NICOLA’S APPOINTMENT WAS the same day the hoverboard accident victim was scheduled to be released from the hospital. Both Kaleb and the diagnostician had peeked in on the boy, since Nicola had been called on to assess some of the test findings. He’d had a skull fracture, like they suspected, but he’d been very lucky not to have any neck or back injuries to go along with that diagnosis. If bad things came in packages of three, he hoped that good things did, as well.
So all that was left on today’s agenda was Nic’s prenatal appointment. He’d taken the rest of the day off, just so he didn’t have to hurry back if there were any problems.
Problems.
Like those blips on Trey’s heart monitor during surgery? What if they found something when they did the ultrasound?
Strangely, Nicola was as calm as he was keyed up. Maybe it was an act. Kind of like the performance she’d given when she pretended not to know who he was, when she first came to the hospital. That seemed so long ago now. So much had happened since then.
Actually it had happened even before that first meeting at the hospital. The gears had already been set into motion. Except neither of them had realized it at the time.
He was going to be a father. Heaven help them all. His lips curved in a smile. And he and Nicola had actually come to some kind of a truce, or an unspoken understanding or something, because things were going fairly smoothly. Maybe a little too smoothly.
Would he meet her ex while he was there? He wasn’t sure why, but it bothered him that a past romantic interest was involved in any way, shape or form with the birth of his child. It was ridiculous. If Kaleb’s ex showed up on the scene, he would be surprised if Nicola gave her a second look. And maybe that bothered him, as well.
His suspicions that she’d slept with him the second time as a way to tell him about the pregnancy had begun fading away. And when he’d seen the emotion on her face while holding baby Trey, any remaining doubts had died completely. She’d had no way of knowing how he’d react to the news about the pregnancy. But she would have equally not known how he’d react after they’d finished making love.
Right?
Men were supposed to be more mellow after sex. But...
No, don’t go there again. It won’t help anything. Now if she makes a habit out of sleeping with you and then bringing up difficult subjects afterward, then you might have reason to be suspicious.
Not that they were going to sleep together again.
He was on his guard. And he suspected she was, too, if the way they avoided touching the other was anything to go by.
He’d had to cancel his plans to have drinks with Snow—again—but he promised they’d get together sometime next week.
His phone buzzed and he glanced at the readout, frowning. It was Nicola. Hopefully she wasn’t going to change her mind about him coming to the appointment. “Hello?”
“Hi, um, it’s me, Nicola.”
“I know who it is.” He smiled. Being pregnant hadn’t softened her crisp matter-of-fact tones. So far, the only thing that had had the power to do that had been...
Sex.
“Oh. Well, um, Cade is asking to see you to say goodbye. So are his parents.”
It took him a moment to filter through who Cade was and then realized it was the hoverboard victim. “What time?”
“Well...now. I told you about it yesterday.”
She had? Oh, hell, she had. They’d passed in the hallway and she’d asked if he was coming. But he hadn’t written it down. “Okay, tell them I’ll be there in just a few minutes.”
“Sounds good.”
They were supposed to go to her appointment in about a half hour, so hopefully Cade’s discharge wouldn’t take too long. He somehow doubted she’d want to skate out early.
It didn’t take him long to get to the pediatric ward on the second floor. Decorated in bright colors with pictures mixed in with paintings of animals in humorous poses and clothing, this ward was the only part of the hospital that had large blocks of color in the linoleum flooring. Everything about it spelled fun and health, a subliminal message to heal and get better. He stopped by the nurses station. “Hoverboard accident victim?” Sometimes it was easier to go by a patient’s condition than try to remember all their names.
“Room two-oh-one. They’re waiting for you, Dr. Sabat.”
“Thanks.” He headed down the hallway, hearing laughter coming from the distance. One of those voices belonged to Nicola. How he knew that he wasn’t sure. But somewhere along the way, his brain had learned to recognize her throaty tones. His brain immediately retrieved a facial expression to go along with that laugh. When had he memorized that? He wasn’t sure, but he had. It was a smile that made tiny crinkles stand out on either side of her nose...making her eyes light up.
Not something he should be focusing on right now. He was here to keep a promise to a patient. Nothing more, nothing less.
He gave a quick knock on the door and then walked in. Cade was sitting on the side of his bed, struggling to put on his socks. A woman hovered nearby, concern clearly chiseled on her face.
“Are you sure I shouldn’t—?”
“Mom, I can do it. Just give me a minute or two.”
He wasn’t sure what they’d been laughing at a second ago, but Nicola’s face didn’t have a trace of the smile he’d just drawn up from memory.
He turned his attention to the patient. “How are you doing?”
Cade looked up. “Dr. Sabat, you came! Nicola wasn’t sure you’d be able to. She said you might have an emergency.”
So she’d covered for him. Because he’d forgotten something important.
His jaw tightened. And once he had a child, was he going to forget important events in its life, too? Would Nic have to cover for him? Make up excuses for why he didn’t show up for a ballet recital? Or a high-school graduation? Or the birth of a child?
The reality of what was coming suddenly made itself known to him. He would need to reset some of his priorities.
He glanced at Nic, who still wasn’t smiling. Was she thinking the same thing he was? That she might need to prod his memory at every turn? Send him text messages, then have to apologize for nagging him? It wouldn’t be nagging. And he was going to make it a point not to forget.
“Sorry I’m late.” He smiled at Cade. It was funny how the boy called Nic by her given name and yet used Kaleb’s title. Maybe there was more softness to her than he gave her credit for. Or maybe she just showed it to people other than him.
That made him wince. Did he bring out a side of her that other people didn’t see?
“My dad says I need to lay off the hoverboard for a while.”
“That’s probably not a bad idea, until your balance is back up to where it should be.” Hopefully the kid had learned his lesson about talking on the phone while trying to guide it. The same with the bicyclist who’d been texting at the time, although Kaleb doubted that person had even been aware of what had transpired. Hopefully he saw it in the news and realized...and changed his priorities.
Just like Kaleb needed to do.
“I was on the phone when it happened, you know.” Cade said it with a touch of shame in his voice.
“I know. It’s a good lesson, don’t you think? You were very lucky you weren’t injured worse than you were.” Kaleb left out the fact that the boy could have died. But somehow he bet Cade was well aware of how lucky he’d been. Or maybe his parents had laid down the law. Maybe that was part of the reason the hoverboard was on hiatus.
“I promised my mom and dad that I’d never do that again. And when I start driving I won’t do it, either. I’d heard about what could happen, but I never really thought it would. I know better now.”
“I’m glad, Cade.”
Just then a nurse came in with some papers. “Are you ready to get out of this place?”
“Am I ever.”
Cade’s parents came over to Kaleb. “Nicola told us what you did. We are so grateful.”
“She had just as much to do with it as I did. I’m just glad we were there, and that he’s going to be okay. There’s a bicyclist who was just as much at fault as Cade was.”
“Yes, Nicola told us. Thank you again for everything.”
Well, it seemed like Nicola had everything under control. As usual. He was beginning to think Grace Central had lost more than they realized. Hopefully they didn’t suddenly look around and decide to woo her back. Because if that happened, he might just need to...
To what? Do some wooing of her himself?
Uh, no. There would be no wooing or anything else. He was done with that. Once and for all. Wasn’t he?
Cade’s parents signed the papers and with their son in a wheelchair, they were seen out and into the car.
Nicola came over and bumped his shoulder with hers. “Well, that was certainly a happy ending, wasn’t it? I honestly didn’t think he was going to be that lucky.”
“Nor did I.” He glanced at her jeans and thin T-shirt, and realized she’d already changed in preparation of going to her appointment. “You look like you’re ready.”
“I am...but...”
His chest tightened. Was she having second thoughts about him going with her? “But?”
“If you don’t want to come, please don’t feel like—”
“I want to. I haven’t changed my mind.”
She nodded. “Okay, then, if you’re sure. I can’t wait for you to see my... I mean, the hospital I used to work at.”
He blinked. Maybe it wouldn’t be Grace Central that would come looking to win Nicola back. Maybe it would be Nicola who would decide that NYC Memorial was not what she’d been looking for and would decide to head home to New Jersey.
And if that happened?
Well, if it did, he’d let her go and do his best not to watch her as she walked away, taking their baby with her.