“Emma, hey. Can I—”
“Noah. I just got a call from Alison’s office in Bayerton. She passed out at work, and she’s heading for the hospital in Tampa now.”
I’d heard the phrase about someone’s heart stopping from fear or shock, but I’d never understood it until that moment. “Is she—what happened?”
“I don’t really know.” Emma’s voice was strained. “The nurse practitioner who’s been interning at Alison’s practice—her name’s Cathy, I think she said—is the one who called me. She said Alison hadn’t been feeling great all day, and then they were in the middle of a patient exam when Alison excused herself and stepped out of the room. Cathy followed her just in time to see her go down. They called me after the paramedics got there because I guess I’m her emergency contact.”
“The hospital in Tampa,” I said, repeating the words as I stood up. “I’m on my way there now.”
“I can’t leave right away. I have a patient in crisis.” I could hear Emma’s frustration. “Call me when you get there and know what’s going on, okay?”
“Will do.” I ended the call without saying goodbye and reached for my wallet to toss a fifty-dollar bill on the table. “I have to go, Juliet. Something’s wrong with Alison, and I need to get there.” I pointed to the money. “Go ahead and have lunch on me if you want. This should cover it.”
“Noah.” Juliet rose to her feet, too. “Do you want me to go with you?”
I snorted. “No. I don’t know what’s going on, but the last person Alison would want to see at her bedside is you, Juliet. No offense.”
She winced but nodded. “Point taken. Please be careful driving there—don’t speed. She wouldn’t want you to be hurt. And will you let me know what’s going on when you get a chance? Please?”
“Sure.” I turned to go, pausing only for a second when I heard Juliet’s parting words.
“I’ll be praying for her, Noah. And for you. I hope everything’s all right.”
5
Alison
“I’m mortified.” I covered my face with my hands. “This is so embarrassing.”
Dr. Pickler, the hospital’s obstetrics attending, glanced up from his tablet. “Get used to it. Pregnancy and childbirth are one long exercise in losing your dignity.”
“Thanks for that word of encouragement.” I was grateful for my good sense in having chosen Maggie Corning as my midwife. This guy had no bedside manner whatsoever.
Before he could open his mouth and stick his foot in it again, the door to my room flew open, and Noah burst in.
“Alison.” His face was red, and he was breathing hard, as though he’d been running. “Thank God. They wouldn’t tell me where you were, and I had to call Emma to get her to talk to the nurse so I could get in here—” He sucked in one deep breath and let it out. “Are you—how are you? What’s going on?”
I blinked a few times. “How did you know I was here?” Before he could answer, my brain caught up with what he’d just said. “Oh. Emma called you. I totally forgot that she’s on my paperwork in case of an emergency.”
“Yeah, and we’re going to talk about that.” Noah rested one large hand against the wall, his eyes never leaving my face. “But first—what’s happening?”
The OB glanced from Noah to me. “Is he family?”
“He’s . . .” I hesitated. “He’s the baby’s father. So yes.”
“You should have him on your record so that he can be updated. What if you were brought in unconscious and decisions had to be made?”
I rolled my eyes. “Thanks for the reminder. I’ll be sure to jump right on that.” I looked at Noah over the doctor’s shoulder. “They think I have the flu. I wasn’t feeling great this morning, but I thought it was just pregnancy stuff. And then it got worse, and then the next thing I knew I was on the ground.”
“She’s going to be fine, I think, but I was just about to tell Ms. Wakely—”
“Dr. Wakely,” I corrected.
“—that we’re going to keep her overnight to give her fluids and monitor her. We’ll move her up to a room on the L & D floor in the next hour or so.”
“Okay, good.” Noah nodded. “But Alison’s going to be all right, isn’t she? She’s not in any danger right now?”
“No. Well, I mean, you know, pregnancy carries risks, and while the flu is fairly common, when the person who has it is pregnant, there can be complications. We want to make sure we minimize the possibility of anything unexpected.”
