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“Dr. Jenkins?” I can’t stay quiet. Not when his brow is creased like that. “Am I okay?”
Suddenly, he drops my wrist and digs into his bag for the doppler. “I fucking knew it.”
I’ve never heard him curse before. Cold shoulder aside, he’s always been professional.
Until now.
“What did you know? Am I okay?”
My heart is pounding in my chest. I swear I can actually feel my blood pumping through my veins. My blood pressure is probably astronomical. That can’t be good for the babies. And the stress about the babies is probably making my blood pressure even higher.
I take a deep breath, trying to break the vicious cycle of anxiety before it can spiral out of control.
Dr. Jenkins shakes his head and lifts my shirt over my bump, pressing the doppler to my stomach. “I should have demanded he send you to a hospital the night I showed up here. That’s what you need. A fucking hospital.”
He finds one of the twins’ heartbeats, but I can’t focus on it. I can’t feel anything except icy dread pooling in my gut. “You said I was fine. Every day, you’ve said that I’m okay. Were you lying? Is something wrong?”
His jaw flexes. When I met him, Dr. Jenkins was clean-shaven. Now, he has a beard. There’s a patch of gray on his chin. “What do you think? I’m trapped here in this house trying to care for a high-risk pregnancy.”
“High-risk?”
“All multiples are high-risk,” he explains impatiently, quickly finding the second heartbeat and then pulling my shirt back down. “Your blood pressure is getting higher every day.”
“But I’m taking that medication like you told me to. I thought it was supposed to help.”
He shrugs. “And I thought I’d be back with my family within a week. But here we are.”
“What are you—” I blink back tears. “Are my babies okay?”
Dr. Jenkins runs a hand through his hair and looks down at me. His shoulders sag. “Yes. Yes, they’re fine. I’m sorry.”
“What is happening?”
“You are okay right now,” he says. “So are the babies. I’m—I’m sorry, Luna. I shouldn’t be telling you any of this, but I can’t talk to anyone else. I’m losing my mind here.”
I grab his hand with both of mine. “It’s okay.”
I trust Dr. Jenkins. Even now. He’s a good man in a bizarre situation. The only reason I can hide out in this bunker without falling to pieces is because I love Yakov. I know Yakov has my best intentions in mind, so when he told me I needed to live here, I agreed without question. I can’t imagine how much harder all of this has been for Dr. Jenkins.
“It’s not okay,” he says gently. “I need to get you to a hospital and under the care of another physician. I can’t do this anymore.”
“We can make this work for you. I’ll talk to Yakov. I’m sure we can figure out a way for you to still treat me while also being able to see your family. I’ll talk to him.”
“I’m going to call and tell him you need to get to a hospital,” he says, ignoring me. “I’m sorry, Luna, but I’m done.”
This is what I wanted, isn’t it? I wanted an emergency to get Yakov here so I could see him. But now that it’s playing out in front of me, I want nothing more than to make it all stop.
“You can’t. Yakov is dealing with so much already. I don’t want to worry him.”
“I think he should be worried!” he argues. “Your high blood pressure could turn into preeclampsia. It could put you and your babies at risk.”
“But you—you said I was fine. I thought you just wanted to leave. I didn’t think—” I close my eyes, trying to sort out the jumbled mess in my brain. “You said that I would be under better care here at home with a dedicated doctor. You said that, with the right equipment, this setup could be as good as a hospital.”
He just shakes his head. It feels like I’m talking to a brick wall.
“Just give it a few more days,” I beg. “I don’t want to worry him. Let’s see if my blood pressure lowers. In the meantime, I’ll talk to Yakov about letting you see your family.”
“You aren’t going to convince that man of anything,” Dr. Jenkins spits. “And he’ll see right through it if we try to lie to him about how you’re doing.”
