Chapter 8
Eight
Increased risk of miscarriage following removal.
Rest for several days.
Bleeding.
Cramping.
“Fuck.”
Hawk turned his phone off and set it down on the counter, shaking his head back and forth.
Jessie’s doctor had recommended removing her IUD.
He had to believe that was for the best. She was going to be okay.
God, he really should have been there with her.
Then he could have driven her back, tucked her into his bed, and let her rest.
“Phoenix, you good?” Gage asked as he stepped into the kitchen, eyes bouncing between Hawk and the oven. “Are you cooking something?”
“Yeah.”
“Oh… okay. So, you’re good? This is like the fifth time I’ve seen you storm down the hall to come pace in here in like the last hour.”
“I’m fine.” Hawk scrubbed his hand over his face. “Cap just sent over a ton of paperwork I need to sort through for those D.C. investors, and I’m not sure three months is going to be enough to go through it all and get it pulled together.”
Gage nodded, reaching into the cupboard that was stocked with snacks. “I’m happy to jump on it with you if you want. I know you and Cap are traveling there for the presentation, but I can help with whatever presentation build out stuff you might need.”
“I just might take you up on that, Track. My head’s just not in it right now.”
“Hey, Jessie! Are you looking for Hawk?” Mae’s voice filtered through from her desk.
Gage’s eyebrows shot up. “Have anything to do with the woman standing out there talking to your sister?”
A little of the tension in his shoulders broke free. She was there. She was okay. “Yeah, of course it does.”
He patted Gage’s shoulder as set his coffee mug into the sink, air reaching his lungs for what felt like the first time since he’d pulled up the articles on his phone.
“Yeah. I just… I told him I’d stop by. Is he busy? I can come back.”
“No. He’s not busy. He was just out here pacing around like a caged animal. Makes sense now that I know he was waiting on you.”
Hawk forced himself to take a breath, relaxing his shoulders before he walked out of the kitchen into the reception area.
“Hey, Pretty Girl.” He searched her face. It was pale, and her eyes were red-rimmed. What the fuck happened? “Everything go okay at your appointment?”
Her eyes bounced over to Mae, who, to her credit, was looking awfully involved in a random stack of paperwork.
“Yeah. It did.”
“Do you want to talk in my office?”
She nodded.
“Come here.” Hawk slipped his hand around Jessie’s shoulders and brought her down to his office. He had half a mind to haul her into his arms. “I was just about to leave to pick you up.”
“I told you I was driving here,” she said.
“And I told you I didn’t love that idea. When you didn’t show up ten minutes after I was expecting you, I started to worry.”
“I’m sorry. I had to stop and…” Her voice trailed off.
Hawk sat down next to her. “And what? Were you not feeling well?” His eyes searched hers.
“I was reading online that you should take it easy for the next few days. I’m going to grab my laptop and we’ll go upstairs.
I’ll get you all situated in bed. I ordered one of those super soft fuzzy blankets the other day, we can climb into bed and ignore all our responsibilities and cuddle. ”
“That sounds nice.”
Her voice was so damn quiet and he just wanted her to tell him what the hell was wrong. “I know you and Lacy have that book club you do together. She told me the name of the next book you're reading, so I made sure I had a copy up there for you.”
“You didn’t need to do all that. I’m fine, really.
I just felt sick for a minute on the drive over.
It’s over now.” She swallowed, her hand slipping into the pocket of her jacket.
“But I owe you an apology. I didn’t know.
And they didn’t tell me before. You asked to go with me and I didn’t think you’d be missing anything. ”
“What did I miss?” he asked.
“They did an ultrasound,” she whispered.
Shit. He forced himself to not react, but from the tears in Jessie’s eyes, he clearly wasn’t doing a good job of hiding his disappointment.
“Are you okay? Is everything okay with the baby?”
“Oh, god, yes. I’m not upset because something is wrong. I’m just so sorry you missed it. I would have asked you to be there. They weren’t even going to give me any pictures, but I begged. I wanted you to be able to have them.”
She handed the small squares of paper to him.
“Where’s the baby?” he chuckled. “It all just looks like static to me.”
Jessie moved closer on the sofa. “Right here.” Her hand grazed over his as she pointed to the center of the picture.
He nodded, his heart squeezing in his chest at the little spot right under her finger.
“And this?” There was a long rectangle at the bottom, filled with a wave that looked like sound of some sort.
“His heartbeat.”
Hawk’s fingers traced over the small shadow.
“His? Did they—”
“No. They can’t tell anything when the baby’s that small.
Still just my gut feeling. Which is silly because I think the old wives’ tale is that girls make you really sick.
” She shrugged. “His heartbeat was perfect though. And the doctor said everything looks great. I need to go back in a few weeks for my next appointment. You can go with me then if you want.”
“Yes.” He didn’t hesitate. “I want. I want to be there for everything. Do you have it scheduled already? I’ll block it off in my calendar so I don’t get scheduled at The Trident.”
She smiled as she handed him a small card. Just as he reached for his phone, the alarm went off.
“Oh. Shit! I almost forgot.” Hawk stood. “How is your stomach now?”
“It’s good. I should probably head out and get something to eat.”
Jessie started to stand when his hand landed against her shoulder. Like hell was she about to leave. He was taking care of her the rest of the day.
“Sit.” He tried not to growl the command, but failed. “You need to rest, and I want to take care of you both today. Remember?”
She smiled. “I remember.”
“Good. Let me go grab what I’ve been working on all morning instead of paying attention to my real work,” he laughed as confusion had her eyebrows pulling down towards her eyes.
Dawn:
Hey, Jessie! I saw Dolly had you blocked off the schedule today. You’re not still sick are you? I feel so bad, I’m pretty sure Annabelle and Arden are patient zero and one for this whole flu outbreak!
Adrienne:
Damn girl, still sick? You want me to bring anything out to the ranch?
Dawn, no! Don’t worry! It’s not the flu. TMI, but I had a problem with my IUD. Just got it out and needed to take the day off. But I’ll be back tomorrow.
Adrienne:
Ouch! That sucks. Hope you don’t feel too rough from it!