Page 68 of Unchained

I slide in beside her and run my knuckles down her bruised cheek, “I’m never leaving you again, Sassy. Never.”

She sobs loudly, “My dad-”

I kiss her cheek, “I know, baby girl. It’s okay. I’m going to take care of everything.”

The doctor comes in and smiles at her, “Hello. I’m Dr. Ellie. Max has asked me to take a look at you and make sure you and the baby are okay. Is that alright?”

Jade nods, “Yeah, whatever you need to do.”

“I need to ask, did they rape you?”

She shakes her head, “No.”

The doctor looks at her bruises, as well as where she hit her head. Luckily, it’s not as bad as I thought it would be. Jade looks at me, “The baby is dead. I know it. They beat me so much. There’s no way it could’ve survived. Please don’t be mad. I tried to protect the baby.”

I kiss her on the forehead, “No matter what, it’s not your fault, Sassy. I would never be mad at you. If our baby is as strong as you are, it’ll be just fine.”

Dr. Ellie looks at me, “She’s okay. Bruised but she’ll heal. Nothing too bad. I do want to take blood work.”

Jade cries, “Can you check on the baby first? Then you can do whatever you want to me.”

She nods, “Of course.”

Dr. Ellie grabs what looks like a bottle of lubricant, “This will be cold.”

Jade jumps slightly when she squirts it on her abdomen.

“I’m not sure how far along you are, so if we don’t see anything we’ll do a transvaginal ultrasound. But we’ll try this first.”

She takes the wand and moves it over Jade’s stomach. A sound comes from the machine, and I look at the monitor, terrified, not knowing what the sound means.

Dr. Ellie smiles, “That’s your baby's heartbeat. Your little one is very strong.”

Jade covers her mouth with her hand and cries.

The doctor points out the baby’s body parts. He or she is perfect. Ten fingers, ten toes, and a fucking beating heart.

“Your baby is doing well. You’re six weeks and one day pregnant. I’m going to prescribe a prenatal vitamin that you need to start taking immediately. You’ll need to see an obstetrician in two weeks to make sure everything is progressing well. You can takeTylenolfor the pain but noAdvil.”

She walks to Jade’s side and takes her blood. My girl looks up at me with a smile on her face, “We’re having a baby.”

The doctor finishes and quietly leaves the room.

I kiss her softly not wanting to cause her pain. When I pull away, she rolls her eyes at me, “Now kiss me like you mean it.”

CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE

JADE

Iwatch Hunter laughing at me, and it might be my favorite side of him. I do love it when he’s so carefree because it seems out of character. Hunter doesn’t laugh frequently, so this is beautiful. He grabs a towel and wipes the goo from my stomach, “Maybe I want to kiss someone else first.”

I feign shock, but I know who he is referring to, and I’m fine with it. He sits on the side of the bed, leans over, and kisses my belly, “Thank you for surviving. I promise I’m going to make sure things are safe for you now. I’m sorry.”

He kisses my stomach again, “I already love you. You’re going to have to share Daddy with Mommy though, she’s a bit over the top. She requires a lot of attention. You’ll see.”

I smack him lightly on the head, “I do not.”

He smiles at me, “Oh yes, Sassy girl, you’re quite high maintenance.”

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