Page 70 of Baby By my Best Friend's Daddy

I looked up at him, shocked. Heknew.

“How did you—” Another cramp cut off my sentence, and I leaned forward, trying to breathe through the pain.

“It’s going to be okay, Beck,” Landon said. It was the first time he’d used my nickname since we’d started dating. “I’m just moving the car, I’ll be with you in a sec. They’re going to take care of you.” He glared at the nurses. “Right?” His voice was threatening.

“We’ll make sure she’s okay,” the nurse said. “She’s one of our own, sir.”

Landon nodded, satisfied, and the nurses wheeled me inside. In no time, they had me on a gurney with a portable sonar. They squirted gel onto my stomach, and I gasped at the cold.

Sarah was a doctor from the OB/GYN department they’d called up for this. I’d seen her around; we knew each other by name. I hadn’t talked to her much, but she wasn’t a stranger, and it helped so much that I was with someone I sort of knew.

“I didn’t know you were pregnant,” she said.

“It’s new,” I said. “I’m still… getting used to the idea.”

She nodded and stared at the black screen as she went over my stomach with the wand. She narrowed her eyes at the screen.

Landon skidded into the room a moment later.

“I’m here,” he said. “I’m here.” He took my hand and held it tightly, his eyes trained on the screen, although neither of us knew what we were looking at.

“It looks like everything is okay,” Sarah said after a while.

“Are you sure?” I asked. “The pain…”

“It’s nothing to be too worried about. Cramps and pains at the start of a pregnancy are normal.”

“Pain that rips her apart?” Landon demanded.

Sarah glanced at him, and I squeezed his hand. I needed him to calm down. His aggression was attractive as hell, he was so protective, but the staff were trying to help me.

“Have you been under a lot of pressure?” Sarah asked. “Where are you stationed?”

“The ER,” I said.

“Oh, that’s a lot of stress.”

Not to mention the breakup, but I didn’t add that.

“That could add to the pain. You’re okay, though, and baby looks safe.”

“How can you tell for sure?” Landon asked. He’d started to calm down too.

“Here,” Sarah said and pointed at the screen. “See here? That’s your baby. It looks a little like a jelly baby right now, with an oversized head and a small body, but if you look at it like this…”

“I see it,” I said in awe.

Landon stared at the screen, his face glowing with delight.

Sarah pressed buttons on the keyboard, and the room filled with a fast beat, thrumming like the heart of a hummingbird.

“The heartbeat is strong,” Sarah said. “The placenta is still attached, and your baby is okay.”

My eyes welled with tears at the sight of my baby, the sound of its heartbeat. I looked at Landon, and his eyes were misty too.

“Thank you,” I said and let my head fall back onto the pillow. Exhaustion washed over me.

“I’m going to get you moved to a room where you can rest for a while before we discharge you. We don’t have to keep you overnight for observation. I’m going to prescribe some pills for you too. I’ll find you.”

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