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ASHER: You all ready for the weekend?
BELLA: all packed and ready when you are.
ASHER: Bags in the car. Good thing I packed last night.
BELLA: Looking forward to it. See you tonight. Hope your day goes by fast.
I pocketed my phone just as I got to the counter. I ordered my coffee and a muffin and headed back upstairs. It would have been nice to get out of the office for a bit and head to The Cooling Rack for lunch, but this would have to do. I’d just walked through the doors of the office. The waiting was room full. Marie waved, catching my attention. I shut the outside door and made my way over to her desk.
“Asher, Alonzo is stuck downstairs. Apparently, some complications arose, and he’s had to do a C-section. I’ve rescheduled most of his appointments the second I found out. However, there is one patient here that is waiting for him in his office.”
“Okay, no big deal. I can take care of it,” I said, glancing down at my watch.
“It shouldn’t take you long. It’s an eight-week ultrasound. Everything is already done. You just need to go over the results.”
“Sure, no problem. These are actually a favourite of mine. However, I’ll need you to cancel my six o’clock then. Try to reschedule for Monday.”
“Ah, yes, you have that festival this weekend, don’t you?”
“Yep, and now I don’t feel so bad asking Alonzo to watch over my three ladies who may go into labour this weekend, knowing he will probably be here anyway.” I chuckled.
“That’s okay. He’ll get you back next weekend,” Marie said, smiling. “I’ll get that appointment rescheduled. I can also reschedule your five thirty if you like.”
I thought for a moment. “Please do. That will help a bit, just in case I run over with the rest of the appointments this afternoon.”
I headed on down the hall, carrying my hot coffee into my office. I took a few sips, a couple bites of the sandwich I’d been working on for most of the afternoon, and then headed toward Alonzo’s office, pulling the file out of the file hanger and opening it to glance and make sure the results were there. Sure enough, the page was on top, and I opened the office door.
“Hello, sorry about the wait. Doctor Love had an emergency and unfortunately can’t make it. I’m Doctor Harrison and I’ll…”
As I turned around, I stopped dead in my tracks as I laid eyes on my next patient. Bella stood in front of me, the look on her face matching mine. With our eyes locked, it was all I could do to stand there as shock flooded my body. Neither of us moved. In fact, I wasn’t even sure if I was still breathing. My hands shook as I tilted the file to see the name of the patient, and sure enough, Bella Langdon was neatly typed on the nameplate.
The silence in the room was deafening. I could barely take it. I looked at her; she looked at me; I felt completely blindsided. “Is this some sort of joke?” I asked.
She didn’t move; she just stood there.
“What kind of sick joke is this, Bella?” I asked again, raising my voice.
“It’s not a joke,” she whispered, her voice barely audible.
“You’re here for an eight-week ultrasound? You’re pregnant?”
She barely nodded her head, but she did, in fact, nod.
“I take it… fuck me… that it’s mine, unless there are other things you aren’t telling me?”
She nodded her head as her bottom lip trembled.
The room spun as I stood there. I needed to sit down, but that would mean I’d want to entertain a conversation with her and really all I wanted was to run from this room. Instead of responding, I turned and left. I shut the door behind me and made my way into my office where I took a seat. I just needed to breathe, I thought to myself as I studied the wall.
After I’d taken a few deep breaths, and once the room finally stopped spinning and I didn’t feel as if I would faint away, I got up. Leaving the file on my desk, I made my way back toward Alonzo’s office, opened the door, and slipped inside to find Bella sitting on the edge of the couch, her face in her hands.
“How long have you known?” I demanded, trying to keep my voice down.
She shrugged. “About six weeks.”
“So you’ve known since before you came back to Eastport?” I bit out as I paced back and forth.
She slowly nodded her head.
