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“Iris, I understand what you’re saying. It’s not that, not necessarily. It’s just…this felt…personal. And Shay’s situation is different. It’s way more serious. It’s about who she is.”
Shay inhaled deeply before letting her breath whoosh out. “She didn’t give me false hope, you well-meaning dolt of a brother. In fact, she didn’t give me any medical advice whatsoever.”
He turned a frown on Shay. “But when I asked her what was going on with you, she said I should talk to you.”
Shay smiled. “Of course she did. Because I told her some things in confidence. All we did was talk. About how you can’t change things by worrying about them. You can only change your reaction to situations. And about stress and how bad it is for the body, how it’s not a good climate to grow a baby.”
Tag sighed and looked at the ceiling.
“Wait, Tag, I know how that sounds. I was going to wait a few more weeks to announce it but today makes three months, and the doctor said if I make it three months there’s a very good chance, in my case, that I’ll make it nine.”
Iris slapped a hand over her mouth and let out a squeal.
Even in his sleep-deprived state, Tag understood what her words meant. A helium-like euphoria expanded inside him. Tears stung his eyes, not tears but joy-filled drops of happiness.
Voice raspy with emotion he said, “Shay…really?”
“Really, Tag, I’m pregnant.”
“Oh, my… I’m so… Shay, I’m just… Congratulations.” With a clumsy fist, he swiped at his tears.
Much more gracefully, his sister dabbed at her cheeks. “Ally was only trying to help me get over my fear. I needed to find my joy again so I could make a peaceful place to grow our baby. It probably sounds crazy to you, but it worked for me, allowing my brain to accept the possibility that it might actually happen this time. Letting my body accept the baby. And accepting whatever was going to happen, one way or another. I mean, I don’t know if it worked scientifically or whatever, but changing my mind-set has made me happy. And I haven’t been happy in a while. Too long.” Shay’s eyes refilled with tears. “I’m so grateful Jonah hasn’t divorced me. I haven’t been easy to live with.”
“Shay!” Hannah admonished. “He would never.”
“I know.” Shay sniffled on a laugh. “I’m just super emotional. Hormones. You have no idea how good it feels to say that.”
Tag walked to his sister and wrapped her in his arms. “You’re going to be such a great mom.”
“Because I want this so much,” she said, nodding. “And I want it for you, too. Someday.” She pulled away. “And speaking of that, we’re here to talk about Ally. Are you going to the hearing?”
“What hearing? Iris mentioned it earlier, but you guys came in and…” He added a helpless shrug.
“Ally obviously didn’t tell you that, either,” Iris said.
“Tell me what?”
“Tag,” Hannah said, “there’s a special hospital board meeting tomorrow, a disciplinary hearing. Dr. Boyd is trying to get Ally fired.”
CHAPTER TWENTY
ALLY HELPED ABE get Zeke settled in the hospital and then headed to her office. As far as she was concerned, her job still belonged to her, and she was determined to do everything she could for her patients in the time she had left. The message light was blinking on her in-house phone.
She froze as the voice of Dr. Boyd’s secretary boomed from the voicemail requesting that she return the call as soon as possible. Picking up the receiver, she tapped the button to call her back.
“Cora? Hi, it’s Ally Mowak.”
“Ally, I’m glad you’re back. Dr. Boyd would like to meet with you. I went ahead and scheduled it for twelve thirty, hoping you’d be here by then.”
Ally glanced at the clock. That left her twenty minutes to spare. She assured Cora she’d be there and then took a few minutes to glance at her email inbox. Expecting a backlog, she was relieved to find only a few and reminded herself that she’d been away only for the weekend.
“Longest weekend of my life,” she muttered. She typed out a few responses and headed to Dr. Boyd’s office.
