Total pages in book: 102
Estimated words: 99967 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 500(@200wpm)___ 400(@250wpm)___ 333(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 99967 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 500(@200wpm)___ 400(@250wpm)___ 333(@300wpm)
He’s listening intently to Dr. Lachland, his handsome face in a stern frown, his arms crossed over his chest, and then the doctor is addressing me.
“Harper, let’s get Bryce’s X-ray done and draw those labs for me, and we’ll go from there.”
“Of course.” I nod and smile at Dani while every nerve in my body quakes.
He’s fucking married. There’s no other reason for him to be here. He’s an ER doctor, not an OB/GYN.
I glance at the card on the bassinet.
Bryce Blackwell.
His last name is on the freaking bassinet.
He cheated on his very pregnant wife with me.
Because of course he fucking did.
Jesus Christ, what am I? Some kind of black hole for piece-of-shit men who treat women like garbage?
“He’s safe with me, Dani. I promise. I’ll bring him right back to you. It shouldn’t take long at all. Then we can do some skin-on-skin time, okay?”
“You’re so nice,” Dani says with a nod as I scan her wristband, the baby’s, and then the one on his bassinet card. “Thank you so much, Harper.”
Silently fuming, I take the baby to get the labs and X-rays, but before I can close the elevator door, Blake comes running down the hall and slips into the elevator next to me.
Fuck me.
“You work here,” he says as the doors close. It’s not a question.
“Seems so.” My voice is so cold, I’m surprised he doesn’t have frostbite. “Congratulations, by the way. He’s beautiful. And don’t worry, I won’t say anything to that gorgeous woman, who deserves so much better, you jerk.”
He frowns down at me as the doors slide open.
“You should get back to your wife. The baby’s safe with me.”
And without a backward glance, I roll out of the elevator to get my work done.
This is not how I saw today going. I didn’t have run into the hottest sex of your life, who happens to be a new dad and a cheating asshole on my bingo card for this month at all.
Yet here we are all the same.
I keep an eye on Bryce’s pulse ox and am pleased that it never dips lower than ninety-three. In fact, right now, it’s ninety-five, which is an improvement.
But when I listen to his lungs again, I hear some gunk in there.
“We’re going to fix you up, Bryce. Let’s figure this out.”
Chapter Five
BLAKE
Just as I’m about to chase an extremely pissed-off Harper, my phone rings, and it’s the clinic.
Shit.
Harper’s here. She’s even more gorgeous than I remember, and that’s saying a lot. That one night with her has ingrained itself into my entire psyche, and aside from work and family, she’s all I think about. I have so many regrets about not getting her last name or asking for her number. Of course, I didn’t anticipate she’d sneak out on me. If I knew that was coming, I never would have gone to sleep.
But now she’s here, in my hospital, and I have no intention of letting her slip out of my grasp again.
Of course, it would be just my goddamn luck that she thinks I’m fucking married. And we’ll have to rectify that situation as soon as fucking possible.
Scowling, I accept the call from my office.
“Dr. Blackwell.”
“Hey, Doc, this is Mo at reception. I’m wondering if I should continue rescheduling your day? I got your first hour of the day moved, and I can keep going if you think you’ll be at the hospital longer.”
I sigh and push my hand through my hair. “Give me another hour, Mo. I need to wrap a few things up here, but I’ll be in by”—I check my watch—“ten.”
“Got it,” she says. “Thanks, see you soon.”
I hang up and hurry back to the room where Dani and Bridger are waiting. I hate that Bryce is having issues this morning. After everything Bridger went through with Birdie when she was born so early and so small, this is the last thing my brother needs.
“Did you see him?” Dani asks right away as she pads out of the attached bathroom, and Bridger helps her back into bed.
“Sweetheart, all of this is preventive. They wouldn't be bringing him back to you if we thought he was in distress or failing.”
Dani swallows hard and nods as Bridger kisses the top of her head.
“Aspirating fluid isn’t uncommon,” I continue. “And because they caught it so soon, they can get ahead of it. The antibiotics aren’t a bad idea. I’m going to warn you, if they go that route, they’ll want to keep him here for seventy-two hours because it’ll be IV antibiotics.”
“I have to go home without him?” Dani asks, her eyes wide in horror. She shakes her head. “Absolutely not.”
“Hey, let’s not get ahead of ourselves, kitten,” Bridger says. “Let’s see what they say, okay? Stop working yourself up.”
Dani takes a deep breath. “Okay. Did you check in with your parents? How’s Birdie?”