Page 68 of Waiting on You

“I’m on my way to Paige’s house as we speak.”

Her doctor’s appointment isn’t until tomorrow, but I couldn’t stay away from Paige another day. Thephone calls weren’t enough. And the stress of being away from her was eating away at me. She’s the calm to my storm, and I told my dad that I’ll be working remotely from Rosemary since there’s nothing else for me to do in Vegas.

Thanks to Nolan’s update, all we’re waiting on now is for the county to give us the green light for construction to continue, and they don’t need me there for that.

My plan is to get to Paige’s place before she gets off work and surprise her with dinner since I know the code to get inside her house. And now, with the county approving us to continue construction, we have something to celebrate.

“Okay, good,” Ana says, bringing me back to the now. “There’s something you need to know…Paige fell.”

“What? Where is she? Is she okay?”

“We’re on our way to the hospital now. We don’t know anything, but she’s in the ambulance. We didn’t want to risk moving her. They’re taking her to Rosemary General.”

“I’m on my way.”

I hang up with her and input the hospital into the GPS. Fifteen minutes. Thank God this town is fucking small.

When I arrive, Ana and Julian are already in the waiting room. I shake Julian’s hand, and Ana gives me a quick hug. Then, I go to the nurse at the front desk,needing to get to Paige.

After explaining that she’s my wife and she’s pregnant, the nurse scans my license and then guides me back to Paige’s room. The door is closed, so I knock, and once I hear her soft voice say to come in, I step inside, noting how fragile and scared she looks, sitting in the large hospital bed.

“Nate,” she gasps, her eyes widening in surprise. “You’re here.”

“Fuck, Princess.”

I make a beeline straight for her, ignoring the woman who’s standing next to her. I give her a kiss on her forehead, inhaling her sweet scent. And when I tilt her chin up, my heart breaks at the raw emotion swimming in her eyes.

“Are you okay?” I murmur, squatting so we’re eye level.

“I…” She glances at the woman. “I’m okay but…” The tears welling up in her eyes spill over. “I don’t know if the baby is,” she whispers.

“It’s okay,” I tell her, taking her hand in mine. “It’s going to be okay.”

“You’re just in time,” the woman says. “We were just about to do an ultrasound to see what we’re working with.”

I notice she’s wearing a white lab coat, and when she twists slightly, her name badge reads Dr. Michaels.

She looks at Paige. “Are you okay with him being in the room?”

“Yes,” Paige says. “He’s the dad.”

“Okay, I’m going to go grab the machine, and I’ll be back in a moment.”

“What happened?” I ask once the doctor leaves us alone.

“It was all my fault,” Paige cries, shaking her head. “You told me not to wear heels?—”

“Hey, hey, stop. You look sexy in those heels. I just didn’t want you to be uncomfortable.”

“I tripped,” she mutters. “My heel got caught on something, and I fell. My stomach hit the corner of the desk,” she sobs. “It hurt so badly.”

“Paige, this isn’t your fault,” I tell her, hating that she’s blaming herself. If something is wrong with the baby, she’s never going to forgive herself. “People trip all the time. Even if you had been in the safest tennis shoes possible, you could’ve tripped.”

“But I wasn’t in the safest heels. I was in tall heels. If something happened to our baby?—”

“Stop,” I tell her, grabbing a chair and sitting next to her. She lays her head on my shoulder, and I hold her the best I can from the side. “No matter what that ultrasound shows, this wasn’t your fault. Shit happens. But we’ll get through it together.”

She looks up at me, and I kiss her soft lips that are tinged with salt from her tears.

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