LITMIR.BIZ

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      Jadon was exhausted; he’d been called in early for his night shift because the ED had been flooded with trauma calls. He hadn’t slept very well in the first place, and being called in early meant he’d missed going back up to L & D to check on Alyssa. During the night, he’d had a few minutes of downtime, but obviously then wasn’t the appropriate time to wake her.

      When he finished his shift at eight-thirty in the morning, he took a few minutes to swing by to see how she was doing.

      He helped himself to more coffee, double-strength to keep the fatigue at bay. With less than three hours of sleep, and a physically demanding endless stream of patients, his entire body ached, as if he’d been run over by an eighteen-wheeler.

      As he stepped off the elevators on the fifth floor labor and delivery area, he ran into Seth, Kylie and Ben. He quickly realized they were making their way down to see Alyssa as well.

      “Jadon,” Seth greeted him coolly. The silence stretched for a long moment before Seth grudgingly made formal introductions. “This is my fiancée, Kylie Germaine. And her son, soon to be our son, Ben. Kylie and Ben, this is Dr. Jadon Reichert, one of the ED physicians here at Cedar Bluff.”

      “Good to see you both again,” Jadon said, forcing a smile. He’d noticed Seth hadn’t introduced him as a friend, but only as a colleague. He turned his attention to the boy. “Especially you, Ben. You’re doing much better than yesterday.”

      “Yes, well, he’s finally been discharged, but has also refused to leave without seeing Alyssa,” Kylie commented dryly.

      “Alyssa can’t come to visit me because she might have her babies too early,” Ben announced in an allimportant tone.

      Jadon’s lips twitched with the need to grin. “Yes, that’s right,” he agreed. “She needs to rest. But I know she’ll be glad to see you, as she’s been very worried about you.”

      “I love Alyssa,” Ben said very seriously. “She risked her life for me.”

      “I think she’s special, too,” Jadon said, his chest feeling tight with emotion. He thought Ben’s case of hero worship for Alyssa was sweet. Not that he blamed the kid.

      He’d heard the story yesterday, about how Alyssa had fallen into the icy water, trying to rescue Ben. She’d gotten the boy out first, but then almost couldn’t make her way out of the water. When he thought of how things could have ended very differently, he felt sick and shaky all over.

      “Come on, Ben,” Seth said, interrupting them. “Let’s go and visit Alyssa, shall we?”

      Jadon told himself he was overreacting to Seth’s abruptness, but the way Kylie dodged his gaze only confirmed it wasn’t his imagination. With a flash of annoyance he tried not to obsess about how he didn’t even know Kylie on a personal level—she hadn’t been here in Cedar Bluff when he’d left—so there was no reason for her to carry a grudge against him. She’d obviously picked up on Seth’s disdain.

      Part of their attitude might be because they were afraid he’d leave Alyssa again, he acknowledged.

      But even more, he suspected Seth didn’t think he was good enough for Alyssa. A fact he couldn’t argue.

      Even aside from the problem of sustaining a relationship, what did he know about being a father? Or having a normal family? Nothing. His family had been anything but normal.

      He stood where he was, watching them make their way down the hall to Alyssa’s room, a closely knit family unit, regardless of the lack of formality of marriage. Clearly they were good friends with Alyssa.

      Maybe this wasn’t a good time to visit after all. His presence in the room with Seth, Kylie and Ben would only make things awkward.

      Coward, his subconscious jeered.

      With a muttered oath he continued down the hall to Alyssa’s room. He stood in the doorway, watching her smile and laugh while hugging Ben.

      He swallowed the hard lump in his throat and stepped farther in the room.

      When Alyssa saw him, the light in her eyes dimmed. “Hi, Jadon.”

      “How are you feeling?” he asked, avoiding Seth’s none-too-subtle glare. “You look much better this morning.”

      “I am better,” Alyssa said. “Dr. Rayborn has written my discharge notice. I’m free to go home.”

      “That’s wonderful news.” He was very glad to realize that Alyssa was stable enough to go home. At least he didn’t have to worry about the twins being born too prematurely.

      “I have to stay on bed rest for a few days,” Alyssa explained, including all of them in her earnest gaze. “But Dr. Rayborn told me to come back to see her on Wednesday. If all goes well, I might be able to return to work after that.”

      He bit back a protest, knowing his opinion on her working this late in her pregnancy wouldn’t be welcome. He wanted to reassure her about how he planned to help her to financially support the babies but at the same time he didn’t want to invite an argument, especially in front of Seth and Kylie.

      “Don’t rush things,” Kylie warned, and he wanted to kiss her in gratitude for saying exactly what he was thinking. “Remember, stay healthy so you can carry those babies to term.”

      “I know. I’ve already heard the same lecture from Dr. Rayborn,” Alyssa protested, holding up a hand with a wry smile. “I won’t rush things, but you know as well as I do that the longer I work before the delivery, the more time I can take off after the twins are born.”

      Again, Jadon had to bite his tongue to keep from interrupting. If he had his way, Alyssa wouldn’t have to work for a long time after the twins were born. He might not know much about being a father, but he refused to let her struggle to make ends meet either.

      Yet he understood they had a long way to go before she’d lean on him. So he’d be patient, taking one day at a time.

      “Do you need a ride home?” Seth asked. “We’re happy to stop by your place since Ben’s officially discharged, too.”

      “That would be great,” Alyssa said gratefully. “The nurses have already done the discharge teaching. All I need is a prescription for the oral terbutaline Dr. Rayborn wants me to continue taking and I’ll be ready to go.”

      Jadon frowned, thinking her condition didn’t sound too stable to him. “I can give you a ride home, Alyssa. That way Kylie and Seth don’t have to wait.”

      Seth flashed a grim smile, crossed his arms over his chest. “Oh, it’s no bother. We don’t mind waiting, do we, Kylie? And besides, you worked graveyard last night, didn’t you? I heard the ED was crazy. Might be better for you to hurry home and get some sleep. You look exhausted.”

      The dismissive note in Seth’s tone put Jadon’s teeth on edge. Silently, Jadon glanced at Alyssa, giving her the final word. She hesitated, and then grimaced as she nodded. “Jadon, I didn’t realize you’ve just finished working the night shift. I’ll go home with Kylie and Seth. You do look like you could use some sleep.”

      Her choice to go with her friends, rather than with him, stung. Maybe he’d made mistakes but, dammit, it wasn’t all his fault. He hadn’t left knowing Alyssa was pregnant.

      When the nurse didn’t immediately return with Alyssa’s prescription, he knew he’d lost the battle. Swallowing a heavy sigh, he turned and left, trying to be happy that Alyssa was doing well enough to go home.

      But if she thought she could avoid him forever, she was wrong. Maybe he did need some sleep, but he and Alyssa needed to talk. Soon.

      Preferably without an audience.

      Alyssa sat on her sofa, staring morosely at her crooked Charlie Brown Christmas tree standing in the livingroom corner of her apartment. She’d thought the ornaments would help fill in the sparse gaps between the branches, but instead the

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