Page 73 of Craving You

“My…my purse and phone are still upstairs…”

“I’ll be right back!” He raced back into the house as Hailey simply sat and cried.

Why? Why did this happen? She’d been doing everything right and…and maybe the stress had been too much. Maybe all that worrying was putting too much strain on her and the baby. Maybe…

“Here you go,” Max said breathlessly as he climbed into the car. “Should I call Jade or Ash or Chloe and ask if the ER is the best option?”

“I don’t know if I can talk right now,” she said miserably. “I’m sure the ER is fine.”

Taking the phone from her hands, he started calling someone, but she was too distraught to even pay attention. They were pulling out of the driveway and going through town and she just closed her eyes and prayed that this was all just her not knowing enough about pregnancy—that it was something completely normal and common and everyone would laugh at how dumb she was.

Please let this just be me being dumb…

At some point, Max took one of her hands in his and she held on so tight that it was almost painful, but she needed the connection. They stayed like that for the entire drive and before she knew it, they were pulling up to a hospital and she burst into tears.

“Hey,” he said softly as he parked. “Everything’s going to be alright, Hales. We’re in the right place and we’re doing exactly what we need to do.” He kissed her hand before jumping out of the car and racing around to help her. “Do you want me to carry you? Should I get a wheelchair?”

“I think I can walk,” she murmured and let him slowly lead her into the building as she silently sobbed.

The good thing about living in a rural area was that the emergency room was fairly empty. Hailey was immediately taken back to be examined, and Max stayed by her side the entire time. The attending physician asked her a ton of questions about the pregnancy, her level of activity, what her diet was like, her family history, and it was so hard to stay focused when all she wanted to do was scream.

A nurse was fluttering around taking her vitals and putting an IV in and it was all becoming too much. She looked up at Max helplessly, silently begging him to make them hurry up and tell her what was wrong.

“We’re going to do an ultrasound,” the doctor announced. “Just give me a few minutes to get everything ready and then we’ll get started. In the meantime, I want you to drink as much water as you can, okay?”

She nodded, but as soon as the doctor left, Max stood up. “I’ll be right back.” And after kissing her forehead, he quickly left the room, just as the nurse came in with a large Styrofoam cup of water.

So she drank and waited.

And waited.

And waited.

All the while, her mind was thinking of all the worst-case scenarios.

If she lost the baby, she’d probably move back to Florida. There was no reason for her to stay, and seeing Max every day would be a painful reminder of what they had and lost. Would he be angry with her? Blame her? Would she be able to handle being around her cousins who were all pregnant right now without totally breaking down?

By the time Max walked back in, she was nearly beside herself. “Did you talk to the doctor?”

“I did,” he said gruffly. “But he didn’t really give me anything to put our minds at ease. All he said was that the ultrasound would tell us everything.”

“Oh.”

He sat back down in the chair beside the bed and held her free hand.

“Did you call your dad and let him know where we are?”

“Yup. I asked him not to say anything to anyone. I didn’t think we should upset anyone until we know for sure what’s going on.”

“That makes sense.” She took another sip of water. “What is he going to tell my dad and Uncle Ronan?”

“I told him to blame me. I said he should tell them I’ve got some sort of stomach bug and we’ll reschedule.”

She took another sip and kept drinking until there was nothing left but ice.

“I’ll get you some more.”

“Thanks.”

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