Maddie’s back started to ache from standing on the concrete floor. Or from her sprint up the stairs. She put her hand on her belly again.
“Okay, Madelyn,” Grandma said as they stood there, eyes drilled on the door. “Why don’t you know what happened? Weren’t you with him?”
She flicked her eyes to the floor. “No. They had to get him ready for physical therapy.”
Grandma’s eyes bored into her, as if she didn’t believe her.
“Let her be, Nancy,” Joe said. “She’s as concerned as we are. Probably more. Don’t forget she’s pregnant.” He looked at Maddie; their gazes met. “By the way, congratulations. I’m happy for everybody, even for me. It will be fun to have a little one around. We haven’t had one in the family since … you.”
Maddie relaxed a little and smiled. “Thanks, Joe. I’m glad you know now.”
“Did you tell Rex yet?” Joe asked.
“I did. He’s happy about it.” Or at least he’dsaidhe was happy about it, she thought, but did not add the rest. Instead, she shifted from one foot to the other.
Then the locked door opened again.
Expecting to see the same man in blue scrubs and the mask, Maddie took a step back.
The person standing there was Taylor.
“You must be the fiancée,” Taylor said, her words laced with sarcasm. Then she looked at Grandma Nancy. “And you must be the grandmother.” She shut her mouth and glared.
The muscles in Maddie’s spine tightened; she leaned against the wall.
“You been here all along?” Grandma asked.
“No. But I am listed on my brother’s paperwork as his next of kin. Luckily, I was in OB so I got here right away.”
“And they know you, right?” Joe asked kindly, because that’s how he was.
“As a matter of fact, they do. As you might recall, I’m an EMT.”
How could we forget?Maddie wanted to say but “minded” her tongue, as her father liked to remind her when she was a child.
“Is Kevin here, too?” Joe asked nicely. At least one of them was remaining civil.
Taylor shook her head, her long hair swirling like a pinwheel of ginger. “He’s working.” She did not specify where.
Maddie thought that unlike Rex and her, Taylor and Kevin could be labeled “an unlikely couple.” Yet somehow, they seemed bonded. Romance could be bewildering.
“Can you tell us what happened?” Maddie asked quietly, her heart weeping. “And if Rex is okay?”
“He had a blood pressure spike. Two-sixty over one-thirty. Not good. But it’s good that he was here. The nurse saw it when checking his vitals before they took him to PT.”
“It’s serious then,” Maddie said.
“You bet. This kind of thing often goes unnoticed. Which is why they call high blood pressure ‘the silent killer.’ But it’s coming down now.” Finally, she said something positive.
“Do they know why it happened?” Maddie asked.
Taylor shrugged. “When it happens like this, it’s usually due to stress. You saw him this morning, right?”
A saber of guilt sliced through Maddie’s heart. “I did.”
“Did you upset him? Like did you tell him you’re pregnant?”
Grandma went stiff with Taylor’s caustic words; of course, she’d had no idea that the woman already knew.
