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“Sophie Havers, which room?” Drew’s deep voice booms from the corridor outside moments before he bursts through the door of the hospital room.
He rushes over to me in his suit, his blue eyes frantic and glassy, as he cups my face between his hands, his chest heaving up and down like he sprinted the whole way here.
“You okay?” His eyes ping pong from one of mine to the other as he searches them.
His scent surrounds me like a soothing embrace.Honey and smoked wood.
“I am now.” I place one of my hands over his as he exhales in a rush and then screws his eyes closed, kissing me on the lips.
“I left the second you called.” He pulls back and his eyes pinch as he looks up and down the hospital bed I’m sitting up in, and at the gown I’m wearing. “The bleeding?” It comes out as a haunted croak.
“It’s stopped. It can happen without being a problem. But it’s something we’ll be keeping an eye on.”
Drew whirls around to face Dr. Melinda, who’s reading my chart at the foot of the bed. She was already at the hospital when I came in. So she’s been with me since I arrived.
I take his hand in mine and press a kiss to his palm as he keeps his attention on the doctor.
“What caused it? Do you know?” he asks.
“Well, there’s no sign of placenta abruption, which is a risk in pregnancies with multiples, so I’m happy with that. Sometimes there is no clear cause, although it can be brought on by stress.”
Drew turns back to me, his eyes raking up and down my body again like he needs to check again for himself that I really am okay.
“And the babies? Are they both okay?”
“One’s heartrate was elevated when Sophie first arrived. But they’re both stable now.”
“Are you sure?” he fires out, his eyes widening as his gaze lands on my stomach.
“Drew,” I say, squeezing his hand. “They’re okay.”
He rubs his free hand across his mouth as he draws in a breath, looking at Dr. Melinda again. “These babies, Doctor… They mean everything…” He exhales in a rush. “Are yousure?”
“I can show you on the monitor.” Dr Melinda smiles kindly as Drew falls into the chair next to the bed and grips my hand.
“Thank you,” he breathes.
His forehead is drawn, creases etched across it as he watches her set up the monitor and get the ultrasound gel ready.
“We can do a straightforward ultrasound of the stomach now that the pregnancy is further along,” she explains to Drew as she lowers the bed and instructs me to lie back, then lifts my gown and places gel onto my bump for the second time in the past hour.
I felt guilty seeing the babies on screen when I first arrived without Drew here. Everything else we’ve done has been together.
I stroke my thumb over his knuckles as he holds his breath, staring at the screen. The second the room fills with a rhythmicthump-thump,he breaks down, burying his face into his other hand.
Dr Melinda nods. “That’s—”
“The heartbeat.” He sniffs and looks up, a smile breaking his face in half. Then he turns to me, his eyes cloudy. “Our baby’s heartbeat.”
“Yes,” I whisper, my eyes glued to him as he looks back at the screen.
“Can I hear both?” He clears his throat, regaining composure, before glancing at me and smiling in awe.
“Of course.” Doctor Melinda moves the wand over my stomach until a similarthump-thumpfills the room.
“It’s faster?” He looks at her for reassurance.
“It is. But still within normal range. If you believe the tales, then a faster heartrate signifies a girl.”
