Dueling Drs: A Small Town Hospital Romance

“I’m carefree. Breezy, even.” Whatever the blood tests revealed, I would stay calm and cool, relaxed. I would not freak out, no matter how strong the urge was to do just that. “So?”

“The good news is that you’re as healthy as a horse, even if you do have a yellow belly.” Her lips twitched with amusement.

“Okay, you get that one for free because I have been avoiding you.”

“For three days,” she added with emphasis before reached for the tablet that contained my test results. “Perfectly understandable, for a teenager.”

“Persy,” I growled.

“All right. You’re healthy as can be. Which means you are in excellent shape to carry a baby to full term without any complications.”

Persy melodic feminine voice provided no comfort as her words sank down to my bones. Carry a baby to full term. Those words left no doubt about the cause of my nausea and exhaustion, and it went a long way to explain my sensitive breasts and the fact that my bras were a little snug lately. “Pregnant.” The word rushed out of me on an exasperated sigh. “I’m pregnant.”

“Surprised?”

“No. Yes. I guess I am.” Though in hindsight, I shouldn’t have been. How on Earth had two doctors, two medical professionals been so careless about contraception? “I guess I was hoping it was something else.”

“Like cancer?” Persy’s words highlighted just how foolish I was being and teased a laugh out of me.

“Maybe?” Having a baby was part of my plans but not for a few more years, possibly a decade, until I’d made my mark on the field of medicine. Now? A baby now meant I would have to reconfigure all of my plans for the future. After my fellowship was over, would I be forced to stay in Jackson’s Ridge whether or not it was the right move for my career? Would Drew want to be involved with this child? No. The answer came quickly.

Despite his kind gesture the other night, cooking dinner and taking care of me, I knew what Drew and I were. Sex buddies. Frenemies with benefits. I didn’t have an acceptable label for it, but what I did know was that it was strictly casual. No strings. Everything a baby was not.

“Thank you, Persy.”

“Happy to help. Any idea what you’ll do?”

I shrugged. “None. I mean, the first step is figuring out how in the hell I can finish my fellowship pregnant and then as a single mother.”

“Single as in relationship status, right? Because Drew may be a lot of things, but he isn’t a jerk who will just abandon his child.”

“You don’t know that and neither do I.” She was right about one thing, Drew was a good guy. The whole damn town loved him and they were proud of their golden boy heart surgeon and when we were together I could see glimpses of the man they all saw. But I also knew the man who tried to get rid of me when I first arrived. “It doesn’t matter. I’ll tell him.” Eventually. I wasn’t as if I could hide the pregnancy from him anyway.

I would tell him, as soon as I settled my own thoughts and feelings about being pregnant. About becoming a mother a decade earlier than planned. Once I felt good and confident about my own feelings about the baby and plans for the future, I would tell Drew and deal with his reaction. He wouldn’t be happy, I knew that much, and that’s why I needed to be firm in my own decision first.

Persy laid a hand over mine, her expression full of sympathy. “Drew isn’t your only means of support in town, Zola. You have me and Suzie, Granddaddy and Hannah. You have a support system here willing to pitch in and help any way they can.”

“I know and that means a lot to me.” But I couldn’t stay in Jackson’s Ridge. Not forever. “But that’s not the only consideration.”

Her violet eyes widened in surprise. “You’re going to leave.”

I shrugged. “I don’t have a job here once my fellowship is over. JRMC doesn’t need two heart specialists and I have to work.”

“But Drew is here,” she insisted and my shoulders fell. This was just like my parents all over again. Instead of moving away from Hollywood so I could have a normal high school experience, they’d gotten me a place of my own in the burbs. They’d chosen fame and their careers over me.

When push came to shove, the town would always choose Drew.

“I have to go. Thanks for your help, Persy.” I still had hours to go before my shift ended, so I stopped for a decaf coffee and a smoothie in the cafeteria, carefully avoiding human contact before I crept into my office and closed the door until it was time to see the next patient.