Chapter 11
CHAPTER ELEVEN
EVAN
“It’s a little high. Let’s check your other arm.”
The unsmiling nurse whips off the blood pressure cuff. Sweat drips down the back of my neck and anxiety sinks its claws into me as I hold out my other arm, wincing at the scraping of Velcro, the whirring of the machine, and the tightening of the cuff until I want to scream.
For one wild moment, I wish the nurse hadn’t made Cooper stand outside this little room that seems to get smaller with every passing second.
Strangely, I think his calm reassurance might be exactly what I need right now, and isn’t that just the stupidest shit.
My toes are curled tightly in my shoes, and I grip the bottom of my chair with my free arm until the cuff finally, mercifully, loosens.
“Hmmm,” the nurse says, typing something into the computer. “We’ll have the doctor take a look. Follow me.”
Her gruff, no-nonsense tone does nothing to calm my sparking nerves, and I wonder whether I’ve failed pregnancy already. I imagine what she typed into that computer.
High blood pressure. Unfit to be a mother.
Tell me something I don’t already know.
The nurse opens the door, and as soon as I step out into the hallway, Cooper is the first thing I see.
I try really hard not to think about why the sight of him leaning against the opposite wall in his work clothes, legs crossed in front of him, feels like I’m taking my first deep breath in twenty minutes.
His eyes zero right in on my face. “Everything okay?” he asks in a quiet voice, falling into step beside me and following the nurse down the hallway.
“Not even close,” I mutter.
As we walk, the back of his hand brushes mine in a way that feels intentional. One that seems to say I’m here and We’re in this together.
I like it way too much.
“Take off everything from the waist down,” the nurse says when she waves us into an exam room, barely even looking at me as she busies herself arranging the ultrasound machine. “Cover up with the paper sheet. The doctor should be in shortly.”
She leaves without a backwards glance, and I practically collapse onto the exam table.
Cooper sits in an empty chair and scoots it forward until he’s sitting right in front of me, his eyes meeting mine. “Want to tell me what happened in that little room the mean nurse banned me from?”
I close my eyes, taking a deep breath. “It’s really stupid.”
He takes one of my hands and squeezes it. When I open my eyes, the patience and kindness on his face loosens the knot of anxiety in my chest.
“I promise it’s not.”
“I hate having my blood pressure taken. Actually, no,” I say, trying again.
“I’m terrified of it. Always have been. I don’t know what it is, but it scares the shit out of me.
Every time a doctor comes at me with a blood pressure cuff, I freak the fuck out, which of course means my blood pressure is high, which makes me freak out even more so it’s higher the second time they take it.
It’s usually no big deal, but I think blood pressure is actually a little bit of a deal when you’re having a baby. ”
Cooper nods, all We’ve got this. “They took your blood pressure in that room, and it was high?”
“Sky high. And even higher when they tried again.”
He waits until my eyes meet his again, and then he gives me a reassuring smile. “I’ve been doing some research on pregnancy.”
“You have?”
“Of course. I want to know what to expect, for you and for me. Pregnancy comes with all kinds of weird medical shit, it turns out. A lot of uncertainty and a lot of wait and see. I promise we’ll deal with all of it together.
If you’re scared, tell me. If you want to bitch and complain, lay it on me.
We’ll handle this one thing at a time, and we’ll get through it, starting with this.
When the doctor comes in today, we’ll talk to her all about blood pressure, what scares you, and how we make it less scary.
Whatever it takes, Rhodes. That’s what we’ll do. ”
I have to blink back the burn of tears at Cooper’s words.
“Why are you being so nice to me?” I ask in a whisper.
“You’re here and being all reassuring and shit.
I mean, you were waiting outside the office bathroom with a handful of cherry Jolly Ranchers after I threw up this morning for fuck’s sake.
We don’t even like each other, and I can take care of myself. What gives, Cooper?”
He smiles, running his thumb over mine. “I know you can take care of yourself, but why should you have to? I told you, I know there’s not much I can do to actually grow the baby, but I can do this.
And maybe we didn’t used to like each other, but I like to think that maybe we’ve made an odd sort of peace what with the whole sharing a kid thing. ”
I look away from him at the ultrasound machine that will probably have the baby inside me on the screen at some point in the next half hour, the glass jars of medical supplies, the pictures on the wall of fetuses at various stages of development, and my anxiety comes roaring back.
I shake my head. “I don’t think I can do this.
As a matter of fact, I know I can’t. I have to go back to work.
I can’t be here when I have piles of work on my desk and a million deadlines and a partnership position to earn.
I changed my mind. We need to send this baby back.
Where’s a fucking Delorean when you need one? ” I mumble.
Cooper chuckles, squeezing my hand. “If we find one, do we have to take back the part where I fucked you against a window? Because I really liked that.”
I laugh despite myself. “Maybe we just go back to the part before that where you were all, Fuck we need a condom, and I was all, Of course we don’t.”
He smirks at me. “Admit it, Rhodes. You were too desperate for my cock to wait for anything.”
I roll my eyes even as the word cock coming from his mouth has a curl of lust snaking through me. “Keep dreaming.”
Cooper looks me dead in the eyes, face serious. “If you think I haven’t dreamt about the way you looked when I was inside you—the sounds you made—you’re out of your damn mind.”
I have no clue what to say to that, and suddenly the exam room feels like a sauna. I jump up from the table, grabbing the folded paper sheet. “Turn around. Apparently, I have to strip from the waist down.”
He chuckles. “Nothing I haven’t seen before.”
“Fuck right off with that my dude. This isn’t a conference room at two in the morning. You don’t get to see me take off my underwear here.”
Cooper leans back in his chair and crosses his arms over his chest. “I’m pretty sure I didn’t see you take them off in that conference room either. Just tugged that lace thong you were wearing right to the side and sank—”
I slap a hand over his mouth, cutting off whatever he was about to say. “Don’t even think about it. Close your damn eyes.”
He grins behind my hand and closes his eyes, but then the asshole licks me. Fucking licks my hand, and it should be gross but instead it kind of makes me want to see what other parts of me he could lick.
For the love of god.
Whipping off my skirt and underwear, I shove them both in my bag then sit back down, unfolding the scratchy, crinkly paper blanket and spreading it over my legs.
You would think they would make this whole experience more comfortable.
If men had the babies and had to get a speculum shoved inside their vagina once a year while a doctor peered at their cervixes, these exam rooms would be like luxury hotel suites and this blanket would be cashmere.
“Okay, you can open them.”
Cooper opens his eyes and gives me a onceover. “Looking good, Rhodes.”
“I hate you,” I mumble.
He gives me a knowing look. “I really don’t think you do.”
I don’t have time to answer him because, at that moment, there’s a quick knock on the door before it opens and my long-time OBGYN, Dr. McCallister, appears in the doorway with a smile. “Evan, it’s great to see you.”
“Is it though?” I mutter as she closes the door.
She laughs, glancing at Cooper. “And you are?”
“Cooper Wyles,” he says, standing and holding out his hand.
“He’s the dad,” I say. “Of the baby. This baby,” I say gesturing at my stomach, my voice just a little too high. I blow out a breath, trying to calm the fuck down. “I’m pregnant.”
Cooper reaches out and takes my hand in his, and my heartrate slows down immediately. Jesus, this man should be studied. He’s like magic or something.
Dr. McCallister looks at me with understanding eyes. “I take it this was a surprise?”
I huff out a laugh as Cooper chuckles. “I’ll say.”
She nods. “Okay, we’re going to figure out all the things.” She glances at Cooper. “I assume since he’s here, it’s okay to talk freely in front of him?”
I sigh. “I mean, it’s his kid, too, and he’s seen me throw up in, like, three different trash cans on three separate occasions. I think we’re past secrets.”
Cooper smiles and squeezes my hand. “Rhodes, I think that’s the nicest thing you’ve ever said to me.”
Dr. McCallister laughs and glances at my chart. “Okay, I see you don’t know the date of your last period, is that right?”
I shake my head. “I’m sorry,” I say, feeling the need to apologize for this for some reason. “I usually skip the placebo pills, so I rarely get one, but I had a bunch of all-nighters in a row back in August, and I’m almost positive I messed up my pills. So, here we are.”
She nods. “That’s totally fine. We’ll do an ultrasound to figure out how far along you are, but I wanted to talk about your blood pressure.”
I tense immediately, my hand clamping down on Cooper’s. “I know it was high.”