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Not that she understood a word of it.
Devin hissed as a needle sunk deep into her arm, an IV bag hanging nearby. For the dehydration, someone explained. Devin gave a small shake of her head, not to deny them, but because she didn’t understand.
“I’m Dr. Annan, you’re here about your pregnancy, but there is much more going on,” the red headed woman explained as she came up beside the bed. “You’re malnourished and dehydrated. We’re going to do some blood tests, make sure everything is okay with you and the baby.”
“It’s okay,” Devin mumbled, the colors of the room smearing and twirling before she let her head drop back to the plump pillow.
“It will be,” Dr. Annan said, brusque and perfunctory as she held a freezing stethoscope to Devin’s chest. “Your husband in the lobby, he’s been spending time with you?”
“Jackson isn’t my husband,” Devin said with a snort of amusement at the very idea. She groaned as Dr. Annan tipped her forward to put the warming metal against her back.
“You have a mate then?”
“He… he wasn’t the one who called you?”
“I don’t take the appointments, Devin, I’m not aware of who called.”
It shocked her into stillness, the way this woman used her name. It felt nice, not couched in danger like it was when an Alpha did it.
“I have a mate. He… he hasn’t been around much.”
Devin heard the grinding of Dr. Annan’s teeth even with the woman behind her. Done listening to her heart, the doctor came around and checked Devin’s eyes and ears. She didn’t say much more than stilted directions and pointed questions as she continued her examination. Devin answered it all honestly, trying not to paint Rey in a bad light because of what she’d done. A technician came in and drew three vials of blood before Dr. Annan held the ends of her stethoscope where it hung around her neck and fixed Devin with cool blue gray eyes.
“Until we get the results back, I won’t know what exactly is wrong. From what you’ve told me, it would be an easy assumption that your mate’s absence is the cause of… all of this,” Dr. Annan said with a terse palm taking in Devin’s state. “But I don’t like to guess, so we’ll get the blood panel done straight away.”
“Do… Do you know anything about Omegas, doctor?”
“I’m a doctor, Devin. I know quite a bit.”
“No, I mean… is it possible for this to go on if he doesn’t…” Devin rolled her shoulders in a shrug, already knowing the answer. It was bad after a few days. It would be worse if it continued. Pregnant Omegas needed an Alpha, and no amount of wishful thinking would change that.
“No. It is not.” Dr. Annan cleared her throat, crossing her arms to look at Devin with bright russet brows forming a hard line over the bridge of her nose. “Your condition will continue to deteriorate, and you will grow even weaker than you are now. You’ll eventually have to be put on life support, but at that point there will be no saving the child.”
Devin nodded, already knowing that would be the doctor’s answer.
“Now, let’s get to the rest of this, shall we? I would like to do an ultrasound, see what we can see. When was your last heat?”
“I don’t have them regularly. This happened outside of that.”
“All right, we’re going to try your abdomen first, and if that doesn’t work, we’ll have to try another way.”
“Okay.”
There was nothing to see. A jagged bolt of horror flew through her, had her clawing at the slick jelly coating her stomach as if she would dig out the offending layers to cup what she knew was in there. Dr. Annan didn’t try to soothe, ordering Devin to lie back with firm commands. They had to go another way was all.
It was uncomfortable and awkward, and Devin cried at first. Being spread open by the long, thin machine was humiliating, no matter the reason, but she sniffed back her tears under Dr. Annan’s baleful gaze.
Then there was something. Not much of anything, really. A literal bundle of cells without real shape or definition, but it was there.
“Looks like you’re about six weeks.” Dr. Annan removed the device, handing Devin several tissues. “Now let’s talk about what you need.”
* * *
Devin slogged past Jackson into the house, hand cupping the faint swell of her belly. It was in there, safe and sound. Dr. Annan ordered her to eat more, but from the perturbed cant of her lips, she knew that wasn’t possible. Devin would try though. Even if it tasted like cardboard, the bundle deserved a chance.
“Can I get you anything, Devin,” Jackson asked from the doorway, teetering on the brink of breaking all the rules and coming after her.
“No. I’m fine.” She wasn’t, and they both could see that. Still she headed to the bedroom where he would never follow, stripping down to her underwear to crawl into the bed. Exhaustion plagued her and she just wanted to find sleep.
