Page 104 of Jilted

“Thank you.”

She rested her hand on my arm. “You’re going to get through this. I promise.”

I wasn’t sure she was right, yet I nodded. “Thanks, Dr. Connolly.”

Over the next hour, I went through the motions of getting the scan. Thankfully, the technicians guided me on and off the table, because while I might’ve been looking at them while they spoke, I wasn’t hearing a word.

Pregnant.I kept repeating it over and over in my head.I. Am. Pregnant.

I’d never even had a scare before. Not even when I was on the pill and messed up taking them once.Thank Godthis didn’t happen when I was with Josh. I couldn’t imagine having his baby. Would he have married me, and I’d be stuck in a marriage where my husband felt trapped and had questioned whether he was still in love with another woman? Or would I be raising a child alone?

Why the hell was I wasting time thinking about this when I needed to figure out how to tell theactualfather of my child?

Wilder.

Oh God. How was he going to take the news? The man hadn’t had a relationship of more than two months in over a decade.Two months!That’s not even the first trimester! What if he left me and I was alone the rest of the time? I didn’t want Will or my father in the delivery room with me. Would I be alone? Me and some nurse I’d just met in an understaffed hospital? She probably wouldn’t even be able to hold my hand because she’d be too busy.

I started to hyperventilate as I waited in the little room for whoever was going to wheel me back to the ER.The ER where Wilder is waiting!

The technician who had done the scan walked back over. She started to say something, but when she got a look at me, she sprung to action, pushing a red button on the wall. “What’s going on, Miss Carrick? Can you speak to me?”

I couldn’t. I clutched my chest and took deep, painful breaths. A few seconds later, a team of people burst in.

“What happened?” someone demanded.

“I don’t know. She was fine when I took her out of the machine. I went to call the transporter, and when I came back, she was hyperventilating.”

“Let’s get her on a monitor.” I was suddenly flying down the hall on a gurney, back toward the ER. Dr. Connolly was in another patient’s room as we passed, but she jumped out and followed.

“What happened?” she yelled.

The nurse kept moving. “I think it might be a panic attack, but I want to get her on the monitor to be sure.”

Fifteen minutes later, after guided belly breathing and an oxygen mask, my breaths finally returned to normal. I lay back in the bed, feeling exhausted—like I’d run a marathon without a day of training.

Dr. Connolly smiled. “Well, you certainly know how to make an entrance.”

“I’m so embarrassed.” I shook my head.

“You have nothing to be embarrassed about. This has been a lot. I didn’t have a seizure and a head injury this morning, and I’m pretty sure if someone told me I was pregnant right now, I’d be on the stretcher next to you, swiping your oxygen mask.”

I was sure she was just being kind, but I appreciated it. “Thank you.”

“The good news is, you scared the CAT scan department, so they read your images quickly. Everything looks clear. But I’m going to admit you, to be on the safe side. A night of observation after a head injury is never a bad thing. Plus, I’d like to get a tech to look at your monitor. With all the changes going on in your body, I want to make sure your pump is working properly.” She typed into an iPad. “It might also give you some time to think, since they won’t let visitors stay too long when you’re on concussion protocol. You need your rest.”

Being in the hospital did seem less scary than going home and having to face Wilder. I nodded. “Okay.”

She typed more into her iPad and hugged it to her chest. “I hear there are two very anxious men bugging the desk clerk.”

Oh God—my dad is here!I completely forgot they’d said that earlier. What washegoing to say when he found out I was pregnant?

“Would you like me to let your visitors know everything is fine and it’s going to be a bit longer before they can come back? I can tell them things are backed up, which is never a lie around here. That way you can rest a little more before seeing them?”

I shook my head. “Thank you. But I’m sure my dad is worried. I don’t want to keep them waiting any longer than I have to.”

“How about if we let them in for a bit to see you’re okay with their own eyes? They won’t be able to go up with you when you’re being admitted to the floor, so if you want, I’ll see if we can get a rush on that.”

I let out a loud sigh of relief. “That would be great. Thank you.”

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