AllFreeNovel
Share Us
He waves me off, but there are dark circles under his eyes. When he drags his hand through his tousled hair, I see a speck of dried blood between his fingers.
Last night was hell for me. I was terrified. But Yakov’s siblings were shot. Nikandr still might not make it. And Yakov killed at least one man with his bare hands. Probably more, based on the blood I can see and smell on him.
I smooth my hand up his strong forearm. “You’ve been busy taking care of everyone else. Let me take care of you.”
His jaw flexes. “I can take care of myself. I'm fine."
I’m about to argue, but the door to my hospital room opens.
“Knock, knock.” A head of light brown hair peeks around the door frame. “Is now a good time?”
Yakov waves him in. “Come in, Doctor.”
Dr. Jenkins steps inside, tiptoeing past Mariya’s corner of the room. That isn’t necessary—she put on noise-canceling headphones three hours ago after the nurse tried to take her blood pressure for the fourth time.
The doctor is tall and thin. He’s younger than I expected one of the top obstetricians in the country to be. No older than forty, for sure.
“You must be Luna,” Dr. Jenkins guesses with a broad smile. “As Yakov said, I’m Dr. Jenkins. I’m here to see how you and your baby are doing.”
My hand shifts to my stomach instinctively. I told Yakov yesterday that I was fine. They used a doppler in the emergency room. We heard the heartbeat. But now that Dr. Jenkins is standing here, I’m nervous.
What if something is wrong?
What if the medications Akim gave me hurt the baby?
What if, what if, what if?
“I’m glad you’re here,” I admit.
He smiles warmly. “It’s normal to be nervous in these early weeks. My job is going to be to ease those worries.”
“Check everything,” Yakov orders. “I want a full exam of Luna and the baby. Everything you’ve got.”
Dr. Jenkins winks. “You’ve got it, Dad.” He’s surprisingly chipper for someone who just got off a plane before eight in the morning.
I’m already in a gown and lying back, so there isn’t much for me to do to prepare. I watch Dr. Jenkins wheel in equipment from the hall and arrange different instruments and jellies on the table next to him. Finally, he turns to me with a blood pressure cuff. “Let’s get started.”
He takes my blood pressure and my temperature. When I think he’s done, Yakov makes a disapproving noise and suddenly, Dr. Jenkins is back with a little hammer to check my reflexes.
It’s overkill. We all know it. But Dr. Jenkins isn’t going to cross Yakov. Not if he owes him a favor big enough to send him across the country on a red-eye flight for a single exam.
After everything Yakov has been through in the last twelve hours, I wouldn’t dream of refusing him anything, either. If I can help put his mind at ease by playing along with this over-the-top checkup, then I will.
Finally, Dr, Jenkins leaves the room and comes back with a mobile ultrasound unit. There’s a monitor in the center with an array of wands and handheld tools.
My heart instantly jolts into my throat. “We heard the heartbeat yesterday. That’s good, right?”
“A heartbeat is rarely a bad thing for us humans,” he says with a laugh. “How fast was it?”
I frown. “They didn’t say. Should they have told me? Should I have asked?”
“No. Don’t worry about it. It’s just that in early pregnancy, sometimes, the mother’s heart can be mistaken for the baby’s. Especially when the person performing the exam isn’t trained. The baby's heartbeat will be faster than yours."
“It was someone in the emergency room. I assume they were trained.”
“Of course. But it’s always good to call in a specialist.” He grins and lifts his chin proudly. “That’s why I’m here.”
Yakov nods in agreement. “We should have gotten you to Dr. Jenkins weeks ago.”
