Saving Forever - Part 4 (12 page)

Authors: Lexy Timms

BOOK: Saving Forever - Part 4

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Chapter
18

Six weeks later...

Charity stared at the stick in her hand.
Impossible.
Well, it was completely possible, just not so believable.
How could this have happened?
Again, that part was completely obvious, it did take two…

She grabbed the box on the sink counter and checked the little pictures on the side to confirm her suspicions. Yup, plus meant yes. “I’m pregnant?” She looked up and stared at herself in the mirror, wondering if she looked any different. She didn’t feel different. Except for her boobs. They were so tender and felt about a size larger.

Weren’t pregnant women supposed to have some kind of inner glow? Using her fingers she counted back the weeks from her last period. She was always regular and never paid much attention to her cycle. It came, it went, with little to no bother.

Her hand pressed against her lower belly. Could a little peanut really be growing in there? She smiled and giggled at her reflection. The grin disappeared as quickly as it had come. She chewed her lip at the sudden butterflies fluttering around in her stomach. When should she tell Elijah? What would he think?

Her fingers drummed against her belly. She should probably see a doctor to confirm. Then she could tell Elijah when she knew for sure. The slight dilemma was that she didn’t have a family doctor. With moving around the country because of her job, she hadn’t sought one out. The doctor she had as a kid had to be nearly eighty now so she highly doubted he would be willing to see her and set up some lab tests.

She slipped her hair into a pony and quickly threw on some make up and workout clothes. Elijah said he would be home around lunch. She grabbed her runners and debit card and headed outside. After a five-minute jog she slowed to a walk and headed into Walgreens. She grabbed a basket, went straight to the feminine aisle and stood in front of the section of pregnancy testing kits.

Maybe three tests? She tossed several into her basket and turned to go, only to grab a few other brands and then a few more from the shelf below. She could read them when she got back to the house and decide which one to use. She also grabbed a large bottle of water and a Lemonade.

The spotty teenage boy working at the checkout gave her several strange looks but thankfully did not say anything. He just tossed all the packages into two grocery bags and handed her the bill.

Charity took her time walking back to the house, drinking the water as she went. She had to rush to unlock the door by the time she got back, and grabbed two tests out of the bag before dropping the rest to the ground as she raced to the washroom.

Both tests showed positive. By the end of the morning so did all the others.

She was definitely pregnant.

In the past months they had gone through a shooting, followed by a stressful court hearing, a wedding, her father’s heart attack and now this? She wasn’t sure if she should be happy or scared.

“Charity!” Elijah called from the front door.

Frantic, her eyes darted across the bathroom. She inhaled a deep breath through her nostrils and released it slowly through her mouth. “Relax,” she murmured to her image in the mirror. “You can tell him after lunch.”

“Charity, are you home?”

She flushed the toilet and washed her hands. “I’m in here,” she called as she dried them off. She slipped out of the bathroom, closing the door behind her.

Elijah stood in the hallway his face lighting up when he saw her. He grinned and played with the band on his left hand. Probably still getting used to its foreign feeling. He hadn’t shaved yet and his eyes were their beautiful bright blue. Gorgeous. Model handsome.

“Hey good-looking, how was surgery?” Charity hugged him tight and kissed him playfully on the lips.

“Crazy. It should have been routine, but it was far from it.”

“Complications?” She wished she could erase the worry lines appearing on his forehead as he spoke.

“Before we had barely started. The woman had never had major surgery before. The new anesthesiologist administered the anesthetic and she went into bradycardia. It’s when the heartbeat drops to an abnormally low rate.”

She nodded. She knew what he meant but it didn’t matter. Elijah’s arms were still wrapped around her waist so she had no intention of moving. “Was she properly ventilated?”

Elijah blinked in surprise. “You sure you don’t want to finish your med degree? The anesthesiologist is new. He’s a cocky shit. Too busy listening to the sounds of his own voice. I had to find out if he used midazolam. He hadn’t bothered to fill in the chart.” Elijah shook his head. “Anyways, we had to administer Flumazenil, which started to wake the woman up. She began panicking before we were able to sedate her again.”

“Was it the anesthesiologist’s fault?” Charity couldn’t imagine the hospital having to go through another malpractice court case. She also couldn’t imagine going back to school. Not now. Not if she was going to have a baby.

Elijah pulled her tight a moment before letting her go. Taking her hand he began walking to the kitchen. “It might have been, but probably not. There’s a variety of reasons it can happen, possibly accidental - possibly because the woman’s body reacted to the midazolam for the first time. But he is at fault for not filling in his chart right away. He left to check on a patient in recovery so I had to call him back in two minutes after he left because I didn’t know if he used midazolam or fentanyl. We would have had to use naloxone then.” He kissed her forehead before letting go of her and opening the fridge. “It all worked out in the end, but it could have gone terribly. We had to monitor the poor girl like crazy to make sure she didn’t wake up in the middle of surgery. There was no way we were giving her more. I didn’t want to risk her overdosing on the anesthetic.” He sighed and leaned against the fridge door. “Then I had to deal with your father who was pretty pissed.” He stared blankly inside the fridge, his mind probably still on the argument he had to go through with her father.

She gently nudged him over. “I made chicken salad. Let me make some wraps or sandwiches. What do you prefer?”

“Either. Both. Whatever’s fine with me.” He let her get by him. “Starving beggars can’t be picky. Let me just go change my shirt and I’ll help.” He swatted her derrière and jumped out of reach before she could hit him back. Laughing he headed down the hall to their bedroom.

Charity bent down and pulled the chicken salad, wraps, lettuce and bread out of the fridge. She began making lunch and setting the food on a plate for the two of them to share.

“Uh…” Elijah cleared his throat awkwardly.

Charity turned around, platter in hand, to see what was wrong. “What’s up?”

Elijah stood running his tongue over his teeth, his eyes bright. Confusion written all over his face. “I, uh, was just in the bathroom…” He tilted his head, his gaze traveling from her eyes down to her hips and back up again. “Why are there about thirty pregnancy tests in the bathroom garbage?”

Heat rose to her cheeks at the same time the plate fell to the floor. “Shoot, sorry!” She dropped down and began picking the broken ceramic and food off the floor.

Elijah came over and bent down. He grabbed the bin from under the sink and began tossing everything into it.

Hands shaking, Charity tried to hide it by tossing the food into the bin. She overthrew and a wrap opened and sprayed everywhere on the only clean part of the floor. She glanced at Elijah and burst into giggles. One of his eyebrows rose high on his forehead and his mouth hung open as he looked over the garbage bin.

He turned back and met her gaze, a grin on his face. “So you’re pregnant? Er… we’re pregnant? However you want to say it.”

“Two dozen tests would seem to agree.” She chewed the inside of her cheek. Suddenly she needed him to want this baby as much as she did. She didn’t know it till that moment, but it hit her with such a fierce instinct of protection she physically stumbled in her crouched position.

Elijah caught her by her elbows. “Be careful, I don’t want you to cut yourself.” He stared intently into her eyes. “Are you okay?”

She nodded and swallowed hard. “I’m pregnant.”

He smiled. “Did you seriously use all those tests?”

“I had to drink and pee A LOT.”

He chuckled. “I believe it.”

They rose slowly. “Sorry I ruined lunch.”

“How ‘bout I clean it up and we go out for something to eat? To celebrate.”

Her heart leapt. Was that even possible? It didn’t matter. “We’re going to have a baby,” she whispered.

Elijah grabbed her and hugged her tight. “We are.”

THE END

NOTE FROM AUTHOR

Thank you for reading more of Elijah and Charity’s story. I hope you’ve enjoyed their story. I would love to hear from you to know if you would like the story to continue? I’m torn between leaving them to begin their life on their own or if I am still needed!

Let me know your thoughts!

UPDATE!

Due to the fantastic response from readers there is going to be a Saving Forever – part 5! COMING FEBRUARY 2014