Zoe stared at the blood on her underwear and sat down on the edge of the bed, legs trembling. She doubled over, her stomach cramping. She crawled over to the bathroom and retched.

Something was very wrong and she shivered.

What was she supposed to do? After almost two weeks without Jack, she’d just begun to settle back into some semblance of normal. She’d been able to go back and forth to her job, her workouts, and therapy. She knew Jack had her followed, but that was okay as long as they didn’t interfere with her life.

Her crying jags were down to twice a day. Perhaps someday, she’d be able to think about Jack without falling into emotional quicksand.

She rinsed out her mouth and picked up her cell phone.

“Come on Olivia, pick up.” Zoe leaned back against the side of the tub and put her cheek to the cool porcelain.

“Hey,” Olivia’s singsong voice echoed on the other end. “What’s going on? Jack won’t tell me anything, and–”

Zoe hissed, another round of cramps gripped her gut, and she put her head to her knees. 

“Hey, are you okay?”

“Not really.” Zoe scooted over to the toilet and waited to see if she would puke again. It was a wonder the human species survived if this was what pregnancy was like. “I’m bleeding and cramping. I think something’s wrong.”

“You need to get to a doctor right away.” Olivia sounded worried and that frightened her more than anything else this morning. “I’m going to text you the number of an obstetrician. She’s one of our own. Tell her who you are.”

“Liv, I can’t–”

“Zoe this isn’t just about you. Stop being so damn stubborn.” Olivia sighed and softened her voice. “Let me know as soon as you find out anything.”

“I will.”

When her stomach finally settled, Zoe called the number Olivia had sent her.

“I’m…Jack Fialko’s…” Zoe cringed. “Solstice mate. I think something may be wrong with my pregnancy.”

The woman was all about efficiency as she took her name and information. “Can Jack get you here right now?”

“He’s working and I didn’t want to disturb him.” That sounded plausible enough.

The woman paused for a few minutes. “Can you get yourself to a cab?”

“Yes.” She’d do whatever it took in order to not have to call Jack.

“Good. We’ll see you soon. Come right into the office. We’ll be waiting for you.” The woman hung up abruptly.

Zoe Google'd the address and moaned. Park Avenue again. This time she dressed in a designer summer shift she’d stolen for a song from the thrift store.

Hands was waiting for her outside the building. She hadn’t seen him since she’d dodged him at the therapists, and from the look on his face, he still hadn’t forgiven her.

Zoe groaned. “Did Olivia call you?”

He nodded brusquely and opened the car door.

A faint sheen of sweat covered her body when another series of cramps hit her. Hands was beside her, helping her into the car. She gave him a grateful smile, but his lips tightened in response.

As he pulled into traffic, he frowned at her through the rearview mirror. “Jack will kill me when he finds out I didn’t call him.”

“He doesn’t care,” Zoe said, resting her head against the leather headrest.

Hands snorted. “Want my advice?”

Zoe attempted a smile. “Not really, but I bet you’re going to give it to me anyway.”

Hands darted in and out of lanes with amazing efficiency. “Yeah, I am. You two should talk it out. You look like crap and so does Jack. Anything that hurts that bad has gotta be love.”

He didn’t know how wrong he was.

“It’s a little more complicated than that. We don’t even know each other.” Except in bed. She left that part out.

“He needs you.”

“I know, I know. We mated for life. We can’t ever be with anyone else again–” She sighed.

Hands drove in silence for a while, looking way too often in his rearview mirror.

“He’s following me again, isn’t he?”

He nodded grimly. “I lost him. Don’t worry.”

Her stomach cramped again and she closed her eyes.

Hand pulled up beside the now familiar Park Avenue address.

“Don’t wait for me, these appointments take some time.”

“No can do. Call me when you’re done.” He frowned, and looked over the rim of his dark sunglasses. “Not like last time.”

She breezed into the same building where Diane had her office, signed her name with the same guard, and exited onto the fourth floor. From there, a receptionist ushered her into a small, tidy examination room and asked her to change into a paper gown.

Within minutes a lovely, if somewhat distraught, brown-skinned woman entered. “Hi Zoe. I’m Dr. Abrams.”

Zoe squirmed. The paper on the examination table crinkled under her. She hated doctors, even pleasant and lovely ones.

The doctor smiled sweetly and indicated that Zoe should lie back. “Let’s just take a look. Usually solstice pregnancies are very strong. I’ll need to examine you.”

The doctor pushed and prodded, and took all sorts of blood samples while Zoe lay on the very uncomfortable table. She began to worry more when the doctor left her alone for what seemed like forever.

A nurse came in with all smiles and started asking genealogical questions. Most, she couldn’t answer. When she mentioned that she thought her grandmother was from the healing clan, the nurse lost her bedside manner for a moment and stared with her mouth open.

“You’re a mixed breed?”

“I guess.” Zoe frowned.

The woman lost her genteel professional demeanor. “That was the first thing you should have told us. Are you really that ignorant?”

She turned with a theatrical huff and slammed the door behind her.

Soon after, the doctor returned, frowning intensely.

A cool breeze blew out of nowhere and the lights dimmed.

“Should I be worried?” Zoe asked, when the doctor continued to frown down at a chart.

“Do you know how many documented cases there are of mixed breed solstice babies carrying to full term?” The woman’s dark eyes held a hint of sympathy.

“No,” Zoe answered honestly. The woman was scaring her.

“One.” The doctor stared at her with her hands clenched and her mouth all skewed up. “You and Jack should’ve let us know immediately.”

“But what about my birth, I must have been a mixed breed?”

“You seem to have left out a lot of details.” The doctor pursed her lips and held up the clipboard holding the all-but-empty form. “Do you even know if you were the result of solstice?”

Zoe started to answer, then shut her mouth. She really didn’t know anything. “I just assumed…”

“We have no idea what we’re dealing with. We’re checking you into the hospital right now.” The doctor scribbled some notes and stood as if to leave.

“Wait. Am I going to lose my baby?”

“Everything looks to be fine at the moment.” The doctor’s grim face spoke the exact opposite of what she said aloud.

“Then why do I need to go to the hospital?”

“If you check out okay, they’ll release you. Why don’t you call Jack and let him know.”

“No,” Zoe said a little too loudly, and the woman’s brows rose sharply. Zoe fidgeted with the paper gown. “I don’t want to worry him. You know how he is. When I get home I can tell him in my own way.”

The doctor looked uncomfortable. It had to be obvious that everything was not smooth in Fialko-land.

“Very well. I’m calling an ambulance to take you over. Just lay right here and we’ll take care of everything.”

Zoe nodded and rubbed her hand over her stomach. Her fingers trembled and her panic swelled in her chest. No matter how messed up her relationship was with Jack, she hadn’t wanted any harm to come to their child.

It just hadn’t seemed real. Until now.

Zoe closed her eyes and said a silent prayer.

Please, baby. Be all right.