Total pages in book: 113
Estimated words: 107115 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 536(@200wpm)___ 428(@250wpm)___ 357(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 107115 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 536(@200wpm)___ 428(@250wpm)___ 357(@300wpm)
The moment she was alone with the doctor, thick tension filled the silence, and he grimaced. “How are you feeling, Mrs. Pershing?”
“Just Madison, please.”
He acknowledged her with a nod. “Madison.”
“I’m feeling better, just a lingering headache. And I’m really tired. Did I pass out from heat exhaustion…or something more?”
The doctor took a long time answering. “It was a confluence of issues, and the heat had a lot to do with it.”
“But there’s more.” Madison didn’t ask. She heard that truth in his voice.
“You’ll forgive me, but I don’t have a full prescription list for you. Do you take Xanax, by chance? Or Ambien? Some form of antidepressant? Or anything similar to calm you?”
“No. I’m actually not a huge fan of drugs like that. They hit me too hard and make me super fuzzy. In fact, I try to avoid taking anything I don’t have to.”
“So I’m guessing you also don’t take any opioids for pain, like Oxycodone?”
She shook her head. “Other than the Hydrocodone an oral surgeon prescribed to me years ago, after my wisdom teeth were removed, never. Heck, I never even took one of those pills.”
He jotted some notes in her chart. “Do you have an IUD? Take the pill? On any other form of hormonal birth control?”
Was he suggesting that her hormones were also out of whack? “No. Nothing. Tell me what’s going on.”
After a quick scan of her blood results again, he regarded her. “The heat exhaustion, coupled with dehydration, made you ripe for a fainting episode.”
“I didn’t just faint; my heart stopped beating.”
“It did, granted for less than thirty seconds, as I understand it. The heat may have caused you severe dehydration and sent you into hypovolemic shock. But in addition to your overexposure to the sun and its resulting difficulties, you had two classifications of drugs in your system. The first most people know as benzodiazepines or benzos. In addition to the drug types I previously mentioned, the other well-known use for this drug classification is—”
“The date-rape drug.”
“Exactly.”
“I haven’t been on any dates. I haven’t been to a bar with an open drink…” The water Matt had brought her just before she’d taken the stage had been in a sealed bottle. So had the crackers and the candy bar.
He shrugged. “You also had some form of opioids in your system. Those drugs together slowed your heart even more. I’m shocked you didn’t have a seizure. You’re lucky that your…ahem, bodyguard”—he smirked—“knew CPR. It probably saved your life.”
And she was grateful to Matt all over again. “Are you saying I fainted because, not only was I super dehydrated, but I was drugged?”
Vaguely, Madison recalled feeling a sharp prick in her shoulder—right where Todd’s hand wrapped around her—shortly before she fell to the floor. Had he injected her with something? What an absolute fucking bastard. She’d known that for years. When it came to morals, he’d always set the bar low, but this time…he’d brought a shovel. Worse, Matt had a very good idea exactly what he’d done.
She looked up and found the man she loved staring at her through the window unblinkingly. He wasn’t the sort to stand by idly. How long before he stopped caring about the danger the Pershings posed to him and took matters into his own hand? Madison’s guess? Not long.
“That’s my working theory, yes. But there’s another contributing factor I’m not sure you’re aware of. A reason your system may have been even more delicate, leaving you vulnerable in this situation.”
“What?”
“Do you realize, Madison, that you’re pregnant?”
Everything stopped. Her world. Her heart. Her breaths. Her hope for the future.
Pregnant. Oh, god…
“A-are you sure?”
“Positive. I don’t know how far along you might be without a more thorough obstetrical exam. I daresay you’ll be able to answer that question better than me. The good news is that, since you had medical intervention and started a normal heart rhythm so quickly, nothing that happened today should have harmed your baby.”
Madison blinked, thinking back through the last few months. This child couldn’t possibly be Todd’s. They hadn’t had sex in well over a year. But she had Matt…so much sex. All of it had been protected. Granted, condoms weren’t foolproof, but they’d never had one break. And they’d never thrown caution to the wind and foregone one…
Except the morning after Nash’s attack when Matt had run her down at the Blue Bayou Motel. He’d come back for her. He’d claimed her.
He’d planted a baby in her belly.
She stared at Matt through the window again. He was focused on the doctor, and his expression had morphed from intense to downright threatening.
Under her blanket, she cupped her stomach protectively. “You can’t tell anyone.”
Connard grimaced. “You’re putting me in an awkward position.”
“There are HIPAA laws. I have a right to privacy.”
“Under most circumstances, yes. But your grandfather-in-law… Well, I’m afraid I owe him—”