Baby for My Stepbrother

Chapter 7

I didn’t have to say another word for Dane to pick me up from the floor, cradling me to his body as he carried me out of the store. As we passed Terry and Jack, Dane looked down and said, “Fuck with Luna again, and I’ll murder you. You got me, punk? We’re not done.”

Jack didn’t respond as Dane carried me out of the store, through them all and out into the parking lot. He placed me in his car and immediately jumped into the driver’s seat.

Without speaking a word, he threw the car in gear and turned to drive in the direction of the nearest hospital.

“ She’s pregnant,” Dane said to the nurse, reminding them for the hundredth time that his child was inside me. The nurse looked up into his worried face and chuckled.

“ Sir, wear every aware of Luna’s condition and we’ll be sure to take extra precautions while x-raying her arm. It’s written right here in boldface print, circled with red pen and highlighted. Nobody can miss the fact that she’s pregnant. Does that make you feel better?”

Dane glanced at the top of my medical chart and said, “No. It doesn’t. Is there anyway I can go with her for the x-ray, just to make sure?”

The nurse laughed again and locked her eyes to mine. “I’m not sure whether to call you a lucky girl for having such a protective boyfriend, or to wish you luck. The next nine months won’t be fun if he’s constantly hovering over you. Maybe you can wrap yourself in some bubble wrap to make him feel better so you can get some space.”

I laughed. “Don’t give him any ideas, please.”

Patting my arm, the nurse said, “Wait right here and relax. The technicians will be in to escort you to radiology. After that, the obstetrician will be in to check on things with the baby.”

My good hand instantly went to my stomach. “Do you think something could have happened to the baby because I fell?”

With a friendly smile on her face, she answered, “No, sweetheart. I’m sure the baby is just fine. We just want to check as a precaution. Look at it this way…it’sa free opportunity for you to hear the heartbeat again, rather than having to wait another month for your office visit.”

I smiled and looked up at Dane, wondering how he would react to the tiny jackhammer sound of Bean’s heart.

The nurse left the room and I laid back on the pillow. Dane sat on the edge of the bed with an apologetic look on his face.

“I’m so sorry, Luna. I don’t know what came over me. I just couldn’t let that little punk sit there and talk crap about you.” Dane was cupping his hand and I wondered if he was hiding the damage he’d done to his own body because he was so

preoccupied with mine. “Is your hand okay?”

He glanced down at his hand and held it out, stretching the fingers to show me that all of his parts still worked. “Yeah. I’m sure it will bruise a bit because I caught him in the teeth a few times, but he’ll look a lot worse so I’m not worried about it.”

I nodded my head and opened my mouth to respond, but was interrupted when the technicians came in to escort me to radiology. The two men helped me into a wheelchair and wheeled me out, but I glanced back over my shoulder as we rolled down the hall. Dane was standing at the doorway to my room, a shadow covering his eyes that revealed just how worried he was about me and the child I carried.

The x-ray took all of five minutes, and within twenty minutes I was back in bed in my room watching Dane pace as we waited for the obstetrician to come in and confirm that all was fine with Bean. Luckily, we didn’t have to wait long.

A friendly, dark haired man walked in with the typical white coat. Looking down at the chart, he said, “Luna, I see here that you had a nasty little spill and hurt your wrist. Are you in any pain? We can’t give you much to help since you’re pregnant, but if the pain is too overwhelming, there area few things we can do to help.”

Shaking my head, I refused the medication. “I’m fine, doctor. I just want to know that the baby is okay.”

Dane moved to the side of the bed, taking my good hand in his and squaring his shoulders like he was protecting me from the doctor. Shaking my head in amused disbelief, I decided to have a talk with Dane once we were in private about the fact that I don’t need a bodyguard for the entire pregnancy.