“Thanks, Mae,” Hawk choked out. “Are you really okay?” he whispered.
She nodded, placing her hand over his. “Bee is fine. He’s perfect.”
Hawk felt the rumble in his chest before any sound came out. “I didn’t ask about the baby, Pretty Girl. I asked about you. I want to know thatyouare okay.”
“I’m fine,” she whispered, her eyes misting over.
“Why did I have to hear about you being woozy and then in pain from my sister?” Hawk groaned.
“It wasn’t anything bad. I felt a little light headed and things just sort of felt hot and shaky for a minute. Honestly, the very first thing the doctor said was episodes like that can be very common in pregnancy. Something about the changing blood volume?—”
“And the pain? What tests have they done? Did they look at your blood sugar? Were you dehydrated?” His eyes landed back on the IV in the back of her hand before he dropped his head to the hand still cradling her belly. “Hey, Bee. Are you giving your mama a hard time?”
Jessie sniffled, the sound enough to pull his eyes away from her bump back up to her face. She had tears pouring down her cheeks, wetting the adorable freckles he liked to trace when they laid down in bed together each night.
“Why are you crying? Does something hurt? Do you need me to get the doctor?”
“I r-ruined your trip w-with Sebastian. God,” She wiped away a few of the tears with her free hand. “I’m just messing up everything for everyone.”
“Jess.”
“No. You’re not supposed to be here! You’re supposed to be on a plane to Washington, and we’re supposed to have a sexy phone call tonight because I was finally feeling good, and I messed it all up.”
He chuckled. “You didn’t mess anything up. And we canstill have sexy-time tonight. As long as the doctor says it’s okay.”
Her face turned beet red as her head fell forward. Sobs shook her shoulders, and Hawk didn’t have a fucking clue what to do. So, he did the only thing he could think of. He slid his arms under her legs, and behind her back and lifted her up so that he could slide in beside her. It was a wild attempt with the IV line attached to her, but her breathing was picking up and making his chest feel tight.
Finally, after some careful shuffling, Jessie was curled into his side, holding on to his shirt like she planned on never letting go. And that was perfectly fine with him.
“This worked out better, Jess. I never wanted to leave you. I’ll never leave without you and the baby right by my side again.”
Twenty-Two
Jessie was still crying into his chest when a nurse walked into the room, and promptly over to the bed.
“Sorry if I’m in the way.” Hawk gave his best smile, because no way was he going to be able to let Jessie go with the state she was still in.
“It’s no problem. I can see mom here needs some cuddles. I just need to get in here for one second to unhook the IV. You got through that bag quick, Mama. Make sure you’re staying hydrated.”
“S-sorry.” Jessie’s watery apology had Hawk tightening his hold on her.
“You’re absolutely fine. It happens.” The nurse reassured her. “We’ve got the ultrasound technician on their way up now, so I would say in the next five or ten minutes we’ll get started with that.”
“An ultrasound?” Hawk questioned. “I thought everything was okay with the baby?”
“Baby looked great with the doppler. I promise. A true little star pupil. Dr. Reed ordered an anatomy scan just to look over everything. Cover all our bases.”
Good. Hawk liked that. He’d know without a shadow of a doubt his girls were okay before he brought them home.
“Knock, knock.” A woman, probably right around Jessie’s age, walked into the room pushing a giant cart with a screen and a complicated looking keyboard. “I’m Kristen, an ultrasound technician here at St. Clare’s, and I heard we’re going to get a look at your little one today.”
Jessie picked her head up off Hawk’s chest and smiled. “Could you get me a tissue?”
Hawk pressed a kiss to her temple and gently extracted himself from the bed, reaching over to the small table in the room where the tissues were.
“Alright, Jessie. Let’s get you ready. Dad, if you want to help her get comfy all the way on her back.” The ultrasound technician pointed to Hawk and then to Jessie.
“Sure thing.” Hawk held out his hands, helping Jessie move down on the bed so she could lay back against the pillow. He stepped back to pull the chair he’d be sitting in closer, but Jessie’s hand squeezed around his.
