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“I’m concerned,” she says. “Your blood pressure is a bit high, which is common for women who have pregnancy anemia. You’re taking your supplements and iron, right?”
“Of course,” I say, starting to get worried.
She nods. “I’d like for you to pick up a blood pressure monitor. Take and record your blood pressure three times a day in a journal. I’m also going to suggest modified bed rest.”
Wait, what?“Bed rest? Like, I can’t get out of bed? I don’t understand. I feel fine. I’m young and active and eat healthy for the most part, aside from a few cravings. What am I doing wrong?”
Dr. Peterson rests her hand on mine, noticing that I’m starting to freak out. “Pregnancy anemia paired with high blood pressure can lead to preeclampsia as well as other more severe complications. Right now, I’m not ordering you to go on bed rest, but I want you to try to relax, take it easy. We’ll reevaluate at your next appointment. If it worsens, we’ll have to consider medication as well as bed rest.”
When my face falls and my hand goes to my belly, the doctor pats my hand. “The baby is perfect. Sometimes things happen that are out of our control, but unlike years ago, we now have modern medicine on our side. Keep taking your supplements and vitamins, monitor your BP, and don’t stress.” She glances at Lincoln for backup. “Make sure she doesn’t stress.”
“You got it,” Lincoln says, stepping closer to me and putting his hand on my shoulder. He squeezes gently, and when I glance up at him, he smiles softly. “No stress.”
I nod in response, but my mood has officially sunk. Sure, my baby is doing okay right now, but low iron and high blood pressure can’t be good.
When we get into Lincoln’s car, I pull up Google and type in the terms the doctor mentioned, but before I can click search, my phone is snatched out of my hand.
“Hey!”
“Nope.” Lincoln pockets my phone. “Doctor Google never goes over well for anyone.”
I huff in annoyance and glare his way, but it only makes him chuckle.
When I notice we’re not headed in the direction of home, I ask, “Where are we going?”
“It’s your birthday, and I imagine you’re hungry since you haven’t eaten recently. I’m taking you to lunch, and then we’ll go by the store and get you a BP monitor and journal, and then you’re going to do as the doctor said and relax.”
I want to argue with him, but since he’s not wrong, I simply nod. A little while later, I recognize where we are: Elite. My heart clenches in my chest, and I glance at him, silently asking why we’re here. There’s no way he wants to?—
“Figured we could have lunch at Impulse,” he says, cutting off my ridiculous thoughts. “I know how much you used to love the food here.”
I did. It was my favorite place to eat, and it also helped that eating there meant spending time with Lincoln. The last time we ate at Impulse was for my graduation dinner before I left for California.
Lunch is good, and Lincoln and I spend the meal talking about school, the baby, and how I like being back at home. It’s not awkward at all, and we keep it light, staying away from anything too deep. It reminds me of before everything changed—when things were a bit simpler.
After we’re done eating, Lincoln surprises me with a birthday cake that’s beyond delicious. Since it’s only the two of us, the waitress boxes up the rest for later. After stopping by the drug store, we head home.
“I don’t think you should go back to your sister’s place,” Lincoln says as he drives toward Blu.
“What?” I jerk my head toward him, wondering what the hell he’s talking about.
“The girls are sick, and you’re already dealing with enough.” He nods toward the bag containing my new monitor and journal. “The last thing you need is to get sick on top of everything else.”
“Sienna’s pregnant and?—”
“...she’s their mother,” he finishes. “And Micah texted saying he’s handling it, so she’s exposed as little as possible, but there’s no reason for you to be exposed as well.”
“Yeah, that makes sense,” I agree. “As much as I love staying with them, I was planning to find my own place anyway,” I admit. “The room I’m staying in was set to become the baby’s nursery. Sienna said it was fine, but I know she’d love to be able to decorate it once the baby is born and they know the gender. Plus”—I mock shiver—”I’ve caught them having sex twice.”
Lincoln barks out a laugh. “I’ve walked in on them a few times.”
“Yeah, well, twice is two times too many for me. It’s time to go.”
When we arrive at Blu, instead of going to the elevator, I head over to the front desk to see about renting a place.
“What are you doing?” Lincoln asks, pulling me to the side.
“I need to find my own place, but until then, I was thinking I’d rent a room here.”
