But it didn’t ease the worry on his face any. Heath was pale by the time the ambulance wail sounded from the clearing, and then Heath and Rowe were both moving aside so the paramedics, led by Liam, could get to me.
The man and woman both introduced themselves, but I couldn’t retain either of their names. They moved me to a gurney, and I yelled at the pain.
“Definitely looks like an inflamed or possibly burst appendix, but we’ll get her to the hospital and get her checked out. Is one of you her partner?”
“Me,” all three answered in unison.
Even with the pain, it was a laughable moment.
The paramedic raised her eyebrows then looked down at me. “Lucky girl.”
If I hadn’t been in agony, I would have high-fived her.
She turned to the guys. “Only one of you can come in the ambulance. I’ll leave it to the three of you to decide who, but we need to go quick. I don’t want her appendix bursting before we get there.”
“Liam, you go,” Heath decided. “I’m sober enough to drive me and Rowe. We’ll be right behind you.”
Liam ran alongside the gurney as they wheeled me out and put me in the back of the waiting ambulance. He climbed in and sat on the seat beside my head and leaned down so he was eye level with me. He gave me a shaky smile. “At least Ripley wasn’t here this time.”
Thank God. The poor kid had already been traumatized enough. He didn’t need to see me like this. Another stab of pain took the ability to speak, and worry coursed through me. Would I even know if my appendix had burst?
Liam held my hand all the way to the hospital, murmuring encouraging things to me and brushing back my hair from my sweaty forehead. At the hospital, he fielded as many questions as he could from the staff, all while refusing to leave my side.
A nice-looking male doctor appeared in my line of view and smiled at me. “Hey, Mae. I’m Dr. Obidsen. Think I could have a peek at your belly?”
I groaned but forced myself to move my hands out of his way.
Liam’s face twisted in pain as I yelped at the doctor’s touch. He stepped back, snapping off his gloves and tossed them into the trash can in the corner of the examination room. “Okay, that definitely presents like an inflamed appendix, but your partner said you had some ovary issues that you were also concerned about earlier in the evening, and I want to rule out an ectopic pregnancy, so what we’ll do is get an ultrasound real quick and go from there. Sound good?”
Anything sounded better than pain right now. I nodded my consent.
A portable ultrasound machine was rolled in and my belly slathered in slimy blue goop.
The doctor looked at me apologetically. “Sorry, this is going to hurt if those drugs haven’t kicked in yet, but I’ll be quick.”
God, I just wanted the pain to stop. Even the light touch of the gel hurt.
I closed my eyes and let Liam soothe me with his fingers massaging my palm. It did help distract me a little, and I fought to keep my attention on the patterns he was making.
The doctor glided the wand over my stomach, clicking a few things with his mouse and taking measurements. I already knew what he was going to say before he said it. The polycystic ovaries didn’t hurt in the same way this did. This was definitely something new.
“Congrats, Mae. That’s a lovely case of appendicitis you have there.”
I groaned, though it was expected.
Liam squeezed my hand. “So what happens now? You take it out?”
“Yep, and ASAP, because that thing is ready to bust at any minute. I’m surprised you lasted at home as long as you did. They hurt.”
“You don’t say,” I groaned.
The doctor grinned. “Don’t worry, though, it’s just a little laparoscopic surgery. It won’t hurt you or the baby.”
I froze. “The what?”
Liam’s fingers gripped mine tighter.
The doctor glanced over at us in surprise. “You didn’t know?”
“I can’t have kids.”
The doctor winked at me. “The fetus in your belly says otherwise. Good surprise or bad?”
A whole host of emotions crashed down over me, complete and all-consuming shock being the major one. I forgot the pain. All I could think about was the fact I was pregnant.
The tears that streamed down my face weren’t pain related. They were pure joy.
“Good,” Liam answered, his voice choked with all the emotion I was feeling. I glanced over at him and reveled in his expression. “So fucking good.”
He pressed his lips to mine. “I love you both. Whether it’s mine or one of the others. It doesn’t matter.” He grinned at the doctor. “I’m gonna be a dad!”
He said it loud enough for someone in another cubicle to yell out, “Congrats!”
The doctor chuckled, but he was already flicking off the brakes of the gurney and wheeling me away toward surgery.
The entire way I cradled my belly. No longer because of the pain, but because of the little miracle growing inside me.
“Wakey-wakey, sleepyhead.”
The lights were too bright. I closed my eyes again. The next time I tried, they didn’t seem quite as bad, and I managed to leave them open. It took me a minute to work out where I was, though, until Tori’s familiar face came into focus.
She grinned at me, practically bouncing on her hospital bed in excitement. “I love that you love me so much you wanted matching belly scars. We’re roomies!”
My head clouded with confusion, until it all came flooding back, the pain of last night, the ambulance, and the…
I widened my eyes and clutched my stomach. “Was I in a pain-induced hallucination last night or did a doctor really tell me I was pregnant?”
She grinned and flicked her head toward the door. “Pretty sure you didn’t dream it. There’s three very excited daddies out there in the hall, waiting for you to wake up.”
“They’re here?”
She shook her head with a laugh. “You came to in the recovery room, and they brought you here, but you were asleep again by the time they let the guys in. They haven’t left, though. They’ve been hanging around like a bad smell…oh look, they’re back.”