Simon laughed. It wasn’t much of a laugh, but it wasn’t a damn sob.
“I’ll go check in and see what the big scary dude is doing out in the waiting room.”
Simon nodded. “Thanks, Nicky.”
“Nothing you wouldn’t have done for me.”
He dragged Nicky in for a hard hug. “The damn truth.” He stepped back and Nick was already turning away, scrubbing at his own eyes.
The fucking pair of them. Jesus.
He scrubbed his hands over his face and straightened his shirt, then blew out a breath before pushing through the door.
She looked so small and fragile. So very not Margo. Her shirt was ripped and dirty, her black pants dusty and streaked with something. Her face was free from makeup, making her freckles seem like a stark dusting of cinnamon on her pale face. She was laying on a gurney with an IV attached to her arm.
As soon as Margo saw him, she sat up and her eyes filled. He stalked across the room to her and hauled her into his chest. He curled his arms around her shoulders and held her as she sobbed. His heart broke and knit itself back together all at the same time.
“Ah, baby. Tell me you’re okay.”
“I’m okay,” she said against his chest.
His shirt was damp with her tears, but she was warm and real. He pressed a kiss to her dusty hair. Under the noises of the clinic, the antiseptic scent of the room, there was a hint of honeysuckle. The one thing that he’d always associate with his wife.
“Thank God. Thank God you’re okay.” His voice was little more than a husky grumble around the tears threatening to spill down his own damn cheeks.
Finally, he noticed the doctor standing just at the edge of the curtained area. Simon cleared his throat. “Sorry, Doc. I didn’t mean to just barge in.”
“It’s fine. I’ve been trying to convince Mrs. Kagan to be brought to the hospital. She’s doing well, but I don’t have the equipment here to do much more than an ultrasound.”
Simon swallowed. “And we’re all…” He couldn’t quite ask.
“The baby’s heartbeat is strong.”
Simon rested his cheek against Margo’s hair. “Can I hear it?” Margo gripped his shirt. He looked down at her. “I need to hear it.”
The doctor was older, but he gave Simon a gentle smile. “I don’t know the full story of what’s going on with her, but I do know she’s lucky to be in such good health. She was very dehydrated, but it seems she had no other injuries save for some bruising.”
Simon locked his jaw. Thank fuck.
Margo rubbed his back. “Honestly, Simon, she didn’t hurt me. None of them did. They just left me in a room alone most of the time.” She looked down, which made Simon wonder how much of that was a generalization. Right now, he just wanted to make sure she was physically okay.
He’d help her through anything else after that.
The doctor paused before he brought the machine over to Margo’s bed.
“I’m sorry, Doctor. I can’t say much, but just know we have security here to make sure nothing will be happening at your clinic.”
The doctor waved him off. “Half the time I’m not sure if a patient has a gun under his shirt. I’m not worried about that.”
Simon swallowed. “As soon as we can, we’ll have her out of here and her OB will be checking her over.”
“That makes me feel better.” He flipped on the machine and squirted the gel Simon was getting used to smelling on the little wand. “Okay, Mrs. Kagan. Lay back for me.”
Margo scrunched down on the gurney and lifted her shirt. Simon ran the back of his finger along the slight swell of her belly, then linked his fingers with Margo’s. She gave him a tremulous smile, then gasped when the cool gel hit her skin. When the baby’s fluttering heartbeat filled the room, they both laughed.
On the screen, their little lemon drop kicked. Simon closed his eyes, unashamed of the tear that seared down his cheek.
Both of them were okay. In the end, that was all that mattered.