Page 85 of Star Crossed
“What’s going on?” Wyatt cut him off. “There’s something wrong. Tell me what it is.”
“I just need to talk to Jules.”
“I have her medical power of attorney.” Wyatt refused to be intimidated by the doctor just because he’d been treating them since they were kids. “You tell me what’s wrong with her.”
“Wyatt, it’s not my place—”
“Is it cancer?” he whispered the words in horror. This whole thing with Wellings had Wyatt feeling like some horrible self-fulfilling prophecy was about to descend on them. “They told her she’s got a higher risk ’cause of—”
“It’s not cancer.”
“What is it?” The fear made Wyatt’s voice raspy. “Just tell me ’cause—”
“It’s nothing like that.” Dr. Philips was trying to pacify him, but there was an unmistakable string of concern in his voice. “You’re letting your imagination run away with you.”
“If ya’d tell me, I wouldn’t have to use my imagination!”
Dr. Philips huffed. The silence between them was deafening before he finally asked, “Is Jules seeing anyone? Does she got a fella?”
Wyatt was thrown by the off-topic question before something horrible dawned on him, and his eyes narrowed. A completely different type of fear surged through his bloodstream, and he finally managed to choke out, “Why?”
“I just hadn’t heard she was dating anyone.” Dr. Philips sounded mystified. “You’d think we’d have heard if she was. Is she serious ’bout him?”
“I didn’t say she was dating anyone,” Wyatt reminded the doctor before he asked, “Is Jules pregnant?”
“Just have her call me.” Dr. Philips cleared his throat and then said, “I got patients.”
After Wyatt hung up with the doctor, he sat there on the couch for about two seconds before he dashed upstairs, going to Jules’s private bathroom. Usually it was a forbidden zone, a place filled with things Wyatt didn’t want to think about, let alone encounter. He searched underneath the sink, pushed aside tampons, maxi pads, and a sea of beauty products and came up with nothing. So he opened the drawer next, finding it right there in front—a package of pregnancy tests.
Hands shaking, Wyatt opened the box, finding two of the three tests missing. If she was taking tests, she’d had a scare. The possibility had been there at some point, but she obviously didn’t know she was pregnant or she would’ve gone to the doctor long before Wyatt started noticing something.
He tilted the box to the side and found the expiration date, seeing they were expired. Wyatt shook his head, knowing Jules had driven twenty miles to some pissant convenience store to buy the tests rather than have someone at Maple’s One Stop Shop asking questions. This box had probably been on a shelf for five years before Jules bought it, because those places couldn’t afford to throw out nonperishable items.
“Jesus Christ,” he whispered, trying to absorb the gravity of the situation.
He was numb right now, but fury was quickly making its way past the haze and he decided to capitalize on the moment. First, he put the test back where he found it; then he ran back downstairs. He picked up the portable phone and called the doctor back.
“Dr. Philips’s office.”
“Sara, it’s the sheriff. Put the doc on the phone.”
“Sorry, Sheriff, he’s with a pat—”
“Put the doc on the phone,” Wyatt said more firmly. “Now!”
“Okay,” she said quickly. “I’ll get him now.”
Wyatt ran a hand through his hair while he waited. He tapped his foot. His muscles bunched like they did right before a fight. The rage was moving faster and more efficiently than Wyatt planned.
Dr. Philips came back to the phone after only a few minutes. “Wyatt, I told you—”
“Listen to me, Doc.” Wyatt used his sheriff’s voice. “Jules’s life is in the shit house right now. You tell her she’s pregnant, and she’s gonna have a serious moment. I don’t think that’s all that great for her health, do you?”
“That girl’s got to go to the doctor. Her hormone levels are sky-high, and with her history she’s high risk. You don’t wanna repeat of what happened with your mama.”
“You think I don’t know that?” Wyatt barked. “You think I’m not standing here shaking just thinking ’bout it?”
“Then get her to the doctor!”
