Total pages in book: 85
Estimated words: 97275 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 486(@200wpm)___ 389(@250wpm)___ 324(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 97275 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 486(@200wpm)___ 389(@250wpm)___ 324(@300wpm)
I slid my back along the wall until my butt met the cool tiles. My knees were pulled up as far as I could get them, cradling the baby between my knees and chest. The baby wiggled around at the scrunched up position, and I couldn’t help but smile, so happy that I would have one of my own very soon.
What started this whole ordeal was that I’d forgotten to go to my yearly exam with my gynecologist. I’d been stressed with my nursing boards and finding a job. Since this was the year that I was supposed to have the implant in my arm replaced, I wasn’t protected as I’d thought I had been when I slept with Max in August. When I finally took the time to notice that my period was late, I was nearly ten weeks pregnant.
Seeing as I was a nurse who worked with babies, I should have known better. I felt like a complete moron. Not that I was upset about it. I knew Max would be an excellent father as soon as I met him. He interacted so well with all of the kids he came into contact with. Hell, one time I walked into the room and he was singing a lullaby to Cora and I swear my ovaries started shooting out eggs for his torpedo to fertilize.
Not really, but the man was a serious turn on when he sang, and for him to sing while holding a baby was a completely different ball game. I’ve yet to hear him sing to me, but it was definitely something I begged for him to do often. His response to my bugging was that he wasn’t a singer. No matter how deep his voice was, it didn’t mean that he could sing. He’s said he sounded like a “badger having his asshole ripped out” to be specific. With that vivid image, I’d left him alone for the time being.
The whisper of air clued me in that someone entered the room again. I closed my eyes and hoped that it was Max instead of the psycho bitch that took out Cheyenne. When the man took his first step inside I knew that it wasn’t Max because I could hear footsteps.
Max was silent as a wraith when he left the room. This person had heavy footsteps. He also ran into the baby’s bed and then cursed up a storm.
“Nurse!” Stacy whimpered from the bed.
I squeezed my eyes shut tightly and prayed that whoever it was, wasn’t bad. Maybe it was just the maintenance person here to fix the lights. On the other hand, maybe he was a cop. Yes, definitely a cop. This would be one of the first floors to have police on, right?
Then he went and killed my hopes by muttering a “Shut up, bitch.”
Of course, I wasn’t that lucky. I was just thankful that he hadn’t closed the door, and that I was small enough to fit behind it while the door was open. The baby chose that moment to make the hungry baby grunts that signaled that she was perilously close to waking up and working herself into a full-blown panic if she wasn’t fed right that instant. I jiggled her slightly, quieting her down quickly, but it didn’t help. He knew there was a baby in the room.
“Where’s your baby?” The man asked Stacy.
“T-the n-nurse h-has her.” Stacy cried.
“Where is she?” He asked.
“Behind the door.” Stacy snickered.
I found myself blinded by the flashlight the man held, and then I was pulled out by my ponytail. I threw myself onto my side and curled protectively around the baby. Crying out from the pain in my scalp, I squeezed my eyes shut, trying to breathe through the pain. My heart was pounding so hard in my chest that I could feel it all over my entire body.
“So, Payton, did you miss me?” The man said, and it was then that it finally registered as to why the voice sounded familiar.
“Rory. What the heck are you doing here?” I said calmly, even though I was feeling anything but calm.
I had to keep him talking. Maybe if I kept him talking, then Max would be able to handle him. A sharp wrench on my hair made the tears that were threatening to spill before finally took the plunge down my cheeks. The baby that was strapped to my body started wailing again, and it was all I could do not to match her scream for scream.
“Rory, please calm down. I have a baby in my arms. You could really hurt her. Please.” I choked out.
“Calm? I’m anything but calm. That boyfriend of yours has ruined my calm.” He seethed.
My brows pulled together in confusion. “What are you talking about?”
“Oh, don’t play innocent with me. You sent him after me. He threatened me. Got me fired from my job. I lost my house, my girlfriend, and now I’m beyond calm.” He accentuated each point my giving my hair a vicious yank after each item.
I breathed heavily through my mouth, trying desperately not to throw up from the pain. Alpha’s malicious growl from the hallway beyond startled Rory enough that he let my hair go so quickly that my head pounded onto the tiled floor. He stood quickly, and I took the opportunity to back away from him.
Rory’s flashlight swung to the open door, but the only thing that could be seen was the door closing quietly. Almost as if someone had pushed it open, and then immediately let it close. I squeezed my body as tight underneath the hospital bed as I could get. There was barely any room, but somehow I made it work. Alpha was still snarling somewhere in the hallway beyond the room we were in, and I had the sick feeling that maybe Max wasn’t all right if he wasn’t in here yet.
I patted the baby’s bottom without thought. She was in a full-blown roar, and I didn’t think I’d calm her down unless she got something to eat. At least I hoped that was the problem and not something that had to do with her fall. As soon as we got through with this shit-fest, I would definitely be saying something to my boss about her decision to let this girl see her child. I didn’t care who was in the room with her; there would be consequences here.