Hopefully, Luke wouldn’t even be working today. But still, the last place Bella wanted to be while pregnant with a baby he didn’t know about was Willamette Hospital. He probably had friends here, and even if he wasn’t here himself…
But no. There was no way his friends knew about her. As long as she didn’t see Luke himself, everything would be fine.
They crossed the parking lot and went through the double doors into the ER.
“You don’t have to stay,” Bella said quietly to Callie as they approached the check-in desk. “I’m fine on my own.”
“No, no, I’ll stay,” Callie said stubbornly. Bella paused and put her hand on Callie’s shoulder.
“Really. I’ll be okay. It would be a lot of weight off my shoulders if you could go back to the venue and make sure all the food that can be served is served.”
“Are you sure?” Callie hesitated, bouncing slightly on her toes and looking around the waiting room. “I don’t want to leave you on your own.”
“I promise, I’ll be fine.” In truth, Bella couldn’t stop scanning the waiting room and the ER on the other side for signs of Luke. It would be easier to deal with all of this if she didn’t have to explain why — and she was used to doing things on her own.
“Okay.” Callie patted her shoulder. “Good luck, Boss. Call me or, like, text, if you need anything, okay?”
“I will,” Bella promised, and Callie left. Taking a deep breath of the antiseptic-smelling air, Bella approached the check-in desk. The man at the counter handed her a form to fill in, and she found a free seat next to a family with a young baby. Bella tried to focus on entering her name, birth date, health history, and insurance information, but she couldn’t stop looking at the tiny baby beside her.
He was maybe a few months old, with round, soft cheeks, big brown eyes, and a blue onesie covered in a paw-print pattern. He was smiling gummily up at his mother. It was hard for Bella to look away. She’d been excited about her pregnancy, especially about the whisper-soft kicks, but it had never felt truly real until this moment. In a few months, she was going to have one of those.
On her own.
In that moment, Bella’s future felt like it was spiraling out of control. She was excited about the baby, but she had no idea howshe was going to manage her catering business as a new mother. She’d had mental images of cooking with a baby in a carrier on her chest, but that might not work the way she wanted it to. What was she going to do?
“Ms. Nolan?” a nurse called. “We’re ready for you.”
Bella stood, hurriedly filling in the last few boxes as she crossed to the nurse.
“Come right this way,” the nurse said, leading Bella through another set of doors into the main ER. It was larger than Bella had expected, with eight beds along one wall and four along the other, as well as doors into other, smaller rooms. A few beds were partitioned off with curtains, but in a few, patients were talking with their families, reading, or receiving treatment from medical staff.
Bella took all this in within a moment — and then she saw him. At the far end of the room, a man was sewing up a cut on the forehead of an older woman. His back was to her, but Bella would have recognized him anywhere, even without seeing his face. Luke. Her breath caught in her throat.Has he seen me? What will he think if he does?
As if he’d read her mind from across the room, Luke gently pressed something to the woman’s forehead and turned towards Bella. His gray eyes met hers, and something flickered there. Was he happy to see her? Angry? Confused? Indifferent? Then his gaze dropped. She watched him notice the swell of her pregnant stomach beneath her apron, and she watched his eyes lift to hers again.
“You can just have a seat right here,” the nurse who’d been escorting Bella said, gesturing to an empty bed.
“Thank you,” Bella said automatically, though she didn’t take her eyes off Luke for even a second. Part of her was worried he’d disappear if she let him out of her sight. Then he turned away, and her heart sank. She sat on the edge of the bed, as the nurse had directed, and bit her lip.
Maybe Luke was just going to ignore her. Maybe that was the best thing that could happen — because then Bella wouldn’t have to explain why she hadn’t told him she was carrying his baby.
Looks like you’ve gotten yourself into another mess, silly girl,her mother’s sharp voice cut in. Bella suppressed the memory. Her mother wasn’t here right now. No one was here, actually.
As usual, Bella was all alone. She’d sent Callie away, who wanted to help, and hadn’t even told Stacy about the pregnancy. And now she had to face a medical concern, and the baby’s father, alone.
CHAPTER 11
LUKE
Luke’s heart was beating so fast he was sure his patient could hear it. Forcing himself to remain calm, he turned back to Jennifer and flashed her a smile.
“All right, Mrs. Hayes. Your stitches are all done. We’ll just keep you here for a little longer for observation, since you hit your head, and then you can go home.” He glanced back at Bella, who was now sitting on the edge of a hospital bed, before pulling his attention back to his patient. “Do you have any questions?”
“No. Thanks, Doc.” Jennifer smiled, and Luke got to his feet. In a daze, he crossed the room towards Bella.
She was pregnant. About six months pregnant, if he’d estimated the size of her bump correctly, which he almost always did. It didn’t take a mathematician to figure out who the baby’s father must be — him. They’d spent the night together six months ago, and while they’d been careful, Luke’s medical training and common sense reminded him that protection wasn’t one hundred percent effective.
He was going to be a father. He just hadn’t known it. Maybe Bella had tried to tell him but hadn’t been able to track him down — or maybe she didn’t want him in her life, or the baby’s. Maybe he’d misunderstood and the baby’s father was someone else. Maybe she was here now to tell him that this was his baby.
