The Doctor's Baby(4)

Well, he’d find out soon enough. David squared his shoulders and with clipboard in hand, turned and headed down the hall with purposeful strides. Only when he reached her room did he hesitate. Travis was following her now so there was really no reason for him to be here. Except he’d delivered her baby and they were old friends…of sorts.

Feeling as awkward as a fifteen-year-old, David rapped lightly on the partially closed door then pushed it open.

July sat in the bed with a tray of food before her, dressed in a simple hospital gown. She wasn’t show-stopping pretty, not like Celeste, but there was something compelling about her. Though she couldn’t be more than five foot three, with her big green eyes, shoulder-length auburn hair and a creamy complexion, she’d stand out in any crowd.#p#分页标题#e#

If she was surprised to see him, it didn’t show. She placed the dish of orange gelatin on the tray and stared at the red stitching on his lab coat. “I thought your name was spelled W-A-L-L.”

Relief washed over him. She remembered his name…even if she was off on the spelling. In the delivery room he hadn’t been sure she’d recognized him. And he hadn’t known how to ask.

“Because it’s pronounced the same, lots of people get the spelling wrong.” He ambled to the bed, hoping the tension that held him in a stranglehold didn’t show. “What’s this I hear? The nurses tell me you haven’t even been here twenty-four hours and you’re already asking when you can leave.”

“My insurance policy has a high deductible.” She lifted her chin. “I’m a cost-conscious consumer.”

David rocked back on his heels and cursed his insensitivity. The comment had been meant to tease, to break the ice, not make her feel bad. “If you need financial assistance, we have a wonderful social service department. I can have someone stop—”

“You misunderstand,” she interrupted. “I have savings. I just want to keep as much of it as possible.”

“Of course. Excellent. Well, if you change your mind, let me know.” David found himself stumbling over the words. Normally he could talk to anyone about anything. But here he stood, tongue-tied and awkward. Feeling this unsure didn’t make any sense. Neither did her coolness. After all, they’d parted on good terms.

“Barring anything unforeseen, you should be able to go home tomorrow,” he said finally when the silence grew intolerable. “One of our home health nurses will check on you twenty-four hours after you leave the hospital. It’s an extra service we offer.”

July’s emerald eyes took on a distant look. “I’ll need to buy a car seat and then come back for Adam—”

“When you leave here you need to take it easy,” he said in a firm voice, as if she were one of his patients. “The baby will be staying with us for a while longer so there’s no rush on the car seat.”

“The nurses told me he was doing fine.” Fear skittered across her face and her eyes filled with tears. “Has something happened to him?”

“He’s a little jaundiced. Not unexpected in a preemie,” David said in what he hoped was a reassuring tone. Though he didn’t have a lot to do with obstetrics, the hormone surge experienced after delivery was well-documented. He should have chosen his words more carefully.

“When my water broke, I knew it was too early.” Her voice cracked and she collapsed back against the pillows, looking much younger than her twenty-six years. “I couldn’t stop it. Everything went so fast…”

“There wasn’t anything you could have done differently.” He resisted the urge to pat her on the shoulder. “Your body was ready to deliver when you walked through the door.”

“I don’t know how that happened,” July continued, almost to herself. “The doctor swore I’d go late.”

“What was your due date?” David asked in as casual a tone as he could muster.

“April 15.”

The tension that had been gripping his shoulders slid to his chest. He’d been calculating dates in his mind from the moment he’d recognized her name on the medical record and had seen her swollen belly. If she was due the middle of April she’d had to have gotten pregnant around the time they’d been together in Chicago. Though he thought he was doing a good job at keeping his emotions from his face, he knew he’d failed when her gaze narrowed.#p#分页标题#e#

“Don’t worry.” She waved a hand. “He’s not your baby.”

“How can you be sure he’s not mine?” The second the question shot from his lips David wondered if he’d lost his mind. She’d just handed him a free pass and he was arguing? But a man didn’t walk away from his responsibilities. “The dates match.”