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Page 39 of Huckleberry Hill (Saddles & Spurs #1)

Chapter Thirty-Eight

The Hospital

The left side of my body screamed in pain. I gritted my teeth. Declan saw my grimace and took my hand while we waited for the doctor.

“Squeeze my hand,” he said. “Hard as you want.”

“I’m fine.”

“Liar. Terrible, terrible liar.”

“Have you talked to Dad? How are the cattle? Was anyone else injured?”

“We don’t have to talk about that now.”

“Distract me, please,” I begged.

“I didn’t ask,” he said. “My first and only priority was getting you to the hospital.”

He was still in his rain gear. After Declan had fished me out of the floodwater, he’d ridden Merlin hard toward the main house, with me in front of him on the saddle. When Muddy saw us, she immediately snapped into drill-sergeant mode. She commanded Declan to get me warm and dry.

Muddy tried to get hold of Dad to let him know what was going on, but cell service was spotty in even the best of circumstances at the ranch, and because of the weather he was with the rest of the boys and the cattle on the northwest side of the property.

Declan had helped me change, but when he saw the bruising on my body, he’d wrapped me in a wool blanket and carried me to the truck and driven me to the hospital. Terror had been etched on his face every time he looked at me.

The curtain around the exam table slid back and a middle-aged doctor with fine lines around her eyes and brown hair streaked with gray appeared.

“Hi there,” she said. “I’m Dr. Novak. I’ll be taking care of you today. Tell me what’s going on.” She glanced at Declan and his attire, but her focus returned to me.

I quickly explained that Declan was my boyfriend and what had occurred. “I’d love some painkillers.”

“I’m sure you would,” she commiserated. “Please lay back for me, so I can do an exam and see what we’re dealing with here.”

I laid back and lifted my shirt.

“Ouch,” Dr. Novak said as she put on a pair of gloves. She gently touched the left side of my abdomen and worked her hands up to my ribs.

It took everything in me not to howl in pain.

“You’ve got a lot of bruising. I don’t know if there’s any internal bleeding or broken ribs, so I’ll need to get some images. Before I administer pain meds, I need to know if you’re pregnant.”

I hadn’t been prepared for the question. “No,” I rasped. “I’m not pregnant.”

“Any chance you might be?”

“Doubtful,” I whispered.

She patted my shoulder. “You can sit up. Do you remember the date of your last period?”

“No.”

I hadn’t bothered tracking my period after finding out I couldn’t have children. What was the point?

“All right.” She nodded. “I’m going to have you take a pregnancy test anyway to rule it out. It’s protocol. I’m going to order a rush on it, okay?”

“Okay.” I nodded.

“I’m just going to get someone to draw your blood, but—” She handed me a cup for a urine sample. “Bathroom is right over there.”

Declan immediately came to my side and helped me off the exam table and guided me to the bathroom.

“I don’t know why I need to pee in a cup,” I muttered. “We both know it’s negative.”

“Protocol, like she said.”

“Fuck protocol,” I moaned. “I’m in pain.”

I went into the bathroom and did my thing. I returned to the exam table and handed off the sample to the phlebotomist, who wrote down the information on the label and then drew my blood.

She took the samples and left us alone.

My mind was bouncing from one thing to the next. Declan’s cell phone rang, and he unzipped his jacket and reached for it in the inner pocket.

“Your dad,” he said.

“Answer it,” I suggested.

“Connor,” he said in greeting. “Yeah, we’re at the hospital. A doctor has just seen Hadley. She’s going to do some x-rays.” He paused. “Sure. Here.”

He handed me the phone which I put to my ear.

“Hey,” I said.

“Hey, honey. How are you doing? You hanging in there?” he asked.

“Yeah, I’m okay. How’s everything where you are?”

“Rain’s finally letting up. Goldie got a decent laceration from that barbed wire, but Jane’s taking care of it.”

I let out a sigh of relief. “That’s good to hear. Any of the cattle hurt?”

“No. We got them all to safety. Even though the rain is letting up, the snowmelt from the rapid temperature shift combined with the rain is going to be crazy the next several days.”

“I’ll bet.”

“Muddy’s taking care of Tempest, so don’t worry about anything. Put Declan back on for me. Love you, Hadley.”

“Love you too.” I handed the phone back to Declan.

“Yeah, it’s me,” Declan said. He paused and then nodded. “Right. Will do. Bye.”

“Will do what?” I asked after he hung up.

He put his phone back into his pocket. “I told him I’d keep him posted.”

I smiled.

“What?”

“That’s Dad speak for he’s on his way. He’ll be here in about half an hour.”

Dr. Novak pushed the curtain aside and then closed it to give us privacy. “How we doing?”

I sighed. “I’d really like those pain meds. Please tell me that’s why you came back so quickly.”

Dr. Novak smiled. “I came back quickly because your pregnancy test came back positive.”

“ Positive? ” I repeated.

“Positive?” Declan parroted.

“Positive,” Dr. Novak said again. “Congratulations, Hadley. You’re pregnant.”

“But that’s impossible!” I blurted out.

Dr. Novak looked Declan up and down. “Impossible. Really?”

“ Really ,” I insisted. “Really, really.”

“Have you two been having sex?” she asked.

I blushed. “Yes.”

“Have you been having unprotected sex?”

“Yes.” I squirmed. “But only because I was told I was infertile.”

“Pregnant?” Declan asked again.

“You might want to sit down,” Dr. Novak said, rolling a stool toward him which he immediately collapsed on. “As far as infertility goes . . . well, sometimes these things happen. Couples believe they can’t get pregnant, they don’t use protection, and boom. You get a baby.”

“A baby,” I whispered.

“I’m lightheaded,” Declan murmured.

“Me too,” I said.

“Put your head between your knees,” Dr. Novak advised Declan.

Declan did the motion easily, but I couldn’t due to the pain in my side.

There was a chime from a device, and Dr. Novak reached into her lab coat pocket to pull out a tablet. She tapped the screen. “It’s your blood test results. Yep, you’re definitely pregnant.”

Declan lifted his head from between his legs and scooched the stool closer to the exam table and took my hand. I squeezed his fingers with all the force I had.

He winced, but otherwise said nothing.

Dr. Novak smiled and said, “Let’s get you to radiology and make sure that bruising isn’t something to worry about.”

I had no internal bleeding and no broken ribs. Just a lot of bruising. They’d admitted me to the hospital though because Dr. Novak wanted to monitor me for a few hours in case anything unforeseen popped up.

She asked if I wanted any pain meds that were safe for my condition, but after finding out I was pregnant I refused them.

I’m pregnant.

Declan and I hadn’t had a chance to talk about it.

I was currently laying in a bed, hooked up to a bunch of monitors, and Declan was sitting in the chair next to me.

Neither one of us had spoken and the air was filled with tension.

A sudden thought bounced into my mind.

“I had my period in New York last month,” I blurted out. “And then Gianni went to Italy. There’s no way the baby is his.”

His expression softened. “Is that what you thought I was thinking about?”

“I don’t know what you’re thinking about.” I bit my lip. “You haven’t said anything. What are you thinking about?”

“Honestly?”

“Honestly.” I braced myself for something terrible.

“I’m thinking about the fact that there’s no way in hell we can live in that cabin. Not with a baby goat and an actual baby. Sorry, bear snack. But we’re going to have to move whether you like it or not.”

I blinked. And blinked again.

“Declan,” I began.

“Yes, Hadley?” he asked with a wry grin.

“Why are you smiling at me that way?”

“Because I can feel a lecture coming on.”

“No, no lecture. I don’t lecture.”

“You’re right, it’s more like a monologue.

So, tell you what, you tell me all the reasons why we can’t move to a bigger place and why we can’t be happy and in love and have a baby and I’ll sit here and listen.

But if you think I won’t be a good father then I’ll remind you about Tempest. I’m a good goat dad. How much harder would a baby be?”

My lips wobbled. “You really want to have a baby with me?”

“I do, Hadley. I really do. But in all honesty we really should’ve put a condom on the banana. I think I may have missed that day in sex ed.”

I stole a hand across my belly. “I didn’t think this was possible. If I thought it was, you know we would’ve used a condom.”

“Well, we’ve failed to use condoms every time so far,” he said. “I’ve never been so happy to be a failure at something.”

“You’re really not mad?”

“Why would I be mad?”

“Because you and I—we just—and infertility—and?—”

“Hey, it’s okay. You may have been infertile, but now you’re not.”

I sighed in relief. “A baby.”

He smiled. “A baby.”

The door to my room opened and Dr. Novak returned, only this time she brought my father. His boots were muddy, and he was still in his rain gear and his expression immediately softened when he saw me.

Dr. Novak quietly saw herself out and closed the door behind her.

“You’re okay,” he said, immediately coming to my bedside. “I’d hug you, but I’m wet.”

“Hug me,” I instructed. “But gently. My side is really sore.”

He enveloped me in his arms, and I pressed my head to his rain jacket lapel and closed my eyes.

Dad pulled back and released me. “So, what did the doctor say? She didn’t tell me anything. Only that you were healthy and your injuries will heal, but she wanted to keep you for a few hours for observation. Why would she want to keep you for a few hours if you’re okay?”

Declan rose from his chair. “Take my seat.”

“I don’t want to sit,” Dad said.

“You should probably sit,” I urged.

Dad looked between me and Declan. “What’s going on?”

“You should really sit,” I said. “Please?”

“Okay.” He shrugged and took Declan’s chair. “Now tell me what’s going on.”

I reached for Declan and he took my hand, bringing it to his lips.

“Hadley?” Dad pressed.

I gave him a nervous smile. “Congrats, Dad. You’re going to be a grandpa.”