Love Found a Way (Hell Yeah! Book 0)

by Sable Hunter

  “Ouch!” Glory yelped at the sudden pain in her arm. She’d been so deep in her own thoughts, Glory momentarily forgotten where she was and what she was doing.

  Opening her eyes, she saw the little boy sitting beside her on the floor had thrown one of the blocks at her while she was in a daze, hitting her square on the forearm she’d injured. The boy’s mother was off her chair a moment later, scolding the little troublemaker in a language Glory didn’t recognize. The woman yanked the boy by the arm, pulling him back into her lap and spoke to Glory.

  “It’s okay,” Glory assured the woman, assuming an apology was what she was receiving. “Boys will be boys.” She rubbed her arm, wincing as the pain spread to her elbow.

  A moment later a young nurse came to tell Glory it was her turn. As she was guided to the examination room, Glory noted how familiar everything looked. The walls were plain; the floors were plain, as were the cabinets hanging on the wall over a Formica countertop and stainless steel sink. No bells and whistles in this office; but Glory didn’t mind, all she wanted was another prescription and to get out of here.

  “What do you need to see the doctor about today?” the nurse asked in a genial tone, her back to Glory, hand poised over a piece of paper, ready to make notes for the physician.

  “I just need a refill on some of my meds.” Glory searched through her big bag, finally finding the bottles at the very bottom.

  “How about your arm? How did you injure it?” The nurse asked, turning to face Glory.

  “Pardon me?”

  “When I came to call you in, I noticed you were rubbing your arm as if it caused you pain.”

  Glory rubbed it on cue. “Oh, I’m fine. I took a bit of a tumble the other day. Nothing serious. The little boy out there hit me with a toy while he was playing. It was more of a shock than anything.”

  “Gunther.”

  “Gunther?”

  “The little boy. His name is Gunther. His family is Swedish. They’ve been coming here for a year. I gotta tell you, the little rascal is a terror. We try to keep him under control, but nobody in his family speaks a word of English, so we can’t communicate with them. Every time they come in, we have to play charades to figure out what the problem is.” The nurse turned her back on Glory and scribbled one more thing in the notes before closing the folder. “Gotta say though, the days here can be boring and predictable. We kinda enjoy Gunther coming in to shake things up.” She turned and gave Glory a big, bright smile. “The doctor won’t be long.”

  The nurse was right, in a few minutes the door opened and a tall man with a thick swath of black hair came into the room. “Good morning Miss…” He went to the counter without so much as looking at Glory and opened the file. “…Hudson. I’m Dr. Osbourne. What can we do for you today?”

  Glory held the handful of pill bottles out to the man who’d turned and was now studying her like a bug under a microscope. “Pleasure to meet you, doctor. I just need a few prescriptions filled.”

  Osbourne snatched the plastic containers from her hand and read them, glancing at Glory after each bottle with a suspicious eye. “You have an ID, of course?”

  “Yes, I do.” This was her first visit to the clinic, but she’d never had to show an ID to get her prescription refilled before. “Here you go.” Glory handed her driver’s license over for his inspection.

  Osbourne took her ID and looked it over. Most women would think he was a handsome man. Although compared to her T, he was a dog. His arrogance did little to add to his appeal in Glory’s eyes.

  “I see you have PAH.”

  “Yes.” Glory chose not to elaborate.

  “Are you managing your condition without any problems?”

  “Yes.”

  Glancing again at the bottles, he raised an eyebrow. “You’ve been visiting the clinic in Baton Rouge?”

  “Yes, Dr. Lexington has been treating me.”

  He gave her a long, even stare. “Why didn’t you go see Dr. Lexington today?”

  She wanted to tell him to mind his own beeswax…but she needed her pills. “I moved from Baton Rouge, I’m living near here now.”

  “I see. Well, I want to do a full work-up, bloodwork and an EKG, before I write the prescription.”

  Glory sighed, but she halfway expected this. “I don’t have any insurance.”

  “I didn’t figure you did. We have programs for the under or uninsured. The lab fees will be nominal and based on your income.”

  “All right.” Glory started to fold her arms protectively across her body, but winced when she did so. Amidst her dismay over getting stuck and prodded, she’d forgotten about her arm.

  Dr. Osbourne glanced at her chart again. “Might as well have a look at that arm now.”

  “My arm is fine.”

  Osbourne glared at her. “My notes say your arm is injured, Miss Hudson. So, let’s have a look at it.”

  “Really, doctor. I’m fine.”

  He gave her a skeptical look, opened the door, then bellowed, “Nurse! Can you come in here, please?”

  A moment later the young nurse joined them in the tiny room.

  “Did you make note of an injury to the arm of Miss Hudson in the file, Nurse Hoffman?” Osbourne asked.

  Hoffman looked like a deer in the headlights. Glory could tell the man made her nervous. “Yes, I did, Dr. Osbourne. I observed Miss Hudson in the waiting room. She appeared to be rubbing her forearm, as if there was a problem and when I asked her about it, she told me she’d sustained an injury recently, so I wrote it on her chart.”

  Osbourne held the door open. “Thank you. That will be all.” He folded his arms across his chest after Hoffman left the room. “I take my job very seriously, Miss Hudson. The file says you have a hurt arm, so I will be checking it before you leave this office.” He held his hand out.

  Glory stood her ground. Sure, she’d hurt her arm, but she felt like this could just be Osbourne trying to order medical procedures to pad his bill to the government. If she’d been bigger or if T were with her, she might’ve felt more comfortable, but she was getting an uneasy feeling, almost as if Osbourne were bullying her into this.

  “Bet you feel really good about yourself, huh,” Glory spoke with defiance as she stretched out her arm. This felt like nothing more than a cash-grab by a crooked doctor. She wished she would have just made the long drive back to Baton Rouge to see Dr. Lexington instead of coming here.

  Osbourne took her arm. “Thank you.”

  Glory had tried keeping her distance from him, but he pulled her across the room toward him. “Owwwww!” she wailed, pain shooting up her arm again.

  “Thought you said you were okay?”

  “Well you don’t have to squeeze it so hard.”

  Osbourne ignored her accusation. He turned Glory’s tiny arm over and she felt more pain. “Please have a seat, Miss Hudson.” He went back to the counter and fished a piece of blue paper out of one of the drawers and began scribbling on it.

  Glory took a seat as she was told. She felt helpless and alone.

  “Your arm is swollen and discolored, Miss Hudson. I don’t believe there’s a break necessarily, but it’s obvious the area is injured. Perhaps you just have a bruise or sprain, but we need to insure there’s no hairline fracture or anything like that.”

  “It doesn’t hurt anymore,” Glory stated emphatically.

  “That’s the funny thing about broken bones, Miss Hudson. They can be broken, but not hurt as much as people assume they will. I’ve seen many X-rays of a bone that has healed crooked and the person had no idea they’d even broken it to begin with. So, to be sure, we’re going to take a few X-rays.”

  “So you can buy a bigger Porsche, no doubt.”

  Osbourne snickered. “I can assure you, Miss Hudson. My Porsche is big enough already.”

  Glory quietly seethed.

  “Are you pregnant, Miss Hudson?”

  “Ha.” This time it was Glory’s turn to snicker. “Fat chance.”

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nbsp; Osbourne opened one of the cupboards in front of his face. Glory watched him pull a small clear container out. He put it down on the counter and began to write something on the label. “Never the less.” He turned and held the small plastic container out to her. “We’ll get a urine sample along with the lab work before we proceed with the X-rays.”

  Glory folded her arms, clutching her purse to her chest. “I already gave at the office.”

  He gave her a long, pointed stare. Apparently, Glory had met her match, a person as stubborn as she was. She took the bottle. “Fine.” She’d just do the damn tests and get the damn x-rays over with, so she could get out of this damn place and get her damn pills.

  After the lab tech came and went, Glory retired to the restroom and gave her final contribution. When everyone was gone, she fumed as she sat waiting for Osbourne to return to officially order the X-rays. She knew they wouldn’t find anything new. Her condition hadn’t changed, the Dr. might decide to up her dosage or try a new drug, but that would probably be the only changes. Part of her hoped Dr. Osbourne spilled her urine sample all over his shirt during the test, but she knew there was little chance of that, he had others to do the ‘dirty’ work for him.

  When she’d waited so long, Glory thought they’d forgotten about her, the doctor returned, his nose buried in a file. “Have you been feeling a bit lethargic lately, Miss Hudson?”

  “Yes, I have,” Glory admitted. She’d planned on bringing up her recent fatigue and queasiness, but after having to deal with Osbourne’s attitude, she’d just planned on leaving without bringing it up. Now, she presumed the lab tests had told all.

  “Well, you won’t be getting an X-ray today, we’ll just have to put your arm in a sling.” His arrogant face became even more stoic and clouded. “What were you thinking putting yourself at risk like this?”

  “What do you mean?”

  “Here are your prescriptions.” He handed Glory several small pieces of papers. “But I need you to come back in for further consultation. Our tests show that you’re pregnant,” he stated flatly.

  “I’m having a baby?” she squeaked, jumping to her feet. “But I can’t be, it’s impossible. I just can’t be.” Her arm forgotten, Glory swayed on her feet, the implications of the news she’d just been given barely sinking in. Making a grab for the chair, she sank back down into it as her world started to spin off its axis.

  CHAPTER THIRTEEN

  “Yes, you’re pregnant,” he repeated. “At least six weeks. Foolhardy, but certainly not impossible.” Osbourne remained stoic. “Knowing your condition, I’m sure you realize that terminating your pregnancy is the only decision you can make.”

  Glory could hear Osbourne’s words, but she wasn’t processing them. A myriad of impossible possibilities bombarded her brain, firing one after the other as she tried to comprehend what she’d been told. She was having a baby? “I can’t believe this,” she muttered. “But, T said he’d had a vasectomy.”

  “As I’m sure you’re aware…”

  As he tended to her arm, placing it carefully in a sling, Osbourne was spouting off statistics about vasectomies and birth control, but Glory’s mind was elsewhere.

  She was going to have a baby? Absolute utter bliss filled Glory at the possibility. She immediately wrapped her arms around her middle protectively. This was the most wonderful news she could possibly conceive. “A baby!” she marveled, tears forming in her eyes. The reality that she would be blessed with the honor of bringing a child into the world dawned in her heart.

  T’s child.

  Would he be happy? Yes. She didn’t doubt it. T-Rex Beaumont would be the most amazing father in the world. She smiled. Oh, he’d fight it. He’d fuss at her. But he’d come around…he just had to.

  Images came unbidden to Glory. She could see T and herself staring lovingly into a small little boy’s face. She could see T pushing him on a swing and taking him fishing. She could see a little girl in the kitchen wearing a tiny apron with flour on her nose.

  “Are you listening to me, Miss Hudson?” Dr. Osbourne demanded. “You do realize how dangerous this is, don’t you?” He flashed the EKG read-out at her, waving the paper in the air like a flag. “Your heart is already showing extraordinary strain. You must make arrangements to terminate this pregnancy immediately.”

  Abortion? Horror almost overwhelmed Glory. “No.” She shook her head. “Absolutely not.” She picked up her bag, folding the prescription and putting it in a front compartment. “Are you sure I’m pregnant?”

  “Yes.”

  She stood. “I need to go.” Almost mechanically, Glory began moving toward the exit.

  Osbourne moved in front of her. “Miss Hudson, I know this is difficult. I can see you’re upset, but this is extremely serious. As a physician, I can’t mince words with you. You need to meet with your OBGYN to arrange a procedure. Your life is at stake.”

  A procedure. “You mean murder.” Glory shook her head. “If I’m pregnant, I’m not killing my child, Doctor. No way, no how.” She couldn’t even conceive of the idea. Her Catholic upbringing aside, she already loved her child. “Never.”

  Dr. Osbourne could see how adamant Glory looked. “I suggest you talk to someone. Talk to the father of the baby. Talk to Dr. Lexington if you feel the need.” He put a hand on her shoulder. “I can’t stress enough the risk you’re bringing on yourself. You might not survive the pregnancy to even bring the baby to term. And even if you do, the likelihood of your dying during the birth is almost a hundred percent. Your heart just can’t take the strain, Miss Hudson. I’m sorry.”

  Glory steeled herself, standing up straight, and lifting her chin. Attempting to inject a bit of lightness into the situation, she quipped, “Well, you’re a bright ray of sunshine, aren’t you?” When he didn’t return her smile, she grew as serious as the doctor. “I will confirm this pregnancy and if I am indeed with child, I’ll talk to the baby’s father and to Dr. Lexington. But I can assure you that I will not change my mind.” She placed a hand over her stomach, over the place where her baby lay. “If he or she really exists, then this baby was meant to be. I am well aware of the fact that I might die, but I have to believe something greater is at stake. I might have the chance to bring a new life into the world.” Glory started to say more, there was so much running through her mind, but she’d said all she needed to say to Osbourne. “If you’ll excuse me, I have a lot of things to do.”

  As Glory walked out of the clinic, she was almost overwhelmed to the point of tears. The first thing she needed to do was take a pregnancy test, several of them.

  Making her way to T’s truck, she giggled. “A baby.” All the normal hopes and dreams that a woman was supposed to have took root in her heart. Would it be a boy or a girl? What would they name their baby?

  When she reached the truck, she unlocked it, climbed in and started it up. Her first stop would be to the pharmacy and while she was there, she’d buy some home-pregnancy tests.

  Glory practically held her breath all the way to the pharmacy. She had to wait on her pills, but she paid for the pregnancy tests and excused herself to go to the ladies’ restroom. She couldn’t wait one more minute to confirm the doctor’s test. “I’m probably getting this backwards,” she mumbled. Usually women suspected they were pregnant, took a test, then went to the doctor to confirm. “Oh, no. Not me. I always get the cart before the horse.” As she set on the ceramic throne in the tiny bathroom, holding the little stick in her hand, she tried to remember her last period. They’d never been heavy and she was usually too preoccupied to pay such things more than a passing notice.

  Tick-tock. Tick-tock.

  The seconds passed as she watched a fly crawl across the wall. Could this be true? She refused to think beyond the moment until…she looked down and saw the + sign.

  Ka-thump. Ka-thump.

  Her traitorous heart beat harder in her chest. Grabbing the box the test came in, she confirmed that the + sign meant what she thought it did.

/>   Yep. “Oh, my God,” she murmured. Before falling into a full-fledged panic, she quickly tore another box open and repeated the test.

  And then another.

  Each one showed a bright pink plus sign.

  She was just about to try and squeeze another drop of pee from her poor bladder when a knock on the door informed her someone else needed to go.

  With a shaking hand, she threw away her trash before opening the door to collect her pills and face a completely changed universe.

  She and T were going to have a baby.

  The rest of the trip home, Glory was in a daze. She let her mind run wild. How could this happen? Obviously, T’s vasectomy hadn’t been foolproof. She tried to imagine what he’d say, what he’d do. She squinted her eyes and winced, imagining how he’d yell and stomp around…or maybe he’d react like he did last night, make love with her to celebrate the new life. “A baby!” she announced to herself, then squealed with delight. Never had she hoped for the possibility. Truthfully, an accident like this was the only way a miracle like this could’ve ever happened. She would’ve never been brave enough to do it on purpose. From the day she’d been diagnosed with pulmonary arterial hypertension, everyone had cautioned her on the dangers of getting pregnant. To put it simply, they told her pregnancy would be a death sentence for her.

  A death sentence. If she carried this baby to term, she might – no, not might, probably – she probably would die bringing it into the world. There was also the possibility that she might die before then, that the toll the pregnancy itself would take on her body would be more than her little ticker could endure.

  Glory waited for the regret, the fear, to set in.

  And she waited.

  Then, she smiled. A huge smile of Thanksgiving. She couldn’t muster up even one ounce of remorse or dread. All she could think was that fate had found the means to give T-Rex what he yearned for - a child.

  Upon arriving at home, she parked T’s truck under a shade tree. Buford’s barking alerted her that he was aware of her arrival. For the past few days, they’d taken to keeping the dog in the house and only allowing him to access the dog run in the back. Something was roaming around the house, something that sent the hound into furious barking fits. T had mentioned it to her a couple of days ago. He’d searched for footprints or any other disturbance, but he hadn’t found anything.