Page 7 of Dangerous Obsession

“And saints be praised, we got some drinkable coffee.” Hanna took a sip, closed her eyes, and released a long sigh.

“Thanks, sweetheart.” The senator smiled, accepted the other cup of coffee from his wife, and gave her a kiss. The two of them shared a deep love, and the bond between them was powerful.

What must that be like?

“I’m so glad you saved your grandmother’s plant, Marigold.” Hanna carefully moved her bedraggled plant aside to make room for their food. Dulce had transferred it to a small ceramic pot one of the nurses found in their lounge. “I know how much this beauty means to you.”

The fact this incredible woman who had so many irons in the fire remembered such a personal detail about Marigold’s life meant the world to her.

Dulce set the bags on the table and started lifting out plastic containers of salads and sandwiches, napkins and plastic utensils.

Marigold was enjoying listening to the fun banter between them when a man she assumed was a doctor walked in, looking down at the electronic tablet in his hands.

“Ms. Hartnett? I’m Dr. Castille.” He was about sixtyish, with a full head of silver hair, and his round, wire-rimmed glasses were perched on the end of his nose. “We got the results of your blood work back.”

He looked up for the first time and seemed surprised there were people in the room.

“Oh, I apologize.” He pushed his glasses up with one finger. “I didn’t know you had visitors. If you folks could give us a few minutes, I’d like to speak to Marigold privately.”

“Would you like me to stay?” Dulce gave the doctor an assessing once-over.

“No, I’m fine.” She squeezed her friend’s hand.

“Okay, we’ll be right outside.” Dulce gave the doctor a last look, grabbed a sandwich and bottle of water, and walked out with her parents, leaving Marigold alone with the doctor.

He waited until the door shut all the way and turned back to her.

“As I said, your blood work came back, and as suspected, you’re a bit anemic.” His finger tapped the screen. “This is not unusual during the early stage of pregnancy.”

Everything. Stopped.

“Did you—” A whisper was all she could muster. “Did you say … I’m pregnant?”

“Ah, you didn’t know.” The doctor’s thick white brows tucked together.

“I missed a period, but I’ve never been super regular, and I thought it might be stress-related.” Her crazy life had many negative side effects.

“Our estimate is that you were at about ten weeks.”

“Were?”

“I’m sorry.” He set his hand on her shoulder. “But you suffered a spontaneous miscarriage as a result of the blunt force trauma to your abdomen.” He tapped the screen a few times and swiped his finger across the surface. “I’ve paged the on-call obstetrician, and she’ll come in to do a full pelvic exam.”

Slowly, her head rolled side to side on the pillow as shock set in. How could this be?

You know exactly how … and when.

Cliff had come home drunk and horny, and experience had taught her that saying no to him wasnotan option. He’d been in such a hurry, he hadn’t even bothered to get fully undressed, nor did he stop long enough to put on a condom. As soon as he was done, he’d rolled off her and passed out. The next day, it had been obvious he didn’t remember what he’d done to her. And she’d been too terrified to bring it up, worried he’d find a way to blame her.

“That was the blood on my skirt.” She said it more to herself than the doctor.

“A small portion of it, yes.” He nodded, then crossed his arms and held the tablet to his chest.

That explained her lack of panties. They must’ve been ruined when … She couldn’t bring herself to even think it.

“The OB is going to do an ultrasound just so we can make sure there aren’t any injuries we need to be concerned about,” the doctor said.

“Injuries? What kind of injuries?” What if she couldn’t get pregnant again?

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