Dr. Grump’s Surprise Baby (Bossy Bachelors #2)

20. Dominic

CHAPTER 20

DOMINIC

W ork had become tedious. It was something Dominic had never imagined he would think. But every day, it got more and more difficult to drag himself out of bed. Every day he felt acutely aware of who wasn’t here with him.

When Emily had first announced her intention to switch to pediatrics, he had believed she was doing it to spite him. He had told himself she would be back in days, a week at the most, and that when she approached him begging to return to his internship — well, he would allow it, of course. She was the best in the group. But he would hold it over her head a little bit first, make sure she was aware that she couldn’t just walk away and then come back whenever she felt like it. She needed to know that she didn’t merit any special treatment from him.

And then the days had passed, and she hadn’t returned. She hadn’t even come to this department of the hospital. Whole days went by where he didn’t even see her.

Slowly, he had begun to accept the truth — she had meant it. It was real. She wasn’t going to be coming back.

But he wasn’t going to allow himself to feel anything about that. To be honest, it was probably for the best. He should probably be glad she had made that decision. He couldn’t have chosen to remove her from the program — that would have been unethical. This way, she was gone, and he didn’t have to be the one to pull the trigger.

He just wished it hadn’t been so difficult.

He wished he didn’t have to get up every morning and realize all over again that she wasn’t going to be in the hospital when he arrived — or rather, that she would be there, but that they wouldn’t cross paths. He had gotten used to the excitement of knowing that they would eat lunch together every day. He had gotten used to thinking of things he wanted to say to her and anticipating how she would respond. Now that was a thing of the past.

Which didn’t mean he never saw her.

She appeared to have the same work ethic he had gotten used to seeing from her. He didn’t see her every day, but when he did, it was as likely as not to be early in the morning or late at night. It had occurred to him to ask Jonathan whether she had been assigned the unusual hours, but he didn’t want to confess to his friend that he was spending so much time thinking about Emily. Besides, he didn’t really need Jonathan’s confirmation. He knew what the answer would be.

She’s too much like me. I’ve left too much of a mark on her.

He paced back and forth. He was down in the blood lab tonight, trying to expedite some results, hoping that he would get what he was after more quickly if he hung around and badgered the lab techs about it. So far, there had been no movement. This place always felt dead and haunted late at night — unlike the rest of the hospital, there wasn’t any need to keep things fully staffed down here all night long.

So he was startled by the sound of a door opening behind him. He turned toward the noise and his heart sank.

Emily.

“Oh,” she said, looking down at her feet. “Sorry.”

“Sorry for what? You’re allowed to come to the blood lab.” He knew he sounded rude, and he wished he hadn’t said it, but it was too late to take it back.

“Yeah,” she said. “I just need to drop this off.” She was holding a sample in her hand. “Then I’ll be out of your way.”

“You’re not in my way.” The last thing he wanted was to let her know how much her presence affected him — how much it hurt him to see her here. He turned away from her so she wouldn’t see his face.

“Okay,” she said quietly.

He turned back. He couldn’t help it. “You’ve been working all hours,” he said.

“How do you know what hours I’ve been working?” she asked swiftly.

“I see more of what goes on around this hospital than I guess you realize,” he said. “I know when people are working odd hours.”

“I’m not working odd hours. Not for me.”

“Only because you have always worked odd hours,” he told her. “You shouldn’t do that.”

“You’re one to talk.”

“Well, you’re not in emergency anymore, so things are different.”

“Yeah,” Emily said. “I’m not in emergency anymore, so I don’t need to listen to you. That’s what’s different. Can I please drop off my blood sample?”

“Nobody’s stopping you.”

He hated that he was acting like this, that things were so contentious between them, and yet he couldn’t seem to stop himself. He watched as she approached the counter and dropped off her sample.

She was just the way he remembered her. Still so beautiful. Even now, looking at her across the hospital floor, all he could think of was the way she’d looked in the bed of his hotel room. The way she had looked up at him with those inviting eyes that had made him want to crawl right into bed.

He found himself wishing he had never left that bed.

She started to push past him to leave — but then she faltered, stumbling slightly.

At first, he thought she had simply tripped. But her legs collapsed beneath her. Just in time, Dominic realized what was happening and threw out his arms, catching her before she hit the ground.

He scooped her up in his arms. Thankfully, there happened to be an unused gurney nearby, and he laid her down there. Frowning, he checked her pulse — it was quick and light. She was pale. Why hadn’t he noticed that when he had first seen her?

Probably because he had been too busy thinking about having her in his bed. He cursed himself. This was why it was for the best that the two of them had gone their separate ways.

Her eyelids fluttered. “Oh,” she murmured.

“Are you all right?” he asked her, unable to keep the concern out of his voice.

“What happened?”

“You fainted. Did you eat lunch today?”

“I— yeah, I did.” She started to sit up.

“Stay there.” Dominic put a hand on her shoulder and gently held her in place. It felt good to be touching her again. It felt good to feel like that was justified. “Don’t sit up. Just stay where you are.”

“I’m all right now,” she protested.

“Maybe so. We should get some blood tests done to make sure.”

“What?” Emily stared. “You can’t make me get blood tests done. You’re not my doctor.”

Dominic huffed in frustration. “Be smart, Emily,” he said. “Let’s just make sure that nothing is seriously wrong. We’ve got the blood lab right here. We can advance your tests, get you in and out quickly, and then you won’t have to worry. And if it’s something simple, I can write you a prescription and have you feeling better fast.”

Emily hesitated.

“Fine,” she said at last. “Go ahead and run your tests. But I don’t want you looking at my results.”

“What? Why on earth not?”

“Because it’s private medical information, and you’re not my doctor,” she said. “Bring me the chart and I’ll look over the information myself.”

“I feel like there must be some kind of ethical dilemma about that.”

“You and I are off the map when it comes to ethics,” Emily said. “The least you could let me do is read my own chart.”

She had a point there. Besides, what harm could it really do at this point? She was obviously going to get a chance to look at the chart eventually. She could ask him any questions if she had them — he would be right there — and she could transfer the results of the test to her primary care doctor. He really didn’t have any business looking at it.

If he were being honest with himself, he would have had to admit that the reason he wanted to look was that he was worried about her. He wanted to make sure she was going to be all right. He knew he wouldn’t rest easy until he saw what was written in that chart.

But that didn’t mean he had the right to.

So when the test results arrived an hour or so later, he brought them over to her and handed her the file. “Here you go,” he said.

Emily flipped it open and scanned the paper inside.

And paled.

For a moment, Dominic thought she was going to pass out again. “Lie down,” he urged.

“No — I’m all right,” Emily managed. Her voice was shaking.

“I don’t believe you. What does it say?” Her reaction had him deeply worried — what if something was really wrong? It occurred to him now, in a way it hadn’t previously, just how painful that would be. Losing her to the pediatrics department had been bad enough. What if something were to happen that took her away from him altogether — that removed any possibility of the two of them ever seeing one another again?

Dominic knew he should be fine with it. He had accepted the idea that they weren’t going to be together. He didn’t want them to be together. But now the idea felt unthinkable. It was something about the removal of possibility from their future. They had been separated, it was true — but that didn’t mean reuniting was impossible .

He made himself calm down.

This wasn’t like what had happened to his mother. She wasn’t going to be suddenly snatched away. She wasn’t dying.

But he had to see that chart.

“Let me see,” he said.

Emily looked pained, but she said nothing, and he took that as consent.

Dominic flipped the chart open and scanned it.

When he saw the results, it hit him like a two-by-four. He had to put a hand out to brace himself against the wall. “You’re pregnant?”

Her voice shook as she answered. “Apparently.”

“This is news to you, I take it?”

She nodded.

“Who’s the father?” He had no right to ask her that and he knew it, but he couldn’t help himself.

She stared at him.

“What?” he asked.

“I haven’t been with anybody else in months, Dominic,” she said quietly. “It’s you.”

All sorts of stupid responses came to his mind. He wanted to argue that it was impossible, to protest that they had only been together one time. But of course, one time was all it took. It was perfectly possible. And she had no reason to lie.

She was pregnant ?

He swallowed hard. He couldn’t cope with this. He didn’t even have space in his life to date , never mind to become a father! He had told her right from the start that this was something he couldn’t do. And now…

Emily covered her face with her hands. It was as if she couldn’t even bring herself to look at him.

She’s the one who separated us, Dominic told himself. She was the one who had drawn the line between the two of them. The fact that he couldn’t seem to cope with what they were facing now was his problem, but it was a problem that she had shown herself to be ready for.

She wasn’t asking him for anything. She probably didn’t want him for anything. When had she ever needed anybody?

The panic that had taken root on seeing the results gripped him hard.

He had to get out of here. Emily would be fine. She was safe in the hospital, and she had always been capable of taking care of herself. But he had to go.

He put the chart down on the edge of her cot, turned, and walked away.

Guilt roiled in the pit of his stomach as he climbed the stairs out of the blood lab and back to the emergency department. He knew that what he was doing was wrong. Emily had just told him she was pregnant — pregnant with his child. He owed her a conversation, at the very least. He knew that.

But every time he thought about that conversation and how it might go, it made him want to run as far and as fast as he could.

He should never have gotten involved with her. He had known it from the start. He had allowed himself to forget, and to be distracted by his feelings for her, but he wouldn’t let that happen again. He wasn’t going to let his whole life be thrown off the rails.

Not even by this pregnancy.

He wasn’t ready to be a father, he reminded himself firmly. He had known that from the start. And that was something that hadn’t — would never — change.