The Proposal(26)
Aidan muttered under his breath, but he didn’t challenge Casey. “Come on,” Connor said, taking Aidan’s arm. Once Aidan and Connor had gone out the door, Emma called, “Case?”
Glancing over her shoulder, Casey said, “Yeah?”
Emma gave her a tight smile. “Be nice to him, please?”
Casey sniffed a frustrated breath. “How can you ask that of me? You know how I feel about that…douchenozzle!”
“I know, but there’s more to what happened than you understand. So give him a little bit of a break.”
Whirling around, Casey threw up her hands. “Dammit, Em, why do you have to be so nice and forgiving?”
“I didn’t say I was forgiving him. I just understand more now.” At Casey’s continued doubtful expression, Emma said, “Just trust me on this one.”
“Fine, I’ll be civil, but I can’t be nice.”
“Does civil mean you won’t nail him in the balls again?”
Casey gave an evil grin. “It means I’ll try.”
“Try hard, okay?”
She nodded.
“Thank you.”
Casey blew her a kiss before heading out the door. Throwing her head back against the pillows, Emma blew out a puff of air. Her hand went to her abdomen as she continued gazing up at the ceiling tiles. “Please God, please watch over Noah and don’t let anything bad happen to him. Nothing else in the world matters as much as delivering him healthy into this world at the right time.” Closing her eyes, Aidan’s face flashed before her, sending her eyes popping back open. “And if Aidan is truly the one, soften my heart to him…or give me a sign I should move on.”
Her prayers were interrupted by a nurse and an orderly. “Time to move you upstairs.”
The orderly brought the wheelchair over, and Emma swung her legs out of the bed. After she sat down, she smoothed the hospital gown down over her legs. They took a quick trip up the elevator to the 3rd floor. She couldn’t help but wonder which floor Patrick was on. She made a note of her room number, so she could text it to Casey…and to Aidan.
A sweet-faced middle aged nurse came in just as she was getting settled in the bed. “I’m Connie, and if you need anything, you just let me know.”
Emma smiled. “Thank you. I appreciate that.”
Once Connie and the orderly left, Emma turned on the TV to try to get her mind off of things. She was enjoying some old reruns of I Love Lucy when a gentle rapt came at the door.
“Yes?” she called, her brows furrowing at who would possibly be knocking.
It cracked open before Pesh stuck his head in. “Hey there.”
Emma inwardly groaned. He was the last person on earth she expected to see. Shooting up in the bed, she smoothed her ruffled bed hair and hoped she didn’t have leftover raccoon eyes from crying. “H-Hi.”
Wagging his finger, he made a tsking noise as he stepped into the room. “Just couldn’t let Mr. Fitzgerald be outdone, huh?”
Emma laughed. “No, I don’t suppose so.”
Motioning to the chair next to the bed, Pesh asked, “May I?”
“Sure.”
His jovial expression suddenly grew serious. “You can’t imagine how horrified I was to see your name come across the computer screen.” He shook his head. “So I was right in thinking you needed to take better care of yourself?”
“Unfortunately yes. But it’s not only today though.” Emma glanced down at the standard order hospital blanket. “The last three weeks have taken their toll, I suppose.”
“Does it have anything to do with your relationship with Mr. Fitzgerald’s son?”
Emma jerked her gaze from the blanket over to Pesh. “W-Wait, how did you…”
He gave her an understanding smile. “It’s a long story.”
“So is mine,” she replied, with a mirthless laugh. At the tension in the air, Emma desperately sought to change the subject. “I thought you had gone home for the day. When I was brought in, I was hoping you would be my doctor. Dr. Pendleton’s bedside manner is quite lacking.”
“I apologize for that.”
“It’s not your fault he’s so gruff.”
“No, but it’s my fault that you had to see him.”
“What?”
A sheepish grin curved on his lips. “You were assigned to my caseload, but I asked him to see you instead.”
Emma gasped. “But why?”
Ducking his head, Pesh replied, “Because I knew I wanted to see you personally in the future, and that would be too uncomfortable for both of us if I had to…” He drew in a sharp breath as pink tinged his tan cheeks. “Well, if I had to examine you physically.”