Page 98 of Moving to Love
“Baby,” was all she could say. Her left hand wrapped around her stomach and a sob broke loose. God, she was losing the baby. It had been nine days since her accident. She had gotten comfortable with the thought that she wouldn’t lose the baby. But right now, she was experiencing severe cramps.
Jeremiah stood up, reached over, and grabbed his phone. He called Dr. Wan’s number. When she answered, Jeremiah jumped in, “Dr. Wan, this is Jeremiah Sheppard. Joci is having sharp cramps.”
“Okay, Jeremiah. Is she spotting or bleeding?”
“Joci, are you spotting or bleeding?”
“I don’t know.”
“Okay, Jeremiah, listen to me. Stay calm, please, for Joci’s sake. Have her go and check if she’s bleeding. Call me back as soon as you know.”
Jeremiah squatted down in front of Joci. “Shh, baby, don’t cry. We’re all here with you.” He wrapped his big hands around her small ones and squeezed. “Can you make it to the bathroom, baby? You need to check and make sure you aren’t bleeding. Then I’ll call Dr. Wan back. Okay? Can you do that for me?”
Joci gasped at another sharp pain. She breathed through it and then nodded.
Chapter 41
“Mom, can we stay here tonight?” JT asked.
“You boys never have to ask to stay here. Of course, you can.”
The men all fussed over her, brought chairs into the bedroom, and sat around talking. Joci nodded in and out of sleep, loving the sound of her men’s voices.
At one point, she woke up, and the room was dark. Jeremiah was next to her, sleeping soundly. Joci looked at the clock on the dresser—it was two eighteen a.m. She slept so much that she didn’t have a schedule anymore. And she had to pee.
It took her forever to maneuver herself around so she could get out of bed. She had started slowly walking to the bathroom when Jeremiah jumped out of bed, “What are you doing, Joci?”
“I have to pee. Go back to sleep. I’ll be fine.” She continued on.
When she finished, she opened the bathroom door, and Jeremiah was standing there, waiting for her.
She chuckled. “Did you listen the whole time? There’s something wrong with that.”
“No, but I heard you washing your hands, and I got up to help you. There’s nothing wrong with me. I just wanted to make sure you were okay.” He kissed her temple and held her left hand as she hobbled to her side of the bed and wrestled herself back under the covers. Once she was situated, she lay back against the soft pillows and let out a big sigh.
He walked around and slid into the bed behind her. Very gently, he pulled her to him so her back was pressed against his stomach. She sighed when she felt his arms slowly coming around her. “I missed this. I missed you holding me. I missed sleeping with you.”
Jeremiah kissed the back of her head. “I missed this, too, and you so much. I’m so sorry I let this happen.”
She let out a breath. “You didn’t cause it to happen, Jeremiah. You didn’t allow it to happen. LuAnn is the only one to blame there.”
“Stop it. A long time ago, you asked me to take care of the LuAnn situation, and I only went so far as to talk to her. I should have fired her and removed her from our lives. That’s on me. Because I didn’t, you’re suffering.”
She sighed. “Well, we could beat each other and ourselves up, and it won’t change anything. So, we need to move on. Okay?”
He took a deep breath and let it out slowly. He kissed Joci’s temple and pulled her in tighter.
“Will we have to sit through a trial, Jeremiah?” Her voice was small and soft.
“I’m afraid so, honey. But I’ll be with you every step of the way. I want her in jail. I want her away from us. I want her punished for what she’s caused you.”
Joci was quiet. She wanted LuAnn punished, too. But she was nervous about the trial and what she would have to hear throughout that process. LuAnn no doubt would make herself seem pathetic. She loved Jeremiah, and she lost her mind over him. Poor thing.
“Tonight, the boys called me Mom and told me they loved me.” Joci smiled.
“I know. My chest has been tight all night, watching them with you. Did that make you feel good?”
“Yes. I guess I hadn’t thought about the fact that they never had anyone to call Mom before. It makes it even more special to me that they think of me that way. If anything good is coming out of all of this mess, it’s just that it brought us all closer together.”
