The Surprise

by Alice Ward

  “It’s trying to kill me,” she moaned, the scalpel touching the nurse’s skin again. More blood ran down the young woman’s throat, but to her credit, she didn’t move or make a sound.

  Thinking quickly, I went with the story I thought was playing in her deranged head. “I know. I’ve seen this before. We need to work quickly though. Can I come closer? I need to see if I can feel the position of the alien. We need to keep it face down before it can do more damage. Do you understand?”

  Indecision flickered in her gaze. “Just you,” she said and then pointed the blade at the other doctor. “He’s on their side.” She said the words in a terrified whisper. “He tried to rape me too. His fingers. He tried to—” A contraction hit her and she ran out of words. With each squeeze of her belly, the blade moved closer to the nurse’s carotid artery.

  Dr. McCormick bristled and stood up straighter, his hands dropping from his bloody nose. “I never touched her that way. I—”

  I glared at him. “Get out!” I shouted dramatically. “Nurse Melinda, call the police. We need this man arrested immediately.”

  The stupid asshole didn’t have the sense to play along. “I never—”

  “Shut the fuck up,” I roared at him and shoved Melinda in his direction. “Escort him out and make the call.”

  Unlike the blustering man, the charge nurse understood what I was trying to do, and grabbed the doctor by the arm. If the patient didn’t still have the knife at the nurse’s throat, I would have laughed when Melinda began reading the doctor his Miranda rights as she forced him out of the door.

  Now what the hell do I do? What did Melinda say the nurses’ names were? And which one was which?

  “Allie?” I guessed, and the nurse in front of the window whipped her head toward me. I let out a breath. “What is our patient’s name?”

  “No identification, Doctor.” She was strong. Scared but keeping it together. She lifted her chin, her eyes on me. “What tools shall I prepare for the alien removal?”

  From the hallway, I heard the call for Code Silver, glad that Melinda had possessed enough wits about her to turn the intercom off in this room.

  “I need to check the alien’s position,” I told her then faced the deranged woman. “Please come lie on the bed.”

  She eyed me wearily, her hands shaking, but I kept my face carefully blank. “You’re trying to trick me,” she said. “Everybody thinks I’m stupid or crazy, but I’m not. It was a big ship. Bigger than the Empire State Building. They did things to me. Bad things.”

  The woman was pitiful. I could see the scars of track marks on her arms. Her teeth were falling out. Lesion marks were all over her face. Her hair was so thin I could see her scalp, which looked to contain layers of dead skin.

  “You didn’t deserve those bad things to happen to you. I’m so very sorry. Right now, we need to focus on getting it out. Did they tell you what to do with the baby alien once it was born?”

  “Yes.” Her eyes whipped side to side, as if she was reading some unseen instructions. “They said that I was supposed to find Mary and a manger. I’m supposed to go there. They said the alien would know what to do.”

  I processed her words. St. Mary’s Hospital. Mary and the manger. Got it.

  I looked at the LPN, who was still bleeding but looking a little less terrified. “Can you please get the manger for our patient?”

  “Y-yes. It’s in the h-hall closet with the Christm—”

  “Very good.” I looked back at the patient and took a step closer. When she didn’t flinch, I took another. “Please let her go so she can get the manger. You said we need it, and I need Allie in here to help get the alien out. What were the other instructions?”

  She was blinking rapidly, the knife still at the nurse’s throat. I saw the indecision. The fear. The hope. Very slowly, she lowered the blade and the LPN immediately stepped outside her reach. She headed straight in my direction. “Th-thank you, Doctor. I’ll be back with the manger. Is there anything else you need?” She met my eyes full on, her chin lifting. “I’ll bring back whatever you need.”

  These nurses were fucking excellent.

  In the corner, the addict groaned and bent over, the agony on her face absolutely heartbreaking. “We’ll need the alien disposal bed. We’ll also need the alien disposal team. I believe my standard tools will be sufficient.” I hoped she could read between the lines.

  She nodded and left the room. Allie, the other nurse, let out a long breath. I faced the addict, giving her a moment to let the contraction fade away.

  “Please get in the bed so I can determine the position and how best to proceed.”

  The woman’s face contorted into a scream that didn’t reach her throat, and a small part of me, the Sigourney Weaver fan in me, watched in pure fascination and horror as I expected some strange being to crawl out of her mouth.

  “It’s killing me. It’s eating my insides. It’s eating my heart.”

  It was Allie’s turn to scream when the patient brought the blade down, but this time, in her own stomach. Blood flew from the cut, and she stabbed herself again.

  “I’ve got to get it out,” she cried.

  Allie was closer, and she lunged, grabbing the woman’s wrist. I was across the room a second later. I clamped my hand above Allie’s, then turned the struggling patient until her back was against my chest, my other arm pinning her against me.

  The moment the nurse had removed the scalpel and tossed it away, I said, “We need backup, Allie. Restraints. Inform OR that we’re on our way.”

  Damn. I hoped like hell we had an anesthesiologist in the house.

  “Let me die,” the patient said, her struggles growing weaker as she cried. “Please let me die.”

  Allie was gone in a flash, then back with what seemed like an army behind her. Things moved quickly after that, and we were able to get the woman restrained, and I was helping to push the bed to the operating room, sweat pouring down my temples.

  She was bleeding from the various stab wounds, amniotic fluid diluting the red of the blood. The scalpel’s blade wasn’t long, but enough to do some damage. And if she’d managed to hit the placenta, she and the baby were in serious trouble.

  “Why was there a scalpel in there anyway?” I couldn’t think of a reason a labor and delivery room would need one.

  Allie’s jaw tightened. “McCormick prefers them to scissors for episiotomies.”

  What the hell? “Well, he better not anymore.”

  As they prepped and put the patient to sleep, I scrubbed up, counting the seconds ticking by in my head. Then I had her open and was cutting down to the uterus, then carefully through it. Before I even lifted the baby out, I knew we were too late. The little boy was gone. He probably had been gone for days from what I could tell visually, but I handed him over for resuscitation efforts anyway.

  I just stared at his perfect form for a moment as they worked on him. I’d seen death, too much of it, but this hit me hard. Maybe it was because I now had a child — children — of my own that it affected me so much.

  Allie laid a hand on my arm as I turned back to the patient and began the process of stopping the placental bleeding, delivering it, then sewing her back up. She would be in critical condition for several days, but unless something secondary occurred, she would live. If you could call her existence really living.

  “Thanks for helping us back there,” Allie said, her fingers trembling now that the crisis was over.

  “You were fantastic,” I told her, meaning it. I looked over at the baby again. “Wish we could have saved the boy.”

  Allie frowned at the sleeping woman. “Me too. I’ll never understand drugs and the power they possess over people.”

  I tucked the uterus back inside the abdominal cavity. “Hope you never do.”

  She nodded. “Amen.”

  After I finished sewing her up, the police came, and I gave my statement as the mother went into recovery and the baby was taken to the morgue. Once s
he was released from the hospital, she would most likely go to prison on a variety of charges. I was torn about that. A part of me wanted her buried under the jail. Another part remembered the pure terror in her eyes. It sucked all the way around.

  When I was free to go, I headed back to labor and delivery. I wanted Scarlett. I wanted to see someone pure and clean, someone unscarred by the evil part of the world.

  I showered in the men’s locker room first, not wanting to bring a speck of the misery I’d just experienced into her room. When I passed by the nurses’ station, many of the nurses were gathered there. Susan, the LPN, had a bandage on her throat.

  I smiled at the very young woman. “You were incredible in there, I told her.”

  She took a deep breath, her fingers automatically moving up to her bandage. “So were you. McCormick was a total dick to her. She just needed someone to be on her side.”

  “You held it together remarkably well. Have you thought about going after your RN?”

  She sighed, shaking her head. “I wish. Things are just so expensive, you know? Maybe some day.”

  Some day was now.

  I snatched a sticky note and ink pen from the desk. I jotted down the name of my foundation’s director along with his email and phone number.

  “Call this number. Tell him that Dr. Kimbrough referred you personally. It’s a foundation that helps health care professionals further their education.”

  She took the note from my hands, her eyes wide. “Really? I… I can’t get financial aid because my parents make too much money, and I still live with them. So I probably won’t—”

  “You’re the perfect candidate for this particular foundation,” I assured her. “Call him. If you have any problems, call my office. Or let Scarlett know. She’ll be able to reach me.”

  If I have to tattoo my phone number to her arm.

  The girl, who couldn’t even be twenty years old yet, looked dazed. “Thank you so much.”

  Olivia smiled at me. “She was asleep a little bit ago, but go on in. The babies are in the nursery so she can rest.”

  I met her eyes. “Can I talk to you for a minute?”

  She nodded and stood, following me down the hallway. I felt every eye on us as we went. “What do you need?”

  “The DNA test. I’d like you to take the sample now.”

  Olivia leaned against the wall, looking very tired. “The babies are yours, you know.” There wasn’t a shadow of doubt in her eyes.

  I scrubbed my face with my hands and leaned against the wall too. “I know that, but I want to do this for Scarlett even more than for myself. I think that she needs to prove it to me, to make sure I have no doubts that could fester into some mental infection. At least that’s the feeling I’m getting from her.”

  “You’re right. She does need that. She’s a very good person.”

  “I know. I knew it right away. There’s still a great deal we need to learn about each other, but I don’t question that. And I don’t want the question of paternity to be anywhere in her thoughts.”

  Olivia jammed her hands into her pockets. “Don’t hurt her, okay? She’s been through a lot. She had to quit school so she could use the tuition money for maternity leave and baby things. She’ll always put the children first, no matter the price she personally has to pay.”

  If I didn’t feel like a dick before, I sure felt like one now. “I didn’t know that she was still going to school.”

  Hell, I didn’t know her middle name. Her age. Where she was born.

  “I know you didn’t know. There are a lot of things you don’t have a clue about with her, and a lot of things she doesn’t know about you.”

  “I’m hoping that will change.”

  A smile played on the corners of her mouth. “Be easy with her. She’s been on her own for a long time now, and while I’m sure she will appreciate any help you give her, don’t try to take over and boss her around. She has too much pride for that.”

  It was good advice. “What else does she like and doesn’t like?”

  Olivia tapped her lips with her fingers. “She drinks a lot of smoothies and flavored teas, iced and hot. Her comfort foods are grilled cheese sandwiches and tomato soup. Oh, and mashed potatoes. She doesn’t like cut flowers because they remind her of funerals, but she loves live plants, especially ones that bloom. Oh… she makes pottery in her spare time. Nothing big time because she doesn’t have a kiln or anything like that, but she has a pottery wheel and she loves to take classes if she ever has time.”

  “Mangoes. I know she likes mangoes.”

  Olivia grinned. “Yes. I forgot that one. She loves them. She loves all kinds of fruit. Peanut butter and crackers are a staple.”

  “Pancakes.”

  The kind nurse’s eyes softened. “See? You know her better than you think.”

  Uncertainty still coiled in my gut. It had actually been living there since the day after I met Scarlett in the bar. Why hadn’t she called me? Had our time together meant so little to her? When she learned she was pregnant, why didn’t she contact me then?

  “I liked her right away,” I confessed.

  Olivia’s lips pressed into a thin line. “The timing was bad.”

  “Yeah. It was, but I’m here now, and I want to be part of this.”

  The nurse nodded. “All right. Let’s get this one thing done so you two can put the issue of paternity into the past. Scarlett has already signed the consent forms for the babies, so I can get that processed right away.”

  I pushed away from the wall. “Good. Let’s get it done then.”

  I followed her down the hallway, signed my own consent forms, and submitted to her swabbing the inside of my cheek for a sample. “Be sure to do a rush.”

  She sealed everything up. “I will, and I’ll deliver it myself right now.”

  “Thank you.”

  She smiled again. “You’re very welcome.”

  “Have you or the staff had time to eat dinner?” I asked when she pulled a bag of chocolate covered raisins from her pocket.

  “No. They’ve closed the café for some big health inspection thing.”

  “I thought it was the sushi bar.”

  She shrugged. “It probably was, but they’re inspecting everything just in case. You know, administration overload.”

  I pulled out my wallet and handed her my credit card. Her eyes widened as she just looked at it. I slipped it into her pocket. “Order food for the entire staff. And not just pizza either. Real food. Steak. Lobster. Pasta. Whatever you all want. If the restaurant doesn’t deliver, call a service if someone isn’t free to run out.”

  She blinked at me. “Lobster?”

  I grinned at her. “Whatever. It’s not every day that a man delivers his own surprise twins. Be sure to include dessert. I would add champagne if you weren’t on the clock.”

  She pulled the credit card from her pocket, her eyebrow lifting at the AmEx Black. “I could go on a shopping spree too.”

  That was actually a good idea.

  “Is there anything Scarlett needs for the babies that she hasn’t gotten already?”

  She tapped her lips again. “I’ll call Amy. She was over at her apartment yesterday. She’d know better than me.”

  “All right. Order anything you think she needs. Call the grocery and have nutritious foods delivered too.” A thought occurred to me. “I mean, if you don’t mind, and if you don’t think she’ll mind.” I ran a hand through my hair. It was maddening to not know exactly what to do.

  “I don’t mind at all. Scarlett is the best, and I think she’ll appreciate the gesture. You know what I think she’ll appreciate more?”

  God, yes, please tell me what to do. “What’s that?”

  “Your time. Spend time with her. Get to know each other. Pay attention to the babies.” She smiled. “They say that the way to a man’s heart is through his stomach. Well, the way to a woman’s heart is through her children.”

  “They’re my children too.�
��

  She dipped her head into a single nod. “Yes. You’ll soon have the proof that they’re biologically yours. Being a daddy is much more than that. Your life has been completely disrupted in the span of a few hours. Scarlett had time to adjust and make a game plan. You where thrust into the game and forced to catch the Hail Mary with time running out on the clock. You can’t just make the big catch and then go celebrate the victory. You have to plan for the next game, put in the time. Research the opponents.” She blanched. “Not that Scarlett is an opponent, but you know what I mean.”

  I grinned. “Yeah, I know what you mean, and it’s pretty clear you’re a football fan.”

  She raised her fist in the air. “Go Giants. Scarlett is a sports fan too. She doesn’t like to watch them on TV too much, but she loves going to games. Baseball. Basketball. Football. Any of them, as long as she gets to eat at least one hot dog and a bucket full of popcorn.”

  That was a thought. I knew Rhett Hamilton of the New York Beasts. Maybe I could give him a call and get box seats when Scarlett was up to it. It might be fun to see the motley baseball crew in action.

  “Thanks for the advice. In case you couldn’t tell, I need all that I can get.”

  She smiled. “You’re doing good so far. Remember to spend time with her and the babies. Don’t get too bossy or she’ll kick you out. I think you’ll find that she’s really easy to love. She’s got this big ole heart that is like stretchy elastic. Play your cards right, and it can fit all of you in.” She blanched again and laid a hand on my arm. “That is, if you want to be in there.”

  It was exactly what I wanted, I realized. More than anything.

  But was it really what she wanted? Did she want me?

  Why hadn’t she called?

  The question pecked at my brain.

  “Thank you, Olivia. I’m going to go sit with her for a while.” I nodded at the credit card. “You all enjoy your dinner.”

  CHAPTER FIFTEEN

  Scarlett

  “Will you marry me?”

  My heart was beating so hard I thought it might pound out of my chest as Langston Kimbrough looked up at me with those honey-colored eyes, holding up an enormous ring.