Chapter 14
BELLA
Bella quickly ate the cheese sandwich, chips, and fruit cup a nurse had brought her.
None of it tasted very good — it had that bland taste and slightly off texture she associated with hospital food — but she was starving.
As she ate, she looked out over the ER through the gap in her curtains she’d asked the nurse to leave.
Luke strode around the ER like he owned the place, which Bella supposed he did — he ran this ER, after all. He was calm, cool, and in control.
“Ellie, would you do another round of vitals on the patient in bed four, Mrs. Hayes?” he asked one nurse.
“Of course, Luke,” the nurse replied. Bella noted that he called the nurses by name and that they called him by name, too. Most of the doctors in the ER just called “Nurse!” when they needed something, but Luke was polite.
“Adjust your angle a little,” he told a young doctor a few minutes later, standing across the bed from him as he started inserting an IV. “There you go. Perfect.” He turned to the patient and added, “You’re in good hands.”
He’s a good teacher, too, Bella thought, watching him have almost the exact same conversation with another resident a moment later. He was patient, though he didn’t appear to be particular friends with any of them.
After Bella had been there for about half an hour, a trauma came in. Bella sat up in her bed, her heart rate skyrocketing, as two EMTs rolled in a patient on a stretcher. There was a lot of blood, too much blood. The EMTs told Luke a string of numbers and acronyms, and he nodded.
“Jones, you’re with me,” he called to one of the other doctors. “Jiminez, take point on the ER.”
He raced into a side room, where Bella couldn’t see him anymore, and she sat back in the bed, biting her lip. The patient had looked to be in bad shape, but surely he would be all right. Luke was clearly amazing at what he did. He was polite, constructive, and completely in charge.
And she was about to live with him.
Bella forced herself to take a deep breath against the wave of nerves that rose up in her at that thought. She’d spent one night with this man, one, and now she was going to move into his house. Apparently, she was even going to let him help with her business and her pregnancy.
This had to be a mistake. In any other situation, Bella would have flagged Luke down and told him to forget about it, that she could handle this on her own.
But the truth was that she couldn’t. If she kept trying to handle her pregnancy on her own, she’d end up in the very precarious situation of choosing between financial stability and physical health.
Actually, she was already in that situation.
Stupid girl, Bella’s mother’s voice echoed in her head. Bella took a deep breath and banished the echo. She hadn’t spoken to either of her parents in years, but still, their insults stayed with her.
Maybe Bella was making a mistake by letting Luke help her and by agreeing to live with him. But even if she was, she was also making the best choice she could for her child. She had to believe that.
After a while, watching the ER grew less interesting.
Luke was gone for a long time with the trauma patient who’d come in, and though the other doctors and nurses were friendly, Bella had no interest in seeing what they were like.
Eventually, she lay back, planning to rest her eyes for just a moment.
“Bella?”
The voice was low and kind, and it tugged at Bella from the depths of her dream. Luke? That was impossible…
“Bella?”
Slowly, Bella came back to herself as she awoke. Luke was standing beside her bed. He’d changed from his scrubs and lab coat into a pair of jeans and a T-shirt, though he was still wearing the tennis shoes he’d had on before. His hair was smoothed back, and he looked a little tired.
“Oh, no.” Bella sat bolt upright. “I’m sorry. I think I fell asleep.”
“Nothing to apologize for. My shift is over, though, so we can head home. Sorry that a private room didn’t open up.”
Home. Bella’s heart clenched, but she managed to nod. “It’s okay. Can we stop by my apartment first to get a few things?”
“Of course.”
Luke disconnected the fetal heart-rate monitor and gently removed the band from around her stomach.
Then he held out his hand to help her to her feet.
Bella stood, stretching. It had been a long time since she’d taken a nap, probably a decade at least. She’d always been too busy.
It felt good, though she was a bit groggy, too.
“Ready?” Luke asked.
“Uh-huh.” Bella followed him out into the parking lot. Night had fallen while they were inside, and the pavement was wet with rain. The air smelled like cherry blossoms and spring grass and wet concrete.
“This is mine,” Luke said, pointing to a car. “Where’s yours?”
“Oh, no.” Bella bit her lip. “I think it’s still at the venue.”
“No worries; I’ll have someone go and get it tomorrow,” Luke said easily, as though he had a whole army of “someones” to do the tasks he didn’t want to. “Come on. For now, let’s get you home.”
He opened the door for her, which made Bella’s stomach clench again. She got in and fastened her seatbelt while Luke climbed into the driver’s seat.
“Where do you live?” he asked. Bella gave her address, and they pulled out of the lot.
Her apartment was on the opposite side of the city, but there wasn’t too much traffic.
Neither of them spoke much as they drove.
Bella sneaked a few glances at Luke, but he was looking straight ahead each time.
Eventually, she turned on the radio and half-listened to the NPR segment about the origins of common kitchen vegetables to distract herself.
When they reached her apartment, Bella instructed Luke to park in her usual spot.
“I’ll just grab a few things and be right back.”
“I’ll come with you.” Luke was already getting out of the car.
“No, it’s fine—”
“No, you need to rest. Let me come carry things.”
“I…” Bella glanced down at the curve of her stomach and sighed. “Fine. But just so you know, I’m not happy about this.”
“I understand. You’re doing me a favor by letting me help.” Luke winked, and for a split second, he was the handsome, funny man from the bar, instead of a competent doctor and the father of her baby.
“Yes, I am,” Bella agreed, but she flashed him a smile, too.
They went in through the front door and climbed the two flights to Bella’s apartment, where she unlocked the door to let them in.
As always, her apartment was neat and tidy.
No matter how busy she was, she always made sure of that.
As Bella gathered a few changes of clothes and some toiletries, she couldn’t help seeing the apartment through Luke’s eyes.
It was small and cramped and furnished mostly from Ikea.
“I love your posters,” Luke said when Bella emerged from the bedroom with a small suitcase.
“Yeah?” Bella smiled as she followed his gaze. Her walls were decorated with posters of recipes, illustrated with little drawings of onions and chilis and apples that Stacy had done. They were brightly colored and provided an anchor to the space. “Thanks.”
“Let me take that.” Luke held out his hand, and Bella grudgingly gave him her suitcase.
“I’ll have to come over tomorrow and pack everything up,” she added. She hated the thought of giving up her apartment, but she’d only lived here for a year, anyway, and a few months without paying rent would help her savings significantly.
“I’ll send someone,” Luke said again.
“Who is this someone?” Bella asked as she followed him to the doorway. She sent one last glance at her apartment before closing the door on that chapter of her life. Her heart ached a little, but she’d never been the kind of person to get too attached to things.
“I can hire people,” Luke told her. “Or I can come myself, if you’d feel more comfortable with that.”
“I just…” Bella sighed again. “I’m not sure I get this. Why you’re doing this. I mean, I understand that you want to make sure your baby is okay, but there must be an easier way than inviting me into your house and paying to have my errands run for me. It just all seems a little too selfless.”
They stepped out through the front door into the twilight, and Luke turned to Bella. “Maybe I’m not doing this because I’m selfless,” he said. “Maybe I’m doing it because I’m incredibly selfish. Have you considered that?”
“How is helping me with everything selfish?” Bella asked.
Luke looked down at her, his expression barely visible in the fading light.
“I thought I lost my one chance for family a long time ago,” he said.
“I’ve lived alone with nothing but my work since then.
I know this is an unusual situation, but forgive me for taking any chance I can to find family again.
And forgive me for doing whatever I can to keep that family safe.
I’m seizing the moment and listening to my instincts on this one. ”
“I…” Bella couldn’t think of anything to say to that. It felt strange for Luke to claim the baby he’d only just found out about as family, but it was nice, too. It was nice that she wasn’t alone in this anymore. It was nice that someone else cared about their son almost as much as she did.
Luke smiled down at her, though there was something unreadable behind his eyes.
“So, like I said before, you’re doing me a favor by letting me help you. I mean that. Now, come on. Let’s get home.”
So, Bella followed him back to the car. They drove mostly in silence again, Bella lost in her thoughts.
She wondered what Luke’s life was like that he was so ready to welcome her into it.
She wondered if he really felt like their unborn child was family.
And she wondered what things were going to be like over the next few months.