“How are you holding out?” Aunt Deb asked.
“I’d feel better if they’d tell me something, but they won’t tell me anything. What have they told you?”
She motioned for him to sit. Ethan nearly collapsed into the chair next to where Brian and Sandy snoozed. How could they sleep at a time like this? Ethan propped his elbows on his knees, sinking his face into his hands.
Deb put her arm around him, pulling his head to her shoulder. She laid her head on top of his. “Brian said she kept complaining about shoulder pain all morning, then she collapsed. You don’t want to know what my Google search came up with. I’m praying that they’re both okay.”
Yeah, so was he.
The doors at the south end of the room finally opened. A short, squat man dressed in fresh scrubs crossed the ER lobby to where they sat.
Ethan stood to offer his hand. “Doctor?”
The doctor glared at him, ignoring Ethan’s outstretched hand, and turned his back to address a groggy Brian. “Brian, I’m glad you’re here.”
Brian stood to shake the doctor’s hand, grasping his elbow. “Gerald, what can you tell us?”
Dr. Gerald Newman turned to glare at Ethan again. “I’m not stupid. The charge nurse told me he was here. I won’t say another word until my own attorney can be present.”
More than anything, Ethan wanted to shout to anyone who would listen that Stephanie was his wife. That the baby she had most certainly lost was his. He had rights. A lawsuit, while not totally off the table, was the furthest thing from his mind right now.
But he had no rights. Only questions, chief among them being if their baby was gone, would she be gone, too? Did she love him enough to weather this tragedy with him?
Deb shot Dr. Newman the same look she’d given Sandy Banner all those weeks ago in his driveway. “Gerald, did you get notification that Clausen Charities will be considering your proposal for a mobile women’s clinic at our Thursday meeting?”
Deb took Ethan’s hand. Brian took Deb’s other hand. Sandy rose, glanced between Ethan and the doctor before joining her hand with Ethan, creating a solid wall of support.
Were they threatening the doctor? Ethan didn’t care, as long as it got him to Stephanie’s bedside.
Dr. Newman jerked his head toward the elevators, then turned to walk away without saying a word.
CHAPTER 60
STEPHANIE STARED AT the ceiling. Her baby was dead. No one had told her yet, but why else would she be laying in a hospital bed connected to so many wires and tubes? Not to mention the searing pain of what was probably a surgical incision that ran the width of her lower abdomen. Should she touch it? No, that would make it too real. As long as she didn’t know for sure what had happened, she could cling to the hope that her baby was still alive.
Sharp pain stabbed at her stomach. She couldn’t pretend anymore. A different pain assaulted her, robbing her of breath.
Why hadn’t they given her something for the pain? At least then she could ride an opioid cloud, oblivious to the crippling grief engulfing her. It was like grief was trying to become her new BFF. Her baby was dead. Like her parents, Smitty, and Irene. All gone. Leaving her alone.
Slow tears leaked out of the corners of her eyes, running down the sides of her face. Everything was a blur. She had gone to the office like every day of her adult life and woken up here.
Where was Ethan? Why wasn’t he here with her? Had his declaration of love been nothing more than his sense of obligation? Him performing what he thought was his duty? Now that their baby was dead, had he abandoned her the way Smitty had?
She closed her eyes and let the tears flow, sobs racking her body, increasing her physical pain. She deserved the pain. It was her punishment for believing Ethan’s lies the way she had believed Smitty’s lies. For being foolish enough to believe she could finally be happy.
Softly, a tissue dabbed at her eyes. “Please don’t cry, Stephanie. We can get through this, as long as you’re okay, that’s all that’s important. I love you.”
Was she hallucinating? Maybe they had given her something in her IV. If she opened her eyes, would Ethan be there?
“Sweetheart, please open those beautiful eyes of yours. Sandy, Deb, and Brian are right outside with the doctor. As painful as it’s going to be, we need to hear what he has to say.”
Stephanie opened her eyes. She could almost taste the relief that flooded through her. Ethan was here. “Do you know?”
Ethan took her hand, raising it to his lips for a kiss. “No. We’re going to do this together, like we’re going to do everything else, good or bad, for the rest of our lives. Are you ready?”
She squeezed his hand and nodded silently.
Ethan called out, “You can come in now.”
Deb and Brian entered first, followed by Sandy, each kissing her softly on the forehead before making room for the doctor.
Dr. Newman headed straight for the bed and focused only on Stephanie. “Well, there’s my favorite patient. You gave us quite a scare, my dear.”
“Can you please get to the point?” Ethan challenged him.
Dr. Newman ignored him. “My dear, the odds of this happening to a natural conception are thirty thousand to one.”
Deb’s features hardened. “For the sake of everything holy, Gerald, whatever you’re trying to say to her, say it.”
Dr. Newman cleared his throat. “Of course. Stephanie, you had what’s called a heterotopic pregnancy.”
Stephanie choked. “Had? I miscarried?” Sorrow washed over her.
“Yes and no. Heterotopic means you were carrying fraternal twins, but one embryo attached outside of your uterus. In this case, your right fallopian tube. I’m afraid there was no way to save that baby, or, unfortunately, your right tube and ovary. But its twin is still viable. You have a sixty-five percent chance of delivering a healthy, full-term baby.”
This time, Stephanie could taste her relief as the bile in her throat retreated. She was still pregnant. Ethan still loved her. Everything was going to be fine.
“Is that why I’m in so much pain? You don’t want to hurt the remaining baby? Oh, God, what about the anesthesia?”
Dr. Newman looked uncomfortably at Ethan. “Not with him in the room. If it hadn’t been for Deb, he would still be in the waiting room. In fact, I’d love to permanently banish him from the hospital altogether.”
Stephanie ignored the doctor. She ignored everyone. Except Ethan. And their baby. They were all she needed.
CHAPTER 61
STEPHANIE GRASPED THE rails of her hospital bed with every ounce of strength she had left and resisted the urge to push. Her guttural scream filled the room as she reached the end of her ability to endure.
“I love you, sweetheart. You can do this. Okay, baby, her head’s out, and I can see her shoulders. Deep breath. Push. Push, push, push, push. Now pant. Pant, pant, pant, pant, pant. You got this.” Ethan’s voice sounded like it was coming from the far end of a long tunnel.
With a sudden, violent surge, it was over. And way too quiet. She held her breath. One heartbeat. Two. Finally, she heard them. The lusty wails from the tiny baby girl were the sweetest sounds Stephanie had ever heard. Ethan laid the slimy, pale infant on her bare chest with the umbilical cord still attached.
He kissed her forehead. “Stephanie, she’s beautiful. Almost as beautiful as you are. You are so amazing. I love you,” he said as he stroked their baby. “Welcome to the world, Kegan Kerrigan Webb. We love you.”
The doctor handed Ethan a scalpel. He cut the cord. A nurse took Kegan from Stephanie’s arms. “No,” she whimpered.
“Honey, they have to clean her up and run a few tests. Don’t worry, they’ll bring her back.” Ethan dropped his surgical mask. “They’re way too afraid of me not to.” His features morphed into the horrible stony mask that had frightened her so badly during their first official meeting.
Now, it only made her laugh.
Five long minutes later, the nurse laid
Kegan, cleaned, bundled in a pink-and-white striped blanket, and wearing a soft pink knit cap, into Stephanie’s arms.
“Her Apgar score is ten, and it doesn’t get any better than that. In my twenty-six years in labor and delivery, she’s only the second ten I’ve ever seen,” the nurse said. “Congratulations.”
“She is beautiful. And healthy. Oh, Ethan, I...” The tears flowed. Happy tears for her beautiful, healthy daughter. Sad tears for the twin who never made it. Angry tears that her parents weren’t here to meet their first grandchild. Grateful tears for the love and devotion of the best husband, best friend, on the planet. “She’s a miracle.”
Ethan scooched his chair closer and laid his head on her pillow. “She is that. And so much more. I knew this was going to be a monumental day, but I had no idea...” His voice choked with emotion.
She looked down at her naked left hand. “Where are they?” she asked.
Ethan dug her rings out of his pocket. “Are you ready for this?”
“Isn’t there another question you want to ask me?” she teased.
“Mrs. Webb, I love you. Will you marry me? Again?” He held her rings at the tip of her finger, waiting for her reply.
“I love you, too, Mr. Webb. I’d marry you again and again and again.” Stephanie splayed her fingers, allowing him to slip her rings back on.
“There’s one more thing,” he said. He reached into his pocket, pulled out a square green velvet box, and opened it.
She gasped. “Ethan, it’s beautiful. And colorful.” She looked up at him with a tilted head.
That smile. She would never get tired of that gorgeous smile. “The orange one is called a pumpkin diamond because you’re a Halloween baby, and you love orange. The white diamond is our pure, innocent angel baby waiting for us in heaven. The black diamond is me because my world was so dark before I met you. The red diamond is Kegan because Kegan means fiery one.”
“And the baby blue one?”
“That’s the best one of all. That one’s for Pete because he’s the reason we found each other.”
He took the ring out of the box and slipped it on her finger above the others, tears rolling down his face. He wiped them on his sleeve.
“Allergies?” she asked as she waggled her eyebrows.
“You know I don’t have allergies,” he sniffled. “And for a few awful hours that bleak day eight months ago, I was afraid I didn’t have you and Kegan anymore. I was terrified that I’d lost both of you. Before we met, I didn’t have much. But now, because of you, I have it all.” He took her hand. “Hold on, baby, because it’s going to be one hell of a ride.”
She couldn’t wait.
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Coming next month, Tobin Tribe Book Two, Fly Boy.
Dangerously premature, BJ Tobin nearly died four times before he was two months old. If he truly had nine lives, he’d be damned if he’d spend one of his remaining five tethered to the same woman. Besides, what he had to offer cried out to be shared. Tall, good-looking, intelligent, and damned near richer than God, no one woman was going to put a noose around his neck.
Megan Smith pulled herself out of the psych ward for one reason: her son, Pete. After his father had been killed by a drunk driver, she was all her precious little man had left. She didn’t need anyone else. She didn’t want anyone else. Pete was her whole world. Until she agreed to be godmother to her beautiful niece, Kegan and ran smack dab into the most infuriatingly arrogant man she had ever met. BJ Tobin, Kegan’s godfather.
Pre-order Fly Boy here.
About Caitlyn
When an adult meets a new child, one of the first things they ask is, “What do you want to be when you grow up?” I’ve asked and answered that question myself more times than I can count. I’ve given and heard the usual answers: teacher, fireman, president, and the like. But the truth of the matter is I never figured it out.
I’ve spent some time in TV news. I’ve been a teacher and a librarian. I tried my hand at selling real estate and failed miserably. Ditto for Mary Kay and a slew of other “businesses” that sounded like a good idea at the time but were huge, expensive mistakes.
About the only constants in my life, besides bad decisions, have been reading and writing. I simply can’t remember a time when those elements were lacking. Not that what I wrote was all that good, but after reading about 10,000 books, I got better.
Then, in 2015, I entered NaNoWriMo and pounded out the first and truly horrible version of For Pete’s Sake. After four years of rejections, rewrites, edits, alpha readers, beta readers, and more than a few (million) swear words, I’ve managed to produce something I’m not ashamed of. I hope you, my omega readers, will enjoy it.
As for the future? I plan to continue writing from the comfort of my recliner in suburban Phoenix, Arizona with my companions, a grouchy husband and two rescue cats.
Does this mean I want to be an author when I grow up? Who says I plan to grow up?
For Pete's Sake: An Enemies to Lovers Marriage of Convenience Standalone Romance Novel (Tobin Tribe Book 1) Page 28