Page 95 of Lieutenant

It’s one of my doctors. Fuck if I can even remember his name, but his English sounds British, and he’s kind of hot, although I’ll never admitthatto Carter.

#notstupid

I mean, Carter would probably think he’s hot, too, but helllooo, just almost died.

The least I can do is not perv on hunky guys for a few weeks.

The doctor closes the door behind him, and he wears a…weirdexpression.

Carter’s hand tenses around mine, but he doesn’t squeeze. He’s terrified to hurt me, and I get it, but I just survived a fucking ordeal and Ineedhis strength right now.

So I squeeze Carter’s hand, until he looks at me. I mean, I guess he’s looking at me. I’m still squinting and everything’s blurry. They said it’ll probably be a few days before the swelling goes down in my face. Then they can evaluate my eyesight to see if there was any permanent damage.

Even if I end up with glasses after this, totally worth it, if that’s the only remaining issue I have after what I endured.

“What’s wrong?” Carter asks without waiting for him to speak.

I forget, Carter has his own past experience with doctors and hospitals, even though that was years ago, before we met.

“I have gone through your wife’s test results, and I have some news for you that I am not sure how you will receive.”

“Just tell us.”

“Mrs. Evans is pregnant. We need to do further testing to tell how far along. I am surmising that, since neither you nor she revealed this to our medical team, that it is a surprise to you as well?”

I’m…stunned.

“Say that again?” Carter whispers. “Whatdid you say?”

“Your wife is pregnant.”

“You’resure?”

“I ordered the test be repeated just to be certain.”

NowCarter’s squeezing my hand.

“We’re going to be parents!” I’m not sure if he’s saying that to me or the doctor or if he says it while simply trying to drive the point home inside his own brain.

“Do you wish us to run further tests now, or wait and have them done later after she is released? I would prefer now, because we may need to modify her treatment protocols, and—”

“Now,” he says. “Absolutely, now. But this says secret.”

“Of course. Our patients’ privacy is one of our top concerns.”

The bastard extraordinaire is back. He jabs a finger at the guy. “No, I mean not asingleword of this gets out. Change her name in the system or something, or create a new fictitious patient profile. Anything. This news cannotget out.”

“I will talk to the hospital administrator and see what we can do.”

“You do that.” I hear it in his tone—the bastard extraordinaire isback.

Thank god.

The doctor nods. “I will make a referral so that they send an obstetrician to evaluate her. They will likely order more tests.”

“Sure. Yeah, of course. Whatever she needs.”

When the doctor leaves, Carter stands and turns. He’s wearing a grin. “Ababy!”