Page 54 of Dr. Baby Daddy

With that in mind, I head over to the nurses’ station. Tori and one of the other nurses sit on the other side.

“Are you gonna go to the show that patient mentioned?” Tori glances at the other nurse as she writes a couple notes on a chart. “I’ve never been to a jazz club before, but it sounds like it could be a good time.”

I grab one of the patient files and flip through it, skimming for the information I need before requesting several tests.

The other nurse, Jean, nods. “Oh, definitely. I’ve seen her perform a couple times at The Gilded Raven. She’s amazing. She made my husband tear up the other night.”

I freeze, paying more attention to their conversation. If they’re talking about Izzy, that means she’s in the hospital somewhere.

Did something happen when I left her alone?

All I could think about when I left her on my couch was getting out of there before I spilled my heart to her. She was fine when I left. She was sitting up, glaring daggers at me, and talking.

Tori hums to herself. “Maybe it’s worth checking out, then. She seemed nice, and I’m always looking for something new to do on a Thursday night.”

I clear my throat and look over the edge of the station at them. “There’s a new jazz club opening?”

Tori nods. “Brazen Lounge. It’s opening Thursday night. The woman who’s playing piano there was talking about it when Jean was drawing her blood earlier.”

Jean nods. “Poor thing was pale as a sheet. Of course, I would be too if I just found out I was pregnant and took a spill this morning. But the baby’s going to be just fine. She rambled like none other when I was drawing her blood. Told me all about the Broadway show she’s playing in, too.”

The blood in my veins freezes. Based on what Jean has said, she has to be talking about Izzy.

Izzy would have told me if she was pregnant, though.

Would she? After all that I’ve done to us, would she tell me about a baby?

Victor comes around the corner and glares at the nurses. “I should write the both of you up for talking about a patient and their personal information.”

Tori cowers in her seat while Jean rolls her eyes. Victor eyes them for a moment longer before looking at me.

He’s barely spoken to me since he found out that I was pushing Izzy away. More than once, he tried to get me to fix things before insisting I was an idiot and was on my own.

He scowls at me as he grabs one of the files from the stack. “What do you think you’re doing? You know better than to stand here and talk about patients who aren’t on your service.”

“Was Izzy here?”

“Why does it matter to you?” His tone is gruff as he flips through the file. “You didn’t want her when all she wanted was you. Nowthat you hear some gossip, you think that you might want to be part of her life again?”

“It’s not like that.” I sigh and nod to one of the on-call rooms. “Can we talk for a minute?”

He sighs and puts the file to the side, following me into the empty room. “There isn’t much to talk about. You screwed up because you decided that Izzy would be better off without you in her life. And then you couldn’t even man up and tell her that you wanted to end things.”

“I never wanted to end things with her.” I link my hands together behind my head and pace across the room. “I love her. I’ve been in love with her for weeks, but she deserves better than me.”

“Who said that? I know she didn’t. All she wanted was you. You could see it on her face every time the two of you were together.”

My breath hitches as I fight back tears. “I know that I’ve made a mess of things, but I need to fix this. I want to be with her, and I want to be with our baby.”

Victor scoffs and throws his hands up in the air. “You want to be with her now? When she’s just starting to pick up the pieces of the life you tore down around her? If you decide to do this and try to fix things with her, it has to be forever. You have to want this, and you can’t run away when you get scared again.”

“I do want this. I want her.” Blood rushes in my ears as I stop pacing. “I love her, and I want to fix this between us. I’m done running.”

Victor shakes his head. “Then you better figure out a damn good plan to get her back because she’s convinced that you don’t love her.”

He’s right. I’m going to need a plan to get her back.

I’ve spent the last two weeks of my life without Izzy, and I never want to go through that again.

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