I rush Cherry back to the hospital to find out what happened while we were gone.

“Are you okay?” I ask her for probably the tenth time since we left her dad’s place.

“Yes. I’m fine,” she answers dismissively.

The repeated question is probably getting on her last nerve, but I can’t help myself. I can tell that she was crying. Her eyes are red and puffy. It’s been a long, tough day, though, so I don’t push the issue. We’re all tired.

Erica’s the first person we see as we walk the halls to get back to Gerald’s room.

“Have they told you anything?” Cherry asks.

Erica shakes her head. “No. You have medical power of attorney. They won’t release new information except to you. I made sure of that.”

“Okay,” Cherry answers.

Erica places her hand on Cherry’s forearm to stop her. She squints her eyes to narrow slits, staring into Cherry’s face. “Honey, are you okay?” Erica asks, then looks at me. “Is she okay? She doesn’t look too good.”

I don’t disagree. I’ve been worried since we got on the road.

“I’m right here, Erica,” Cherry says. “And yes, I’m fine. It’s the middle of the night. We’re all going on barely any sleep. I’ll be all right.” She pats Erica’s arm and takes a polite step back, glancing up at me. “I’ll look for Dr. Morgan to find out what’s going on.”

Exhaustion starts to hit me as I return to the waiting area with Erica. It really had been one of those days.

“Is my dad still around?” I ask Erica.

She covers her mouth to shorten what starts off as a long yawn. “Yes. He was in Gerald’s room for a while, but went looking for decent coffee. I’m sure he’ll be back soon.”

Less than five minutes later, Cherry comes back to wait with us.

“The doctor’s doing his rounds. He’ll be back in a bit,” she tells us and slumps into the chair beside me for a few minutes. I can’t help pulling her into my arms. There’s too much turmoil going on around us to spend any time hiding that we’re together.

Cherry gets to her feet a few minutes later. “I’ll be in Dad’s room. Give me a holler if you see the doctor pass by.”

I head to the men’s room and splash my face with water. Seeing the dark circles under my eyes doesn’t impress me much. No wonder my father’s somewhere around the hospital trying to track down coffee. Before heading back to the waiting area, I stop by Gerald’s room and look inside through the small square viewing window of the stainless steel door. Cherry’s hunched over her father, both her hands around his frail fingers. God, I wish I could comfort her, and take away all that pain.

I feel a firm, comforting hand rest on my shoulder.

Dad.

“Have one,” he says, showing me the tray of four coffee cups in his hand. “You look like crap.”

“Thanks Dad,” I answer with a smile.

“How’s it going in there?”

“Not sure.”

“Take one for Cherry. She doesn’t look so hot either.”

“Yeah, I noticed.”

“You’ve got to take better care of your girlfriend,” he says nonchalantly, and waits for me to pick my jaw up from the floor. “What? You think I didn’t know?”

“I was planning on telling you eventually.”

“Yeah, like before the next ice age,” he jokes. “Give your old man some credit. I’m old, not blind.” He looks into the room, then back at me. “Someone should take a look at her while we’re here. She hasn’t been herself for weeks. Anyway, I’ve got to get this last cup to Erica. Keep us posted when the doctors give her the update.”

I shake my head and smile as he walks off. He probably knew all along. All this time, Cherry was thinking we were better off keeping our relationship quiet. It all seems so trivial right now.

She must sense that I’m there, because her head lifts, and she motions for me to come in.

I push the door open. “Hey,” I say. “How’s he doing?”

“I don’t know, but I was talking to him about my mother. I think he squeezed my hand a little.”

“Really? That’s good, right?”

“Probably. I mean, I could have imagined the whole thing.”

“No one would blame you for hoping. It’s been a rough night. Hey, my dad got us some coffee,” I add, holding her cup out.

She stares at the cup and seems to think about it. As she opens her mouth to reply, I see her hand fly up to cover her lips. “No,” she says, letting out a tiny burp. “I think I had some bad sushi at dinner. Coffee’s probably a bad idea right now, the way my stomach feels.”

“No worries. I’ll give it to Erica. She looked like she can use more than one cup as a pick-me-up.”

Turning to leave the room, I almost bump into Dr. Morgan. He gives me a quick nod of recognition and enters the room, pulling out his medical tablet computer from his side pocket.

“Thanks for coming back, Miss Buchannan,” he addresses her.

“How’s my father?” she asks, gripping the safety rail at the side of the hospital bed as she gets to her feet. “Can you tell me what happened to trigger calling me back tonight?”

The doctor walks around and stands beside Cherry. He’s not looking at the patient. His eyes are fixed on Cherry’s face. “Are you sure you don’t want to sit down?” he asks. “You don’t look too well, Miss Buchannan. If you have a cold or fever, it may be better for us to speak outside.”

“I’m fine,” she tells him, and I notice the slight tilt of her posture, as though her knees are weak. “Just tired. What’s the update?”

“I apologize for earlier. We have better news for you. It doesn’t happen very often, but your father’s brain activity has spiked in the last couple of hours. His E.E.G scans had significant improvement. What that means is he’s doing his part. He’s putting up a good fight, and that’s more promising than earlier tonight. We’ll do another scan by morning and keep you updated. In the meantime…” he starts, and pauses, tilting his head to one side as he continues to study her. “There’s a twenty-four-hour urgent care wing for non-emergency health conditions. It’s on the north wing of the first floor. I’d strongly suggest you stop by there while you wait for word on your father.”

“I told you I’m all right, Doctor,” she tells him.

Her patience seems to be wearing thin. I see her let go of the bed railing, and as she folds her arms, her upper body sways back at way too sharp an angle. I don’t have time to make it across the room. Dr. Morgan acts fast, though, narrowly catching her around the waist before she drops to the floor.

“Cherry!” I get to her other side, but she’s not responding. “Help her, Doctor!” I shout. “What’s going on?”

We place her into the chair, and Dr. Morgan presses the call button for an orderly to bring in a stretcher. We all noticed that Cherry looked pretty run down, but for her to pass out like this? Now? Here?

“Your friend fainted,” he says as we wait. He pulls the stethoscope off his shoulder, slipping the ear tips in his ear, then presses the bell on Cherry’s chest. “Her breathing’s fine.”

A male nurse pushes open the door, banging the metal with the rolling gurney. The doctor belts out a never-ending string of tests and diagnostics to perform on her once the nurse gets her to the emergency ward.

“I’m going with her,” I say, stalking out of the room behind the stretcher.

I accompany them down the large elevator, staring down at Cherry. I shake my head at the irony of something happening to her, just as we’re finding out that her father is improving. She has no coloring to her face. Her head hangs to one side. Her breathing is so shallow. I wonder when she’ll wake up.

She fucking has to wake up.

* * *

A female emergency room nurse comes out to the waiting room and calls my name, letting me know that they’ve run a the tests on Cherry to determine the cause of her fainting spell. The nurse asks me if I’m Cherry’s husband or significant other. I tell her yes, the latter. She won’t tell me what they found, but she shows me to Cherry’s bed in the tightly packed multi-patient room, and closes the divider curtains behind me.

Thank fuck Cherry’s awake.

“Hey,” she says to me.

I hold the hand she lifts up in my direction, lowering to take her into my arms.

“You scared the fuck outta me.”

“Shhh. Language,” she whispers for the benefit of whatever patients and visitors are on the other side of the curtains. “Sorry. I must have been more exhausted than I thought.”

“I’m just glad you look better. What did they find out from all those tests?”

She shrugs her shoulders. “No idea. I’m still waiting for the emergency doctor to see me.” Cherry looks behind me past my shoulders and clears her throat. “Looks like we’re about to find out.”

I look around. A middle-aged male doctor pushes the curtains back, eyes fixed on his tablet computer. “Cheryl Yvette Serena Buchannan?” he calls out her full name.

“That’s me,” Cherry answers.

The doctor looks at me for a second, and returns his gaze to his screen. “I’m Dr. Fenwick. How are you feeling?”

“Better, thanks. That hour or so of rest really helped.”

“I’d imagine it would, given your condition. Is this your spouse? I have to ask, to confirm that it’s okay to discuss your test results while he’s present.”

“We’re together. You can tell us both,” Cherry confirms. “Everything’s fine with me, right?”

“Yes, all your screens and diagnostics came back normal.”

“That’s great.”

“Your blood pressure dipped a bit, which caused your lightheadedness.”

“Oh okay. I thought it was just bad sushi, or exhaustion.”

“I wouldn’t suggest any more sushi for a while,” the doctor informs her.

“No?”

“That’s right, Ma’am. And the same goes for alcohol, smoking, anything that would harm the fetus, which is crucial during the first—”

“Whoa doc,” I stop him, looking back and forth between him and Cherry. “Back it up a bit. What are you talking about? Did you mix up your patient records, because I thought you just said something about a fetus.”

“There’s no mix-up, I assure you. Miss Buchannan is in her first trimester. Seven weeks, give or take.” He pauses and finally looks up at our faces. “I gather neither of you were aware of that.”

“I’m pregnant?” Cherry asks, but looks only at me.

“That you are. Congratulations to the both of you. Miss Buchannan, I suggest that you get some rest for a few hours. I’ll sign your discharge then. If you’d like, I’ll forward the patient record to your family doctor, who can refer you to an obstetrician. Have a good day.”

“Did he just say I’m pregnant?” Cherry asks me after the doctor leaves.

I nod. “He did. How do you feel about the fact that I, uh, knocked you up?”

“How do you feel?”

I can’t help but smile. “Virile, I guess. Pretty studly. Excited, depending on whether you are too.”

She grabs my arm and rests her head on the back of my hand. “I wasn’t expecting anything like this, but now that it’s happened. I’m…I’m excited too.”

“You’re carrying my kid,” I tell her, running my free hand over her stomach.

“I am. Oh my God, I am. Jace?”

“Yes?”

“I guess we should tell your dad that we’re a couple. Seeing as he’s my boss and well, he’ll eventually have to approve my maternity leave.”

“He already knows.”

“What?”

“I talked to him while you were with your father just now, before you fainted. He said he’s known for months. Was waiting for us to let the cat out of the bag.”

“Wow.”

“Yes.” I smile. “Knowing him, he probably has a pool going with his geezer friends about your due date.”