Secret Worlds (333 page)

Naomi giggled and squeezed my hand. “Or she’s just reacting to your projected paranoia.”

The shock of her words went through me like a sound wave vibrating up my spine and into my teeth. I raised my brow. “It’s that obvious?”

“Um...yeah,” she answered. Her lips twitched into a smile. “It would be highly amusing if I wasn’t just as nervous as you are.”

“I think once the baby is born, we should start looking for somewhere else to live,” I said and her smile faded.

Before she could answer, the door opened and a tall, bespectacled man wearing a white lab coat stepped into the room. He looked from the laptop in his hands to Naomi and me, breaking into a broad grin.

“I guess you two are expecting,” he said and placed the computer on the counter before offering Naomi his hand. “I’m Dr. Wolk.”

“Na... Anna,” Naomi said, catching herself before she revealed her real name. “And this is my husband, Damian.”

Dr. Wolk extended his hand to me and I shook it, meeting his open gaze. His grip was firm but not overbearing.

“Congratulations,” he said and adjusted his glasses before bringing his gaze back to Naomi. “When was your last period?”

Naomi bit her lip and glanced at me. She couldn’t very well say five years ago and I’m not sure she had one between being shot with the cure and when I woke from my coma. I just shrugged. She hadn’t had one since I came out of it.

“Do you have a calendar?” she asked and the doctor pointed to the wall behind her. Naomi hopped off the table and ran her fingers over the dates, silently moving her mouth in thought. She tapped the date that she woke from her delirium in Colorado and ran her finger over the calendar from that point, hesitating over the day we almost died.

A couple of weeks out from that, she tapped the date.

“February third,” she said.

I woke up a week later.

“And I’m pretty sure we conceived on the tenth or soon thereafter.”

The tenth was that first day in the shower and the memory stirred my soul. I had mustered up enough energy to make love to her in the shower and then all strength left me. She dried me off and helped me pull on a clean pair of shorts while I sat on the bathroom floor dizzy and exhausted. Naomi had to enlist Valerie’s help to get me back to the bedroom. I remember feeling helpless as they changed the bed and once I was tucked into the clean sheets, Valerie hooked me back up to the IV. It took me a few days of eating and sleeping to get up the energy to make love to her again, but after those celibate days in the beginning, we haven’t missed a daily romp.

She smiled at me and climbed back on the table.

The doctor nodded and typed the information on the computer. “Well, based on that, it looks like you’re due around October 20th. He scanned the screen and a frown formed before he moved his gaze to Naomi.

“I’d like you to have some blood drawn and do a couple of tests before you leave today to make sure we have your glucose levels under control.”

“What’s wrong with my glucose level?” Naomi asked.

“It’s high enough to pass into your urine, which isn’t necessarily cause for alarm, but I’d just like to make sure we aren’t looking at a potential complication. Did you have anything to eat this morning?”

Naomi shook her head and the flash of concern in Dr. Wolk’s eyes before he moved his gaze to the numbers on the screen lit my stomach on fire.

“Is there a history of diabetes in your family?” he asked, scanning the information from one of the sheets she filled out in the waiting room.

“Not to my knowledge.”

She reached out and took my hand in a grip that I had encountered before. The one that announced her nerves jumping into overtime.

The doctor glanced up at her and offered a smile. “I’ll send Leticia back in to take some blood,” he said and stood. “It will take a few minutes to run the tests and then I’ll be back in and see if we can detect a heartbeat, okay?”

We both nodded and the moment the door closed, she turned her dark gaze in my direction. The worry there made me swallow and try on a smile.

“Everything will be just fine,” I said, and the conviction in my voice surprised me. Based on the conversation with Valerie, I had my doubts, but it was something under our control and it was my turn to be strong.

I leaned forward and planted a kiss on her forehead, smoothing her hair back with my free hand. She closed her eyes and leaned her cheek in my palm in that endearing way that squeezed my heart.

The door opened and a different nurse stepped inside. The way she glanced into the hallway and shut the door, prickled my nerves. When she turned full toward us, I knew we were in trouble.

“Where’s the other nurse,” Naomi asked, her eyes dropping to the tray the nurse set on the counter. The needle and glass vials were expected, but the glistening scalpel was not.

Her red-eyed glare snapped to both of us and she reached for the knife, but I was faster. I slapped my hand down on the corner of the tray, sending everything across the room in a loud clatter. The only thing between this demon and Naomi was me and she stepped forward, her face transforming into an angry growl.

“What do you think you’re doing?” she snarled.

A sound behind her drew her attention and her expression transitioned to embarrassment for the benefit of the head nurse now standing in the open door.

“I was just about to ask you the same question,” the head nurse asked. She glanced beyond her subordinate without any of the attitude she had given me earlier. Instead, her underling looked down at the mess on the floor and back in her direction.

“Isn’t this the room for the D-and-C?”

“We don’t have a D-and-C patient today, Clara,” the nurse said. There was a clear warning in her tone and her icy glare landed on the younger nurse. “This isn’t the first time you’ve made that mistake.” She crossed her arms.

Clara sent visual daggers in my direction before glancing back at her superior.

“Please leave,” the head nurse said in a tone that left no negotiation.

“But, Leticia,” Clara started but Nurse Leticia pointed toward the exit.

“Now.”

I stepped closer to Naomi, still buffering her from the inept demon and for a moment, I thought the bitch was going to lash out at Leticia. Her fists clenched and she shot a glare in my direction before stomping out of the office.

Leticia sighed and stepped inside. “I’m sorry about that. Clara is new and she’s been a disaster since she started.” She squatted to pick up the syringe and the vials and hesitated when her gaze fell on the scalpel. A dark shadow crossed her features and she shook her head, picking up the instrument with her thumb and forefinger, like it carried a nasty disease.

She sat back on her haunches and the crease between her eyes grew. She glanced up at me before standing. I still blocked Naomi, but when the offending knife and needle dropped into the sharps container, I stepped aside.

“I’ll need to get a clean syringe and vials,” she said and slipped out of the room, leaving the door open.

I took the opportunity to glance at Naomi.

“What the hell was that?” she whispered.

“A demon,” I answered and the remaining splotches of color in her cheeks faded.

Naomi’s hand slid over her abdomen in a protective gesture and I stepped closer, reaching for her hand.

“How’d you know?”

I smiled and glanced over my shoulder at the door before answering. “I’ve been around a lot longer than you, hun.”

She nodded and her gaze moved behind me.

“Okay, let’s see if I can get some blood for those tests the doctor ordered,” Leticia said and I yielded, letting her approach Naomi. She gave me a nod of approval and I locked my gaze with my wife’s.

“Are you okay?” I asked. She still hadn’t regained any color and when she shrugged, I followed her gaze to the needle. Reaching out, I turned her chin toward me so she didn’t have to watch the drawing of blood. It didn’t bother me in the least, hell it actually made my stomach growl and I offered her a slight grin when she tilted her head in a silent question.

The nurse finished and left the room.

“Are you serious?”

I laughed and gave her a shrug of my own. “What’d you expect?” I asked. “I’m still freaked by sunshine, so it’s not odd that the sight of blood still makes me hungry. Twenty-five-hundred years of conditioning.”

“You are too funny sometimes,” she whispered and pulled me to her lips.

I didn’t want to dampen her light mood with what I anticipated waited for us outside, but I also didn’t want Valerie to be hit in the crossfire. After Naomi pulled away, I crossed to my coat and dug my phone out of the inside pocket. I typed a quick text that I was sure would draw a tremor of fear through Valerie, but she had the sachet on her, so the demons might not take notice of her.

“Valerie?” Naomi asked when I turned and dropped the phone in my shirt pocket.

“Yes. I told her to meet us out back. We aren’t going in the way we came.”

The door opened, interrupting our conversation, and I turned to see Dr. Wolk stepping into the room with what looked like a small stereo speaker. “The initial blood tests don’t look as bad as I anticipated; however, we are sending a couple of the vials out for more tests just to make sure you are not at risk. I will want you to do the glucose screening at 24 weeks but in the meantime, I’d like to take a listen.” He slid the chair next to the bed and lowered the back before pulling up Naomi’s shirt to reveal her abdomen. He tucked a sheet in her pants, tugging them down so her entire belly showed.

I stared at her and for the first time, I saw the slight change in her stomach. It was no longer the flat washboard I was used to, and I wondered how I could have missed the nuance of change in her. Of course, I had been dealing with the strangeness of being human again after so long, but that still didn’t excuse my lack of noticing the changes in her body.

The doctor ran a thin line of clear gel on Naomi’s belly and pulled a thick wand from the side of the speaker. “I’m just warning you, it’s extremely rare to hear the heartbeat at this early stage, so if we can’t find it, I don’t want you to worry.”

“Okay,” Naomi said and I squeezed her hand as she tucked the pillow under her head and stared at the ceiling. A smile formed and I glanced up. Taped above the table was one of those posters of Anne Geddes baby gardens.

Dr. Wolk glanced up and echoed both our smiles. “I try to give my patient’s something unique. There’s a different picture in each room,” he said and the wand touched Naomi, running slowly across the path of gel.

The volume was turned to high and the noises echoing from the speaker sounded like an underwater wonderland. A slight fluttering sound came and went and the doctor retraced his path, finding the flutter again. He looked up at Naomi with a grin.

“You are one lucky girl. Six weeks is usually early for a heartbeat, but there it is,” he said and pulled the wand away from her belly, wiping the gel with a cloth and pulling her shirt down once she was clean. “I’ll want to see you next week so we can go over the test results. You can set up your next appointment at the front desk before you leave.” Dr. Wolk stood and gave a nod as he exited the room.

The reality that the woman I loved was carrying my child hit and I bit down on my lip to push the swirl of emotions away. I smiled at her and brought her hand to my lips. Her eyes sparkled with unshed tears and she wrapped her arms around me, using my height to get to her feet.

“We’re having a baby,” she said and her voice cracked. She buried her face in my chest and the first wave of tears struck.

I blinked my eyes clear and kissed the top of her head. “I love you,” I said when I was sure I had a handle on my voice. Since I met her, she was the more emotionally stable of the two of us, now it was my turn to be solid and strong.

After scheduling Naomi’s next appointment, I checked my phone; there was nothing from Valerie so I stuck my head into the waiting room. Her seat was empty and my gaze shot to the parking lot. The truck still sat where we parked it and icy dread filled my veins.

Instead of heading out of the office area, I turned toward the desk.

“We have a bit of a drive, is there a rest room my wife could use before we get on the road?”

Naomi’s lips pressed into an embarrassed smile. The girl pointed toward the way we had come.

“Down the hall and around the corner on your right.”

I took Naomi’s hand and led her farther into the office, looking for one specific thing; when we turned the corner, my nerves relaxed a fraction. Before we could be intercepted, I pulled her through the exit, into a small stairwell and put my hand over her mouth, shaking my head before closing the door as quietly as I could.

I glanced between her and the stairs leading down to a lower entrance, before maneuvering her into the darkest corner. I pulled my phone out without speaking and typed a text to Valerie, telling her they were running another test, so we would be another fifteen minutes or so.

I put my finger on my lips and showed Naomi the text before making sure my phone was on silent. She didn’t understand until I hit send and Valerie’s ringtone echoed through the stairwell.

“Fuck,” an unfamiliar voice muttered from below and Naomi’s eyes widened.

I glanced at the stairs leading up and pulled her with me, silently climbing to the next floor. The door didn’t have a handle so we continued to the third floor.

This one had a knob and I closed my eyes, saying a small prayer and turned. It gave and I opened it to another hall, moving Naomi into the carpeted stretch before shutting the door.

“What is going on?”

“Demons have Valerie,” I whispered and continued down toward the other end of the hall. I wanted Naomi out of the building before they figured out our game, but I had no idea how I was going to get Valerie away from the bastards. I stopped at the next exit and leaned against the door, running my hand down my face before meeting Naomi’s gaze.

“I wish she had let me take the gun,” I said, pushing the fear down into my already knotted stomach.

“What are we going to do?” she asked and her hand went into that protective reflex, covering her abdomen without knowledge of the move.