Chapter 11
Laney
Isabelle had often mentioned that the Winchesters were close, but I was still surprised that in the span of a few hours, half their family stopped by.
They were also fiercely protective of each other. When the obgyn in charge, Dr. Jackson had gone to Skye’s room to give her the official diagnosis and instructions, I went with her.
The room quieted at first, but that lasted all of two seconds once she said, “We do have the test results back.”
There was a chorus of “What do they say?” and “Is she all right?” and “Is the baby all right?”
I couldn’t help smiling. They were absolutely adorable. I held up a hand, and the room was silent once more.
“No preeclampsia or rupture. Just high blood pressure. And when I say just , I mean that there is no life-threatening underlying condition, but it is imperative for you to be on bed rest for the rest of the pregnancy. High blood pressure is dangerous on its own. Bed rest means that you can only get up to go to the bathroom. That’s it.
No walking to stretch your legs or anything,” Dr. Jackson said.
Skye nodded, but I detected a hint of sadness in her eyes. They all started talking at the same time again, bombarding me and the doctor with questions.
After the obgyn reassured everyone one more time that everything was fine, they started to bicker about who was going to stay overnight. Dr. Jackson gave up trying to play referee and asked me to stay back and talk to the family while she went onto her next patient.
Rob was still here, and Tess was back. She’d left for a few hours today to handle their store.
Their mother, Amelia was here, as well as Ryker, Hunter, and their better halves.
Cole had shown me a few pictures of the family, and I had a photographic memory—it had been a lifesaver in med school. I could easily remember who was whom.
Cole wasn’t here anymore though, and my shoulders dropped in disappointment. Damn, I’d hoped to get another glimpse of him today. Perhaps even a smoking-hot kiss. I’d checked where the service room was on this floor.
“Hello, everyone. I’m Laney. So, I’m not officially Skye’s doctor, since I’m a surgery resident, but I am on top of the case.”
“You’re Isabelle’s friend, right?” Ryker asked.
“Yes.”
“And Cole’s girl,” he added.
“Ryker,” Amelia shushed him. “This isn’t the right time.”
Ryker cocked a brow. “Anytime is the right time. Besides, who knows when we’ll get a chance to talk to her without Cole around. We need all the dirt.”
Everyone burst out laughing, me included. I could feel my cheeks warming up, but no one seemed to notice. By the way Ryker glanced furtively around the room, I surmised this had been a tactic to make everyone relax. I had no doubt that he wanted all the dirt, but not right now.
I turned to Skye, surveying her through a doctor’s lens.
The unnatural paleness from this morning had subsided, which meant her blood pressure was back to normal.
I knew that from her records of course, but it was always a good sign when the patient wasn’t healthy just on paper, but actually looked well.
“I disagree, Ryker. Let’s focus on Skye. We have nurses around the clock, and I’m also on shift tonight. There is of course also an obgyn here overnight. I promise, you’ll want for nothing. That said, I understand if you want a family member to stay with you, but we can only allow one person.”
“Me,” Rob said instantly.
Skye played with a strand of her hair. “Babe, your niece is sleeping over at the house today, remember? She’s looking forward to that. You can’t say no, she’s gonna be sad. Tess can stay with me.”
Tess nodded reassuringly. “If something happens, I’ll let you know immediately.”
“Nothing will happen,” I said firmly, directly to Rob. I sympathized with the poor guy, but I actually thought it was best if he wasn’t the one spending the night here. Hospitals made everyone uneasy, even more so expectant dads.
Afterward, I left the Winchester clan to their own devices. Man, I wanted to linger for a while longer because they were just so damn adorable, but I had to make my rounds.
I bought a cheap coffee from the vending machine because I had no time to head downstairs to the cafeteria.
It probably contained more sugar than coffee, but to be honest, I needed both right now.
I downed it quickly while I inspected the chart of the next patient, memorizing the name and most important vitals.
I liked to do that whenever time permitted.
I felt that it put them at ease if I walked in with my head high, versus with my head buried in their file.
I also checked my phone, smiling when I saw that Cole texted me.
Cole: What’s this I hear that you put Ryker in his place AND Skye didn’t put up a fight.
I wrote back right away.
Laney: Umm I didn’t actually mean either, but I’m glad it worked that way :-)
Cole had described Skye as having a stubborn streak, so maybe it had been for the best that I’d alerted the whole family to the bed rest indication.
Cole: What time does your shift end? I’m picking you up.
Laney: Maybe it’s best if I go home and sleep first and we meet in the afternoon. I’ll sleep half the day anyway.
Cole: I can work until you wake up.
Laney: And then what happens?
Cole: You’ll see tomorrow ;) I promise you’ll like it.
The tips of my fingers tingled. My stomach flipped twice. Oh, this man.
Laney: My shift ends at eight o’clock.
After finishing my rounds, my right temple was pounding furiously. I’d forgotten to have dinner, and the cafeteria was closed, which meant my options were chips, M&Ms, or some god-awful vending machine sandwiches. It was probably going to be chips and M&Ms.
I wanted to check on Skye again before indulging in that dinner of champions though. She’d been put together and reassuring while her family had been around, but I didn’t know if she was still holding it together now, even with Tess by her side.
When I approached Skye’s room, I heard laughter from the other side of the door. Okay, so things seemed to be going just fine, but I still wanted to double-check.
I knocked before heading inside. Tess and Skye both had a deer-in-the-headlights expression, each holding a shawarma. A delicious smell permeated the air. My stomach rumbled.
Skye grinned sheepishly. “Tess… um… bought us some shawarma.”
I chuckled. “I can see that.”
“The hospital food was terrible, and the cafeteria only had some week-old-looking sandwiches when I checked it out. So I went to the nearest food truck.” Tess’s tone was apologetic.
“It’s not against hospital rules to bring food,” I told them.
Tess swirled her hand in the air, pointing a finger at me. “Yeah, but you have a judgy look.”
“Not at all. Just wasn’t expecting it.”
What I actually wasn’t expecting was for Skye to be in such a great mood.
In doctor language, when a patient had a healthy appetite, it meant they were doing just fine, at least on a psychological level.
Maybe there was something to your whole family camping out in your room the whole day.
They’d certainly improved Skye’s mood, and even Tess’s, who had been subdued and silent this morning.
Now she was smiling and full of energy. She was pacing in front of Skye’s bed, eating with gusto.
“Are you busy?” Skye asked.
“I’ve just finished the evening round, so I was about to head to the doctors’ lounge with some M&Ms.”
Tess held up the bag. “We have an extra shawarma. Want to join us?”
“Sure, I can stay about ten minutes. Thanks. I’m starving. How come you bought three?”
“Well… we hoped you could join us. And if you couldn’t, we would have sacrificed ourselves and eaten it,” Tess said.
“Yeah. I’m eating for two anyway,” Skye commented.
“And I’m just following your lead,” Tess said solemnly.
I burst out laughing, taking the bag. I leaned against the wall, unwrapping it as fast as possible without spilling it on me. Holy shit, I was even hungrier than I thought.
I devoured half of the shawarma before realizing both were silent, just looking at me.
After swallowing, I smiled sheepishly. “Sorry, it’s just that I forget to eat sometimes.”
“Thanks for taking the shift tonight, Laney,” Skye said. “And for going out with our brother. Word has it he was being a grouch at work.”
“I can vouch for that,” Tess replied. “Huge grouch.”
“Yeah, Josie did mention that. I got a lot of dirt on your brother from her, Ian, Dylan, and Isabelle.”
“Hmm, now that gives you an unfair advantage, doesn’t it?” Tess asked playfully. “He doesn’t have insider info about you.”
“What do you want to know?” I asked carefully.
I hadn’t had a clique in so long that my skills were rusty.
I had no clue what to share and what was off-limits.
I told Isabelle everything, but she’d been my best friend for two decades.
And I rarely talked about Ryan. It wasn’t a secret or anything, but it made me sad, and that made everyone around me sad.
We’d only been married for six months, but his cute, geeky love and all the dreams we’d shared left a huge void.
“Oh, lots of things,” Tess said. “But you’re working tonight, so it wouldn’t be fair to also question you.”
“Yeah, we need you well rested for that,” Skye said.
I laughed, looking from one sister to the other.
“Aha!” Skye exclaimed, pointing a finger at me. “That’s a dreamy expression right there.”
I didn’t even try to rein in my smile. I hadn’t felt dreamy in a long while, and it was glorious.
“It is dreamy,” I confirmed.
Checking my watch, I sighed. “I have to leave.”
“Are you sure we can’t lure you back here later?” Tess said. “I can head out and buy some more goodies.”
I shook my head, clutching my file with patient charts. “No can do, unfortunately.”
The shift was not without challenges, but at eleven o’clock things calmed down a bit. Since I had some free time on my hands, I went to check on Skye again.
To my surprise, she was wide awake, staring at the ceiling. Tess was asleep, curled on the visitor’s bed.
“Skye, how are you feeling?” I whispered. All her vitals were okay, but she was biting on her lower lip. She looked more worried than I’d seen her the whole day, except right when she was brought in. She clutched my left wrist with one hand, raising her head a little.
“If I stick to the bed rest, my baby will be safe and healthy, right?”
“Just take things easy and let your husband and your whole family pamper you. They seem great at it.”
“I just don’t want anyone else to worry about me.”
That’s why she was seemingly so blasé about everything today. I barely knew this woman, but I wanted to pull her in a tight hug.
“Let them pamper you,” I repeated. “Go to sleep. You had a rough day, Skye.”
“Thank you for checking in on me,” she whispered.
She squeezed my hand before fluffing her pillow and turning on one side, closing her eyes. I tiptoed out of her room, heading straight to the small room where we could lie down during night shifts. I huddled under the covers with a cup of tea and messaged Cole.
Laney: I think Skye needs more cheering up than she lets on.
Cole: That’s always the case with Skye, but thanks for confirming. How is my doc doing?
Laney: Enjoying hot tea.
Cole: Want me to bring you food?
Laney: Your sisters already took care of that.
He called me the next second.
“Hey!” I answered. What was that? How was my face already stretched in a grin?
“Hey, you! Hope Tess and Skye weren’t too… curious.”
I giggled. “Nah, they said they need me well rested for a thorough questioning.”
“Damn. I thought they’d give me some insider info by tomorrow.”
“You’re out of luck. Looks like you’ll have to do all the legwork yourself.”
My tone was teasing, but I pressed a palm to my stomach. I knew I couldn’t postpone talking to him about Ryan. I wanted him to know everything about me. A thin sheet of sweat covered my palms at the thought, but I knew I could do it. Tomorrow was D-day.
“That’s a challenge I look forward to,” Cole said.
That bossy tone made it clear he was used to being in charge, to winning every challenge.
I was surprised how much I liked this whole take-charge thing he had going on.
I didn’t want to own up to it though, because who knew what other ideas he’d get.
“Then you’d better go to sleep, charmer. You’re going to need your charming skills to be sharper than ever tomorrow.”
“It’ll be my pleasure.”