Surgeon Boss, Surprise Dad

Her pregnancy changed everything.

He should have told her about his MS before blurting out that it wasn’t too late for an abortion.

He’d been in such shock, he hadn’t been able to think straight. Had only known that he’d fouled up Liz’s life in yet another way and he wanted to start getting things right.

Liz was pregnant with a baby who carried the potential to have MS. She was in a wheelchair. She probably hated him. All of it was his fault. If not for him, she’d be free for the first time in her life. Instead, she was going to go from caring for her grandfather to recovering from her own injuries to caring for a baby. A baby that she might be caring for for an entire lifetime.

She’d need him more than ever. To help her recover from her injuries and then to take care of her following the baby’s arrival, to help her financially, to help her if their son or daughter came down with MS. If he stayed healthy himself.

Oh, hell.

What had he done?

It was only eight-thirty, but Liz lay in her hospital bed with her eyes closed.

All evening she’d put on a smile for her friends, given Dr Graviss and Dr Bell all the right answers when they’d checked on her. The only time her smile wavered was when Nannie’s transfer papers came through and the older woman was relocated to a skilled nursing home. After Nannie’s departure she’d feigned tiredness because the pretense had been too much.

The tiredness really hadn’t been feigned so much as exaggerated. She was tired. Not that she could go to sleep. No, her mind was too wound up for that, her heart too twisted.

Just as she’d been able to tell, without turning, when Adam had entered his office, she became aware of him in her room without opening her eyes. He didn’t make a sound, but all the same she knew he was there.

She could feel him. His strong presence sucked all the oxygen out of the room and left her light-headed.

What was he doing there?

Hadn’t he done a good enough job ripping her heart out earlier in his office?

Fourteen weeks. That’s not too late for an abortion.

He stood beside her bed, presumably watching her, and although it was wrong, she just lay there.

“Are you so upset with me you refuse to look at me?”

He had no idea. If she had to look at him she might spit in his handsome face. Or scratch his eyeballs out. Angry heat infused her face, but she still didn’t open her eyes.

“Not that I blame you,” he added, sounding just as tired as she’d felt moments before he’d entered her room. “But what you told me this afternoon shocked me, and I reacted badly. Everything I said came out wrong.”

Reluctantly she opened her eyes, but she didn’t speak. What could she say? Everything he’d said had come out wrong.

“You aren’t going to make this easy, are you?”

She snorted. “Can you tell me a reason why I should?”

“Not a single one,” he said solemnly.

“Finally something we agree on.”

“You’re pregnant, Liz.”

She stared blankly at him, waiting for him to elaborate since he wasn’t telling her anything she hadn’t already known.

“I had no intention of fathering a child. Ever.”

Ouch. “Sorry to disappoint you.”

“I’m not disappointed.” He stopped, raked his hand through his hair. “Or I wouldn’t be if things were different.”

Meaning if he loved her, if he’d wanted a future with her.