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“Ma’am, have a seat,” a woman in scrubs says, approaching me with a wheelchair. “We’ll bring you into the birthing and delivery center.”
“Here you are.” The receptionist’s eyes lift to me. “You’re…with Dr. O’Rourke.”
“Um.” I close my eyes. “Yeah.”
“Does he know you’re here?”
“No. I was… I was across the street. Meeting a friend. I… I don’t want to bother him.” I lower into the wheelchair, feeling the wetness on my ass and the backs of my thighs.
“I’ll page him.” The receptionist barks something to the woman, who’s escorting me, but it’s all administrative jargon.
I’m wheeled past a set of double doors and into chaos when the pain hits again. I cry out, unable to hold it in anymore. I’m cracked open and done.
“Breathe, honey,” the woman pushing me says.
“I’m trying!” I snap, full of fear, thinking this sudden labor may be my reaction to seeing Darragh with that woman.
I’ve fallen for him, and I’m so upset that I’m suffocating.
“I can’t get a hold of Dr. O’Rourke,” the nurse says.
It’s on the tip of my tongue to tell her he’s outside, flirting with a woman.
“Put her in bay four. Dr. Federov reviewed her ultrasound. I’ll call him.”
Federov. Russian.
I don’t know him. An OB nurse named Riya did my ultrasounds.
Behind a curtain, the woman helps me change, and fear drags me under.
I’m here. I’m having this baby. It’s real, and I’m terrified.
I need Darragh after all.
I reach into my pocket for Sophie’s phone to call him, but it’s…gone.
CHAPTER THIRTY
Darragh
Ileave work after I managed to sweet-talk Dr. Marley into coming in early and covering for me for a few hours. I met her outside, gave her an update on a patient, and raced home.
Ana didn’t voice any concerns in front of Sophie, but I could hear the fear in her voice.
It was my first day back after Cormac broke into the house and attacked her. I kept a smile on my face at work and amped up my usual charm, so no one knew I’m dealing with a nightmare in my personal life as far as my brother and what he’s done. I spent the weekend hovering over Ana, making sure she had everything she needs, giving her extra hugs, and telling her she’s safe, that I will protect her.
I hated leaving Ana alone while Sophie was in school. She’s been different since the attack. Silent, watchful. She continuously checks the windows and jumps at the faintest noises.
The afternoon grayness, with the way the days are getting darker earlier, must drain all her strength.
I paid extra for my security company to add a secondary system. The house is more wired than ever. Still, Ana looks scared all the time. I updated all the passcodes and hadn’t realized Cormac knew the old ones.
He must have disabled the alarm at the front gate and climbed inside Ana’s room. How he knew which room she’d be in suggests he must have been watching the house.
Watching us. Who the hell else is watching us? The bubble I constructed for Sophie and me, and to an extent Cormac to keep him safe, has shattered.
Was it ever real? Was this inevitable?
