Page 17 of Daddy's Reckoning

“Erin!” I yelled when she collapsed, going to my knees beside her. Her chest was rising and falling in soft breaths, but her eyes were closed, her eyelids not flickering. “Erin, Erin, baby, wake up.”

I patted her cheek gently. When there was no reaction, my mind raced. If she was still pregnant, there were a million things that could have caused her to faint, ranging from mild to serious. Swearing under my breath, I pulled out my phone and stared at it. Did I call 911 and wait for an ambulance? Did I take her to the hospital myself? Would she come to the minute I started dialing and insist she was fine? And if she did, would it make a difference? The fact that she’d fainted meant she was in need of medical care; at least just a checkup.

But the question was, how would I get her there? I was still staring blankly at my phone screen, my fingers hovering above the keypad, when she began to stir.

“Erin!” I dropped my phone on the floor beside me, and placed my hands behind her head as she tried to sit up.

She blinked fuzzily, then her eyes grew wide and her cheeks pinkened with blush. She tried to jump to her feet but I held her in place, halting her progress.

“Whoa, there. Easy does it. Let’s maybe just stay down here for a few minutes more.”

She looked at me, her expression horrified. “Did I faint?”

“Yes, babygirl, you did. You were only out for a minute, but you gave me quite the scare.”

“Did I … What happened right before that? Did I… did I say anything?”

“Oh, you mean did you answer my question regarding whether or not you were still pregnant?” Done checking her body for signs of injury, I lifted my gaze to meet hers, and sent her a level stare. “You did not.”

“Theo, I?—”

“We can talk about it later. Right now, we need to go get you checked out. Come on.” I grabbed her elbow so she could stand without falling, and helped her into a t-shirt and sweats. She let me, but she looked like she was ready to put up a fight the entire time.

She waited until she was dressed, then protested, “I’m fine, Theo. I probably just cried too much, or something.”

“You cried so much you passed out?” I narrowed my eyes at her, hoping she’d realize how ridiculous that sounded.

“It could happen.” She crossed her arms across her chest and pouted.

“I haven’t heard of that phenomenon. We’ll see what the doctor has to say. Now, you have two choices, and not going to the doctor isn't one of them.”

“Then what are they?” Her voice was wooden, sullen-sounding.

“You can walk to my car, or I can carry you, and quite honestly, you’re lucky I’m even giving you a choice.”

I grabbed a pair of rubber slides from the bottom of her closet and put them in front of her to slip her feet in. She did so, glaring at me the whole time.

“I’ll walk,” she announced.

“Are you sure? If you don’t feel up to it…”

“Theo, I’m fine, really.”

“Well, humor me then. I’m an overprotective Daddy, and I need to hear it for myself from someone a tad more qualified than you are to make that assessment.”

She huffed, and I realized belatedly that as a med student, she probably was qualified to make that assessment, and if it was about anyone else, I probably would have let her. But it was about her, and if I knew anything about Erin, it was that she could be stubborn as hell when she wanted to be.

She scowled at my request, and I decided she was out of choices. Bending, I scooped her into my arms, carrying her the way one would carry a sleeping toddler, and carted her out the door, ignoring all her protests.

Once I had both of us buckled in, I backed out of the lot and drove to the pullout leading to the main road. “How do I get to your OB’s office?”

“It’s a Saturday. They're closed.”

“Ah. Right. Emergency room it is, then.”

She didn’t say another word in the car, ignored me while she checked in, and glared at me when they called her name and I followed her back.

The unamused stare I shot her in response clearly stated what would happen if she didn’t let me come with her and talk to the doctor myself.

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