He walked with her out to her car. It was a beautiful night. “I’m glad you’ve come to Edilean. You’re a good addition,” he said as he kissed her cheek. His eyes sparkled. “And if you ever find out what a lowlife Colin Frazier actually is, you know where I live.” He opened the car door for her.
“I’ll be sure and tell him that you said—” Gemma broke off because she was suddenly overcome with a wave of nausea that she couldn’t suppress. She bent over and threw up her dinner on the ground.
Instantly, Tristan changed from being a teasing friend into a doctor. He put his arm around her shoulders and led her back into the house.
“Stomach flu,” Gemma said, her voice rather loud as she tried to drown out her thoughts of what could be the cause of her being sick. “Or maybe I ate something bad. It’s probably food poisoning or a twenty-four-hour bug. I’ll be fine in a few minutes. I bet you have a lot of patients right now with whatever I’ve caught. It rained on Thursday and I got wet. I bet that’s what this is.”
Tris didn’t say anything as he led her to a powder room just off the hallway. He disappeared for a moment and returned with a little plastic cup. “Urine sample,” he said.
“Sure. To check for food poisoning, right?”
“To find out what caused you to throw up. See that room?” He pointed to a door she’d not noticed before. “I’ll be in there.” He closed the bathroom door.
As Gemma did what he’d told her to, she tried hard not to think. Of course it was some stomach virus. They were always going around, weren’t they?
By the time she finished and left the powder room, she was shaking. Tris, wearing his white coat, was standing in the doorway of the room he’d pointed out to her. It had been set up as an exam room.
“It’s smart to have this in your house,” she said, and she knew her voice sounded nervous. “Do you get many patients out here?”
“Some. Gemma, I want you to sit down there and take some deep breaths. Use what you learned in training and calm yourself down.”
“Sure,” she said as she watched him pick up the cup and leave the room.
She knew he was gone only minutes, but it seemed like hours. She looked about the little room and tried to use h
er historian’s brain to make a story out of what she saw. The exam table looked old, and she wondered if Tris’s father had bought it back in the 1950s. Against the wall was a tall metal cabinet with glass doors and it also looked old.
She told herself to get up and go look at it, but her legs didn’t seem to work. And her curiosity failed to elicit any response from her.
When Tris opened the door, Gemma was sitting just where he’d left her, and she looked up at him.
“How are you feeling?” he asked in what she figured was the voice he used with his patients.
“Food poisoning?” she whispered.
“Gemma . . .” he began, and she saw the answer on his face.
She put her hands over her face. “I’m not ready for this,” she whispered. “I have a job. I hardly know Colin.”
Tris put his hand on her shoulder. “How about some tea and toast? I’d offer crackers, but I don’t have any.” When Gemma didn’t move, he bent and helped her up. “Come back to the living room and we’ll talk.”
Minutes later, they were sitting on his couch and Gemma was trying to eat the toast Tris had made for her, but whatever went down wanted to come back up. He’d removed his white coat and was once again her friend.
“A baby?” Gemma said. “You’re sure?”
“Absolutely. Tomorrow I’m going to give you some prenatal vitamins, and I’ll get you an ob-gyn. Under the circumstances I don’t think I should . . .”
“Yeah,” she said. “That could get in the way of friendship.” She looked at him, and what she was feeling was in her eyes. “What do I do? How do I tell Colin?”
Tris put his hand on hers. “Gemma, if you don’t want this, I can arrange an abortion. No one but you and me need ever know that this happened.”
She jerked her hand from his. “I never want to hear anything like that again!”
“Good,” he said, and for the first time, he grinned. He took her hand again. “Gemma, everything will be fine. I’ve known Colin all my life, and he’ll do whatever you want.”
“You mean make an honest woman out of me?” she said and there was disgust in her voice. “I’ve always wanted a man to feel like he had to marry me.”
“If Colin weren’t madly in love with you, he would never marry you, but he would take care of you financially.”