Total pages in book: 126
Estimated words: 145606 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 728(@200wpm)___ 582(@250wpm)___ 485(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 145606 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 728(@200wpm)___ 582(@250wpm)___ 485(@300wpm)
“Fiancé?” I croaked, confused.
Then thoughts of Cade came back. Cade and Ginger. My life was falling apart lying in this hospital bed. Cade didn’t deserve to see me. To see our baby. But Sarah didn’t deserve to have her office trashed by the asshole either. I opened my mouth to agree when a commotion outside stopped me.
“Fuck this, I’ve been waiting out here for almost a fucking hour! I don’t give a shit what procedure is, I’m seeing my fucking woman!” A familiar angry voice shouted as the doors crashed open. A frantic looking Cade stormed in, followed by two very pissed off looking orderlies. His eyes fell on me and instantly softened to a look of love and relief it almost pierced the feeling of emptiness and despair that surrounded me. Almost.
“It’s okay guys, we’ve just got one concerned dad on our hands. You can go,” Sarah told the orderly’s and they looked relieved at not having to try and drag Cade out. They turned and shut the door behind them.
“Gwen. Baby. Jesus Christ.” Cade rushed over, kneeling over me, pulling his face to mine so our foreheads touched. He closed his eyes, leaving us like that for a second before he opened them, eyes falling on mine. He straightened, turned to the doctor, clutching my hand.
“Is she okay? Is the baby…?” He choked, looking like he couldn’t physically finish the sentence.
“She’s fine. Mr Fletcher. The baby is fine too,” Sarah reassured him.
I watched the relief wash over Cade, his eyes closed for a second and his shoulders sagged as if a weight had been lifted.
“Thank god.” He pulled my hand to his mouth, gently pressing his lips against my knuckles. I watched him woodenly. My hand moved to my stomach, my love and happiness for my little bun the only thing keeping me going. Cade followed my hand, his covering my own, weakly smiling at me.
“Thank god,” he repeated, holding my gaze again.
His hand didn’t leave mine as he focused his attention on Sarah.
“But why did this happen? She was in pain, bleeding. Are you sure everything is okay?” he fired at her with an edge to his voice.
Sarah stood at the end of the bed looking at us both, addressing Cade. “As I was just telling Gwen, babies respond to their mother’s distress. And I understand Gwen had just gotten some bad news.” She pointed a sympathetic glance at me and Cade’s hand squeezed mine.
“But let’s give Dad a look so you can feel better.” She wheeled an ultrasound machine over from the corner and gestured for us to remove our hands.
She exposed my stomach. Cade’s eyes were glued to my belly in a look so intense I forced myself to glance away before it could affect me. After putting the cold jelly on, she moved the wand and we both watched the screen. I looked at what I had seen the day before, reassured to hear the little heartbeat. Cade’s grip was iron on my hand. I swear I had never seen a look on his face like the one he was currently wearing. His eyes glistened, he gazed down at me with pure joy on his face.
“That’s our baby,” he murmured roughly, stroking my cheek.
“As you can see and hear we have a little fighter on our hands,” Sarah informed us.
I registered the screen, the baby, the father’s joy, but I couldn’t bring myself to find any response. A numbness settled over me. I was relieved beyond belief that my baby was okay but that’s all I could feel, all I let myself feel. Sarah put the machine away and she stood at the end of my bed again.
“When Gwen’s body went into shock, so did the baby. And as the baby isn’t equipped to deal with stress, it gave us signs of distress. Now Gwen’s blood pressure is also quite high, which is slightly worrying. I would advise you to stay rested for the next couple of days, try to avoid stress. I know that’s not something that can be controlled at this time. But we can monitor you just in case.” She smiled sadly, pity in her eyes.
Pity for me. The girl whose brother just died. The grief cut through me like glass.
“I can’t stay anywhere rested. I have to get a flight. I have to get to New Zealand as soon as possible,” I informed her flatly.
“Gwen, sweetheart, the baby, I don’t know if that…” Cade began, voice tender but firm.
I ignored him, keeping my eyes on Sarah. “Will the baby be okay? Hell, I’ll even hire a doctor to fly with me,” I told her, unable to fathom the thought of being unable to see my parents.
“Honestly, Gwen, the bed rest is just a precaution, a flight is obviously not ideal at the moment, but I am reasonably sure the baby will be fine. The biggest worry on a flight is a blot clot, but as long as we can get your pressure down the risk lowers significantly. We’ll keep you here for observation for a couple more hours, just to make sure your blood pressure comes down, then I’ll be able to clear you for flying. I’ll come back and check on you in a bit.” She turned to leave the room but Cade stopped her.
“Reasonably sure?” he bit out. “I want you to be one hundred percent sure that my baby and future wife are going to be safe before putting them on a twelve hour flight. I am not letting Gwen anywhere near a plane for ‘reasonably sure’,” he declared hotly.
I felt my temper flare from somewhere, but Sarah spoke before I could.
“Mr Fletcher, I would never put my patient on a plane if I thought there would be any risk to her or the baby’s health. That’s why I’m monitoring her. The baby’s heartbeat is strong, her blood pressure is coming down, she’s healthy and young. Now of course even in a healthy pregnancy there will never be a hundred percent certainty that everything will run smoothly. But I can assure you, she will not be getting on that plane unless I am sure she and the baby will not be at any unusual risk.” She maintained eye contact with Cade, not backing down.