. This is your daughter. Just give me a couple of minutes and you can hold her while you wait for Lizzy to come out of surgery.”
He stared at the crying baby. The pink blanket twitched back and forth. One tiny little hand escaped the swaddling and reached out to him. What would he do with this child if her mother didn’t survive?
“Don’t you think like that, Ethan Hart,” Amber said, placing a comforting hand on his arm. “Lizzy would want you to go hold her.”
A shudder ran through his body and he stepped away from the baby. His daughter. He couldn’t. Not yet. He needed to be focused on Lizzy. He shook his head. “I’m staying here until she comes out. I have to.”
Jenn nodded and continued down the hallway with the other nurse and the baby. Amber went with them. He watched the three nurses disappear around the corner and his heart sank to the pit of his stomach.
Time passed slowly, minute by minute. He checked the screen of his phone until the battery was almost dead. Two hours had passed since he arrived at the hospital. Susan and Lorelei had both tried to coax him down to the nursery. Both had failed. He still paced a line back and forth in front of the
OR doors.
A few minutes later they opened wide and Dr. Harper came out. His haggard expression didn’t give much hope, but he didn’t look defeated either.
“She made it through surgery, Ethan. But, she lost a lot of blood and coded on the table twice. You need to be prepared. There could be brain damage.”
She’s alive. That’s what matters right now. “Can I see her?”
“She’s being moved to a room now. It will be a while before the anesthesia wears off. Have you been to visit your daughter?”
“No…I…I need to see my wife.” He ran his hands through his hair and took a deep breath. “Where is she?”
“Hart,” Fuller’s voice bellowed down the hallway. “The nurses just wheeled her in.”
He sprinted down the hall toward his partner and followed the trio of nurses into the recovery room. They arranged her bed in the center and flipped on several machines attached to the wall.
She was so pale. Her normally vibrant golden skin was dull and ashen. A bluish tinge darkened her usually pink lips. An IV drip ran to one arm and a blood transfusion ran to the other. Monitors around her beeped and hummed.
He leaned forward and kissed her. “I love you, baby girl. Please come back to me. Fight.” He brushed a lock of hair from her cheek and tucked it behind her ear.
The nurses left quietly. He heard Fuller talking to one in the hallway, but couldn’t make out what was said.
“Ethan.” Susan MacLaughlin’s voice trembled. She came through the doorway slowly.
Their eyes met and he broke. She rushed to his side and hugged him tightly against her waist. He sobbed into her sweater. She’d taken him into her family and blessed his marriage with her only daughter. She was his mother, too.
“She told me you’d be here before they took her to surgery. She knew you were coming.” Susan cupped his face.
“I should have been here. I should have taken off work.”
“You went to the check up with her yesterday. Everything was fine. The doctor said there was nothing we could have done to prevent this. We were lucky we went to the hospital right away.”
Lizzy (A MacLaughlin Family Novella) Page 5
