Chapter 36

Piper

Evan scooped me into his arms and ran to the elevator. I pushed the button. My wrist flared with pain. It might have broken when I fell from Susan’s kick in the stomach.

The doors opened, and Evan stepped inside. My wrist looked swollen.

“How do you feel?” Evan asked.

“My wrist hurts like hell,” I said. “But I’m more worried about my stomach.” God, the pain was horrible.

My stomach ached. I couldn’t tell if the pain was inside or just the effect of the kick. It could be a bruised muscle, or maybe something worse. Something I didn’t even want to think about.

“We’ll get you to the hospital as quick as we can,” Evan said.

The doors opened. The ambulance was just reversing to the door. Evan lifted me to their stretcher, and they pushed me in the back of the waiting vehicle.

“I’m coming with you,” Evan said.

The paramedics wheeled the stretcher into place and secured it. Evan sat beside me. He lifted my shirt and looked at my stomach.

“I’m sorry that had to happen,” Evan said. “That woman is insane.”

“It’s not your fault,” I replied.

Evan lifted my sweatshirt and looked at my stomach again. He ran his trembling hands over my skin. I glanced into his eyes, and he was deep in thought. He caught my eye and smiled.

“You don’t have to keep checking my stomach,” I said.

“I just want to be sure,” he replied.

Evan leaned toward the driver of the ambulance.

“How long before we’re at the hospital?” Evan asked.

“Around twenty to thirty minutes with this traffic,” the driver said.

“Can you go any quicker?” he asked.

“In the emergency cases we can, but normally we have to stick to the rules,” the driver replied.

“Can you make it an emergency? Please, put the damned sirens on or something.”

“I’m not sure I can do that,” the driver said.

“If you do that for me, I’ll build the hospital a new wing, and I’ll name it after you. You’ll be a damned hero.”

Damn, Evan seemed more concerned than I am. Offering to buy the hospital a new wing just for the driver turning on his lights and siren?

“Right you are, boss,” the driver said. “Let there be light and sound.”

The driver hit the switch. The noise of the sirens burst into life. He hit the gas, and I could feel the speed increase. We weaved in and out of the relentless traffic. Stop signs were just a blur as he drove straight through them.

“Thank you,” Evan said. “It’s very much appreciated.”

“A new wing,” the driver said. “Awesome.”

I watched as Evan laughed. With his money, a new wing wasn’t even a dent in his overall wealth. He could build ten full hospitals and still have change. Probably more.

“It means nothing if you don’t get us there quickly. This young woman is more important than anything.”

The EMT in the back was busy slapping my hand, the veins standing as she carefully tried to insert a drip. I felt the prick of the needle as she slipped it under my skin. A small piece of tape secured it in place.

“Your wrist,” the EMT said.

“What?” I asked. “Oh, is it bad?”

“Just a sprain, I think,” she said.

She took a bandage and carefully wrapped it around my hand and arm. I couldn’t move my wrist anymore.

“Don’t force the movement,” she said, smiling. “Keep it straight.”

“Okay, I’ll try my best,” I replied.

Evan leaned toward the EMT. “She’s pregnant and got kicked in the stomach.”

“I’ll let the doctors know,” she said. “They can prepare for some tests.”

My phone began to ring, and Evan pulled it from my pocket and put it on speaker.

“Hello, what are you doing?” Jules said through the phone. “I thought you were going to meet me.”

“Hi, Jules,” I said. “Don’t freak out. I’m on my way to the hospital.”

“Why?” she asked, totally freaking out. “What happened? Are you okay?”

“I’m probably fine,” I said. “I just got kicked in the stomach.”

“I’m coming now,” she said and she hung up.

The ambulance reached the hospital and headed for the emergency doors. A team of nurses and doctors waited outside the door and took over from the EMTs. They wheeled me into the hospital and rushed to the emergency room. The ceiling lights flashed overhead. They formed a hypnotic rhythm as I stared above me.

After hours of tests and palpations, the doctors gave me a clean bill of health apart from a badly bruised wrist.

“What about her being pregnant?” Evan asked.

“We’ll keep her overnight for observation,” the doctor said. He didn’t seem concerned at all.

“Thank you,” Evan said. “Anything she needs, just let me know.”

The nurse wheeled me from the emergency room. Jules was there panicking as I rolled to my room.

“What happened?” Jules asked.

“That crazy bitch I told you about,” I said. “She attacked Evan.”

“And you, a pregnant woman, decided to jump in the fight?” Jules asked.

I grinned, sheepishly. “Well, yeah. I tried to stop her. Nobody messes with my man.”

“And how did you end up here?”

I snorted. “She got lucky. Landed a kick on my stomach.”

“That bitch,” Jules said, fuming. “If I ever see her, she’s gonna get it.”

I smiled at her. “You’ll have to get in line. First, she has to deal with the police. And I’m pretty sure Evan is going to sue her into bankruptcy. And I wouldn’t mind another round with that psycho bitch. After the baby is born.”

Some orderlies wheeled me into a vacant room. The burly orderlies lifted me from the stretcher and placed me down gently on the bed. Under better circumstances, I could get used to this kind of treatment. I felt like a princess.

A few moments later, the doctor arrived and took my charts from the end of the bed. “Piper?” he asked.

“Yes, that’s me.”

“What about the baby?” Evan asked, worried.

“There were no significant signs of trauma. Her bloodwork is good. Everything looks positive.” The doctor’s expression seemed hopeful.

Jules and Evan looked at each other with concern and turned to the doctor in unison. They spoke at the same time, stepping on each other’s words. The one word they both said, almost at the same time, was “ultrasound.”

The doctor nodded at them patiently. “It’s standard procedure to take an ultrasound once the patient has left emergency. Once we know there are no other complications. Then we’ll have her checked out.”

“Okay, thank God for that,” Jules said.

I was going to have an ultrasound. I was unsure if anything would show that quickly. At least it saves me a trip to the doctors to find out.

“I’ll get the nurse to come and fetch Piper in a moment,” the doctor said.

He filled in the charts. “Try to get some rest,” the doctor said.

“Okay, I’ll try,” I replied, thankful.

“For now, Piper may be more comfortable if you both left the room,” he said, looking at Jules and Evan.

“Not a chance,” Evan said. “I’m staying put. That is my baby, and I want to make sure it’s okay.”

I’d been watching Evan since we were in the ambulance. He had showed a lot of concern and checked my stomach, nearly every few minutes on the way to the hospital. And a new wing. He had offered to build one, and I could see he meant it.

If Evan had showed this kind of devotion when I told him I was pregnant, maybe I wouldn’t be in this position. Evan sat on the edge of the bed and held my hand as we waited for the nurses to arrive. I tried to calm his nerves. I was sure he was more agitated and worried than I was feeling at that moment.

The nurses arrived, and I was placed in a wheelchair. I gripped Evan’s hand as he walked beside me. We approached the room for the ultrasound. Jules had to remain outside, but Evan could come in with me as the father.

“I’m scared, Evan,” I said.

“Not as scared as I am. I’m petrified. I’ve never done anything like this in my life.”

I gripped his fingers and looked deeply into his eyes. “Now we find out for sure,” I said with a smile.

“I’m sure everything is going to be okay. It’s more of a precaution, baby.”

I was helped from the wheelchair onto the bench. The nurse lifted my top and covered me in cold gel. I heard the doctor walk into the room.

“Right, let’s see what we have here, shall we?” he said.

The doctor lifted my gown and ran the scanner over my belly. Evan gripped my hand tight as the images began to appear on the screen. I was amazed; the black and white images were what was inside me. I saw Evan, and he was mesmerized at what was on the screen. I’d forgotten he had a lot of experience with health and fitness with his apps.

“Well so far, everything seems to be fine,” the doctor said. “Oh, yes, there you go. That’s, oh, I wasn’t expecting that. Everything is more than fine.”

“Are you sure?” Evan asked.

The doctor looked at Evan and me.

“When did you know you were pregnant?” the doctor asked.

“Monday,” I replied.

He nodded his head and mumbled to himself. “I’m surprised you never noticed before,” the doctor said, smiling.

“Why?” I asked.

“It looks like you’re a lot further along than you think,” he replied.

What about your cycle at the beach house?

“But I had bleeding; IfiguredI was on my cycle,” I replied.

“That may have just been some vaginal bleeding,” he explained. “It’s quite common.”

I wondered why it was lighter than normal and didn’t last as long.

“How long have you been together?” the doctor asked.

Evan looked at me, and I looked at him. We smiled. From what the doctor said, I must have become pregnant the first night we’d been together.

The doctor finished his scan and cleaned the gel from my belly.

“I’m happy to say it all looks perfectly normal, and the babies look healthy,” he explained.

“Excuse me,” Evan said. “Did you saybabies, as in plural?”

“Yes, it looks like you’re the proud parents of twins,” he said.

We are having twins?

I watched Evan as he stood there motionless. That blank expression appeared on his face again. Was he upset? I couldn’t imagine that was it. He’d just seemed so happy that the baby was all right. Was it because he’d gotten me pregnant the first time we got back together? Before I even signed the contract? I had not actually been bound by any of the constraints or limitations that were listed. The arguments we had had because of that damned piece of paper actually meant nothing.

I laid there and wondered what Evan was thinking. Was he scared I might hit him with threats of support? Just like the other crazy woman did, earlier this afternoon.

“Evan, you have no reason to worry,” I said. “I’ll be fine with the twins.”

Without a word, Evan turned and walked out of the room.

Um, okay.