Chapter 174

Fiona

My toes tap uncontrollably on the floor as I squeeze Isla’s hand. It didn’t take long for the nurse to bring us back to a room after we arrived, but since then, we’ve been sitting alone in this little office.

I’m kind of freaking out because they wouldn’t be taking so long if there wasn’t something wrong. Were they trying to figure out how to tell me I’m dying? Do I have some sort of sickness they can’t cure, or maybe I’ve got a disease that could spread to everyone around me.

I bite at my thumbnail nervously, swallowing the lump in my throat. What if I’m sick with the same thing my mom had? Are blood diseases hereditary? Could it have been inside me all along and I didn’t know it?

“Would you stop that?” Isla scolds, snatching my hand back from my face. “If the sterile smell doesn’t drive me crazy, then your incessant tapping, tapping, tapping will.”

“S-sorry, I can’t help it,” I mumble, worrying my bottom lip between my teeth. “I just… there’s too much going through my mind right now. I don’t know what to think, and I’m starting to feel sick just sitting here and waiting. I—”

“Woah, take a breath! You’re going to hyperventilate and pass out before they can even come talk to you.”

Nodding, I inhale deeply and exhale, trying to calm myself down. I don’t want to worry Isla, so I take a moment to close my eyes and calm down. Luckily, it doesn’t take long before I’m not squeezing the life out of Isla’s hand anymore.

“Just don’t jump to conclusions, Fi. You don’t know that they’re going to tell you something bad. Maybe they just don’t like telling patients sensitive information over the phone,” she says, waving her hand like it’s not a big deal.

“Yeah, maybe. I just—”

Two knocks sound at the door, and my head whips up. A pretty blonde woman in scrubs walks in and is followed by Nurse Sherri who sends me a kind smile. It’s not a smile you’d show someone who is in trouble, so it offers a bit of reprieve from the fear flowing in me.

“It’s good to see you again, Ms. Bowen,” Nurse Sherri says as she closes the door behind her. The blonde woman sits across from me and Isla, and Nurse Sherri stands at her side.

“Ms. Bowen, I’m Doctor Wilson. Nurse Sherri contacted me once she got your blood tests back and asked if I would join her to clarify the results,” the woman explains. Her smile isn’t quite as comforting as Nurse Sherri’s, but it doesn’t hint at anything bad either.

She glances at Nurse Sherri, who nods and passes some papers to her. It only takes Doctor Wilson a second to look over them before she holds the papers out to me, saying, “If you’ll look the chart on that first page, you’ll find that you have a high level of Human Chorionic Gonadortopin, or hCG, in your bloodstream.”

The chart shows several numbers and lines that connect dots, but I don’t have any clue what it means.

“What is hCG?” I ask, looking up at both of them.

Doctor Wilson smiles, laces her fingers together on top of the table, and leans in. Nurse Sherri stays quiet, leaving it to Doctor Wilson to explain.

“hCG is the hormone that a fetus produces as it becomes fertilized and begins growing in your body. Your levels are—”

“A FETUS?” Isla gasps, and my eyes drop to the paper. Nurse Sherri leans over and points at a number near the bottom of the page, and my eyes nearly bug out.

“Yes. Ms. Bowen’s hCG levels are at a healthy number for being almost four weeks along, so congratulations, Ms. Bowen. You’re going to be a mother,” Doctor Wilson explains. Her smile stays put, expecting this to be happy news, but is it?

I’d never thought about pregnancy while with Ethan. It hadn’t even been on my radar, and now… oh, god. My hand flies to my mouth, and the papers flutter to the floor as I realize what this truly means.

I’m going to have Ethan’s baby, and we’re not even together anymore. I’m going to have a baby, something Jack never wanted, something I’ve dreamed about since I was younger, something that should undoubtedly make me happy.

“Fiona? You okay? Are you feeling sick?” Isla’s arm wraps around my shoulders as she picks up the small trash can and holds it in front of me. Was I happy about this? I don’t know. I never imagined having a baby by myself.

“A-a little,” I mumble through my hand.

Nurse Sherri rushes over, holding the trashcan for me. Isla continues to rub my back reassuringly as Doctor Wilson begins to speak again. “I’m sorry, I should have eased you into this a little more. If this is an unwanted pregnancy, then there is still time to—”

“No!” I cry, lurching forward. “I may not have planned for this, but I don’t want anything to happen to my baby. I’m fine. I promise.”

Both Doctor Wilson and Nurse Sherri study me carefully, and I wave them off, smiling to try to prove my point. I may not be with Ethan anymore, but at least one good thing came from our time together.

That thought strikes a chord in me, and I realize that even with all of our troubles, with the problems and arguments, and the miscommunication, there was a lot of good in our relationship.

Ethan

Fire burns my side, and I touch the injury, stumbling back as the wolf in front of me snarls. I bare my teeth at him in warning and try to breathe through the pain and the dizziness spinning my head. Shit.

There’s something wrong with this injury.

When I look down, I find four large gashes spanning my side. My shirt hangs off my body, torn by the swipe of the wolf’s deadly claws.

My opponent jumps at me again, trying to catch me off guard. I thrust my hands into his chest, groaning when his claws dig into my shoulders and his teeth snap mere inches away from my face. I glance to the side and launch him into the concrete wall.

The impact creates a series of cracks, but it doesn’t stop the beast because he’s back on his paws in seconds.

Goddess.

My body fights against me, but this time it feels different. This time, the rage isn’t taking over. My legs grow weak, and my breathing grows heavy. Stars swirl in my vision, making it hard to focus. The gashes on my side throb and burn with an unnaturally hot temperature.

Shit. I jump to the side, tumbling then rolling across the ground to dodge the wolf, but when I push myself up, a fiery heat zips through my body. My arms shake, but I force myself up just as my enemy pounces on the spot I’d been in.

Turning, I curl my hand into a fist, and the next time he springs, I bury my fist in his snout. The power behind the punch shoves him down and into the ground, stopping him in his tracks instantly.

Shouts of excitement resound around me, but I can’t focus on that. My opponent is down, but so it my body as I stumble and sink to my knees.

A flash of blond hair appears in the corner of my vision just before it blurs and everything fades away.