Out of Nowhere (Balls and Brawn Bodyguard #4)

27. Chapter Twenty-seven Dex

Chapter Twenty-seven: Dex

D ex really would have preferred to have gotten on the plane with Seo-jun, but he hadn’t been able to turn down Anna’s plea for him to go to the ultrasound with her. He was glad she was taking an interest in the baby’s health and wanted to support her.

“What if there’s something wrong with the baby?” she fretted when he sat with her in the doctor’s office at Horizon, waiting for the person who would do the scan. “Because of the meth?”

“You said you didn’t do much meth,” Dex said. “That wasn’t a lie, was it?”

Anna shook her head. “No. But I’m still worried. I looked it up online and read that meth use can cause problems, including low birth weight and premature birth.”

Dex took her hand. “That can be monitored and dealt with.”

“Yeah, but what if I’m such a terrible person that my baby’s going to be born deformed?”

“Don’t even say that. It’s not going to happen.” Dex couldn’t help but think of how Colt always said not to manifest something by talking about it.

Anna turned toward the door when it opened.

“Hi, I’m Suzanne.” A woman who looked only slightly older than Dex walked in and closed the door behind her. “You must be Anna? And is this the father of the baby?”

Releasing Dex’s hand, Anna said, “God, no. This is my brother. Ew.”

“I’m Dex,” he said, smiling.

“Hi, Dex. Anna, I need you to hop up on the table and lie down.”

Dex watched as Anna did so, and then the technician helped her to pull up her shirt and roll the top of her pants down to bare her rounded abdomen.

“I’m going to squirt some lubrication on your belly so I can run the wand over it easily. It’ll be a little cold. There now.”

Suzanne began moving the wand around while she stared at a computer screen.

“Does everything look all right?” Anna asked nervously.

“As far as I can see. Your doctor will be coming in when I’m finished and will discuss the results more in depth.”

The ultrasound was over after a few minutes, and after Anna cleaned up, she sat down beside Dex again.

“See? She said he looked good,” Dex said, patting her knee.

Anna looked unsure. “I don’t think the technician’s allowed to tell me anything bad, though. The doctor has to do that.”

“Yeah, but she probably would have just said you’ll have to talk to the doctor. But she said things looked good to her.”

Anna didn’t argue. After a few minutes, Dex asked, “Have you thought about what you’re going to name the baby?”

“I don’t even know if I’m going to keep him.”

“You could still name him,” Dex said. “What about naming him after your dad?”

“God, no.”

“Tom’s not so bad. Why are always so down on him?”

“He’s overprotective. He didn’t treat you the way he treated me growing up.”

“Well, I’m not a girl, and I’m not his.”

Anna shook her head. “You didn’t want to be. He was going to adopt you.” She frowned. “Why did you say no? He wasn’t mean to you, was he? I mean, I never thought so, but he could have been when I wasn’t around.”

Dex really didn’t want to talk about it, but he knew Anna wouldn’t let up until he did. Casting a look at the door in the hope that the doctor would walk in and save him, he turned his attention back to her.

“He wasn’t mean to me. He was fine. I just always held out the hope that my dad would come back.”

“Oh,” Anna said. “I never knew that. I didn’t think you even remembered your real dad.”

“I remember him enough. But I’ve never heard from him. I don’t even know if he’s still alive.”

“And Mom doesn’t know?”

“He’s never gotten in touch with her. When I was a teenager, I asked her to tell me more about him. She said he was the sort who just didn’t want to settle down with a family. She had been surprised he’d stayed as long as he had.”

They sat in silence for several minutes, Dex feeling miserable for having dredged up old memories. Anna seemed nervous, twisting her fingers in her lap.

Finally, the doctor came in, a smiling woman with hair colored ash brown who was probably in her sixties, by Dex’s guess.

“Hello, Anna!”

“This is my brother, Dex, Dr. Franklin,” Anna said, probably so she wouldn’t get the wrong idea like the ultrasound technician had.

Dex greeted her, and Dr. Franklin sat down. Anna had saod she liked her OBGYN, and Dex could see why, as Dr. Franklin had a friendly smile and an easy way about her but also exuded confidence and capability.

“I’ve looked at your ultrasound, Anna, and everything looks good. The baby is a little undersized, but I expected that due to your substance abuse.”

“Do you think I can carry him to term?” Anna asked worriedly.

“That’s our goal and one of the reasons we have you here. We’re taking good care of you so that your body can take good care of your baby.” She smiled. “Relax. Everything was in the right place and developed as it should be.”

Letting out a breath, Anna sagged back in the seat. “Thank you so much.”

“Have you felt the baby moving?” the doctor asked.

“Yes, I think so. Sometimes I think it’s my imagination, though. Or maybe gas.”

“Pretty soon you’ll be able to tell the difference,” Dr. Franklin assured her.

They talked a little while longer about vitamins and sleep, and then the appointment was over.

“Feel better?” I asked Anna when we were on the elevator going downstairs.

“Much. Thanks, Dex, for changing your plans for me. What time is your flight?”

“Six-fifteen. And I have a surprise for you. I arranged for you to go out to lunch with me.”

“You mean…leave the facility?”

“Yep.” It wasn’t that the patients weren’t ever allowed to leave, but Anna had been volatile every time Tom had visited. Dex had been unsure if he wanted to take her outside the facility because of her past behavior, but that morning he’d been thinking about how miserable she must feel being stuck there all alone and had decided to do it. “You pick the place.”

The way Anna’s face lit up made Dex happy with his decision.