Page 42 of Doctor’s Surprise Twins

Until now.

I used my swipe badge to let myself through the doors, not calling on the nursing staff to open up like normal visitors would. When I turned down the patient hallway, Chelsea waved at me, smiling. I half expected her to stop me from dropping in to see Maggie, as if Maggie had left an explicit note in her file that it was me she hadn’t wanted to see. But Chelsea let me walk right down the patient hallway. I realized it was my own idiocy that feared being turned away. I was her boss, and for all she knew, I was visiting a different patient.

I paused just before getting to Maggie’s door. The curtains in the room were drawn and the lights were off. It was a good sign that she was sleeping, so I waited, unsure whether I should just walk in. I glanced at my watch and knew I had a few meetings to get to, so if I waited too long, I wouldn’t have time to say what I wanted to say.

So I pushed the door open and walked in, flicking the light switch to low. But the room was empty—no bassinets, no patient, an empty bed. My jaw dropped. Maybe I’d gotten the room number wrong. I didn’t think so, since I stood outside this very room for the past two days at least thirty minutes at a time, multiple times, watching her sleep. I darted back into the hallway and checked the room number. 405. Then I glanced down the hall at Chelsea who still stood at the nurses’ station. Her head was down.

In haste, I charged back up the hallway and stopped at the desk. Chelsea’s eyes popped up and she smiled. “What can I do for you, Doc?” She pushed a stack of patient files aside and sat down, ready to type at the keyboard of her computer.

“Brock, room 405, where is she?” I tried not to let the panic strangling my heart into my voice. The bear and vase of flowers felt like they weighed a million pounds. I set them on the counter there and leaned forward casually as she typed.

“Magnolia Brock... Ah, here. Discharged this morning by Dr. Rhee. Wait...”

“But she had a cesarean.”

“Yes, she did. The babies were let go this morning at 8:45, and Ms. Brock signed out against medical advice. Said she had a doctor she could see if things went bad for her recovery. Dr. Rhee would have sent her home tomorrow, anyway.” Chelsea looked up at me with her professional smile, but I was furious. The anger had to have shown on my face despite my best efforts to control it. I scraped a hand across my beard and turned away.

“Thanks, Chels. I have a meeting.” I wandered off, heading toward my office with no intention of going to that meeting. It was three in the afternoon. That meant she’d had more than six hours to disappear into the wind again. I’d seen Curt and his father here, so I knew they knew about the babies, which only further aggravated me. It only proved my suspicions that all of them were in cahoots to keep this thing from me, which only confirmed my fear. Those babies were mine.

Maggie should have been mine.

I sank behind my desk and started my search. It wasn’t a breach of security for me to access patient records, but it wasn’t ethical. I didn’t care. I dived right in, searching Maggie in the patient directory and writing her address down on a sticky note. Maybe if I was lucky, she would be alone when I got there, and Curt and his father would have returned back to Yellow Springs or something. If not, that was okay. I could take the heat.

I sent a quick email to the other directors that I would not be in attendance, then left immediately. I was so worked up and frustrated, I left my coat and hat in my office, remembering only to take my keys and phone. When I stepped out the door, the cold air sliced through my suit and took my breath away, but I didn’t go back to get the warmer winter gear.

The tiny apartment complex made it easy to find the correct place. There were only four buildings, a total of what appeared to be 36 units. Maggie was in building 2047, unit 3, which meant she was on the ground floor. I parked in front of the building right next to a moving van. As I walked past, I saw boxes being loaded in and a happy couple standing in the doorway holding the door open. I thought nothing of it until I entered the building, smiling at the couple, and noticed it was unit 3 that was being emptied.

I turned to address the blonde woman, clinging to her partner’s bicep. “Excuse me, Miss?”

She smiled at me. “Yeah?”

“Is that your apartment?” I gestured at the door where large men were carrying boxes out. After a quick glance inside, it appeared that nothing had been packed and this was a rush job. Unmade boxes leaned against the wall. Packaging material was strewn about.

“Yeah, it will be. The current tenant is leaving, and we only have a one-bedroom, but this is a two-bedroom unit, so we will have more space.” She beamed like it was the deal of the century or something.

I felt like I’d been gutted. I stood there shell-shocked for a few more minutes as movers carried what had to be Maggie’s stuff right past me. Just for good measure, I turned to the woman and asked, “This is building 2047, unit 3?” She nodded, the guy she clung to looking at me with irritation. “Thanks.”

I stormed out, headed straight for the office building. The door said office hours closed at three, but I walked right in anyway despite it being almost 3:15. A stout man sat at a desk punching numbers into a calculator. He grunted then looked at the clock.

“We’re closed. You’ll have to come back tomorrow.”

“Listen, buddy. I need your help.” I leaned over his desk, my knuckles white as I pressed my fist against the fake wood. “The woman in 2047, unit 3—where is she?”

He scowled at me. “Can’t you read the sign there? We’re closed.”

“I am not taking no for an answer.” I glared at him. I’d come too far, gotten too close to her to lose her again. My time for the next two months would be spent in meeting after meeting. I knew when Dad offered that huge check that I would be tasked with helping the architect do the designing. Because of that, I would have had less time to search for her. When fate brought us together, I had celebrated. I didn’t care what the circumstances were. I was in love with her.

“I can’t help you.” He looked back to his calculator, and I swiped it, throwing it at the wall.

“I didn’t ask.” The calculator broke, pieces of it skittering across the floor. “I need to know where she is. Now.”

The man’s face contorted. He broke out in a cold sweat, trembling. “Listen, buddy. I don’t want no trouble. I moved out of the city to this little town to get away from punks like you. Just ask what you need and move on. Okay?” He tapped the spacebar of his keyboard, waking his computer up.

“Magnolia Brock, unit 3, building 2047. What forwarding address did she leave?” I leaned over the computer and watched him enter the information.

“She paid out her lease cash, then returned her keys. She paid over a grand to have me hire these movers. I just happened to be owed a favor or it would have been tomorrow. But you see I got this other couple wanting that unit, and they waived the cleaning, so they can take it as soon as Ms. Brock’s stuff is out.” He shrugged, turning the computer so I could see Maggie’s file.

I wanted to scream and smash the screen. He had to have seen the rage in my eyes because he drew his hands up defensively like he thought I’d attack. I retreated, clenching my jaw and stomping out of the office. She’d given me the slip, and I would never find her.

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