Page 105 of Jilted

“No problem. I’ll give you a few minutes, then tell the nurse to bring them back.”

Not long after, Wilder and Dad walked in. Each went to a different side of my bed.

“Are you okay?” Wilder took my hand. “Did you get the scan results yet?”

“How’s your blood sugar?” Dad asked. “And why didn’t the damn alarm go off? I’m going to get on the horn with that company and—”

I lifted a hand. “Dad, it was my fault. The alarm did go off, and I reset it.”

My dad looked to Wilder. He nodded. “I didn’t know any better. Now I do. Trust me, she won’t be ignoring it again.” Wilder turned to me. “What about the scan?”

“Everything came back clear.”

He blew out a relieved breath, but I was one breath away from freaking out and blurting out words I wasn’t ready to say.

“Are they discharging you?” Wilder asked.

“No. They’re going to keep me overnight for observation.”

“Good.” He leaned down and kissed my forehead. “Better safe than sorry.”

The two of them tag-teamed me with medical questions until Dad’s phone buzzed. He held it up. “It’s Will. I’m going to step out and take this, give him an update.”

“Okay.”

When it was just Wilder and me alone, he stroked my hair. “You scared the shit out of me, Cupcake.”

“I’m sorry.”

“It made me realize something.”

“What?”

He looked into my eyes. “I… I…” For a second I thought hewas going to tell me he loved me. But then he cleared his throat. “I need to take a refresher first-aid class, CPR and stuff. The last time I took it was in high school.”

“That’s sweet. But I won’t ignore the alarm again, so it’s not necessary.”

“Maybe not. But you never know what life’s going to throw at you, and I want to be able to take care of you.”

My heart melted. His concern also made me feel absolutely awful for not telling him I was pregnant. But the doctor was right, I needed a moment. Maybe two.

Dad came back, snapping his flip phone shut. He refused to upgrade to anything more. It made me smile. “Will’s gonna come by after his shift ends.”

“I’m fine. Tell him he doesn’t have to. You should go, too, Dad. The bar must be opening soon.”

Dad waved me off. “Eh. Frank lets himself in when I’m late.”

My head was so jumbled and my heart was so heavy from keeping a secret that I found it difficult to talk. Luckily, a few minutes later, Dr. Connolly came into the room.

“We’re going to be bringing Ms. Carrick up to the floor to admit her shortly,” she said. “Visiting hours are eleven to eight, but visitors aren’t permitted during transfers, so the doctors and nurses can get the patient settled in.”

“How long will that take?” Wilder asked.

“Probably an hour or two. But I think Ms. Carrick really needs to get some rest. So maybe hold off coming back until this evening?”

Wilder frowned, but nodded. “Okay.”

Dr. Connolly caught my eye before walking out. “I’ll give you a few minutes to say goodbye.”

---