Total pages in book: 64
Estimated words: 65167 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 326(@200wpm)___ 261(@250wpm)___ 217(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 65167 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 326(@200wpm)___ 261(@250wpm)___ 217(@300wpm)
“Hannah…”
“This isn’t just my child, Daddy.” I clutch my abdomen. “It’s your grandchild. Have you forgotten? It may be the next vampire monarch.”
“Do you really think our people will accept a monarch that’s only a quarter vampire? This child is more lycan than anything else.”
“They’ve accepted me.”
“Yes, but you’re half vampire, and you’re from a legitimate union. Your child will be a bastard.”
“So what? He or she is still my child. Heir to your throne, Daddy. Please.”
He sighs again, and in his eyes I see that he’s relenting. Thank God. While the pain isn’t as sharp, it’s still beating down inside me.
I haven’t seen my child yet. Haven’t had an ultrasound. Haven’t heard a heartbeat.
Please, I beg silently. Please let there be a heartbeat.
“My car isn’t here,” my father says. “We’ll have to get a cab.”
“Damn…” I clutch my belly and stand tall. Pain shoots through me. I grit my teeth. “I have to get there. Now.”
“All right.” Dad scoops me into his arms and carries me out of my bedroom and then out of the apartment. “Close your eyes, Hannah.”
I obey.
Vampires—full-blooded vampires—can move quickly, sometimes so quickly they’re unseen by human eyes. As a half vamp, I’m quick, but not lightning fast like a full-blood.
A few moments later, we’re entering the emergency room, my father still carrying me. He walks briskly to the reception area.
“I believe my daughter may be having a miscarriage. We need to see someone immediately.”
“Yes, sir. Of course.” She gestures to an orderly who brings a wheelchair. “We’ll get her right back. In the meantime, I need you to fill out her paperwork.”
“She works here. You should have all her information. Hannah Bates.”
“Hannah Bates?”
“You probably don’t know her. She works nights.”
“Right. Okay.”
Dad helps me into the wheelchair and another moment later, I’m in an examination room with an ultrasound machine.
“How far along are you, ma’am?” a nurse asks.
“I don’t know. Not very. Please. Just save my baby.”
“We’ll do everything we can.” She helps me onto an examination table. “We’ll do a vaginal ultrasound. We get the best view that way. I just need you to remove your jeans and underwear.”
I nod, getting rid of the garments slowly, as the pain prevents me from moving quickly. The nurse covers me with a paper blanket and applies some lubricant.
“All right,” she says with a weak smile. “Let’s see what’s going on inside you.”
15
I wince as she inserts the probe into me. It’s not painful so much as it is uncomfortable. What hurts is the ache in my belly, and chills rake over my body.
I can’t lose this child.
I can’t lose Rogan’s baby.
The ultrasound technician presses the probe farther in, and I suck in a breath.
“Sorry,” she murmurs. “I want to get a good look.”
“Just do what you have to do,” I grit out.
Then the rapid echoing sound of the heartbeat. Thank God!
“Everything looks good.” She frowns. “But how far along did you say you are?”
“I don’t know exactly. I have a longer cycle than most. Thirty-five days, and I’ve been very…active lately.”
“You mean sexually active?”
“Yeah.” Really? Did she have to ask?
She turns the monitor toward me, and the flick of the heartbeat on the screen warms me. “Wow.”
“Your baby appears just fine,” she says, “but it’s measuring at around nine weeks.”
I drop my mouth open. Nine weeks? I haven’t even known Rogan that long. “I can’t be more than five or six weeks. It’s not possible.”
“If you’ve been active—”
“I mean during the last couple weeks. Before that I wasn’t with anyone.”
“Hmm.” She wrinkles her brow. “We should probably do some tests. Gestational diabetes can make a fetus grow faster than normal, but that doesn’t usually show up until much later.” She looks me over. “You’re tall, but you’re far from obese.”
“Thanks,” I say dryly.
“By that I meant the size of the parents can affect fetal size, but again, it’s not usually apparent at this young fetal age. Is the father large?”
In human or wolf form? In both cases, the answer is yes, but he’s not abnormally large.
“He’s tall and broad, over six feet.”
She moves the probe around, pushing it against my cervix. Damn, that’s uncomfortable.
“Everything else looks great. The heartbeat is strong.”
“Then the baby’s healthy, right?” I ask.
“Yes. Just large. Are you sure—”
“Of course I’m sure. I know when I’ve had sex, for God’s sake.”
“I didn’t mean to upset you, but I need to cover all my bases.”
“Yeah, I know.” But I’m still pissed off.
“Baby is doing well. Other than the advanced size, I see no issues.”
I huff. “Then why was I having pain?”
“Your uterus is stretching, Ms. Bates. Some discomfort is normal.” She removes the probe. “We’re going to have to keep an eye on you to monitor the baby’s growth.”
“Fine.”
She taps on her computer and then hands me a printout, smiling. “Something to put on your refrigerator.”