Stepping to the door, I open it, smiling at Gavin. He grins. “Wow, you look gorgeous.”
I smile. “Thanks.”
Once we are at the gala, he introduces me to several of the other doctors in his practice and from the hospital.
Dr. Coleman shakes my hand. “Are you managing to help keep that sister of yours straight?”
I shake my head. “I’m not sure anyone can do that job.” I laugh. “But I know that Sly doesn’t let her out of his sight very much now.”
He laughs. “Oh yes. He told me he’d be at every appointment from now on. She wouldn’t have the opportunity to try and not worry him. Which I got her butt good, too. I had told her how serious I was worried about her sugar because of your family history. So she got some good lectures.”
I hug him. “Thank you for caring so much about her,” I say with tears in my eyes.
He hugs me hard. “She’s a wonderful girl. I wanted this pregnancy to go smoothly for her after last time. I’ll be honest, I don’t think in my twenty years of delivering babies that I’ve ever been so scared for a baby and a patient as I was the night she was attacked. God had his hands on mine guiding me that night.”
I nod, thinking about rushing here to be with her. Clay driving through the night even though he was exhausted from his fight.
I go to take a sip from my champagne and the smell turns my stomach.
I step to the bar. “I’ll have a water, please.”
Gavin steps beside me. “Are you all right? You look a little flush.”
“Yeah, I’ve just been really tired. You know, getting moved into my new place and the new jobs. It’s crazy, I go through days where I’m on a junk food binge, then days I feel like if I look at food, I’ll puke.”
He studies me for a minute. “Jade, I’m going to ask you a question and I don’t want to be forward or insult you, but I feel like I need to ask.”
I nod briefly as he pulls me to the side.
“Is there any way that you might be pregnant?” He laughs. “I know this isn’t regular first date talk, but I was just wondering. The symptoms you’re talking about and I hate to say it this way, but um, I’ve noticed your breasts have um…” He makes the motion of them getting bigger.
I don’t know where they come from but tears poor out of my eyes and the fears I’d pushed aside earlier bubble up.
He hugs me and takes my hand. “Come on, we’ll go over to the doctor’s building to my office and do some bloodwork. Your hormones could be out of balance for many reasons, the stress could be a lot of it. Then we can talk in private.”
I just nod and follow behind him. In my gut I know what the answer is. I’ve been there before.
An hour and several Kleenex later, Gavin is still smiling at me. I was wrong and I’m happy, but worried at the same time. “Hey, you’re going to be okay. You’ve got a wonderful OBGYN right here.”
I laugh and snort. “Well, call me crazy but my idea for you in between my legs wasn’t for an exam.” Then I start to get weepy again. “Plus, I mean how do you know I’m going to be okay? What if-?” I can’t even finish it.
He pats my hand. “We will cross that bridge when we get there. So tell me about the miscarriage you mentioned,” he says, elbows resting on his desk. “Also, will you sign this so I can get those records from UAB?” He holds up a piece of paper to me.
I nod. “Sure.” I reach over and sign the paper. “Thanks for taking all this time with me. I was nineteen. I was on birth control, but had just recently changed. My boyfriend at the time failed to tell me that the condom we were using broke. I was about seven or eight weeks along. I started cramping really badly, then I started spotting. I took myself to the hospital on campus. I found out that I was having a miscarriage.”
He’s scribbling notes on the paper. “Did the doctor perform a D&C?”
I shake my head. “No, I saw the resident on duty. He said that it wouldn’t be necessary, that my body would naturally take care of it.” I start wiping tears again.
“Hey, it’s fine. At least we know you aren’t pregnant.”
“Yeah, but now I have an entire other realm of possibilities to worry about.” I motion into the air, at my wit’s end.
“Were you ever checked out and given pills before you went to the clinic there?” he asks, still writing.
“Um, yes. I started seeing a gynecologist when I was seventeen. I had really bad periods and they gave me birth control. The birth control slowed them down a great deal. Like they became almost non-existent.” I shrug.
He nods. “Okay, well let’s do some more lab work and schedule an ultrasound to look at some things next week. I really want to help you get to the bottom of this.”
“I know this was a great first date, huh? The chick you’re out with has to have some random shit going on with her girl parts, so you have to check them out instead of going to the gala.” I laugh with a snort again. I can’t help but do that when I’m upset and nervous.
He nods, shrugging, “Well, it’s different, but not the weirdest date I’ve been on.”
I laugh. “Don’t lie.”
He shakes his head, laughing. “No way. I went on a date with a girl one time who carried her cat everywhere in her purse.” I snort and shake my head as he continues. “I had to buy the cat dinner, too. At a damn five star restaurant.”
“Oh god. You have to be making that up.”
He shakes his head. “Nope, then there was the girl who found out my job and asked me could I sew her hymen back.”
“Oh my god, that’s fucking disgusting.”
“Yeah, needless to say, neither of those warranted a second date.”
“Don’t worry, I’m sure this one also fits that category.”
He looks at me crazy. “Why? Because you’re going through some gynecological issues? No, that’s not a reason.”
I start crying again. “Thank you, Gavin.”
“Hey, remember. Women are my business.”
I bark out a laugh with a snort from the tears. “That was really corny.” He really is funny.
“I’m here all night, folks.” He laughs, standing up and bowing at an imaginary audience.
CHAPTER 15
GIBBS
A WEEK LATER
“Are you going to tell me where we’re going?” Gia asks, smiling from the passenger side of my truck.
I grin. “It’s a surprise.”
I’ve been watching Gia since the cookout. I have my reasons to be curious about our situation and I feel like something is off. I’ve only mentioned the doctor once since then and she seems to have no interest in going, so I’m surprising her today. I called the doctor’s group that Kara uses and set her up an appointment. They are at their satellite office today, instead of the one at the doctor’s building next to the hospital, so we’re headed there now.
Once we pull into the parking lot, she looks over at me and her face looks panicked. “What are we doing here?”
I shrug. “Well, I wanted to surprise you. I knew you didn’t have classes today and I thought we should see a doctor.”
“I have my own doctor!” she barks.
“Well, you can’t seem to get in with him so I was worried. You haven’t been to the doctor yet and you have to be almost out of your first trimester. You need to be seen.”
I get out of the truck and walk around to her side. She steps out and I feel her shaking next to me. “I’m really not feeling well today, maybe I should come back another day.”
I grab her arm. “All the more reason for us to go in and get you checked out.” I turn to her. “Unless there is a reason you don’t want to.”
“Yes, I want to see my doctor!”
About that time, the office door opens and I see a tall guy with blonde hair walk out. The big thing I see is that he’s got my girl on his arm. She’s been crying, I can tell.
“You aren’t even paying fucking attention to me!” Gia screams.
I turn to her. “How a
m I not paying attention to you? I’m taking you to the doctor.”
The guy and Jade stop to look at us and he jogs over. “Hey, I’m Dr. Jennings. Can I help you?”
“Well, he’s being unreasonable!” she screams.
I look at the guy, I can still see Jade standing next to the building out of the corner of my eye. “She’s pregnant and she hasn’t been to the doctor yet. She’s close to twelve weeks, so forgive me if I feel like she needs prenatal care.”
He looks at her. “Ma’am, it is really important that you get prenatal care. Why haven’t you been to a doctor yet?”
“I haven’t been able to coordinate my schedule with my regular doctor,” she says stubbornly.
“Well, I’m an OBGYN myself, I’d be happy to check you out today. Ease your,” he looks back and forth between us, “b-boyfriend’s mind.”
“I’m the baby’s father. That’s it.”
He nods. “Oh. Okay, sorry.”
I wave him off with my hand. “It’s not a big deal. I just want to get the baby checked out, make sure everything is okay.”
He nods. “I understand-.”
I stick my hand out. “The name’s Gibbs.”
“Gibbs,” he says, shaking my hand. He looks back to Gia. “Plus, it’s not good for you to get this upset. Come on, let’s go in and get checked out.”
He guides her toward the office, not really giving her the option to choose otherwise. I see Jade wipe her eyes and start walking toward her car. I stop on the way. “Hey, are you okay?”
She nods. “Yeah, I’ll be fine.” Turning her back and continuing to her car, she doesn’t really give me a chance to say anything else.
Once I’m inside, I ponder why Jade is here and why she’s crying. I don’t get much time, though, because the doctor asks a nurse to take Gia’s blood and take her to a room.
He stops me in the hall. “You seem to have concerns other than about the baby. Do you suspect drug use or anything?”
I swallow hard. “I don’t think she’s really pregnant.”
He looks at me dumbfounded. “Why do you think that?”
“Well, I called off what we had going on and she shows up at my house to tell me she’s pregnant. I’ve asked her numerous times about the doctor and she’s put it off. I told her I’d like to get an ultrasound to see exactly how far along she is, she still put me off.” I stop to breathe for a second. “She was on the pill when we were having sex. I always used a condom, but I was like ‘hey, they aren’t always a hundred percent’ so long story short, I’m not sure there really is a pregnancy. And I’m not the only one, her family is curious, too.”
He nods. “Oh. Okay, I guess I can see why you’re so concerned.”
“Why are you helping me so much here?” I ask curiously.
“Well, as I was walking out with Jade, she mentioned you’re a friend of the family and was a little concerned.” I shake my head.
“Yeah, um, thanks. I’ve heard good things about this practice. That’s the reason I set her up an appointment here.” I should ask him what in the hell Jade was crying about and why in the hell he cared so much. Before I can, though, the nurse calls him to the room.
A little bit later, he calls me back but before I can walk in the exam room, he stops me. “I shouldn’t tell you this out here, but I’m going to tell you as soon as we get on the other side of this door anyway.” He shakes his head. “She’s not pregnant. We went ahead and did a urine test, too, so we could get results pretty quickly. I have the lab rushing her bloodwork, but she’s not pregnant now and I did an exam, it doesn’t appear she’s had a miscarriage either. There’s no bleeding or anything. Does she have a family member you can call?” I’m sure my face is turning red because I can feel the heat crawling up my face. I know he’s trying to be safe.
I nod. “Yeah, I can call one of her brothers,” I grind out. I’m so fucking pissed right now, I could fucking kill her.
He sighs. “Do me a favor, go ahead and get one of them on the way here. Then we’ll go in and talk with her and try to find out why she’s done this.”
I text Huck and ask him to get his ass here, I’ll explain when he gets here. Then I step into the room and she’s shaking her head. “No, I AM PREGNANT!”
He shakes his head. “No, ma’am, you aren’t.”
“Well, I must’ve had a miscarriage and didn’t know it,” she says venomously.
He looks at her with a seriousness. “Ms. Moxen, we are doing some tests on your blood right now, but upon my examination, it doesn’t appear that you’ve recently had a miscarriage.”
There’s a knock at the door, the nurse in the room with us sticks her head out and turns to me. “Did you have a relative come for her?”
I nod and she opens the door further. Huck walks in the door with Sly beside him. “What’s going on, Doc?” Huck asks as he and Sly both shake hands with the doctor.
Dr. Jennings gives them the rundown of the past half hour. Huck steps to her side. “Gia, now is the time to tell us. What’s going on?” he says in his deep voice.
She looks up at him. “Nothing. I must’ve had a miscarriage and didn’t know it.”
The nurse finally steps forward. “Sweetheart, I’ve had two miscarriages and I assure you, you would notice something.”
She glares at the nurse. “FUCK YOU! Fuck all of you.”
Sly barks. “Gia! Watch your mouth in here. This is a professional office. This guy right here is my wife’s doctor and he saw Chelsea, too, so you WILL treat him with respect.” He shakes his head. “Now, you need to tell us what’s going on.”
“FINE! It was all a lie. I was getting back at him for going out with Jade.” She glares at me. “Yeah, I saw you guys out on your date. You never took me places like that. You were laughing and having fun with her, then you guys went home together.” She shrugs. “So I fucked it up for you.” She giggles. “And Jade’s seeing this hot doctor now, instead of some fucked up fighter like you. If I have to lose something I want, so do you.”
I have never wanted to hit a woman so bad in my entire life. Huck grabs my shoulder and walks me out of the room. “Man, I’m so fucking sorry.” He just keeps shaking his head. “She’s so much like my fucking mother to have never lived with her. This is exactly like some shit Brandi would do.” He sighs. “Go home. We got this. Her ass is going to a shrink or something. I’m not dealing with this or living through shit like I did with Mom. Go throw her shit in some boxes and Sly or myself will be by to get it later.”
I keep taking deep breaths, trying to calm myself down. “She ruined what I could’ve had with Jade,” I say with a little raised voice, pointing to the door. Huck gives me a look that says I shouldn’t raise my voice to him. I look at the floor, “Is she really dating that doctor?”
He shrugs a little. “I know she’s been out a couple of times with him, but I don’t really know more than that.”
I lean against the wall and let my head thump back into it. “This is so fucked up.”
Huck pats my shoulder. “Man, I really am sorry. Just go, we’ll talk later.”
I nod, stuffing my hands in my pockets and walking toward the truck. I wasn’t looking forward to having a kid with Gia, but I was looking forward to having a kid. I knew in my heart driving here today she was probably lying, but I couldn’t for the life of me see how someone could actually do that
CHAPTER 16
JADE
I really want to know what happened after I left the parking lot but honestly, I have too much shit going on in my own personal life to worry about someone else’s.
I’m not pregnant and a reality has set in that I may never be. I haven’t told my family and I don’t plan to.
My phone pings.
GAVIN: How are you?
ME: I’m dealing.
GAVIN: Would you like some company?
ME: I’m waiting on all of my meds now. Then I’m going to go home and get some rest.
GAVIN: Okay. Well, please
let me know if you need anything. I know today was a lot of information. It can be overwhelming.
ME: You’ve been great. Thank you.
He really is a great guy. I should to try harder with him. Maybe I’ve been so caught up in my own head, I can’t see the attraction.
My phone pings again once I get home. Thinking it’s a text from Gavin, I grab it up.
CLAY: Are you okay? You looked really upset.
I sigh. I’m not answering it. He needs to be with his child and…well, whatever she is to him. He’s happy about having a child and I will probably never be able to give him one. At least Gavin understands this going in. With Clay, I would want everything, the fairytale.
My phone starts ringing. Damn it, why can’t he just leave me alone?
Without looking at the screen, I swipe at it. “Hello!” I bark out.
“Okay. Hello to you, too.” My sister’s snarky voice comes through the line.
“Sorry. I thought you were someone else,” I mumble.
“Well, can Krista come hang out with you for a little while?”
“Sure. What’s going on?” I can tell in my sister’s voice that something is off.
She lets out a deep sigh. “Well, it’s not easy to sugarcoat this, so I’m just going to get it over with. Gia’s not pregnant. She never was. She lied to everyone. Gibbs called Sly and Huck to come up to the doctor’s office. They helped him confront her. Huck went ahead and sent Gibbs home, he didn’t need to be up there. Personally, if I were him, I would’ve killed her ass.” My sister is revved up, I can tell by the way she’s rattling and I can’t fathom how Clay is feeling right now. “Anyway, she went violent in the office after he left, throwing shit and then tried to hit Dr. Jennings. So the guys called Mox and he met them to sign her into a behavior facility. Huck’s really worried that she’s showing some of the same symptoms as their mom.”
I don’t understand that. “What symptoms does their mom have? I’m confused. She’s never really spent any time with their mom.”
She lets out an exhausted breath. “Years ago, in one of her many stints in rehab, it came out that she’s bi-polar. Part of the reason she’s always strung out is because she won’t take her meds like she’s supposed to. She goes for harder stuff or to just be passed out drunk.”
Gaining Gibbs (Marco's MMA Boys #4) Page 7
