I frown. "I don't think I need a doctor." I feel better every second that passes.
"Jerry insisted when I told him you're pregnant."
Ahh. That makes sense. My hand grazes my belly. "I'm sure me and the baby are fine."
Hugo finally turns his gaze on me. "I need to make certain of it."
He says it with authority, but I detect a chord of worry.
"Well, then," I say, sticking the popsicle in my mouth, "I promise to be a good patient."
A man strides into the medic tent and introduces himself as Murray. I can't help but gape. "When Hugo called you old man Murray, he meant?—"
"I have a baby face," Murray says with an easy smile.
The guy looks like he should be sitting on phone books to see over the steering wheel in his vehicle. "Whatever you say, Doogie."
Murray doesn't react to the nickname. At all.
"You've heard that before, haven't you?" I ask as he directs me to lie back on the uncomfortable cot. Hugo takes the popsicle from me.
"Only every time I see a new patient," Murray says. He pulls a stethoscope from a genuine Gladstone bag.
"Look at that bag. Now I definitely believe you're a doctor."
Hugo coughs, but I know he's covering up a laugh.
Murray presses his stethoscope to my belly, and a hush falls over the three of us. The seconds stretch, each one growing, and then he sits taller, taking the piece from his ears.
"A strong heartbeat," he announces.
A tenuous string inside me snaps. I didn't realize how worried I was until this moment. My subconscious was hiding my fear, even from me. A lone tear trickles from my right eye, and when I reach up to wipe it away, I find Hugo watching me.
I cannot read the expression on his face. Sympathetic maybe, but no. That's not right.Relieved.
I need to make certain of it. Hugo was worried aboutus. Me and Peanut. A second tear leaks from the corner of my eye.
Damn hormones.
Murray listens to my heart, and declares me healthy. "Vasovagal syncope," he announces. "Fancy way of saying your blood pressure dropped and you hit the deck." He glances at Hugo. "Almost, anyway. I hear this guy caught you."
Hugo nods once in agreement. He stands back, hands in his pockets, while old man Murray gets ready to leave.
"Any other problems, please come to my office," he says to me. I thank him, and he ducks from the tent.
I sit up again, feeling remarkably better thanks to the hit of sugar from the popsicle. My stomach, though, has other ideas. Needs. A loud, insistent rumble roars audibly.
Hugo offers his free hand, as if he wants to help me up. "Time to feed you two."
You two.Me and Peanut. A duo. Just the two of us. From the moment Dylan signed away his rights to this baby, I'd known we were on our own. But it's not until now that I'm realizing quite what that means. What it all entails.
For starters, I'm going to need to step up. Peanut depends on me. I can't run around without food and water for hours on end. And I can't expect a chivalrous man like Hugo to come riding in on his white horse and save me. He does know how to wield a sword though, so if there were any man who would be capable of such, itwould be the tall, dark and mind-bendingly handsome man standing in front of me.
It would be rude to ignore his offered hand, so I place my palm in his. His fingers curl around me, and I shove away the jolt of electricity at his touch. As soon as I'm standing, I break the connection. Hugo hands me the softening popsicle. "I'll grab food on my walk back to the inn."
"I'm happy to take you somewhere," Hugo says. His expression is open, honest. He's a good man who wants to do a good thing.
"Sammich is around the corner from here." I thumb over my shoulder, though I have no idea what direction I'm indicating. "I'll grab whatever it was you ordered that day." The day we met, when he didn't know who I was. When his eyes crinkled at the corners, and he flirted with me.
