Page 57 of Sheikh's Unexpected Triplet Babies

There was a great rushing sound, a feeling as if she was being floated off a dark cliff, and then everything went mercifully silent.

***

THE WAITING ROOM was comfortable, even luxurious, but it didn't change the fact that it was, at the end of the day, a waiting room. They had rushed a newly conscious Bedelia between the swinging doors, and even as they had, he had heard her protesting, telling them that she was fine, telling them that she could get up, that there was nothing wrong with her in the slightest.

Jahin had tried to follow, of course, but he had been met by a woman with a stern look on her face.

“There is absolutely nothing that you can do right now besides get in the way,” she said, shaking her head. “If her condition changes, if she gets better, or if she gets worse...you will be told and decisions can be made then.”

For a moment, Jahin had stared at her, seeing not a nurse doing her job but someone who was between him and the woman he loved, and that could not be tolerated. Then sanity had gotten the better of him, and he had nodded curtly, turning to prowl the waiting room.

Love.

She had said the word, and then he could no longer ignore it. It was what he felt for her, it was what had been between them from the moment he had rescued her at the horse fair. It was only pride and fear that had kept him from seeing it, and now...now he might never get to say it to her.

Jahin tried to shrug off the cold clutch of terror that surrounded his heart. Surely they would have told him if there was something seriously wrong with her. Surely they would have told him immediately.

He remembered multiple births were always riskier for the mother. Had something gone wrong?

Would they all survive this? What would happen afterward?

He had thought that he knew what fear was before. Now he knew that what he had experienced before was nothing compared to this. This was sheer helplessness, and nothing in the world, not his money or his power, could stop something terrible from happening.

His gaze kept traveling to the doors where they had taken Bedelia. In that moment, he would have given anything and everything simply to see her smile again, simply to know that she was all right.

Almost as if summoned by his thoughts, a doctor came through the door, a serious look on his face.

“Sheikh Jahin? A word with you please.”

Jahin felt lightheaded as he approached the doctor, and his heart clung to the love that it had only now dared to speak.

***

WHEN BEDELIA WOKE up, she realized that she was in a hospital bed again with almost a casual sense of irritation. Then she realized she wasn't alone, and that someone was holding on to her hand tightly. She blinked at the dim lights in the room, and when she turned her head to one side, what she saw melted her heart.

Sitting slumped over in a chair next to her was Jahin, his head propped up on his free hand, his eyes closed in sleep. For a brief moment, she simply took the opportunity to watch him. He was so handsome, but it was more than that. There was something vital to him, something fiery that was there even when he slept.

She must have moved or made a noise, because he stirred, and then he was watching her with those copper eyes that seemed to see directly into her soul.

“You're awake,” he said. “Are you feeling all right? Do you need a doctor?”

She thought about it for a moment, her hand ghosting over her belly, but she shook her head. “No, I actually feel just fine. What happened?”

“Another blood pressure spike. They explained it to me. Common enough in multiple births, but they can be terrifying and harmful if they are not treated. In the morning, the doctor will come and speak to us about ways to prevent it from ever happening again.”

She blinked. “Morning? What time is it now?”

“Almost one in the morning. Bedelia, that doesn't matter right now. Will you listen to what I have to say?”

She blinked at the urgent note in his voice, and when she nodded, his hand tightened on hers.

“I have been a fool,” he said, his voice tight with regret. “I have acted out of fear and out of pride instead of following my instinct, which told me the truth within minutes of meeting you.”

“And what truth is that?” Bedelia asked, her heart beating like a bird in her chest.

“That I love you. That it doesn't matter who you are or where you come from, what my emirate thinks or what five hundred years of tradition say. What matters is what I feel, and what you make me feel.”

“Don't...” It was too much. She felt that if he were going to turn her down now, it would break her in a way that couldn't be repaired. “No, don't say this if you don't mean it, don't you dare.”

---