Page 56 of Surprise Baby for Daddy's Best Friend

"I know you heard me."

Again she glanced up at me before rolling her eyes, "If you're here to be seen, sir, then please take a ticket and we will call you up."

I slammed my hand on the counter which caused her and the nurse next to her to jump in surprise.

"I'm not here to be seen. I'm here to see someone that has already been checked in."

The nurse glared at me and pointed to another desk on the other side of the room. A large sign above them said INFORMATION. "Then go over there. They'll help you find whomever you're looking for," she clicked her tongue and returned to her computer again as if nothing had happened.

The woman at the information desk was a bit older with large glasses that made her eyes look twice as big as they were. She beamed up at me through her mask. "How can I help you, young man?"

Being called a young man settled strangely in my brain. A person who didn't know who I was nor knew how much power I had, had addressed me with a diminutive name. It almost reminded me of Kim when we first met and she didn't know who I was either.

"I'm here for Kim."

"Last name?"

"Bryant," for a moment my mind wanted to say Jones.

She tapped away at her keyboard for a moment before grabbing a sticky note. "Ms. Bryant is in room 117. Just go down the hall and to the left," she scribbled the room number down and passed the sticky note to me. "In case you get lost."

"Thanks." I pocketed the sticky note and made my way through the double doors to the back.

The halls smelled both like bleach and bodily fluids. I scrunched my nose, all the more thankful for the mask to cover the smell a little. I scanned the doors. None of them followed a pattern I could discern. It was almost like someone was given the room numbers one day and they mixed them up before putting them on the doors.

"Down the hall and to the left," I muttered to myself. I turned left down the first hall that I saw.

Almost all the rooms except for two were empty. The first one was labeled Room 117 with a chart listing Kim's name on it. I sucked in a deep breath and walked inside.

Kim was in bed fast asleep. One hand with an IV attached to it, was raised above her head while the other lay across her chest. Her face was pale and twisted in pain. A nurse stood next to the bed writing down a few numbers before pushing past me.

"What the hell happened to you?" I muttered and sidled next to her. I brushed my fingers against the back of her hand, "Whatever it is, I'm here now. I'll make sure you're all right."

I wanted to kiss her but stopped myself. I didn't want to disturb her and if Maurice happened to walk in, that would be another problem to deal with.

Another nurse poked her head inside the room, "Excuse me, are you Jared?"

"I am," I turned to her and straightened. "Can I help you?"

She signaled for me to follow her out of the room.

"She's talked in her sleep a few times while she's been here about a Jared. I'm glad it's you," she lowered her voice. "Did her brother or father tell you what was going on?"

I shook my head, "No. No one's told me anything."

She bit her lip and averted her gaze, "It's better if they tell you then."

Before I could question her, she took off down the hall to check on another patient, leaving me alone with the accompaniment of beeping in my ears from Kim's room. I turned around to walk back in but stopped. The chart was still next to the door. I could easily grab it and quickly scan it before anyone else noticed.

I snatched it off the hook and flipped through the pages before stopping on the last page. Pregnancy. She was pregnant. It didn't make sense. I had seen plenty of women early in their pregnancy and not once had I heard of someone finding themselves hospitalized because of it. I glanced back down to see if I could get any other clue as to what was going on. I flipped back to the first page and noticed her blood type was underlined a few times.

"RH negative."

I put the chart back on the wall and walked back into the room. I sat in one of the chairs and pulled out my phone to search for anything online. Most of the articles listed mothers needing special treatment, because those with Rh-negative blood could attack their child's bodies and make them increasingly sick as well.

"Damn it!" I snapped and shoved my phone back into my pocket, "You shouldn't be dealing with this."

I could check the chart again to see if there were weeks listed for her pregnancy, but it was starting to get loud in the hall now. I wouldn't be able to check without someone noticing.

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