Drake nodded. “I’m sorry, Angel. I should have protected you.”
“Stop saying you’re sorry!” I cried. “You aren’t the only one that is in this relationship, stupid. I knew we weren’t being careful…” Maybe I had hoped for something to happen, like getting pregnant. I hadn’t been worried about not being careful because deep down I had wanted Drake’s baby. It was selfish, but I had secretly wanted that tie to him.
And I hadn’t even known it had actually happened. Our child had been growing deep inside of me, and I hadn’t known. A sob felt like it was being ripped from my chest. “Drake, our baby!”
He gathered me into his arms as much as he could without hurting me. “I know. I know, Angel,” he whispered brokenly as he gently rocked me.
The door to my room opened so suddenly I was startled. A man with graying hair and a white coat came in with a nurse in pink scrubs right behind him. “Miss Daniels,” he greeted, and I raised my head from Drake’s chest. “It’s good to see you awake.”
I frowned at him. “How long have I been out?” Maybe that should have been my first question to Drake, but I was still a little disorientated and was finding it even harder to focus with the news that Drake had given me.
“Three days, off and on.” The doctor put his iPad on the little table beside of my bed, and Drake reluctantly stepped back to give the doctor access to me. “You have had everyone in the waiting room on pins and needles waiting for you to wake up. Mr. Stevenson here has refused to leave your side, and your sister has been driving my staff up the wall wanting an hourly progress report...” a small smile tilted his lips “...but we have managed.”
I couldn’t find the will to return his smile. I hurt too badly, physically and emotionally. “Drake said I had a miscarriage.”
The doctor nodded. “Yes… These things sometimes happen in first pregnancies, but yours was a little different. You had an ectopic pregnancy, where the baby settled in your fallopian tube, and as it grew that tube ruptured. You nearly bled to death. I had to remove the tube.”
My hand went to my lower stomach, and I felt the bandage that covered the incision. “Will I…” I broke off and raised my eyes to meet Drake’s “...will I be able to have another baby?”
“Because of the removal of the fallopian your chances of conceiving have been cut in half, but I see no reason for you not to be able to have another baby.”
Relief washed over me and the tears started falling once more. “Really?”
The doctor nodded. “You are a healthy young woman. There is no reason that you shouldn’t.”
It took the doctor ten minutes to examine me. I was one big ache by the time he and his nurse left with a promise of bringing me pain medication soon. I lay back against the pillows while Drake continued to look out the window where he had been the whole time the doctor was checking me over. “Drake?”
His shoulders lifted and fell as he let out a long breath, but he didn’t turn around. “I do nothing but hurt you.”
I closed my eyes, scared that he was about to tell me goodbye. “No.”
“Yes.” His movements were jerky as he finally turned around to face me. “I took advantage of you back in December then cheated on you the next day.” I flinched at the remembered pain that had caused. “Then I turn around and do the same thing. I’m all kinds of wrong for you, Lana.”
“Angel,” I whispered, and he frowned.
“What?”
A tear spilled down my cheek, and I quickly brushed it away. “Angel. Not Lana, never Lana again. I’m your angel, Drake. Don’t ever call me Lana again.”
“I…”
“And you are wrong. I don’t think you cheated with Gabriella. Even drunk, you wouldn’t do that, especially with her.” I lifted my hand, offering it to him, silently begging him to come to me. “You aren’t wrong for me, Drake. You’re the best thing in my world. I can’t imagine my life without you.”
He took a hesitating step forward. “I love you, Angel. More than anything, I love you.”
“I love you too.” It came out a vow, which it was. “Hold me, Drake. Please hold me.”
He moved quickly and then his arms were around me, and I felt some of my tension ease. “I thought I had lost you.” His tears soaked my neck as he buried his face in my shoulder. “I thought I had lost my reason for living.”
I combed my fingers through his hair, soothing us both a little. “You could never lose me, babe. I’m yours, forever.”