Summer Island Hope, page 5
“You’ve been taking dietary supplements. One of them has St. John’s wort in it, which could interfere with the oral contraceptive. That being said, we will never know for sure.”
“God’s will,” Kat murmured.
Wes snarled at the textured ceiling. “God’s will for people our age to get pregnant? He does know this isn’t the ancient times where people lived to be hundreds of years old, right?”
Kat squeezed his hand as if to be the one calming him.
“I understand your shock. You both need to discuss what you want to do moving forward, but first I want to make sure you have all the facts and know what to expect with this pregnancy. To understand the risks—”
“Risks?” Wes asked, his blood pumping like a fuel injector.
Kat nodded. “My age.”
“Yes, that’s one factor. The increase of things like Down Syndrome or other chromosomal abnormalities or birth defects is a risk, but there are children born every day to women your age with no issues at all. It’s a statistical increase but not a guarantee. We’ll need to run some tests at different stages of your pregnancy. You could have a healthy baby. But there are other concerns at the moment. You have hyperemesis gravidarum, which simply means severe morning sickness.”
“Can that harm the baby?” A tear slipped down Kat’s cheek.
He swiped it away the way he wanted to swipe all her worries away. “Or Kat?”
“We’ll need to treat both mother and baby with IV fluids and then start you on bland foods. I’ll give you all the information you’ll need on proper diet. As for the IV fluids, there’s a mobile service you can call so that a nurse will come administer the treatment at your home instead of at the hospital. I believe this will decrease stress, which is the most important thing right now for mother and baby.”
“Thank you, doctor.” Kat lifted her chin as if taking all of this head-on would be easy.
“The reason stress is so important to avoid is due to your elevated blood pressure. However, this isn’t a surprise, considering all your body is going through. I’d like you to rest as much as possible and stay off your feet the next few weeks.”
Kat put her free hand to her belly. “You think I’ll lose the baby, don’t you?”
“You asked me to be honest, so I will be throughout this process. Yes, there is an increased risk of you losing the baby due to this being early in the pregnancy and your age.”
Losing the baby? What about Kat? “Is it safer for her to lose the baby now as opposed to later?” His words slipped out, and based on the doctor’s and patient’s expressions, he’d been too direct. “What I mean to say is do I need to be concerned about the risks being greater now or later?” He knew he still hadn’t expressed his thoughts well but shut his mouth.
“Katherine is healthier than most of the twenty- and thirty-something women I see. I encourage you both not to make any major decisions at this moment. Go home, rest, spend some time together. I’ll refer you to a specialist, though. You’ll be considered a high-risk pregnancy. You’ll have to travel to Orlando since there are no specialists in Summer Island. I’m going to remain your physician as long as you’re on the island, though. I want you to have someone close by.”
He couldn’t let it go. He had to know the truth. “Doctor, I still want to know more about the risks, specifically for Kat. Could this baby cause her health problems? Could I lose…” He couldn’t say the words. He choked on the rising bile of terror.
“We won’t let that happen. We’ll keep a close eye on her blood pressure, and she’ll receive the best of care. Now, I want you both to go home and rest. I’d like to encourage you to lean on those you trust, but get used to the news and give it some time before you share with too many friends and neighbors.”
“Because I’m at high risk of losing the baby.” Tears spilled down Kat’s cheeks, and he thought he’d crumble right in front of the doctor. Never had he ever seen Kat cry like this.
Hormones. He’d heard all about them from friends and co-workers whose wives had babies. This was going to be a challenging time. He needed to be the strong one. To care for her and his unborn child.
His. Unborn. Child.
The words stuck in his mind and played on repeat.
“As I said, avoid stress and enjoy each other.” She covered both their hands with hers, shocking Wes. “I’ll be with you through all of the pregnancy. You’re not alone. Once you get home, write out a list of questions as they come to you. You can email them to me here or call the nurse line. I check email every hour, and I’ll get back to you within a short time. I’m also on call for you night or day.”
“Thank you, doctor.” Kat’s tears slowed to a trickle.
Dr. Ryland caught his gaze and held it. “Dad, your goal is to get her to eat, even though she won’t want to. The medicine should help, but her goal is to keep food down for fifteen minutes. Serve her in bed and have her try not to move after she eats. It will help her keep it down longer.”
“Dad,” he whispered, as if saying it too loudly would make it real.
Chapter Eight
All day, Kat fought to wake up and move around, but her body wouldn’t allow it. She’d roll over, stick one foot out from under the covers, and fall back to sleep. When she’d wake again, she was covered to the neck and Wes hovered nearby.
The IV dripped into her arm, and by the time the evening sun faded, she woke long enough to see the nurse leave the room. From outside in the hallway, she heard the nurse say, “It’s best to let her sleep. Try to get her to eat something when she wakes, even if it is in the middle of the night. But don’t wake her.”
“Is she doing any better? Should I hire a full-time nurse to monitor her health? Can I…” Wes’s voice faded into the night, and for the first time in Kat’s life, she couldn’t find the energy to get up and fake being alright.
The morning sun speared through the darkness before the world awoke around her. Only the faint chirp in the distance was evidence of life outside the bedroom. She rubbed the sleep from her eyes and rolled over to find Wes sitting up straight in bed with his eyes closed.
She wanted to remain still to allow him to sleep, but her bladder won, and she slipped from the covers. Her toes brushed the floor.
“What’s wrong? You okay? What can I get you?” Wes flew out of bed and was at her side before her heel could rest on the ground.
“I don’t think you can do this for me.”
“I can do anything. Just tell me what you need.”
“I have to go to the bathroom.”
“Oh.” He stepped aside but grabbed her elbow and escorted her to the bathroom.
“I’ve got it from here.” Kat nudged him away and stepped into the toilet room and shut the door. “I can see your shadow. I can’t pee with you waiting there like that.”
“I’ll go if you promise to tell me when you’re done. I don’t want you walking without me. You collapsed last night. I won’t let you fall again.”
“I did?” She shook off the haze and caught hold of a vague memory of her knees hitting the tile floor. She lifted her nightgown and spotted a small bruise forming. “Okay, I promise to call for you when I’m ready.”
His shadow shrunk and faded, so she took the one blissful minute to hide from the hovering husband. Okay, so he wasn’t her husband, but he sure behaved like one. She needed a breath, and she took it.
When she was done, she flushed the toilet, and his shadow reappeared. She opened the door to a disheveled, dark-circle-eyed man she barely recognized. His eyebrows angled down and his eyes narrowed. “You promised to call me.”
“I didn’t get a chance. You appeared the minute I flushed.” Kat sighed and closed her eyes.
“What is it?” Wes took her forearm like she was a ninety-year-old crossing Main Street. “Let’s get you to bed.”
She wanted to snatch her arm away and tell him to stop fussing, but she saw the worry in his eyes, so she allowed him to help. Perhaps if she showed him how much better she felt, he’d give her some space.
He tucked her into bed. The doorbell rang, snagging his attention away from her, so she took the opportunity. “It might be the girls.”
“No, it’s a grocery delivery. It’s important for you to eat a bland diet—no fatty foods, small meals, plenty of fluids when you’re not too nauseated, and nutritious as possible.”
“How do you know all that?” She quirked a brow at him.
“I read the literature the doctor gave us last night, and I downloaded two pregnancy books.”
“I see. Go get the groceries before they spoil.” She pointed to the door. Anything to get him away from her for thirty seconds so she could think.
He paused at the end of the bed. “Promise me you won’t get out of bed while I’m gone.”
She crossed her heart. “I promise.”
He raced from the room, and she knew he’d make it back in record time. She’d only have a couple of minutes to check on work. She reached for her phone on the nightstand, but it wasn’t there. She scanned the room but didn’t see her cell anywhere.
Work had to be piling up, and she needed to tell the girls what was going on. When Wes returned, she noticed his wrinkled button-up shirt and pants, the stain on his collar. The man who always looked perfect appeared homeless and hopeless.
“Sit down. We need to talk.”
He joined her on the bed and held her hand. “What is it? Are you in pain? Sick?”
“Please, take a breath.” Kat ran her nails down his arm to soothe his worry the way she did when he stressed over some big business deal. “Listen, I feel better today. The sleep and the IV fluids helped me. I appreciate all you’ve done to take care of me and I love you for it, but now you need to get some rest.”
“I’m fine. I slept some. Besides, I need to make you some breakfast.”
“The girls can bring something over. I need to call them before they show up with the police for me being MIA this long.”
“Don’t worry about the girls. I already called them. They know you need your rest, so they won’t be bothering you right now.”
“Bothering me? They wouldn’t bother me.”
“Doctor’s orders. No stress, remember?” Wes kissed her cheek. “I’ll go make you something to eat.”
She sat up in bed. “Where’s my cell phone?”
“Downstairs where it won’t bother you.” He returned and nudged her back to the pillow.
“I need to check in at work.”
“No need. I already called, and Dave is covering for you.”
She shot up. “You told him?”
“No. I mean, just that you were sick. He said take all the time you need.”
Kat swung her legs over the side of the bed, ready to stand and fight, but her head spun like a merry-go-round. “I can work from bed if I have to, but I need to work. I can’t dump all my clients on Dave.”
Wes tucked her back into bed.
She was too weak to argue, yet she needed space and for him to let her breathe. She needed to distract him with something other than caring for her. “Wait, what about your company? I’m sure you need to head back soon. The girls can come stay with me while you’re gone. I don’t want to be a burden to you.”
“You’re never a burden. Besides, I don’t need to return. I sold my company, so I have nothing better to do than to take care of you. I promised I wouldn’t leave your side, and I won’t.”
Dear Lord in heaven, help me. Kat needed a plan. No way she’d be the project for a workaholic like Wes. She’d drown in his attention. She loved him, but she needed to love him from a distance for an hour or two.
Chapter Nine
For four days, Wes cooked, cleaned, and took care of Kat since he didn’t want to hire strangers to come into her house and potentially stress her out. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d taken trash out. He’d paid people to run his house while he worked all these years.
Kat slept most of the time, so he read up on all the things that could go wrong during her first trimester. He found himself checking her breathing on more than one occasion. His gut clenched tight each time she moved because he feared she’d hemorrhage or her blood pressure would skyrocket and she’d have a stroke. He’d had no idea how many things could go wrong while a woman was pregnant. So many things out of his control.
They hadn’t even spoken about the baby. He didn’t want to nudge her into any conversations that would upset her until they saw the specialist next week. More than once, he caught her hand on her belly, and he feared she’d grown attached to the unborn child who had little chance of making it full-term. All he could do was be there for her and support her any way he could.
He managed to make toast without burning it this morning. With toast and juice in hand and a little hint of pride for his culinary success, he tip-toed upstairs in case she’d fallen asleep again. But she hadn’t. Instead, she sat up in bed with her darn cell phone in hand.
“How did you get that?” he snapped but then cleared his throat and forced a more relaxed tone. “You’re doing better, so let’s not cause any undue stress now, okay?”
She took the phone and shoved it into her pocket. “Enough.” Her cross-examination tone rang loud and derisively.
He set the plate down on the nightstand and studied her. “What’s enough?”
“You. I need some space. I’m trying so hard to be patient, but it’s been almost a week. I’ve been able to put back on two pounds, and the nurse said I’m doing great. I can’t be your job.”
He sank onto the bed by her feet, his pride deflating. What was the right thing to do in this situation? How could he stay close enough to protect her but far enough for her to feel independent? How would he ever be a good father if he couldn’t even be a good boyfriend? He needed to do better. She was a proud woman, and he knew this would be difficult for her. “I’m not trying to smother you.”
Kat’s eyes softened, and she patted the space beside her. He crawled up next to her and took her into his arms. She relaxed into his side and put her hand on his chest, making life feel normal, if only for a moment. He savored the connection between them. He’d felt cold inside since arriving in Summer Island, despite the heavy, sticky heat.
Kat ran a nail in circles on his sternum, soothing him further. “I love you, and I appreciate everything you’re trying to do, but you can’t manage me or this pregnancy. You’re a man who’s used to getting things done, controlling the situation, and so am I, but this isn’t something we can control.”
“I know, but we can do things to mitigate the risk.” He tried to remain calm, but his heart beat against his chest as if to leap out and touch Kat’s attentive hand. “You’re used to being invincible, so you don’t want to slow down, but you don’t have a choice.” His voice cracked.
She tapped his chin, coaxing him to look at her eyes, the color of burning embers. “You need to take a beat before you give yourself a heart attack.” Her lips pressed to his cheek, sending warmth through him. “You’ve been so caught up with caring for me that we haven’t talked about you selling your company. Why’d you do that? You didn’t even tell me.”
He brushed her beautiful, bourbon-brown hair from her perfect porcelain skin. “It was going to be a surprise. We’ve both been so busy for so long, and there’s only so much time left in our lives that I wanted to be free for when you had some time off. Our schedules never synched. I thought if one of us didn’t have so many responsibilities, we’d get to travel and spend time together the way we always talked about.”
“I’m sorry.” Her voice dipped to defeated. “I know I didn’t do this on purpose, but I didn’t mean to ruin your plans. I would’ve said yes.” Kat cupped his cheeks and kissed his lips with such passion he almost forgot she was carrying a child.
He surrendered to her attention if only for a moment. When he found the strength to break their connection, he stroked Kat’s hair and studied her beautiful nose, cheeks, mouth. He longed to see the light return to her gaze. “This situation took two of us. I don’t think you could get yourself pregnant.”
“You can tease all you want, but I know this has destroyed all your plans for us. I mean, you sold your company, the one you’ve spent your life building. Why would you do that?”
Wes pulled away and went to the window, eyeing the distant ocean. Did she still not get how much he loved her? Maybe they weren’t on the same page. “I won’t make you my job, I promise. When I sold my company, I planned on still working but in a more philanthropic way. I don’t want to just leave a company behind someday. I want to leave a purpose.”
“What kind of purpose? What kind of work?” she asked.
“Don’t know, exactly.” He rubbed the stiffness from the back of his neck and turned to face her. He wanted to call her out on all her refusals of his proposals and how he’d realized in that moment that she couldn’t love him the way he loved her or she would’ve accepted him by now. But that conversation would have to wait. “We shouldn’t talk about this now. I know we’re in different places right now in our relationship, and that’s okay.”
She sat cross-legged on the bed. Her skin was no longer pale, and she appeared stronger. That was all good. “We are in the same place. We were, I thought, but I never asked you to give everything up for me.”
The doorbell rang, and he didn’t have to look to know it was the Friendsters. Kat had called in her team to take over. “I know. Part of me wishes you had. At least then I’d know how you felt. That I’m worth everything to you as you are to me.” He marched from the room and headed to the stairs, but he didn’t even make it to the second step before Jewels used her key to enter.
They were the ones Kat wanted by her side, not him. And in her condition, he had to give her what she needed, not what he wanted.
“Sorry. We didn’t want to wake you or Kat if she was sleeping,” Jewels offered, but he walked on past them, grabbed his running shoes, and headed for the door.
