Page 84 of Surprise Baby for Mr. Fischer
Igroaned as the incessantbeeping forced its way into my consciousness. The sound of the machine and muffled voices had me stretching and opening my eyes. Instantly, the curtained wall reminded me where I was—the hospital.
My heart rate picked up, remembering why I was here in the first place. The pain I’d felt were contractions, and my blood pressure had spiked. Neither were a good combination for the baby or me.
But sheissafe now,I reminded myself as I rubbed my belly, feeling a little kick in response.
The unfamiliar nurse next to the fetal monitor smiled at me. “Hello, Harper. I’m Anna, the new nurse assigned to you until you’re ready to be discharged.”
“Okay.” I looked around the small space. Lincoln was missing.
“How are you feeling? Do you have pain anywhere we should know about?”
“No,” I answered, doing a quick mental body scan.
“Wonderful. If you keep this up, we can send you home in no time.” She gave me an encouraging grin. “I checked the monitor, and even though I see some minor contractions, it looks like they’re slowing down just the way we like it.”
“Do you know where my, uh, Lincoln is?” I asked her. It was laughable that I didn’t know what to call him.
The nurse’s smile grew wider. “He’s been by your side for the past hour. I think he stepped away about ten minutes ago to take a call. I’m sure he’ll be back soon.”
“Thanks.” Uneasiness tightened my stomach. Had his agent called to convince Lincoln to reconsider the lead in that movie? Lincoln and I needed to discuss his career and what that meant for us.
Now that I’d had time to think, I was embarrassed by the knee-jerk reaction I had this morning. I’d almost let my fear and insecurities drive us apart. If Lincoln and I were going to make a relationship work, I needed to handle situations like that better.
I had to tell him he could accept the role. As much as it would break my heart not to see him, I would do everything possible to keep him in my life. And if we couldn’t continue our relationship as a couple, after seriously trying to make it work, I wanted to make sure he stayed in our daughter’s life.
Anna gave a jealous sigh. “What a lucky girl you are.”
I blinked at the nurse, feeling like I missed part of our conversation. When she continued, I realized she’d been talking the whole time I was in my head thinking about Lincoln.
“I’m sorry, what was that?” I asked, hoping she might repeat whatever she’d said earlier.
“Your guy. He’s been on us to make sure we take good care of you.” She leaned down and lowered her voice to a whisper. “It’s not every day we get a celebrity here.”
My eyes widened, and panic scraped at my gut. We’d rushed out of the house so fast, there hadn’t been any time for Lincoln to grab a hat and sunglasses to at least try to hide his identity.
Anna must have noticed my trepidation. “There may be a lot of people working in the ER, but we’ll be discreet.”
My breath whooshed out of me. “Good. Thank you for that.”
The curtain rustled, and Lincoln strode in. His eyes met mine as a strained smile crossed his lips.
“Everything okay?” I asked as he came closer.
He leaned in and lightly pressed his lips to mine. “Of course. Just dealing with my uncle’s arrival and a few business things.”
Something about the tense set of his shoulders and the smile that didn’t reach his eyes had me thinking it was more than that. The nurse wrapped the blood pressure cuff around my arm, reminding me we weren’t alone. It would be better to have this conversation in private.
“Is Uncle Theo here?” Without any windows, it was hard to tell how much time had passed.
“He’ll be arriving in the next fifteen minutes. I already told him how to get into the house. He said to let you know he’s excited to meet you and hopes you’re feeling better. How are you feeling?” His concerned gaze swept over my body.
“We’re good.” I placed his hand over my belly, so he could feel the baby move.
A grin spread across his face, replacing the pinched look. “She’s pretty active.”
“Yeah, I think she knows she gave us a scare and is trying to say she’s sorry.” My heart skipped a beat as I stared at Lincoln. He was a good, caring man. One I was lucky to have by my side.
“You two are adorable together,” Anna said before getting back to business. “Your blood pressure has gone down, and the contractions have decreased. I’ll talk to the doctor, but don’t be surprised if he lets you go in the next hour or so.”
