Page 20 of Reacher's Ride or Die

“Thank you,” Brandi whispered. “I’m not feeling so good. I think that I need to sit down.” Reacher took the pet carrier fromher and helped her over to the closest chair and his poor girl looked green.

“You don’t look so good either,” he said.

“Gee, thanks,” Brandi grumbled.

“We have a guy named Butcher who’s a doctor. I can get him in here in ten minutes to check you over,” Hurricane said.

“Wait you have a doctor named Butcher?” Brandi asked. Reacher couldn’t help his laugh.

“It’s okay, honey,” he promised, “I’ll be right there with you. Butcher is a good guy.”

“If you say he is, then I trust you,” she agreed.

Yonkers handed Brandi a stack of clothing and smiled. “Wren sent these over for you. She said that you two are about the same size.”

“Thank you,” she said, “tell Wren that I’ll get these back to her.”

Yonkers smiled and nodded, “No rush. She’s pregnant again, so I’m pretty sure that she won’t need those clothes for at least a year, but don’t tell her that I said that.”

Brandi weakly giggled and nodded, “She won’t hear anything from me.”

Butcher came running in through the back of the bar. “What the fuck is up with the 911, Hurricane? I was working my shift in the ER and had to leave,” he said. “What happened? Is one of the guys hurt?”

“Not really,” Hurricane said. “One of the guy’s Ol’lady is. She was taken by the Vipers to be sold at auction. They kept her in a cage for a week, and she doesn’t feel so great.”

“You’re lucky that the hospital is right around the corner, Hurricane. Can I use your office to check her out?” Butcher asked.

“Of course,” Hurricane agreed. “Brandi, this is Butcher. She’s Reacher’s woman, so he’d like to be back there with you.”

“No problem,” Butcher said, nodding at Reacher. They followed Butcher back to Hurricane’s office and pointed to the couch. “Sit,” he said to Brandi. Reacher knew that he was a no-nonsense kind of guy, but he was being pretty gruff with his woman.

“You okay, man?” Reacher asked.

“Yeah, it’s just been a shit day. I lost a patient this morning,” he admitted. “I’m sorry if I seem a little out of sorts.”

“I’m sorry,” Brandi whispered. “I’m a home care nurse, but I had to do a rotation in the ER. It was rough.”

“Well, for some reason, I decided that the emergency room was the place for me, and there are some days that decision haunts me,” Butcher admitted. “And, I’ve got to get back there, so let’s take a look at you, Brandi,” he said.

She looked at Reacher and back to Butcher, “What do you need me to do?” she asked. He pulled his medical bag open, got out a blood pressure machine, and took her pressure.

“It’s 118/78,” Butcher said. Now it was Reacher’s turn to look at Brandi.

She smiled up at him and smiled. “That’s good,” she explained. He took her pulse and asked her a few questions, and when he got to the one about Brandi’s last cycle, she had trouble answering.

“Um, I’m sure I’ve had a period in the past month,” she insisted. “If I had my phone, I’d be able to look at my calendar and tell you for sure, but the Vipers took my phone.”

“Well, lucky for you, Wren just took a pregnancy test here at the bar and gave me the extra tests that weren’t used. I can give you one to take, to be on the safe side. Other than that, you seem good. You’re probably a bit dehydrated, so you need to drink some electrolytes and get a good meal in you.”

“A pregnancy test,” Brandi repeated. Reacher could tell that she was in shock because he felt the same way. The differencewas, that he didn’t think he could form words, let alone a sentence right now.

“Yes,” Butcher said, “since you aren’t sure if you’re pregnant or not, it’s better to be safe than sorry. If I was examining you in the ER, you’d be given a pregnancy blood test before we’d administer any medications.”

“I know,” Brandi said. She stood and held her hand out to Butcher, waiting for him to give her the test. Reacher felt his heart sink as she went into Hurricane’s bathroom and shut the door. Butcher paced the floor in front of him, and Reacher told him to sit the hell down.

Butcher did as he ordered and chuckled. “I take it that if she’s pregnant, you’re the father,” he assessed.

“Yes,” Reacher said. They had only been together for a few months now, and if Brandi was pregnant, would she be happy or would she blame him? He should have worn condoms, but he knew that she was on the pill, so why bother?

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