The Nurse's Baby Secret

Despite her injuries and his guilt over the role he’d played, the happiest he’d been in Nashville had been since she’d arrived. He had no right to feel happy about her being there, though. It was his fault she had gone through all of this.

“I can go back to Chattanooga?” Savannah asked.

“As far as I’m concerned, yes. However, I wasn’t the one holding you up,” he reminded her. “Dr. Kimble will have the final say on when she thinks it’s safe for you to venture that far from our neonatal unit.”

Savannah nodded. “As ready as I am to go home, I want to do what’s best for the baby even more.”

Dr. Kimble wasn’t as accommodating on Savannah’s leaving.

“You were in a major automobile accident, suffered a great deal of trauma, and although, with each day that passes, your risk of premature labor and complications goes down, I do think it’s too early for you to travel two hours away.”

Savannah sighed, but didn’t argue with the obstetrician. Her eyes ate up the monitor during her ultrasound, taking in every detail with an excited gleam in her eyes.

Charlie found it difficult to pull his gaze away from Savannah’s face to actually look at the monitor, too.

Her face shone with joy. She was so in love with their child. She really did see their baby as a blessing. Her expression said so.

Had his own mother ever looked at his ultrasound with a similar expression? Somehow, Charlie didn’t think so. He didn’t doubt that she’d loved him in her own way. She had always seen to it that he had his basic needs met. But he wasn’t so sure that she’d ever really wanted him.

Because of him she’d been trapped in a life married to a man who made her miserable, abused her verbally and, at the end, physically. Whatever dreams for her future she’d had were snatched away because of Charlie’s very existence. Although his father had always been verbal about what he’d sacrificed for marriage and fatherhood, he couldn’t recall his mother having mentioned what her plans had been prior to her pregnancy, just that he’d ruined her life by being born.

Now, Savannah’s life was drastically changed due to a pregnancy. Because of him, yet another person would have to give up their dreams.

“Everything looks and sounds good,” Dr. Kimble praised Savannah as the baby’s heartbeat echoed throughout the room.

That. Was. His. Baby’s. Heart.

He tried to meet Savannah’s gaze, but she refused.

“Try to stay off your feet as much as possible for at least another week and see me again on Monday, sooner if there are any problems. I plan to repeat an ultrasound at that time.”

“I’m game for as many ultrasounds as you want to do,” Savannah told Dr. Kimble as she pulled one of Charlie’s sweatshirts down over her belly. Sitting up, she tugged the waistband of her yoga pants up, decided it was too tight, then slid it back down to rest beneath her belly.

“I love getting to see my baby.”

Dr. Kimble smiled, handing Savannah a piece of paper. “Most women do.”

“Thank you,” she told the woman, took her appointment slip, and headed to the checkout desk.

When they got back into his car, Charlie pulled out of the hospital parking garage, but he ached inside.

His apartment was close. He usually walked to the hospital but, with Savannah supposed to stay off her feet as much as possible, walking wasn’t an option and he’d taken his car. Traffic was heavy and they sat at a red light one traffic stop up from the turn to his place.

“Please don’t make me go back to your apartment,” she surprised him by saying.

He glanced toward her. She stared out the window at the hustle and bustle on the street despite the cool temperature.

“You heard Dr. Kimble—”

“I don’t mean at all,” she clarified, turning toward him. Her eyes were red, puffy, and not just from the remains of her wreck. “I mean right now. I know I still look frightful.” She touched her face over her bruised, swollen cheekbone and eye. “But I am so tired of being cooped up there. Take me somewhere. Anywhere. Just not back inside that apartment.”

“You don’t look frightful.” He glanced at his watch, gauging how much time he had before his afternoon appointments started. He’d rescheduled his morning, but not his afternoon. He had just under three hours before his first appointment. He’d allowed plenty of time because he hadn’t been sure how long her appointments would take or if she’d need any further testing.

From the passenger seat, Savannah sighed. “Now I’m the one who is saying I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have said that. I know you need to get back to the hospital. Thank you for taking off this morning to bring me to my appointments.”

“I wanted to be there.” He had. Soon she’d be strong enough to go back to Chattanooga and then he wouldn’t be there for appointments. He’d miss out on so much.

“I want to be there when you have our baby.” His words surprised him almost as much as they surprised her.