Nibbling on my lower lip, I tried to see if what he said was true, or he was just trying to not make me feel bad for all the trouble I caused. He winked, smirked, and kissed my hand again and I relaxed.
“What about me and the man I…” I trailed off unable to say out loud what I’d done.
His laugh was hollow but it did put me at ease. “Oh, my feisty little vixen, the man you killed is not even a blip in what’s gone on. The police accept it was done was in self-defense. The only thing they’re pissed about is he was moved from the room by your father.”
I opened my mouth to argue, because I was sure that it wasn’t my dad who moved the man, but saw the flash in his eyes and shake of Ryder’s head. They had a story, and right now wasn’t the time. Before I could say I understood a nurse rushed in apologizing for being held up. She checked my drip and asked how my pain was and then told me my doctor would be in any moment.
Almost as soon as the nurse left, the door opened and a man in his late forties came in with a white coat. The doctor. This was confirmed when he smiled a kind smile down at me, and picked up my chart off the hook on the end of the bed. “Hello, Divinity. It’s good to see you awake. I’m Dr. Linkon and I’ve been the head of managing your case. You are a lucky woman. You had a brain bleed that we stopped when you came into us. We’ve had you in an induced coma to make sure there was no more stress or anything to cause further damage for a week. Yesterday afternoon we slowly brought you out of the coma. How are you feeling?” He leaned forward and produced a small light that he flashed in one eye and then the other. He then did a pattern with it, nodded and put it back in his pocket.
“I feel better than I thought I would feel when I woke, but I now know I’ve been in a coma and a week has passed, so, I guess I feel like shit. I hurt.” I was in a lot of pain, too much considering I’d already had a week of healing.
He chuckled. “You won’t feel very good for a couple of weeks. You broke two ribs and fractured three others. Also, your left wrist is broken, three fingers on your right hand, your left ankle is fractured and your right knee was dislocated. You’re in bad shape.” He gently patted my arm. “The positive is the baby is healthy.”
“Say what now?” I choked out.
“Er…” He darted his gaze over to Ryder and I looked just in time to see Ryder give a swift nod. I narrowed my gaze and darted it from Dr. Linkon to Ryder. “Miss Stamon, I’m sorry. We needed to know if there was a possibility you were pregnant before we did x-rays or anything else that could harm the fetus. Your fiancée said it was possible, so we did a blood test and confirmed it. Congratulations. You and your fiancée should be expecting a new addition in a little less than eight months.”
I felt my mouth fall open and I then snapped shut as I realized my stupidity. Then I backed up, what did he mean fiancée? I shot a glare at Ryder and snarled when I saw him grinning like a loon. Of course he would be happy about this. He wasn’t the one who would have to squeeze a watermelon out of a hole of the size of an orange. The fiancée part I was sure Ryder and I had already discussed. I didn’t see the ring on my finger. I looked down at my hands and sighed. Not that any rings right now would fit on my chubby fingers. They were all swollen sausages, my left hand in a cast and three fingers were wrapped with a splint on my right. My ring finger might have been undamaged, but with a cast around my wrist and some of my hand and arm it was too big to have a ring on it.
Realizing I hadn’t replied to the doctor, I darted my gaze back to his and forced a smile on my face. “Thank you. Thank you for everything you’ve done to help me heal. Thank you for making sure to ask about me being pregnant. I would have been devastated if I found out I’d lost a baby because of some medical procedures. Thank you.” What I said was true. This baby was a surprise, but I welcomed any new life, especially one I created with someone I had come to love.
This time when I gazed at Ryder, I felt no anger or annoyance, only hope for our future.
The next time I woke up it still took me a moment or two to remember where I was, but when I did, I was surprised to see three women sitting in chairs by the bed, talking. A young woman maybe a couple of years younger than me with jet-black hair and a round face with big green eyes smiled at a woman a little older with strawberry blonde hair. “Who needs a nanny when I have Gillian for a mother-in-law? I swear between her and the rest of the family I only see and hold my baby when I feed him.”
The strawberry blonde laughed. “Ha! I hear you on that. My daughter has more outfits than me. I don’t think she’s worn the same item twice.”