If the worst happened, though—and she always planned for the worst, it seemed—she didn’t know how she was going to tell him. No doubt he would be gone from her life then, and probably ecstatic to get away from the insane almost-mother of his child.
Of course, the waiting area of the emergency room was a nightmare, and she wished she had an established OB/GYN here so maybe she could’ve gone there. There were only two available seats, and she and her mother took both after registering.
A dark-haired woman sat across from them with an infant in her arms and a toddler playing at her feet. She gazed worriedly down at her baby, and Gabby’s medical curiosity kicked in, but as she wasn’t practicing, she kept her mouth shut. Then the baby began to cough, and the woman sat her up—pink blanket; it must be a girl—and patted her back. As the coughing went on and on, Gabby’s back straightened, instincts kicking in. The terrible spasm went on until the child nearly went cyanotic, but finally it abated.
“Ask them to test her for pertussis,” she said. The woman looked at her with big eyes.
“For what?”
“Whooping cough. It’s making a comeback. Just…in case they don’t think of it.”
“Oh…okay. Thank you.” She went on cooing worriedly at her baby, and Gabby felt an emptiness yawn in the pit of her stomach. No matter what, she didn’t want to give up medicine. It was only going to get harder, she knew, but…the woman sitting across from her with her sick child was a prime example of why she couldn’t imagine quitting. She knew she would be good, good enough that it was more than feeling as if being an MD was simply something she wanted to do. She felt needed, bureaucracy and bullshit aside.
Her mother fidgeted beside her, a bundle of nervous energy. Gabby could relate. She wanted to get up and walk around to relieve some of her own, but figured she should rest as much as possible.
Gianna had something to say; Gabby could tell. Before the woman could fidget off her seat, Gabby sighed and leaned closer to her. “Okay. Say what’s on your mind.”
“I want to know who the father is.”
“I told you it’s not anyone you know. But he knows I’m here. So…we’ll see if he comes.”
“I’d had such hopes, I guess, that once you went back to Dallas, you and Mark might patch things up.”
What the fuck? Gabby had to squelch a screech. “The man who dumped me at the altar? I can’t believe that would even cross your mind.” Let alone that it would cross Gabby’s own, even for a second. But it had, during a weak moment when she was craving the stability of her former life. That had all been an illusion, though, hadn’t it? Maybe her whole f**king life had been an illusion.
“I know it was a terrible thing to do. I simply thought you two were so good together.”
Yeah, she’d thought so too. Enough to accept his proposal and prepare to walk down the aisle to vow it in front of God and everyone. “It’s over,” she said.
“Indeed it is.”
Slowly, the room began to empty as people were called back, but it wasn’t long before any empty seats were filled with new patients. Her mother let it drop for a while, but Gabby had known her reprieve was temporary.
“Tell me about him,” Gianna said.
Gabby started to play stupid and ask, “Who?” But that was pointless. None of this was her mom’s fault; she should stop giving her grief.
“Brian knows him.” She didn’t have to look at her to know her feelings. The tension that crept into the air between them was palpable.
“The one who gave you the tattoo, I suppose.”
“Ding-ding-ding.” Gabby mimicked a prize-winning bell.
“You must’ve gone out with him that night. You didn’t come home.”
Good God, she hadn’t expected her to take that much of an interest. “Yep.”
“So you’re two months along.”
“Roughly.”
“And I take it he knows, if you told him you’re here. So let me ask this. Does he care?”
Why had two of the people closest to her jumped to the immediate conclusion that she’d hooked up with some deadbeat a**hole who was going to drop her like a bad habit? She’d been drawn to Ian partly because he’d been so kind to her through a difficult time. Granted, you couldn’t base a person’s entire character on one chivalrous act, but it was a pretty good indication he had a heart. “He knows, and he cares. If anyone is holding back, Mom, it’s me. He’s younger than me, he lives here, and apparently he plans to stay here, so…I’m not sure how it’s going to turn out. We’re still figuring things out. Part of the reason I hadn’t told you and Dad is because I don’t have any answers for you yet.” Her gaze strayed toward the double doors leading back to the treatment rooms. “And who knows if we need them anymore.”
“Well, let’s think positively,” Gianna said. “If you want this, fine. You know we’ll support you no matter what. But it seems to me you don’t know what you want, Gabriella. If you cared about the path you were on, I’d have thought you’d be a little more careful about not sabotaging it.”
“Just so you know,” she said coldly, “we took precautions. They simply failed.” Gabby wanted to throw in that she could ask her two sons about that, but God, she didn’t even know about Brian yet. “Please stop stressing me out.”
“Fine, fine.” Gianna wiggled her foot impatiently, staring at the TV mounted in the corner. “I wish they’d hurry. This is ridiculous. You could hemorrhage to death out here and no one would care.”
“I doubt it. I’m going to the bathroom.” Carefully, Gabby stood. Her mom started to rise with her, but Gabby waved her back down. “I’m fine. I’ll be back in a minute.”
Once alone, she checked her pale reflection in the mirror. A wave of nausea took her over, and she struggled not to throw up, hoping she could find a vending machine with some crackers or something. An empty stomach seemed to make it worse, and she hadn’t eaten all day. Her bleeding wasn’t any worse, so that was a good sign. Idly, she checked her cell phone even though she knew she hadn’t heard it alert her to a call or message.
God, Ian. Where was he? Her mother’s question echoed in her head. Does he care? He seemed to. She’d love it if he swooped in here and put everyone’s fears to rest, including her own, but that was romantic tripe.
She stalled at the mirror because she didn’t want to go back out there to her mom’s questions and opinions. A moment later, though, the door opened, and Gianna stuck her head in. “They called you back.”
Taking a deep breath, Gabby tossed her phone in her purse and followed her out to the waiting area.
Chapter Fifteen
The door closed behind the exiting client Ian had been working on for the past two hours, and he allowed himself a nice, long stretch to work out the kinks in his muscles. There had been a steady stream of business today, and they’d had to start putting people on a waiting list or set appointments for later, but right now there were no pressing matters, so he headed back to the break room. Brian was in there pouring the fifth cup of coffee Ian had seen him drink today, even though it was late afternoon.
“Doing all right, brother?” Ian asked, going to the fridge to get an energy drink. He needed his own jolt.
“Ah, God, dude. I need an IV,” Brian said, replacing the carafe with one hand and gulping the black coffee with the other.
“Jesus. I’d say so.”
“She wanted watermelon Oreos last night. I didn’t know they even f**king made watermelon Oreos. But three o’clock in the f**king morning, I’m out looking for them.” Candace’s intense cravings had been a source of amusement for everyone at the studio.
Not for the first time, guilt ate into him for the secret he was keeping from his boss and good friend. But when was the best time to tell your boss/friend you’d knocked up his sister? Certainly not when he was half-dead on his feet because of his own pregnant girlfriend’s midnight cravings.
“And you know, I’m not complaining,” he clarified. “She doesn’t ask me to do this stuff, she just has to say, ‘Some watermelon Oreos would be awesome’, and I’m gone. Really, I can’t wait for what she wants next. It’s pretty damn funny.”
“That’s good.” Ian cranked the tab on his can and drank in lieu of saying more. Had Gabby had any wild cravings? He wouldn’t know. He’d do the same for her, though, if she stayed with him. But that would never f**king happen. Dr. Asshole no doubt had a mansion on a hill, and Ian expected her to shack up with him in his one-bedroom apartment? What a laugh.
As he lowered the can from his lips, he noticed his cell phone sitting on the counter next to the microwave. He must’ve forgotten it there when he’d heated up a pizza pocket before they got so busy.
Stepping around Brian, he retrieved it and checked the waiting text message.
And felt his knees almost give out. “Jesus. Oh, f**king hell.”
“Hey, what is it?” Brian asked.
Ian looked the guy in the face and couldn’t lie to him anymore. Not now. Not about this. “Your sister is at the hospital.”
“Wait. What?”
Ignoring him, Ian checked his watch. “Fuck, that was almost three hours ago. Brian, man, there’s a lot of shit I need to tell you but—I gotta go.”
Brian caught his arm as he bolted toward the door. “Hold up just one goddamn minute. Why is she at the hospital, and why is she telling you before she tells me?”
He needed to come clean, but there wasn’t time to get into it now. She’d told him she was headed to the ER but hadn’t let him know any results. God only knew what she was going through or what was happening. He had to get there now, and he would go through the guy if he had to. Ian yanked away, looking Brian straight in his blue eyes. There was no way of sugarcoating it. “Your sister is pregnant. It’s mine. And she’s having complications. I need to be there.”
It might very well be rage building behind that stare, but he hoped Brian was only trying to come to terms with the words he’d heard fall from Ian’s mouth like stones in a still pond. That once he did, he’d relax and take it in stride.
But then he spoke. “I really, really want to knock you the f**k out right now.” So much for hope.
“Hey, I’ll give you a free shot later, man, whatever you want, but right now I gotta go.” He let his hand shoot out to clutch Brian’s shoulder, trying to insinuate his urgency into the words. “She needs me. She wants me there. Come on, you gotta know how this would feel.”
“All right. You go.” Brian’s voice vibrated with barely repressed fury, and his jaw was tight enough that he could probably crunch glass with his molars. “And you let me know what’s going on. Then you and me? We’re gonna have a long f**king chat.”
Ian didn’t look forward to that. But whatever it took to get him out of here, to get away from the accusation in his friend’s eyes. Whatever could get him to Gabriella as fast as possible.