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e to win custody of Maggie. Even though it hadn’t been his only reason for asking her to marry him, she’d been right to feel as if he’d treated her no better than Noah.
But how could he convince her to give him another chance when she’d rejected everything he’d already said and done? As with the subject of Maggie’s paternity, she was either going to believe him or she wasn’t. She’d been burned before, and her lack of trust demonstrated that she hadn’t yet moved on. He’d have to be patient and persistent. Two things he was known for when it came to horses, but not in his personal life.
“Hadley, about what happened last night—”
A nurse appeared in the waiting room and called Maggie’s name before Hadley could respond. Liam ground his teeth as he and Hadley followed the nurse into an exam room. He refocused his attention on Maggie as the nurse weighed and measured her. After it was determined that her temperature had climbed to 102, the nurse left to fetch Dr. Stringer.
Liam’s tension ratcheted upward during the wait. Hadley sat beside him with Maggie cradled in her arms. She’d fixed her gaze on the door to the hall as if she could summon the doctor by sheer will.
After a wait that felt like hours but was less than ten minutes, Maggie’s doctor appeared. Dr. Stringer made a quick but thorough examination of his patient, returned her to Hadley’s arms and sat down, his expression solemn.
“I’m concerned that she’s running a temperature and that the jaundice hasn’t gone away after the phototherapy treatments,” Dr. Stringer said. “I’d like to draw blood and recheck her bilirubin levels. If they continue to remain high we may want to look at the possibility of doing a blood transfusion.”
Liam felt rather than heard Hadley’s sharp intake of breath. She had leaned her shoulder against his as the doctor had spoken. The seriousness of Maggie’s medical condition was a weight Liam was glad not to have to bear alone.
“Maggie is a rare blood type,” Liam said. “AB negative. Is that going to pose a problem finding donors?”
The doctor shook his head. “Not at all. In fact, where O is the universal donor blood type, AB is the universal recipient. But let’s not get ahead of ourselves. I’m going to have the nurse draw some blood and then we’ll see where we’re at.”
Maggie’s reaction to the blood draw was not as vigorous as Liam expected it to be, and he took that as a sign that she was even sicker than she appeared. This time as they sat alone in the exam room, Liam reached for Hadley’s hand. Her fingers were ice cold, but they curved to hold fast to his.
Their second wait was longer, but no less silent. Liam’s heart thumped impatiently, spreading unease through every vein. Beside him, Hadley, locked in her own battle with worry, gripped his hand and stared down at Maggie. Both of them had run out of reassuring things to say.
The door opened again and Dr. Stringer entered. “Looks like it’s not her bilirubin levels that are causing the problem,” he said, nothing about his manner suggesting this was good news.
“Then what’s going on?” Liam asked.
“We’re seeing a high level of white blood cells that points to infection. Because of the jaundice and the fact that she’s a preemie, I’d like you to take Maggie to the hospital for further testing. I’ve already contacted my partner, Dr. Davison. He’s on call at the hospital today and will be waiting for you.”
“The hospital?” Hadley sounded stunned. “It’s that serious?”
“At this point we don’t know, but I would rather err on the side of caution.”
Liam nodded. “Then we’ll head right over.”
* * *
Hadley sat in the passenger side of Liam’s Range Rover as he drove to the hospital and silently berated herself for being a terrible caregiver.
“This isn’t your fault,” Liam said, demonstrating an uncanny knack for knowing what she was thinking.
“You don’t know that.”
“She only just recently started showing signs of an infection.”
“But we don’t know how long this has been brewing. You heard the doctor. He said it could have been coming on slowly for a long time. What if she was sick before we went to Colorado and then we walked to town and back? Maybe that’s when things started.”
“We can’t know for sure and you’ll make yourself crazy if you keep guessing.”
“I should never have...” She trailed off, biting her lip to stifle the rest of the sentence.
“Should never have what?” Liam demanded, taking his eyes off the road to glance her way.
She answered in a rush. “Slept with you.”
“Why? Because by doing that you stopped being a good nanny?” He snorted derisively.
Hadley shifted away from his irritation and leaned her head against the cool window. “Maggie was my responsibility. I got distracted.”
