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I was overwhelmed when Bones ran into the ER.

He began issuing orders as soon as we arrived.

He’d called ahead while we were in the car and told them to expect us.

When we arrived, the staff waited and stood attentively at the main entrance door.

They immediately got to work. Eliana stayed out in the waiting area.

She told me she’d take care of getting me registered.

I thanked her and told her the code to get into my phone and pictures.

I had nothing personal in there that I didn’t want her to see.

I was placed in the first bed in the back area where patients were treated.

I listened in a daze as Bones went to work.

“We’ve got the ultrasound machine ready, Dr. Phoenix. I’ll draw her blood and run the basic blood tests. What others would you like done?” a cute nurse asked. She was a pretty blonde. She smiled sweetly at him.

“Good. Bring me the machine. I want a CBC with diff, CMP, and HCG. I need to see if Dr. Charming is available if I need her. Blythe is her patient. How many weeks exactly are you, Blythe?” he asked.

“Fourteen weeks and three days.”

“Good. I want her to have an IV access placed. Start her on normal saline at fifty ccs an hour. I need a light and a speculum for a pelvic examination. Blythe, do you have any allergies to medication, latex, or anything else, Lovely?”

“No, nothing,” I stated.

He picked up a pair of exam gloves and put them on his large hands. He frowned in concentration, kept up his orders to the nurse, and prepared to do whatever he was about to do. I fought the panic inside me.

No matter that Deon had tricked me into this pregnancy and he was a total monster, I wanted my baby.

It wasn’t his or her fault who its dad was.

I jumped when the curtain around my bed was jerked closed, making a loud rattling sound.

Bones was back to giving me his complete attention. He smiled at me.

“I need to help you lie on your back and uncurl yourself. I know it hurts, but I need to do an ultrasound on your pelvis and then an internal exam. A nurse will be with us for that. She’ll be back with the ultrasound machine and to start your IV in a minute. Can I take a look at your stomach?”

“You can do whatever you want, Bones. I trust you.”

It was the truth, as weird as it was for me to trust anyone this fast. I hoped I wasn’t making a mistake like I had with Deon.

But if I thought about it, I knew I wasn’t.

There was no inner voice trying to make itself heard.

There had been with Deon, and I chose to ignore it when nothing intelligible came out.

I put it down to excitement over meeting a man so perfect for me. What an idiot.

“Am I hurting you?” he asked. Bones stopped pressing gently on my stomach.

“No, it’s not any worse than it was. Why?”

“You were frowning.”

“That wasn’t because of you. I was thinking about Deon and how stupid I was.”

“Hey, there’s no need for that. It sounds like he was a consummate liar, and this was an elaborate plan for him. You’re not the only one who would fall for it.”

“I bet you wouldn’t have,” I mumbled.

“These days, no, because I don’t trust easily, but when I was younger, I would’ve.”

His reply made me want to ask what he meant, but I didn’t know him well enough to get personal, so I stayed quiet.

The nurse came back, pushing a large machine. I recognized it. She got busy starting an IV in my left arm. Bones kept a running dialogue while he prepped the machine and my belly.

“This gel will be cold. Why they don’t get one of those warmers so it won’t be, I don’t know,” he grumbled.

“Dr. Charming has that,” I told him. It was something to say.

“It figures she would. She wants her patients to be comfortable. Sorry,” he said before he squirted it on my tummy.

I gasped, then bit my lip. It felt like they’d kept it in the refrigerator. Working fast, he had the wand out and spread the gel over my belly, which helped to warm it. The machine’s screen was turned toward him. He was attentively watching the screen as he moved it around.

“So you had an ultrasound with Dr. Charming?” Bones asked.

“No, but her staff gave me an orientation on the equipment and what to expect. A nurse there pointed that out. She said it was cold, but I didn’t imagine it this cold. This is my first one. Do you see the baby? Can you tell anything?” I asked anxiously.

“This will show me the baby’s position and if there’s anything structurally wrong, but I like to start here. The blood work and pelvic exam will provide more information. I’m trying to see…”

His words petered off. He was intently staring at the screen. The wand wasn’t moving. My panic spiked.

“What’s wrong? Tell me what you see!” I cried as I latched onto his wrist. His head turned toward me.

“Relax. Nothing is wrong. I was just making sure I was seeing correctly. What I see is two sacs, Blythe. And both have a baby and a heartbeat. Listen,” he said as he turned a button. There was a swooshing sound, but it had a rhythm and seemed to echo.

“What you’re hearing is both heartbeats. I need to take measurements. Do you have twins in your family by any chance?”

I lay there with my mouth open. Twins? I was carrying twins? Elation mixed with fear hit me. I forced myself to get back to what else Bones said. As for my family history, I had no clue.

“I don’t know if there are any or not. My mom was a single parent.

I never knew who my dad was. She would never talk about him.

She died when I was seven years old. There was no family that anyone knew of, and she didn’t have a will, so I was given to the State to raise.

I grew up in foster care and State-run homes. ”

“I’m sorry. May I ask what happened to your mom?” he asked.

“Mom liked to drink sometimes, well, a lot of the time. One night, she drank too much and ended up taking pain medication with it. They think she lost track of how many she took because she was so drunk. She overdosed on the couch. And before you ask, yeah, it could’ve been suicide.

They had no way to know, but the cops and coroner ruled it an accidental overdose since there was no suicide note. ”

“Damn, I’m doubly sorry. That’s why you said you had no one to go to. Well, the measurements line up for you being fourteen weeks. The heartbeats are strong and fast, where we want them. I’ll print a few pictures for you, and then we’ll do the exam.”

“Dr. Phoenix, the IV is going, and I have the blood. I’ll be right back as soon as I drop it off at the lab. I’ll put a rush on it,” the nurse said. I’d forgotten she was there. I could see her name tag. It read Paris .

“Thanks, Paris.”

When he barely spared her a look, I watched her smile dim. She wasn’t happy when she left. I thought about saying something to him, but I didn’t because I was distracted by Eliana entering the cubicle. She came to stand on the other side of me. Her hand grasped mine.

“I got you all registered. You’re good. Did you find anything on the ultrasound?” she asked Bones.

He grinned at me. “Do you want to tell her?”

I nodded. “It seems that in there, it looks alright. The only significant thing he found was two babies.”

Her eyes widened, then she grinned. “Oh my God! As a mom of twins, I can answer any questions you have. Though I would’ve never guessed at three months, you carried two. Your stomach is so tiny. I hate you,” she groused playfully.

I laughed, and then it was cut off by another pain low in my abdomen, just above my mound. I gasped and tried to curl up.

“Show me where it is?” Bones ordered. I pointed.

“Hmm, I wonder. Eliana, do you want to assist? I know you have privileges, too.”

“Sure. You got the blood, I assume, since the IV is in. A urinalysis next?” she guessed.

“You read my mind. I need to do the internal exam, but she might have a UTI. It can cause pain and nausea. Are you feeling sick to your stomach, Blythe?” Bones asked. Eliana and he were setting up the equipment for my exam.

“Yes, I do. I thought it was because of how upset I was.”

“It could be, but you might have a urinary infection. Eliana is going to straight cath you for an uncontaminated stream. It’ll hurt a little, but she’ll be quick.” He gripped my hand and squeezed.

He didn’t say anything more, and while the catheter hurt, it wasn’t the worst pain ever. I was left with a burning sensation afterward. When Eliana had the sample, I guessed she was about to take it to the lab. But Paris came back at that moment, and Eliana gave it to her to do.

“Paris, please take this to the lab and tell them it’s a stat for Dr. Phoenix,” Eliana told her.

“I would, but I need to assist Dr. Phoenix with a pelvic exam,” Paris said huffily.

“Eliana will assist me. Please do it,” Bones ordered.

Paris scowled as she flounced out. Bones didn’t notice, but Eliana did. She saw me watching and rolled her eyes.

“Blythe, I need you to scoot down in this bed, and I’ll put your feet in these stirrups. When I do, spread your legs as far as you can. I’ll be as gentle as possible. I need you to work on relaxing. I need to see if your cervix is dilated,” Bones explained.

“I’ll try,” I told him.

He was very efficient in getting me into position, and before I knew it, he was ready to start.

It was embarrassing to have a stranger look at your most intimate part.

It was worse with Bones. I tried to go to a place in my mind, however, where I ended up was thinking about Bones and why I was embarrassed to have him see my vajayjay.

Despite the awful mess with Deon, I found Bones to be an incredibly attractive man.

The sad part was that he impacted me way more than Deon did, and it was immediate.

With Deon, it had grown over the course of a month, thanks to his consistent attention.

With Bones, it hit me as soon as I saw him, even though I was scared.