Page 1 of Doctor’s Surprise Twins

PROLOGUE

Maggie

The pain was excruciating.It felt like my body was attacking me from the inside out. Thank God Gypsy was there to drive me to the hospital because an ambulance in this town would cost a fortune, and I had already waited far too long. As early as it was in the pregnancy, there was a risk of complications. I knew that. But I was stubborn and had waited until my body was shutting down instead of rushing to the hospital when the pain was less severe.

“Hold on, okay?” Gypsy whipped the car into the hospital drive, speeding up to the emergency room entrance. She seemed in control but on high alert. I didn’t blame her. I wouldn’t want a pregnant lady giving birth in the front seat of my car either. As it stood, it was too late to stop labor, so the babies were definitely coming.

“Just... help me... get out.” The contractions were horrible. I had to breathe through them, but even then, I barely held it together. I didn’t know how women did this. I was not a weak person, but this pain brought me cowering to my knees, wishing my mom were still alive. And simultaneously, I was cursing Derek Holt for the amazing way he’d fucked me and made me an addict for his cock.

“Maggie, fuck... this is early.” Gypsy threw the car in park and hopped out. She ran around the front of the car to my side and opened the door, holding out a hand to help me. It did little good. I was a big girl as it was, but with a stomach swollen with pregnancy, I felt like a giant pear, stuck in the bucket seat.

“It’s not too early. Twins come early like this all the time.” I tried to wave off her worry as I strained to get my right foot out the door. Just as my foot hit the edge of the curb, another contraction hit me. I screamed, doubling over and hugging my stomach. It felt like every cell in my body was on fire at once. I couldn't even tell where the pain was coming from.

“Shit, I’ll be right back.”

Gypsy disappeared, leaving me cradling my womb and crying. I managed to get my other foot out the door and my body turned by the time she returned. Two male nurses had joined her with a wheelchair. Neither one of them looked experienced with this sort of thing—young, maybe fresh out of college—but I had no choice but to take their hands and let them help me out of the car.

Hovering nervously around me, Gypsy barked orders like a true friend would. The nurses seemed to take it in stride, staying out of her way and talking calmly to me as the next contraction hit. At less than one minute apart, I was really kicking myself that I hadn’t called Gypsy sooner. Her ninety-minute drive from Yellow Springs to Evansville had allowed the labor to advance further than I should have allowed. And I hadn’t even gotten through to my OB yet.

“Who is your doctor?” The taller male nurse pushed the wheelchair toward the sliding doors while the other told Gypsy to move her car and meet us inside. I was just grateful to be at the hospital where I would receive the care I needed.

“Dr. Rhee, but I didn’t get through to him yet.” I puffed out short breaths, trying to stay relaxed. The nurse took me right past the check-in desk to an exam room and locked the wheels.

“Dr. Rhee is out today, but we have a great on-call doctor, okay? You’ll like him a lot. For now, we need to get a monitor on you and check your progress. It’s twins?” He helped me out of the chair and turned to sort through a cupboard behind him, tossing a gown, some draped towels, and a bed pad onto the exam table.

“Yes, twins. Fuck—" I used the bed as support when the pain gripped me again. I couldn't help the tears that fell or the scream I let out. The nurse helped me out of my clothing and into the gown, and I barely made it onto the table before Gypsy staggered in, drenched.

“It’s raining.” She gritted her teeth and shivered, standing at my side and holding my hand.

“I’m okay now. You go back to my place and clean up. I’ll have them call you if I need anything. Maybe you can visit tomorrow.” I took a deep breath, glad to be between contractions. Moving a bit seemed to ease their intensity and made me want to keep moving to keep the pains at bay.

“Are you sure?” She looked hesitant, so I reassured her.

“Of course. I’ve got this now.” Deep down, I didn’t want to be alone, but Gypsy wasn’t a close enough friend for me to feel comfortable with her being in the delivery room with me. I just wasn't sure how to say that without being offensive. She’d been so great to me.

“Okay, well I’ll be here if you need me.”

She patted my hand and walked out, and as she left, two more nurses walked in. They checked my dilation and strapped two baby heart monitors to me. The pains started coming more intensely again, and I begged for an epidural, but when they couldn’t find the second heartbeat, the nurses got nervous.

“We need to call the doctor and see what he will want to do.” A spindly blonde with a turned-up nose held a phone receiver to her ear and talked in hushed tones. Before I could protest, they were transferring me to a gurney.

Fear raced through my mind, and I instantly wanted Gypsy back. I wanted my mom, or dad, or even Curt. I felt out of control and I hated it. I was a strong woman, so this should not be scaring me, but an emergency C-section had not been part of the plan. I was supposed to have a natural birth and be able to see my twins and hold them immediately.

“Don’t worry, Ms. Brock,” the spindly nurse said, “we use a spinal block to numb you from the chest down, so you’ll be awake and able to interact with us.” She held her hand out when I whimpered in protest. “It’s not scary. It’s just some pressure you feel, and you’ll get to see your babies right away. The doctor has performed this a million times, okay? It’s routine. Not scary.”

Her words comforted me a little, though I was still concerned as to why they couldn’t hear baby B’s heartbeat on the monitor. I started to get down on myself again for waiting so long to come in. I stared up at the ceiling as they wheeled the bed toward an operating room. It was all happening so quickly. It felt surreal. I had lost all control of the situation and had to trust some total stranger I’d never met to keep me and my babies safe.

I doubled over in another strong contraction and screamed out my pain as the bed came to a stop in a large, brightly lit room. They positioned me on the side of the bed, back arched so the anesthesiologist could numb me. As they worked, I heard voices talking in hushed tones, and I thought I recognized one of them, but I decided it was the pain talking.

Until I lay down and the face of Derek Holt peered down at me.

I thought I’d pass out from the shock. I couldn’t do anything. My body felt like a log. My chest was heavy, whether from the anesthesia or the surprise of seeing my babies’ father here, scrubbed up and ready to do surgery. He looked intense, serious, but not angry—just focused.

“Hello, Maggie. ” His face vanished beneath a mask one of the nurses tied on him, and he continued, “I hear you’re having twins.” I heard the emotion in his voice and tried to keep a straight face. “Baby B is missing, huh? Well, let’s do a little search and rescue, shall we?”

His casual nature put me at ease. I knew Derek was a fantastic doctor. I should. I worked with him and saw him in his element. Our history made me ill at ease about his learning my secret, but I was less scared about how things would turn out.

All I could do was lie there and listen to them talking and the sound of my heart monitor beeping. They hung a drape sheet between me and their work, so I was hidden from the blood and mess of it all, but the nurse was right. It wasn’t scary, just a lot of pressure and talking. And before long, I heard one, then two babies crying.

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