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“Holy hell,” Simi said. “I’m having a baby with a man I don’t know.”
I felt my lips quirk.
Because mostly, she was right.
We didn’t know each other. At least, not past what we’d told each other on the first night that we’d been together. Though she couldn’t remember that night all that much, we would have many more nights to get together.
And, if my usual hunches were correct, this was going somewhere beyond just a “get to know you” into a “know you forever.”
“All right,” she started printing, then gestured at Keene to turn around. Keene did, and she removed the wand, which was rather large, from inside Simi. Simi grimaced before hastily covering herself up.
Yennifer backed away just to bend over the machine and start ripping off small squares of paper. She turned and offered all of us one.
I didn’t let go of Simi’s hand to take it.
Instead, we each grabbed it with our free hand and studied it some more.
“I’m gonna have to hang this one up on the fridge,” Keene declared. “Holy shit, sis. This is surreal.” He paused. “And we’ll talk about you knocking up my sister and then letting her leave another time.”
I scratched my head.
I didn’t know Keene well, but I could tell that he was a little disgruntled at the news of Simi’s pregnancy.
A throat cleared, and we all looked at the doctor we’d not heard throughout all of the sonogram.
“Everything looks good means that we can release you,” he said, his eyes going to Simi’s wrists. “The only thing I want you to watch closely is the swelling on those hands and wrists from the handcuffs when the car rolled. Then, I want you to also wake her up once every three hours to ascertain her mental status.” He eyed her head then. “I would suggest a neuro consult, but we are a small hospital. We literally have two floors. The ER and the medical hold unit that is there for those people that just need an extra day or two in the hospital, not any interventions. We could transfer you, but since other than your memory, your head looks fine, I would suggest a trip to see a neuro guy or gal that can help if the confusion and memory loss doesn’t clear up in a day or two.”
I pulled my wallet out of my back pocket with my free hand, then reluctantly let go of Simi’s hand to fold the photo up and place it in there between a stack of hundred-dollar bills.
Simi handed me hers, and I did the same with hers, only putting it at the front and not the middle so we could tell ours apart.
There was movement outside the door as the doctor left after telling us he would be sending discharge instructions in via the nurse, then Yennifer followed in his wake seconds after, allowing me to see the two deputies standing there talking in their huddle.
I stood up to head out there to see what was going on and watched out of the corner of my eye as Simi stiffened.
I bent down and caught her face in my hand, turning her eyes to look at me.
Four of my fingers rested on her cheek while my thumb guided her face to where her gaze was pinned with mine.
“I’m going to go outside and get some information,” I told her. “If you need anything or just need me, don’t hesitate to yell, okay? I won’t go farther than the doorway right outside.”
She visibly wilted underneath me.
She’d thought I’d been leaving, and she hadn’t liked it.
“Okay,” she replied softly.
That happy rush of endorphins at being needed by her was enough to make my heart rate pick up.
“I’ll be right back. I swear,” I promised.
She nodded, and I dropped my hand from her face.
Her head fell back to the bed as she said, “Do you think they’d care if I got dressed?”
I looked around for her clothes—my clothes—before saying, “I’ll go ask about that while I’m out there.”
She frowned, likely because that would put me farther past the door, before she said, “Keene, can you do it?”
Keene was already up and moving. “Sure can.”
Then he was gone.
I moved to the end of the bed, squeezed her foot that was underneath the blanket, then said, “Be right back.”
Moving to the door, I chanced a glance back to make sure she was okay with me leaving and found her eyes laser-focused on me.
Deciding that getting out of her line of sight might freak her out too much at this juncture, I made sure to go outside but stayed where she could see me.
I turned back once I was where I was going to be to again check to make sure she was okay, and I saw her leaning forward in her hospital bed, eyes intently on me like if I got any farther, she might just launch herself out of the bed at me.
