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The baby.
Her hand flew to her belly. Under a soft cotton hospital gown, it still protruded just the way it had before, but was it a little less big? More soft? Where were the movements she’d gotten used to?
“Help!” she called out in a panic. “Hello! Help!”
After a few endless terrifying moments, a young woman in a white coat rushed into the room. Without asking, she put a stethoscope to Bliss’ belly. “What’s wrong? Does something hurt?” she asked in an accent Bliss couldn’t identify. “I’m Dr. Rishi, the attending physician on call.”
“Is…is…” Bliss couldn’t even ask the question. Tears were streaming down her face like rain. It was embarrassing. She didn’t usually show her deepest emotions like this, but she couldn’t seem to help it.
“Oh my goodness, no wonder you are so upset! Everything is fine in there. Or should I sayeveryone. You were brought in unconscious with minor abrasions and a bruise on your cheek. It may well be a hematoma. We’ll have to see how it develops. But your pregnancy is in good shape. Excellent shape.”
She must have seen Bliss’ expression of disbelief, because she pulled the stethoscope off her neck.
“Do you want to hear for yourself?”
Like a hungry animal, Bliss grabbed the stethoscope from her. But then she didn’t know exactly how it worked, so the doctor had to insert the ear buds into her ears, and settle the sensor on her stomach. She couldn’t really tell what she was hearing—heartbeats? Thumping? But whatever it was, it was very strong.
More tears poured down her face. “Thank you. You’re an amazing doctor. I love you so much.”
Dr. Rishi gave her a laughing glance under raised eyebrows. “Those hormones are really playing havoc with you, aren’t they? Not at all surprising.”
The woman had no idea. “My…” She searched for the right word for Granger, and came up blank. Baby-daddy? That wasn’t an official designation. “My bodyguard. Is he here? Granger?”
“Who?”
Dismay sent her slumping back against the pillow. No Granger? Where had he gone? That man had cornered her in the elevator and told her to stay quiet. She’d told him it was too late and that everyone knew everything.
His response had been very confusing. “Who does?” he’d demanded. “Who else knows?” Which didn’t make sense, but she didn’t have time to sort it out because the doors had opened on the third floor and he’d shoved her down to the floor and she’d banged her cheek against the hand rail.
She put a hand to her cheek. Had he hit her too? She didn’t remember anything like that. But he could have. For that brief time, she’d been entirely at his mercy.
Where was Granger?
He’d been trying to follow her inside the elevator but he hadn’t made it. Where had he gone? Had he been the one who brought her to the hospital? There was no way he would have left her side…unless he was hurt too?
Mouth gone dry, she tried again. “Earl Granger. He was with me when I got attacked. Well, not with me, but in the same building.”
“Ah, Earl Granger. Yes, he’s going to be fine, but he will lose his gallbladder, I’m sorry to say. Are you authorized to make medical decisions for him?”
She stared at the doctor blankly. “Gallbladder?”
“It’s not considered an essential organ,” the doctor assured her. Even though Bliss still loved her for delivering the good news about the baby, she was starting to wonder if Dr. Rishi had the best bedside manner. “We can digest food quite well without our gallbladders. He will have to make some changes to his diet. However, one inch deeper and he would have been fitted for a colostomy bag. Which are quite handy for many people and not to be scorned, but also do take quite a bit of maintenance. I have some patients who—”
“Dr. Rishi!” Bliss interrupted in a voice she hadn’t known she possessed. It was strong and forceful, the kind of voice producers and directors used. “What happened to Granger?”
“Are you a family member?”
“He’s the father.” She waved at her belly. “I’m pretty sure that makes him a family member.”
“Oh. Indeed.” Dr. Rishi looked taken aback. “You make a lovely couple. I’ve heard that the bodyguard-client relationship can be quite spicy—”
“What.Happened?”
“He sustained several knife wounds. The blade went through the right thoraco-abdominal region and penetrated his liver and his gallbladder. He is being treated with both laparoscopy to suture the liver and a cholecystectomy, which is the removal of the gallbladder. The surgeons will also suture the muscles that were damaged as they close the abdominal cavity.”
“How…how did he get hurt?” Bliss whispered. “He wasn’t in the elevator when that man attacked me.”
“You’ll most likely have to ask him,” Dr. Rishi said cheerfully. “Which you will be able to do in…” she checked her watch… “perhaps tomorrow. He will need some time to recover.” She patted Bliss’ belly with an absurdly chipper smile. “He isn’t a coffee drinker, is he?”
