“A couple of times on those first days. Things were busy. You’re both overreacting.”
On the contrary, he’d been underreacting. Refusing to see what was blatantly obvious.
Damn it,hewas starting to feel faint. There was a buzz in his ears and he couldn’t find any oxygen in this damned dungeon of an office.
“I insist you take better care of yourself,” Oladele was saying. “I’ll fetch your things. I want you to start your Christmas break immediately. See a doctor as soon as you can, then let me know if you need more time off. Otherwise, I’ll see you in the New Year, back in fighting form.” Oladele opened the door. “Ah. Here’s first aid.” She let in a young man wearing a red cross on his sleeve. “I’ll be back in a moment.”
Oladele left and the young man asked permission to check Siobhan’s vitals before he applied a blood pressure cuff to her arm and used a stethoscope against her inner elbow.
“This is very unnecessary,” she complained to Joaquin.
He pointed at the phone against his ear. The receptionist at the clinic had just picked up. He advised her that he was bringing his colleague for an assessment.
“We’ll be there in thirty minutes,” he said before ending the call.
“I can book my own doctor,” Siobhan said with annoyance. “No, I’m not diabetic,” she replied to the first aid attendant who was running through a checklist. “No, no, no,” she continued.
“Pregnant?”
“N—oh.” Her reply came out a lot less certain. Her voice actually cracked. She began to blush. Deeply. She shot a stark look at Joaquin.
She really hadn’t suspected? Because in his mind it had become as impossible to miss as a five-alarm fire. He was already down the road of how he would shield her from his father’s machinations while questioning his own fitness as a father. He had never wanted to face these sorts of dilemmas. That was why he used common sense and condoms.
“I apologize.” The attendant misinterpreted her embarrassment. “These are personal questions. I shouldn’t be asking them in front of anyone else. Would you excuse us, señor?”
“The clinic is holding a spot for her,” Joaquin said crisply. “You can cut this short. I’ll take her there myself.”
“I can do that if—” the young man started to offer.
“No,” Joaquin said.
“Of course.” The young man kept his speculations to himself as he repacked his bag, telling Siobhan, “Your vitals are normal, but shall I bring the wheelchair?”
“No. Thank you.” She still sounded strangled.
She refused to look at Joaquin, remaining stoic as Oladele arrived with her things.
Joaquin helped her put on her coat, then took her bag. Her expression remained stiff and unreadable as they left his office.
He heard her thoughts all the same. They echoed his own.
This can’t happen.
No, no, no. There were a million reasons she couldn’t be pregnant, especially by Joaquin. He was herboss. They barely knew each other. They had only had sex once. He had worn a condom.
There was no way she could be pregnant.
She accompanied him to the elevator anyway, blaming the roil in her stomach on nerves. It had to be nerves. But why was she nervous if there was nothing to worry about?
“Have you been with anyone else?” he asked when the doors of the elevator enclosed them into privacy.
“No.”Her heart lurched as though the car was freefalling. “Haveyou?”
“No,” he said coolly. “And I didn’t think you had, but I thought I should ask.”
For some reason, his question made it more real. More likely. Her eyes grew hot. It became impossible to draw a full breath.
“What will we do if—” Her voice broke.
