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“You fired her?”
He shrugged. “Got her to give up where you were.”
I closed my eyes. “Sorry I made you worry.”
“Why didn’t you call me?”
I looked away. “I need to start doing things on my own. Whether I’m happy, sad, mad, or scared, my first instinct is to pick up the phone and call you.”
Rush stayed quiet for so long that I had to look and see what he was doing. His head was in his hands. “I really fucked things up between us.”
“No, you didn’t. Everything that happened is my fault.”
Rush stood. “Scoot over.”
I moved to one side while Rush pulled the curtain around us, even though no one else was in the room. Then he slipped off his shoes and climbed into bed. He lay on his back and tucked me into the crux of his arm and began to stroke my hair.
“I was so scared. I think I broke a hundred miles an hour driving here.”
“I was scared, too. That’s probably why my blood pressure was high, and the doctor wanted to keep me overnight.”
“I’m sorry I wasn’t here for you.”
“Well, you didn’t have any way of knowing.”
“Doesn’t matter.”
Rush stroked my hair, and we were both silent for a long time. It felt so good to be in bed with him, even if it was just snuggling. The warmth of his body, the way I folded and fit so perfectly in his arms, everything felt right again even in the midst of a crazy twenty-four hours.
“The doctor mentioned miscarriage last night,” I said. “Even though I’m not even halfway done with this pregnancy, and my life would probably be so much easier if I wasn’t…” I couldn’t even say it out loud. “I mean…it would fix so many broken things. But I don’t want to lose this baby, Rush. I already love him, and the thought of anything happening terrifies me.”
Rush kissed the top of my head and squeezed me closer. “Yeah.”
“I’m sorry. I’m so, so sorry that everything turned out the way it did. I’d give anything for you to be this baby’s father.”
Rush went quiet again. His voice cracked when he finally spoke. “Me, too, Gia. Me, too.”
Getting that off my chest and being held in his arms made me feel so relaxed that soon I started to drift off to sleep again. Rush’s groggy voice interrupted my slumber. “Him.”
“Hmmm?”
“You said him. You think our little guy is a boy, too.”I woke to a beam of sunshine warming my face. Squinting, I looked over at the empty space next to me on the bed, and a sudden panic came over me. Where’s Rush?
I calmed slightly when I found someone sitting in the chair. Only…it wasn’t Rush. Trying to hide my disappointment, I forced a smile as best I could. “Hi, Dad. When did you get here? And where’s Rush?”
He leaned forward to the edge of his seat and pushed back the hair from my forehead. “I’ve been here about ten minutes. Haven’t seen Rush. But I’m glad he called me early this morning. Why the hell didn’t you call me, Gia?”
I sighed. “I’m sorry. I didn’t want to worry you. It was late by the time they admitted me to a room.”
“You should’ve called me the minute you thought something was wrong. I would have called the local precinct and sent someone to pick you up and take you to the ER, lights and sirens.”
I smiled. “That’s exactly why I didn’t call you. I’m fine. I spoke to the doctor on the phone, and he had me come in as a precaution. I only stayed overnight because my blood pressure was a little high.”
My father looked at the monitor above my head. “Pressure’s nice and low now. Machine took it while you were sleeping.”
I let out a large exhale. “Oh good. Hopefully I can get out of here this morning.”
I caught Dad up on everything that transpired last night. When I was almost done, there was a knock at the door. I turned to find Rush walking in with two coffee cups in his hand. He set them down on the food tray next to my bed and extended his hand to Dad.
“Mr. Mirabelli.” Rush nodded, and my father stood to shake his hand.
“Call me Tony, son. And I really appreciate you calling. Especially since my daughter didn’t think it was important to give me a ring.”
Both men’s eyes landed on me with serious faces. “No problem.” Rush shook his head. “She didn’t think it was important enough to call me, either.”
I rolled my eyes. “I was fine.”
Rush nodded toward the coffee on the tray. “That’s a decaf for you.” He looked at my dad. “You can take the other, Tony. I already had one, and I can pick another one up on my way to work.”
