I snuck a glance at Griffen. He stared at the other side of the ambulance, his jaw tight, fists clenched on his knees. The ambulance rocked up and rolled to a stop. Everyone sprang to life, the back door swinging open, people talking over my head and around me. I was lifted and rolled through the doors, down a glaringly-white hall, and straight into a room.
Someone in a white coat carrying a tablet corralled Griffen, asking him all sorts of questions about my medical history and insurance and then, to my surprise, taking his credit card and swiping it through a reader plugged into the tablet. Efficient. I was mostly being ignored as the paramedics filled in the doctor and the doctor took a closer look at the branch still sticking out of my arm. It wasn’t much of a branch, really, no more than seven or 8 inches long and skinnier than my pinky finger. Still hurt like hell.
“Okay, Hope?”
I nodded up at the doctor, wondering if it was time for somebody to tell me something.
“We’re going to take this stick out of your arm. It’s probably going to bleed more and I don’t want you to panic. I’m going to clean it out and then stitch it up for you. I’ll give you a local anesthetic so you shouldn’t feel anything. If it hurts, I’d like you to let me know, okay?”
It took a few seconds to process what she was saying. Once I did, dread filled my heart. This was it. I was officially out of time. I glanced over at Griffen and then up into the doctor’s friendly but impatient eyes.
“I… uh… will the local anesthetic be bad if… um… if I’m pregnant?” When I said the p-word, I shot a panicked look at Griffen. He froze. A heartbeat later he was at my side, taking my hand and looking down at me. I couldn’t read his eyes. Maybe I was afraid to look too closely, afraid of what I’d see.
“You think you might be pregnant?” he asked in a carefully neutral voice.
“I… uh… I’m late. And I—”
“You fainted twice,” Griffen reminded me as if I didn’t know.
“Only once,” I corrected, looking at the doctor. “The other time I just got dizzy. I’ve been dizzy and my stomach’s off, but—”
“The local anesthetic should be fine if you’re pregnant, but just in case, we’ll do a test. How about that?”
I nodded in agreement.
“How late are you?” she asked, making a note on her own tablet.
“I’m not perfectly regular so it could be a week or it could just be a couple days.”
“All right. I don’t want to try to get you in the bathroom with this tree sticking out of your arm,” she winked at me, “but we can do a blood test instead of a urine test.”
I barely noticed as she drew blood for the test. Griffen was staring down at me, his eyes fixed on the injury to my arm, his face pale.
The next thing I knew there was another needle, and then another, the doctor injecting a local anesthetic. “We’ll find out soon if you’re pregnant, and if you are, I can give you a quick exam, but this won’t do any harm to the baby. The risk of infection outweighs any potential risk from the treatment. It’s easier if you don’t look.”
Griffen caught her meaning and pulled up a chair on the other side of the bed, taking my hand in his. He reached out to run a finger down my cheek, turning my face away from my right arm.
His eyes locked on mine. “Just look at me, Buttercup. She’s going to get that splinter out of your arm, clean you up, and you’ll be good as new. Okay? Just keep your eyes on mine and don’t worry about what she’s doing over there.”
“Got it,” I said, my gaze melting into his clear, green eyes, no longer remote and closed off. I still couldn’t read them.
Was he freaking out? Angry? Happy? Shouldn’t he be something?
I was all of the above.
Well, not angry. But freaking out and happy and confused and scared and also freaking out. Did I mention freaking out? I was a jumble of emotions, but I read none of them in Griffen’s calm gaze.
“Just keep your eyes on me,” he repeated. My arm moved. Something was pulling on it and I realized the doctor was taking out the piece of wood. I had to look, was already turning my head when Griffen’s palm cupped the side of my face and turned it back to his.
“Don’t look.”
He ignored his own advice and watched with the doctor was doing. I wanted to watch. I also didn’t want to lose my lunch, so I kept my eyes on Griffen.
“I won’t look, but how big is it?”