Page 10 of All or Notching
“Yes?” What is that look in her eyes?
“The timing…”
She trembles. I rise. “Let me get you a glass of water.”
She puts out a hand to stop me. “No, I’m fine.”
“You’re not fine, Laurel. You’re pale and trembling.” I pick up her hand and put my fingers over her pulse point. Thank god it’s normal, a little fast, but reasonable. However, touching her again, feeling how soft her skin is, even though she’s here because she isn’t feeling well, arouses me, and that’s inappropriate in a professional setting. There’s no way I can leave this room until my hard-on settles down. “Whatever has you so distressed is not worth it. You’re going to be a mother. That’s exciting.”
She bursts into tears.
She’s not a loud crier. They just fall from her eyes and roll in big drops down her cheeks unchecked. She’s staring at me, wide-eyed, silently crying her heart out.
I stand, gently take her by the shoulders and pull her to her feet. Then I wrap my arms around her.
She doesn’t hug me back. She stands in the circle of my arms, hers hanging straight down at her sides, her body shaking as she quietly sobs into my chest.
“Laurel, let me help you. Are you scared the father of the baby won’t be happy or accepting? I can tell you, any man who would turn away his own child or the mother of his child isn’t a man. A man owns up to his responsibility. At an absolute minimum, he should ensure you and his child are well cared for. I have a friend who’s a lawyer. He’s doesn’t practice family law but I’m sure he knows somebody.”
She gulps in mouthfuls of air, and her body quakes harder.
“Being pregnant should be a happy time. Let me get that ultrasound scheduled as quickly as possible so we can narrow down the date, then we’ll go from there. I know the technician at the hospital where I work. I’ll call and set something up right away.”
She cries harder, drenching my shirt, but I don’t care.
“Would you prefer if I call one of the nurses to come in here?”
She shakes her head vigorously.
“Is there anybody I can call?”
She rolls her head in the negative as she struggles to calm down.
We stand like that for another few minutes until I think her tears have ended. I try to look at her face, but she’s still got it pressed to my chest. “Are you okay to sit now?”
She hesitates, but finally nods and steps out of my arms and away. The sudden emptiness almost steals my breath. I shake off the void and put my doctor's face back on.
“Tristan—"
“Yes?”
She finally looks me in the eye. I sense she’s gathering courage for whatever she’s going to say.
“You’re the last man I slept with.”
A phone rings out in the reception area. I can hear people out in the short hallway passing by the room. But I’m not sure I heard her correctly. “Excuse me?”
She clears her throat, speaking louder this time. “You’re the father, Tristan.”
“But—"
“This baby was conceived that night we met.”
My ears are ringing. It’s my turn to feel faint. I shake it off. “But I wore a condom. And it didn’t break. I know that.” I would have noticed if that had happened.
She shrugs. “Defective? Some stuff escaped?”
“But—"