Page 164 of Fought and Freed

A nurse came to take Maddy back to a room.

“I’m coming with her,” Jace said. “She’s not leaving our sight again.”

“Only one of you can come back with her,” the nurse said.

In an exam room, a doctor checked Maddy over and ran a few tests.

She had cracked the cast when she smacked Mike’s arm, and they left it off, though they cautioned her to go easy on it for the next week or so.

Another doctor stepped into the room and washed his hands at the sink. “Ms. Walsh, I’m Dr. Milton, the local OBGYN on call.”

Maddy laughed. “I don’t think I need you. I just got smacked around.”

“Your blood work shows an elevated HCG, which is a good indication that you’re pregnant,” said the doctor.

Maddy shook her head. “That’s impossible. I’m on birth control.”

He lifts a brow. “Do you use condoms?”

She looked at Jace. “No… We don’t.”

“There are things that can hinder birth control,” the doctor explained, “such as antibiotics.”

She’d been given antibiotics for the gash in her leg. How could she be so stupid? She would never have gone to the warehouse if she knew she was pregnant. What if something worse had happened?

Maddy paled. “I’m going to be sick.”

Jace handed her a basin that was sitting on the table and held her hair out of the way.

When she finished being sick, a nurse took the basin away.

The OBGYN gave her a kind smile. “I’d like to do an ultrasound to see how far along you are and make sure your baby is healthy.”

“Yes, please,” she said, tearing up.

They wheeled in the ultrasound, and Maddy laid back on the table, lifting her shirt.

Jace stood by her side and held her hand.

The doctor squirted clear gel on her stomach, then moved a wand over her flat stomach, and a small human appeared on the screen.

“It looks like you’re about twelve weeks pregnant,” the doctor said, his eyes on the screen. “And your baby appears to be healthy.”

Tears ran down Maddy’s dirty face as she stared at her munchkin.

“Would you like a picture?” the doctor asked.

“Yes, please,” Maddy said. “I want to show the fathers.”

He gave her a towel to clean off the gel and printed off the pictures before he headed toward the door. “Congratulations, Ms. Walsh.”

Jace stared at the picture he held, shaking his head. “You’ve been getting sick in the morning. How did we miss the signs?”

“They were all there. I feel so stupid.” She put her hand on her belly. “I could have hurt them.”

“You didn’t know, and luckily, you didn’t.” Jace helped her off the table. “Let’s go back and find out if there’s any update on Ryder and Cody.”

Maddy and Jace returned to the waiting room filled with excitement from the news of their baby and trepidation for two of the fathers.

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