The Doctor's Husband (Colorado Blues) (13 page)

After a few weeks on the job, Evan was happier than he’d been for a long time. The position was all he wanted and more. He had the responsibility of a small team of doctors rather than a large department in a city hospital and being able to be hands-on suited him more than he thought possible. He spent the better part of his day seeing patients and always finished it off by doing paperwork and most of that he did in Denver’s office so they could spend time together. She set him up with his own desk and computer and neither of them seemed to encroach on the other’s work.

Things at home settled down and he was now a happy man. He’d mended the fences with Denver and their relationship was on an even keel once again. The couple of attempts she’d made to start a discussion about babies was quickly averted and even though he wouldn’t be upset if she changed her mind, the last thing he wanted to do was pressure her. Being the head of the hospital agreed with her. She sported a healthy happy glow he’d never seen in the city. Mix that in with the fresh country air, and it was bound to make a woman more beautiful.

He gathered up his papers and files ready to log into the computer and headed out to the corridor ready to go upstairs. “Hi, Evan. Long time no see.”

A tall red headed woman walked over to him and matched his pace to the elevator. “Claire? Claire Banks?”

“Yep, that’s me. Local pathologist. Been meaning to come down and have a chat with you. I’ve been kind of busy upstairs doing my thing. Glad to see you’re here working alongside your gorgeous wife too.”

“Worked out well, didn’t it? I have to say it’s a change from the big smoke. Tell me, what are you up to? Married, kids?” He pushed the button for the top floor and glanced at her. She still had the freckles across her nose that he used to tease her about in school. And the pigtails he used to pull were now in a sleek ponytail down her back.

“Yes, two little horrors. You remember Tommy Hilderburg?”

“Nerdy burg? The kid who always had his head in a book at school?” Evan waited for her to walk in before him and then he pushed the button for his floor.

“That’s the guy, my guy now.” She grinned and held a basket of blood vials in front of her. “Been married seven years next month. He’s a research scientist for the agriculture department.”

“Guess all that reading paid off then. That’s wonderful. I’ll tell Denver. We’ll have to catch up. Can’t wait to meet your kids.”

“They are pretty cute. Best thing I did apart from marry their father. You’re going to make a great dad too, Evan. Can’t wait to see you with a baby in your arms. When’s it due, about August, isn’t it?”

He must have blanched because the look on Claire’s face was almost comical. “Oh heck. I’ve put my foot in it, haven’t I?” She swallowed and looked down at her hands. “I do that, speak when I should shut my mouth. I’m sorry, Evan.”

He recovered quickly. “No, no, it’s alright. I didn’t think we were telling anyone until next month. I must have been mistaken.” His gut churned and he willed the elevator to hurry up and get to her floor so he could be rid of her and get his head around the latest news Denver hadn’t share with him. “Yes, August it is. We’re both very excited.”

At last the elevator paused and the door dinged open. Claire rushed out with a backward glance at Evan. “Bye.”

“See you around.” He grinned at her and waved his hand willing the doors to close and trap him alone with the latest bombshell. He needed to think about this before he ran off at a tangent and made matters worse again. Why would Denver not tell him but tell Claire? It didn’t make sense, at least not to him.

***

The following day was his morning off and he headed straight to where he knew he would find a sympathetic ear—his brother Rory. They caught up as the sheriff walked the streets, doing his rounds of town, talking to the locals and keeping an eye on things. He stopped when Evan walked toward him, the expression on his face one of “here we go again, what have you done?” The look Evan was used to getting when he was growing up.

“What’s wrong now?” Rory paused and crossed his arms as if waiting for bad news.

“I need to talk to you. Can we go somewhere a bit more private?” He felt bad interrupting his brother’s day, but Rory was always the best person to bounce ideas off of.

“Let’s head to the park across the road. Nobody over there at the moment. I’ll even push you on the swing if it’ll take the sour look from your face.”

“Gee thanks. You’re too kind to me.” He knew the sarcasm would be lost on his older brother, but saying the words made him feel better, if only for a second.

Rory leaned against the fence and watched as Evan perched himself on a swing. “What’s up?”

“Denver is pregnant.”

Rory grinned, then paused. “Why aren’t you happy? I thought it was what you wanted.”

“I do. At least I did I think. Denver didn’t tell me though. Claire did yesterday when I met her at the hospital. She thought I knew.”

“Oh.”

“Yeah, oh. I don’t get it. Do I see a pattern here?” Evan gripped the chain supporting the swing. “Why can’t my own wife tell me these things? Why do I have to find out from someone else?”

“The last time wasn’t her fault, was it? So you might be being a little bit dramatic. I’d be interested to hear why she didn’t see fit to tell you you’re going to be a father though. Unless she doesn’t want a baby. Have you thought of that?”

“Yeah and it scares the crap out of me. What am I going to do if that’s the case?” He let his legs fold under him and the swing moved forward. More by instinct than anything, he leaned back and forward upping the momentum until he was kicking his feet over the height of his brother’s head. Only when a car horn tooted as it passed and a local gave him a cheery wave, did Evan curtail his movements, letting the swing slow until his feet touched the ground again.

“You should be talking to her then, not me.”

“You always help me figure stuff out. It’s only natural I come to you first.”

“Not anymore, Evan. She’s your wife, you need to go to her.”

***

Denver walked down the passageway to emergency to check on staff rosters when a sharp pain sliced through her abdomen, stopping her in her tracks. She doubled over and grasped her stomach, fighting the urge to cry out.

“Denver, Dr. Sinclair, are you okay?” The pathologist who took her blood and did her pregnancy test gripped her arm and eased her back to lean against the wall. “Tell me what’s wrong and I can get you some help.”

Denver bit her lip, the intense pain gripping her abdomen once again. “I don’t know. I think, ah—” She cried out and gripped Claire’s arm, digging her fingers into the flesh.

From a distance, she heard Claire call for a nurse. They bundled her into a wheelchair and hurried her along the passage to the emergency room. She was hustled into a private cubicle and up onto a bed before a doctor was called.

Claire held her hand. “Do you want me to call Evan?”

Biting her lip, she nodded her head, the tears starting to trickle down her cheeks.

“Hold on, Denver. It’ll be alright, you’ll see.”

The grip on her hand disappeared and the doctor took over asking her questions relating to her pregnancy. When he’d done a full exam, he wrote up a request for an ultra sound. “This will give us a better picture. From what I can see, there is a small amount of bleeding and as you know, that in itself isn’t always a bad sign.” He signaled the nurse. “Take Dr. Sinclair down for this right away and tell them to call me with the results as soon as possible.” He patted Denver on the shoulder, smiling reassuringly at her as they took her down to the women’s health department.

Claire came running up to her as they pushed her down the corridor. “He’s on his way.”

“Thanks, Claire.”

“You hang on, Denver. I’m going with you until he gets here.” She reached for Denver’s hand and gripped it, lending her support which was appreciated.

The trip to women’s health only took a few minutes and then there was the hushed consultation with the nurse and ultrasound technician before Denver was wheeled in.

“Hi, Dr. Sinclair. My name is Rosie. Let’s see what’s going on here with this little one, shall we?” Rosie got a sheet and draped it over Denver before lifting her blouse up to expose her barely swollen belly. Once she’d turned on her machine, she got a bottle of gel and squirted it on Denver’s stomach.

“Sorry, it’s always a little bit cold, even though we try to keep it warmer.” She sat on her stool and keyed in some figures before asking the question, “How far along are you?”

“I believe around thirteen weeks.” Her gaze stayed on the screen waiting to see her baby.

“We can give you a confirmation of that anyway once we get started.”

The door burst open and Evan filled the frame. His gaze went to her exposed belly and then her face. Claire stepped aside and he took her space, reaching for Denver’s hand. She started to cry in earnest and he leaned down and held her. She reached her arms around his neck and sobbed.

“I’ll give you both a moment.” Rosie slipped out of the room with Claire, leaving them alone.

“Oh, honey, what’s going on?” Evan stroked her forehead, wiping her damp hair from her face. His look of concern pierced her heart. Was she about to lose the baby?

“I’m sorry I didn’t tell you. The time never seemed to be right somehow. And now,” she hiccupped a sob back, “now it might all be over for our baby.”

“Shh, we can deal with this, Denver. We’ll talk about the whys and why not’s later. Let’s see what’s going on first, then we can talk, okay?” He looked so torn, and there was nothing she could do except pray her baby was okay.

The door opened and Rosie came back in. “Sorry, we really need to see what’s going on in here.” She sat down at her stool and picked up the wand attached to it. “Right, you know all about this so I don’t have to explain.” She rubbed the end of it in the gel and worked it around Denver’s stomach, pausing to take measurements and photos every couple of minutes. On the computerized screen, Denver could see the shape of her baby as it became clearer. Evan leaned forward and the grip on her hand tightened when he focused on their child. Rosie turned buttons and the sound filled the still room.

The audible sigh of relief came from the three of them when the baby’s heartbeat sounded loud and clear over the machine. “Nothing wrong with that heartbeat, Mama. Coming across loud and clear. Now what are you doing to your mother, little one?” Rosie concentrated on the screen in front of her, studying the baby from different angles and then doing a detailed search of the surrounding organs.

“Ah, I see it now.” Rosie zoomed her search in and took a few frames, each from a different angle.

“It’s the placenta that’s the problem, I can see that from here.” Denver pointed at the screen and explained to Rosie, “This was one of my areas of expertize in the city. Can you zoom in a bit more please?”

Rosie did as she asked and sat back so they could both see.

“Placenta previa. Partial by the look of it.” Denver breathed a sigh of relief. “Not life threatening to mother or child so long as precautions are taken.”

“Thank goodness for that. Thank you, Rosie. That’s wonderful news.” Evan shook his head and looked at her. “You know what I mean.”

“Yes, I do. Don’t apologize. This little one will be fine so long as you look after its mother. Let’s get you cleaned up and back to the doctor so he can decide what to do with you. I’ll go and get an orderly to take you back.” She wiped the gel from Denver’s stomach and pulled down her shirt before leaving them alone again.

“I was so damned scared, Denver. You have no idea.” He ran a finger down her cheek and squeezed her hand.

“How long have you known?”

“Just a few days. Claire let the cat out of the bag. Unintentional I know. I wish it was you who’d told me. I thought we’d sorted things out between us.” He stroked his thumb over her fingers.

Denver bit back the retort she really wanted to make. “You said you didn’t want a child. You’d thought better of it so I decided not to say anything until I’d thought about it more.”

“Oh, honey, there is nothing I’d rather do than have a child with you. I said that so I wasn’t putting pressure on you. I know how much this job means to you.” She saw the pain in his eyes and almost forgot the words she’d overheard her father telling Evan the night they had dinner together.

The door opened and the orderly walked in. “Someone in here need a chariot ride back to emergency?”

Evan held her hand as they walked back to see the doctor. He was on the phone when Denver was wheeled in and as soon as he hung up, he walked over to them. “Evan, sorry to catch up under these circumstances. Well, the baby is find as you both saw. It’s only a partial placenta previa but still, it can be cause for alarm.” He picked up her chart from the end of the bed. “You know the risks with this, Denver, so I know you’ll be a brilliant patient. I want to keep you in overnight at least and monitor you, make sure things are okay. Then if you have no pain or bleeding, you can go home but I want you to rest.”

“I have a job to do. I can’t spend the rest of my pregnancy in bed, nor would I want to.”

“I’m not asking you to do that. I’m advising you to rest up for a week and then come back to work. I would strongly suggest you cut your hours back.”