Emilia’s eyes light up when she sees me, but I turn Allie around and point at her belly. “What is that?”
“A baby,” she answers, as if I asked her what color the sky is.
I mentally count how many months it’s been since the last time we were together. “Whose baby?”
You’d never guess we’re in a hospital from how library quiet the room is. Jed and Molly watch on as though we’re the season finale of their favorite TV drama.
“Yours.”
My heart plummets as if there’s an anchor attached and it’s falling to the darkest depths of the ocean. A million different reactions bombard me all at once, but I can’t distinguish one feeling over another. Anger that she hid the pregnancy from me. Pissed off that I got her pregnant. Sadness—
“Baby!” Emilia exclaims.
Jed hands the bouquet of balloons back to me. “Looks like these are for you after all.”
The balloons slowly float to the florescent-lighted ceiling because I can’t even feel my fingers right now to grip them.
Molly slowly steps forward and tugs Jed back to her side as though he’s her child.
I eye Allie with disdain. “Care to explain?”
“I could ask you the same question.” She puts her hands over her belly as though she’s protecting it from harm, and that pisses me off further. I’m the baby’s goddamn father. It’s insulting.
“We need to talk.” The words barely make it past my lips, my jaw is clenched so hard.
“Baby!” Emilia shouts again.
“Shh…” Molly whispers, but Emilia is in a baby-loving phase. All she asked for for her birthday was a baby stroller and a high chair.
“I need to start my shift.” Allie steps back.
Fear grips me by the throat and squeezes. If I let her out of my sight, will she flee?
“You aren’t going anywhere,” I say with more authority than I should.
“I didn’t break the law, Fisher, you can’t arrest me.” She crosses her arms and juts out a hip.
Goddammit, I forgot how infuriating Allie can be. Just as stubborn as me. “Why didn’t you tell me you were pregnant?”
She glances to the left where Jed and Molly stand, then her gaze falls to the floor. “Can we please do this somewhere else?”
“Fine.” I step forward to usher her out into the hall.
“I can’t right now, Fisher, I have to work. But I’ll meet you tomorrow or something.”
“After your shift,” I say.
She nods, dodging eye contact. “I get off at three.”
“You shouldn’t be working these late shifts.”
Her eyes brim with anger. “Don’t go acting like you care about me now. I’ll see you at three.” She turns her back on me and stalks off down the hallway.
I step forward to go after her, but a hand on my chest stops me. I look over to find Jed there.
“Give her some space,” he says.
“Space? She’s had space for five fucking months.”
Emilia points at me. “Bad word!”
“It won’t be the last one I say in front of you,” I grumble.
“She’s not going anywhere. She’s working,” Jed says.
I blow out a breath and sit in a chair. Who would’ve predicted that Jed would be the calm one in a messed-up situation like this?
The clock reads four in the afternoon. Damn it. I have to wait eleven hours before I get my answers. This will try my patience.
“So, Daddy, are you hoping for a girl or a boy?” Jed asks.
Molly pinches him and he yelps.
“Gotta say, I never thought of you as a dad.” He sits in the chair next to me.
I rest my forearms on my knees and run my hands through my hair. “Neither did I.”
It’s actually my worst fucking nightmare.
I’m jumpy my whole shift. My coworkers probably think it’s because I’m no longer used to working in a hospital setting, but they’d be wrong. I have to face Fisher after this and explain why I didn’t hunt him down to tell him he was going to be a father.
Then again, if he’d answered his phone or returned my call four months ago, he’d already know. I knew when I was leaving that night that he felt awkward. The sex had been off the charts, but I felt him pull away afterward, I just wasn’t sure why. But I wasn’t surprised when he didn’t call after saying he would.
Either he can have nothing to do with my pregnancy or be a real father, but I’m done living in limbo.
By the time my shift finishes, I want to beg to stay longer just to avoid this conversation with Fisher. If only my feet weren’t killing me and the hospital wasn’t almost completely void of patients—somewhat unheard of in the ER when there’s a full moon. I put on my coat and my purse crossways over my body, gearing up all my mental strength to walk out of here while at the same time hoping that Fisher fell asleep at home and forgot to come.
I greet the nurses coming on shift, happy to be among familiar faces, and scan my ID so the doors open to the waiting area. Fisher sits in a chair directly in front of the doors. His long legs are stretched out in front of him, ankles and arms crossed, eyes locked on mine.
“What? Did you set an alarm?” I slide through the doors before they shut.
He stands and runs his hand through his hair. “Let’s go.”
The man infuriates me with the way he’s always so bossy. He still looks like a snack though. It’s hard not to notice the fit body, the tattoos peeking out onto his hands and neck, and his beard that has a touch of gray here and there, though there’s no gray to be found in his longish hair.
“Where are we going?” I ask.
“See you two later,” Georgia says with an upbeat tone from her seat at the nurses’ station. She’s acting as though we’re going on our first date instead of hashing out the details of our accidental pregnancy.
No, I didn’t tell anyone that Fisher is the father, but anyone who works here knows the two of us had a budding friendship and spent time together.
“Bye, Georgia.” I muster up a smile and wave.
Fisher grumbles a goodbye, and we head out of the hospital. The night air calms my tired body. After being in the hospital for twelve hours straight, I breathe the cool air in deeply.
“Want to hit the diner in Greywall?” I ask. We’ve gone on occasion since it’s the only place around that’s open twenty-four hours.
“We’re going to my place.”
I stop walking and he continues to his truck, not realizing I’m no longer next to him.
“I’m not going to your house.” That’s the scene of the crime.
He sighs and circles to face me, then puts his hands on his hips as though I’m exhausting. “Why? It’s quiet and we can talk without people overhearing us.”
I roll my eyes. “First of all, who in Greywall would care about our lives? Plus, I don’t know anyone there, do you?”
He points at the badge on the left side of his shirt.
Okay, so he has a point.
The fact that he’s still in his uniform signals that he must have waited here the entire duration of my shift. Did he think I was going to abandon work halfway through just to avoid him?