"I never told her that. I only assured her..."
"You made promises you have no way of knowing will be kept." Samuel drilled into him with his eyes. "I allowed her to think that I'm all right with all of this..." He waved a hand. "But I'm not."
"I know you're afraid..."
"Damn right I am! And I meant what I said before. If anything happens to her, if she dies during this process, I'm coming after you. There's no way on earth you could go where I would not find you. Is that understood?"
Taking a deep, fortifying breath, Blake nodded. "I will assure you right now that Eliza, your wife, will be my first priority. I've been doing this for more than three decades now, and I've never lost a patient."
"How many quads have you delivered successfully?"
The question threw him for a moment, but he recovered immediately. "Only two sets." He lifted a hand to stop the blast. "Quads are rare, of course, but we here at the clinic are well versed in every aspect of multiple births. I've given your wife a detailed report on the dos and don'ts. And we're going to be checking on her every week. You have my assurance that I will be diligent in doing so."
"You'd better be. And by the way, this conversation never happened. My wife does not hear about it."
"Of course."
Without another word, Samuel Copeland strode from the office, slamming the door shut behind him.
Leaning back in the chair, Dr. Blake Forsythe, noted embryologist and OB-GYN to multiple stars, found himself shaking in the aftermath.
Chapter 8
"I'm fine." Eliza tried ineffectually to push him back, but he refused to budge. "It's normal. I'm in my first trimester and I was told this would happen." She leaned back against his solid chest weakly and closed her eyes.
She would not say it to him, of course, but she was wondering if she had bitten off more than she would ever be able to chew. She was as sick as a dog every morning and the dizzy spells were getting worse.
"You're not fine," he gritted out, brushing back the hair from her damp forehead. "I think it's time we call the doctor."
"You want me to go and stay at the clinic."
"Where you can be better monitored." He helped her up and over to the sink where she could rinse out her mouth. She also had a dentist on call to monitor her teeth. The constant vomiting was an oral health problem as well. Lord, she had no idea she would be going through so much!
"I want to stay here. This is my home and it's where I'm most comfortable." She sighed softly when he scooped her into his arms and carried her back to bed. "You didn't have to rush home to be with me. I know you're into the production of the movie."
"Where else would I be?" She had started gaining weight as well but paradoxically looked thin and gaunt. Her stomach was rapidly growing, and she was eating a lot, but most of it came back up. If this was just the first trimester and she was going through all this, he was dreading the next three months and wondering fearfully if she was going to survive the rigors and stress her body was going through. According to the numerous ultrasounds, the fetuses were thriving, if slowly.
"Want some tea?"
She gripped his hand. "Stay with me. Talk to me about work, anything. And tell me that the blonde standing next to you in that photo did not want you to take her back to her place."
He smiled at her attempt at levity and decided to humor her. "She did, yes-" Using a damp washcloth, he bathed her brow. She had the stylist come in to braid her hair to avoid having to style the heavy waves every day. She took walks around the grounds to keep up her exercise, but she kept overdoing things and ended up exhausted. "But I told her that I have the most beautiful wife waiting for me at home, and besides which, she will probably put out a contract on my head if I step out of line."
"Damn straight." Capturing his hand, she pressed it against her cheek and closed her eyes, inhaling his scent. "Do you resent me for doing this?" She opened her eyes to stare at him. It was rough going and she knew it was going to get even rougher. "Your mother thinks I'm insane," she added wearily.
He hated the fact that she seemed down in the dumps. She had been here every day for the past three weeks because her symptoms had increased so rapidly that the doctors had curtailed her activities, and she was being hounded by the press who had somehow gotten wind of the fact that she was pregnant. He was in the middle of production and could not afford to stay with her. He also had obligations that required him to attend several functions where he was supposed to kiss contributors' collective asses in order to get funding, not to mention the fact that he had a responsibility to attend board meetings. When he had to leave, he would ask the housekeeper to stay for the time and have Sally look in on her.
"My mother does not speak for me." He brushed back tendrils of hair from her damp cheek gently. "I'm just concerned about you. I hate that you're going through this."
A smile curved her lips. "You're supposed to say that if you could take this away from me, you gladly would."
"That goes without saying," he told her tenderly. "I want to take all the pain and discomfort away."
Lifting a hand, she touched his hard cheek lightly. "You need a shave."
"That's on my to-do list."
"Tell me about the movie. Distract me from the fact that I feel like I swallowed an elephant." She started to ease up on the pillows and he helped her, plumping the pillows behind her back to give her more comfort. He had a list of things to do, calls to make, but he would make time for her. He had to. He knew she was doing a lot of reading and had even joined an online support group for women carrying multiples. But being in the house every day was not easy on her, especially the fact that she did not get to go and do her usual visits to the various charities.
