The last thought shocked Luke out of his racing thoughts. Bella wasn’t here to tell him he was going to be a father. She was in the ER, which meant that something was wrong. He needed to focus on that right now, not on the complicated personal relationship, or lack thereof, between them.
He stopped beside her bed, and she looked up, her green eyes wide. She was sitting on the edge of the bed, her hands clasped together, still wearing the flour-streaked apron.
“Luke—”
He held up a hand to stop her. “Hi, Bella. What seems to be wrong today?”
“I…” She bit her lip and looked down at the swell of her stomach. One hand rested there, seemingly without her realizing. “I’m pregnant. Um, six months pregnant.” She glanced up at him again, and Luke saw the worry in her eyes. His stomach flipped. “And I’m having some pain in my stomach.”
“Can you describe the pain?” Luke asked. Worry flared in his own heart. No matter what was happening with Bella, or what she was thinking, he needed her to be all right. Her and the baby.Hisbaby. Because why else would she look at him with so much worry and guilt if it wasn’t his?
That realization came with another. She hadn’t told him about the baby, which must mean she didn’t want him involved. He needed to reassure her that he could be professional.
“It comes and goes,” Bella said. “Um, it hurts for a few seconds, then feels all right, and it kind of feels like squeezing pain.”
“How often is the pain coming?” Luke asked.
“It was every few minutes for a little while, but now it seems to be less frequent. I haven’t had any pain since I got here, actually.” She looked up at him again. “Do you think the baby’s all right?”
“It sounds like you’re having Braxton-Hicks contractions — practice contractions, you could say. That’s pretty common for people about to enter the third trimester, and usually, it’s no cause for alarm. The fact that the contractions are less frequent now makes me think you aren’t really in labor, which is a good sign. All in all, I do think the… baby… is fine, but we’ll run a few tests, just to be sure.”
Luke was proud that he was able to speak so clearly and calmly, as though Bella were any other patient in his ER.
“Okay.” Bella bit her lip again. “Thank you. I know this must be confusing, and I can explain?—”
“You don’t need to explain anything,” Luke said, as gently as he could. “No matter what’s happening here, we’re going to give you the best care possible.”
“Thank you.” Bella looked away.
“The first thing we need is an ultrasound,” Luke explained. “We’ll also set you up to monitor the baby’s heartbeat for a little while.”
“Okay.” Bella bit her lip again.
“What were you doing when the contractions started?” Luke asked. He flagged down a passing nurse, an experienced ER nurse he’d worked with on multiple occasions before. “Could you grab the portable ultrasound for me, Juan?”
“Right away, Luke,” the nurse said.
“Thank you.” Luke turned back to Bella.
“I was working,” Bella admitted.
“And what do you do?”
“I’m a caterer.” She wouldn’t meet his eyes now. “I was working a wedding, finishing up the last of the food prep and plating, when the first pain hit. The client is furious at me for leaving in the middle.”
“You’re a caterer.” Luke nodded. “I never would have guessed. Did you make the food for the conference? That’s why…” He cut himself off. He’d wanted to say, “That’s why I couldn’t find you,” but he didn’t want Bella to think he’d been looking for her when she clearly hadn’t been looking forhim.
Luke wasn’t hard to find. She knew his first name and that he was a doctor in Portland. A simple web search would have led her straight to him — and she’d decided not to do that. It was clear she didn’t want him in her life. The way she was avoiding looking at him now and acting guarded was further proof of that.
Luke swallowed his own feelings about the situation. The important thing right now was making sure Bella and the baby were all right.
“So, you were working today?” he continued. “How often are you working?”
“I have catering jobs two or three times a week, in a good week,” Bella explained. “And then I do some work in between — finding new clients, planning menus, ordering ingredients, that kind of thing.”
“How many hours do you work a day?”
“Um…” Bella looked away. “Maybe eight?”
