Page 114 of Overtime
I collapse into the chair with a great huff that catches their attention for a second. They talk some more about logistics and payments, and because they have Maddie in a busy area, only her mother is allowed to go sit with her. I give the woman her daughter’s bag, and there’s still a frown on her face when she looks at me. Maybe she thinks I’m relieved that her daughter’s not pregnant. Little does she know I haven’t done even one-quarter of the things I want to do with Maddie.
If she lets me, of course. If she even gives me the time of the day again.
Today, just the sight of me was enough to make her run, even though her tank was so empty she fainted. That’s how little she wants to be in the same room as me.
But if she was completely indifferent to me, she wouldn’t have run.
As I finally leave the hospital, I wonder if I’m wrong for feeling a little hope.
CHAPTER 34
MADDIE
When I open my eyes, and the first thing I see is my mother’s face, I immediately know something’s up.
“Whargh?”
Wow, what was that gibberish that just came out of my mouth?
I try to sit up and—nope. My body’s not having it. In fact, I may not even have a body anymore. I’ve officially turned into a raw nerve that has been stabbed in the deepest fiber.
“Maddie, sweetie,” my mother says, and I feel her cold hand grab mine. “Does your head hurt that bad? Excuse me, my daughter needs stronger?—”
“Not my head. It’s my freakinguterus!” Every word comes out as a groan, and the last one as a scream. Too late I realize I don’t even know if I’m someplace where it’s okay to vociferate about my lady parts.
Mom sounds perplexed as she asks, “Your what?”
It takes monumental effort to open my eyes and survey the situation. By the fluid bag hanging next to my bed, and the fact I’m in a bed, I put two and two together. Gasping, I think back to what happened. One moment, I was trying to hide from Aranbehind a bookshelf in the library, and the next… nothing. Until now.
I fainted again.
Oh no. I faintedin front of Aran.
His name spills out of my mouth unbidden, and Mom surprises me by squeezing my hand. “Your boyfriend seems like a decent fellow—strong too, because he carried you here. But I don’t want you sleeping with him nilly willy, Maddie. What if the problem is that you’re pregnant? You’re just twenty-one!”
“What?” A couple other patients and a nurse turn at my screech. Pulling up the thin blanket, I hide my face with it. “Mother, what the heck are you talking about?”
“Aaron, right? Your boyfriend who arrived late at Meg’s wedding and whisked you away.”
I could cry. Or laugh. The sound that comes from my throat is a combination.
“It’s Aran, not Aaron. And he’s not my boyfriend. No pregnancy. Oh my word!”
She settles back on the chair and smooths the bedsheet as far as she can reach. “Well, the doctor did say you weren’t pregnant, but I just wanted to make sure.”
“I’d say a doctor is even more reliable than me.”
“I just worry about you. You’re my baby.”
Irritation surges up my throat, and I clamp my mouth tight to hold it back. I don’t want to explode on my mother in the middle of what is clearly an ER, surrounded by patients and hospital staff coming and going.
After taking a few deep breaths, I say through gritted teeth, “Don’t worry, Mom. It’s as you suspected at Meg’s wedding. Aran and I are just friends. It’s inconceivable that he’d impregnate me.”
“I didn’t say it was inconceivable. In fact?—”
“No, it was written all over your face.”
She huffs. “Okay, maybe I was surprised. But not now. The way he was so eaten up with worry out there, you’d think the guy’s wife was going into labor.”
