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Her throat worked as she nodded, confirming his statement, her face that impassive mask he now realized she’d tailored to obscure enormous emotions and suffering.
“They told me it was the baby that saved my life, taking most of the damage for me. But the damage to my uterus was too extensive. They told me I’d never have children again.”
He was unable to find words to express his pain and regret and rage and frustration that he couldn’t change the past, couldn’t give of his own life and flesh to defend hers, to wipe away her scars, mental and physical. And that he couldn’t punish Medvedev a thousand times over. But he promised himself again he’d punish everyone who had a hand in Medvedev’s existence, and in her suffering, past and present.
But now he had to dispel at least one of her agonies.
Producing the proof from his pocket, he took her hand and placed it in her palm. “This is a blood-testing chip that our resident medical genius in Black Castle Enterprises has patented. He says it yields one hundred percent results in diagnosing a variety of conditions, one of which is pregnancy. He came to my rescue when you fainted and performed the blood test, and his diagnosis is unequivocal. You are pregnant.”
Scarlett dazedly looked down at the credit card–size transparent plastic chip. The slot for HCG, the hormone detecting pregnancy, was a bright positive red.
Shaking her head, she raised disbelieving eyes to him. “It must be a mistake. I—I can’t be pregnant.”
“Antonio doesn’t make mistakes, Scarlett. The ones who made a mistake were the doctors who gave you that verdict.” When she shook her head again, she swayed and he surged to steady her, taking her by the shoulders. “We’ll redo the test just to put your mind to rest. But we always trusted Antonio with our very lives. If he’s certain, so am I. He believes you’re eight weeks pregnant.”
Still shaking her head, looking punch-drunk, Scarlett whispered, “That’s how long ago our first night was.”
Poignancy tightened his hands, bringing her beloved body closer. “I do have a feeling you got pregnant that night.”
Tears suddenly welled in her reddened eyes, then flowed down her cheeks, cutting streaks into his heart. “But I saw the CT scans. The damage was too extensive. Even if I’m pregnant...it can’t be possible I’ll carry the baby to term. Or it’s even worse, and it’s an ectopic pregnancy. That would still yield a positive test result.”
The thought that she could be right about either possibility gripped his heart in crushing dread. He ran to call Antonio.
At his barked order to come back at once, Antonio only asked if Scarlett was awake. Raiden affirmed that, and Antonio only told him to put him on speaker.
Vibrating with anxiety, Raiden complied, though he didn’t know why he’d asked that. Antonio was a prankster, but he wouldn’t tease him about something like this, and certainly not now of all times.
Once on speaker, Antonio addressed Scarlett. “I assume you didn’t realize you’re pregnant? Because you thought it wasn’t possible?” Scarlett looked even more dazed that Antonio knew what both of them hadn’t known. “And now that you do, you’re worried about the viability of your pregnancy? And that’s why Raiden is working on a stroke again?”
After Scarlett nodded weakly as if Antonio could see her, Antonio went on as if he had. “I can see why you thought that. I performed a thorough exam with ultrasound, but Raiden must have been too agitated to notice, or he didn’t recognize my patented handheld ultrasound for what it is. I did see your old scars, inside and out, and from their site and extensiveness, I can see why your doctors would have given you a prognosis of sterility. And they would have been absolutely right, if not for something exceptional about you.
“You’re one of a rare percentage blessed with no scarring tendencies. This means your wounds heal almost as elastic as your intact tissues and skin. It’s why your esthetic surgery is virtually undetectable. From the current condition of your uterus, I believe you’ll carry your baby without incident and with normal activity to at least thirty-two weeks. After that, I recommend bed rest until term. Your miracle baby’s development is above average, and you’ll surely do everything so it continues to grow at the same rate, so by thirty-six weeks it should be mature enough to be delivered. I recommend C-section, which I’ll of course perform.”
After Antonio finished his thorough medical report, he promised he’d allocate her a whole day for a total checkup. He suffered Raiden’s overwhelmed, overwhelming thanks and ended the call because he was in the middle of surgery.
She remained staring at Raiden all through, her face a mask of shock. Then suddenly the mask cracked and the whole spectrum of emotions fast-forwarded on her face. What she’d just learned, what she’d long craved and despaired of, coming true so unexpectedly... It must be changing everything inside her, rearranging her life and expectations forever. As it was his.
Not that the pregnancy changed what he felt, or what he intended to do. His love for her had already changed everything. The pregnancy, especially one thought to be impossible, was just an extra jubilation. And it was the least fate owed her after all she’d overcome, all she was doing to spare others what she’d suffered.
And it would be only the beginning. She’d have love and safety and cherishing and everything that he was and had to give for the rest of his life.
“Raiden...” She swayed again, and he caught her, swept her up in a fervent embrace and took her back to bed.
He knew she fell asleep the moment she touched the sheets. It had all been too much for her. But now it wasn’t a dead faint that claimed her, but deep, recharging sleep. The heartbreakingly blissful smile on her lips said that.
All he wanted was to strip both of them and fuse their flesh and go to sleep wrapped around her, enfolding her and their coming baby in his love and protection.
But before he did that, his phone rang.
Thinking it must be Antonio calling back to add medical advice, he eagerly and not a little anxiously answered.
“Raiden-san, you must come to my office at once.”
His uncle’s clipped command shot through him with dismay.
The call was over the moment he said, “Of course.” Whatever his uncle had to say, he would say only to his face.
In the next second, a smile played on his lips. He marveled at how everything was conspiring to come together. Numair’s discoveries had led to Scarlett’s confessions, then to Antonio’s revelation. Now, from his usually courteous uncle’s coldness, this was leading to the confrontation Raiden had been expecting. But instead of placating his uncle and taking a slap on his wrist for his public indiscretions with Scarlett the past two weeks, he’d inform his uncle he was no longer his future father-in-law.
