That was the most important thing. Right?
Funny thing was, every time she asked her self that question she got no answer. “That night—”
She held up a sterile hand. “Stop it, please. I don’t ever want to talk about that night again.” She hoped she managed to keep the truth out of her eyes but she couldn’t be sure. The way he scrutinized her face she doubted she hid much from him.
“I guess I can understand how you feel.” He heaved out a big breath.
Elizabeth watched his sculpted chest rise and fall with the action. She wanted to touch him so badly that it literally hurt.
But that would be a mistake.
What ever crazy connection they had shared during those stressful weeks was best forgotten.
“Just give me back my face, Doc.” His gaze connected fully with hers and some unreadable emotion reached out to her, made her ache all the more. “I guess that’ll have to be enough.”
Elizabeth called in the team and within moments they had lapsed into a synchronized rhythm.
As Joe slipped deep into induced sleep she surveyed the face she’d given him. This was the last time she would see David Maddox’s face. And she was glad.
She poised, scalpel in hand, over the patient and took a deep breath. “Let’s get this done.”
Elizabeth closed the door of her office and collapsed into her chair. She was completely exhausted. She just couldn’t understand what was wrong with her. No one could claim she didn’t get enough sleep. She slept like the dead. Eight to ten hours every night! It was incredible.
And food. She ate like a wrestler bulking up to meet his weight requirements.
As she sat there marveling over her strange new zest for sleep and food, realization hit her right between the eyes.
She was late for her period. Only about ten days and that wasn’t completely uncommon. Her cycles never had been reliable. She’d considered birth control pills years ago in order to regulate her self but the risks for a woman her age, though she didn’t smoke, were just not worth the bother. Condoms had always worked.
But she and Joe hadn’t used a condom.
Mortification dragged at her as if the earth’s gravity had suddenly cubed it self.
She was thirty-seven years old. A doctor at that. And she could very well be pregnant by mistake!
A kind of giddiness abruptly replaced her mortification.
A baby could be…nice.
Anticipation fizzed in side her. Okay, better than nice. A baby could be amazing!
She had to know.
Elizabeth shot to her feet.
She needed a pregnancy test. Now.
She rushed out of the clinic with out a word to any one. It was her lunch break any way. She could do what she wanted. Didn’t need anyone’s permission.
As she settled behind the wheel of her Lexus she considered the attitude she’d just taken.
Maybe she was changing.
What do you know? She might just like this new feeling of liberation. All work and no play had turned into drudgery.
She drove straight to the nearest pharmacy and bought the test. She couldn’t bear to wait until she got back to her office, be sides she wanted privacy from her colleagues.
Since she was a doctor the pharmacist gladly allowed her to use the employee rest room in the rear of the store.
Her fingers trembling, Elizabeth opened the box and followed the simple instruction. Then she closed the lid on the toilet and sat down to wait.
Joe popped into her thoughts. If she was pregnant, should she tell him?
She chewed her lip. If she did, he would want to be a part of the child’s life. Was that a good thing? Maybe not.
But how could she not tell him?
Elizabeth groaned. More dilemmas.
Anger lit in side her. As soon as the restoration surgery on his face was complete she’d been ushered away from the borrowed clinic. She hadn’t even been allowed to stay to see him through recovery.
Director Calder had refused to give her an up date on Joe the two times she’d called.
And in the four weeks that had passed she hadn’t heard from him once. Joe, not Calder. He hadn’t called, hadn’t come by. Nothing.
Obviously when he decided to move on he didn’t look back.
It was for the best, she knew.
But that didn’t make it hurt any less.
She’d shed a few tears, cursing her self every time.
Heck, she’d even forced her self to go on a few dates to try and put him out of her mind entirely. But nothing ever worked.
There was just no denying the truth.
She loved him and her heart would not let her forget.
The minute hand on the wall clock moved to the five. It was time.
Holding her breath she picked up the stick and peered at the results.
Positive.
A thrill went through her.
She was pregnant!