Duncan (13 page)

“Just hold them legs together.” Sid kicked another door cursing when it was empty. “And don’t sneeze.”

“Don’t sneeze?” Pam looked up at him confused.

“Yeah, we don’t need that thing shooting out.” Sid was seriously freaking out. “Where the fuck is it?”

Pam laughed; she couldn’t help it. As scared as she was, Sid made her laugh. “It’s not a thing, it’s a baby and I don’t think a sneeze will do that.”

“Well, let’s just not even find out, okay?” Kicking the last door at the end of another long hallway, Sid walked in where Slade and Jill were putting things away in cabinets. “Where the fuck have you been?” Sid yelled.

“Ah, right here.” Slade caught sight of Pam. “What’s happened?”

“I’m having small pains,” Pam answered, feeling much better that they had found the doctor.

“And I repeat, small pains, my ass. She was bent over.” Sid still held her waiting for orders.

“Move that stuff off the table,” Slade ordered Jill. “Hurry up.”

Jill quickly removed a box before laying a sheet across it. Sid gently laid Pam down as Jill placed a pillow under her head. “Where’s Duncan?”

“No, don’t bother him.” Pam grabbed Sid’s arm. “It was just a little pain. It’s gone now.”

“Oh, I so don’t want to get my ass kicked, thank you very much,” Sid snorted, pulling out his phone hitting a few numbers. “Where the hell are you? Yeah, well we aren’t there. She was having pains, so I brought her to the doctor. I have no fucking clue where.”

Jill grabbed the phone from Sid. “We’re down the hall by the east side exit.” She handed the phone back.

“You need signs.” Sid moved out of the way. “This place is a damn maze.”

“Where’s the pain, Pam?” Slade pulled up her shirt just below her breasts and pulled her pants below her belly.

Pam put her hand on her lower right side. “It starts here, but moves across my stomach.”

“Have you had any bleeding or spotting?”

“No.”

Slade pulled out a stethoscope putting them in his ears and then on her stomach. He frowned when she jerked. “Another pain?”

“No, that’s cold.”

“Sorry.” Slade grinned, then got serious as he listened intently moving the stethoscope around her stomach. “How far along are you?”

“Three months.” Pam watched his face closely trying to read what was going on in his expression, but he was a closed book.

“Do twins run in your family or the father’s family?” Slade ask not revealing anything.

“Not in mine, and I’m not sure about….” She couldn’t say father. He wasn’t a father. He was a monster. “His family. Is the baby okay?”

Slade pulled the stethoscope out of his ears. “How long have you been having pain?”

“Just now. Why?” Pam started to feel panic and suddenly wanted Duncan there.

“When was the last time you felt the baby move?” Slade grabbed his phone.

“This morning.” Pam tried to sit up, but he put his hand on her shoulder.

Putting the phone to his ear he waited as he stared into her eyes. “This is Dr. Buchanan. I’m bringing in a patient and need a sonogram room ready STAT.”

“Oh, God.” Pam closed eyes fear gripping her.

Duncan burst into the room heading straight for Pam. Grabbing her hand, he looked at Sid. “What the hell happened?”

“We need to get her to University Hospital now.” Slade went to pick her up, but Duncan was faster.

“I’ll get the car out front.” Sid took off so fast his last word was said from the hallway.

Slade started grabbing stuff, shoving it in bags before following Duncan out the door. “Dammit.” He turned, but ran into Jill.

“What do you need?” Jill asked. “I’ll get it. You need to stay with her.”

“I need my identification stuff. I haven’t been to the hospital yet.” Slade patted his pockets to make sure he didn’t have them. “They’re on the desk.”

“Go. I got it.” Jill went back into the room.

Slade caught up with Duncan. “Any more pains, Pam?”

“No,” Pam replied, her head on Duncan’s chest. “Why are we going to the hospital? What’s wrong?”

Slade’s eyes met Duncan’s. “Just a precaution,” he told Pam, but he mouthed,
hurry
, to Duncan.

Chapter 14

Duncan followed Slade through the hospital emergency room. As soon as he showed his identification, they were escorted to a room. There was a nurse waiting. Slade said a few words to her before turning his attention back to Pam. “Have you ever had a sonogram?”

“No,” Pam replied looking away from the nurse who was staring at her.

“Lay her on the table.” Slade pulled the machine close.

Reluctantly, Duncan laid her down, but grasped her cold shaking hand. Looking at Slade, he silently dared him to tell him to leave.

Getting the message loud and clear, Slade smiled. Pulling up her shirt under her breasts, and her pants down exposing her whole belly, he watched her closely. “Any more pain?”

“No.” Pam watched him work the machine. “Not feeling the baby move is bad, isn’t it?”

“Not always. This is going to be cold, so I apologize.” Slade applied gel to her stomach. “Sometimes the little one just takes a long nap giving the momma some down time.”

“But you didn’t hear anything either did you?” Pam’s chin trembled, bringing up what she was afraid to bring up at the compound.

“Using a stethoscope isn’t the best way to hear a baby’s heartbeat. They can be lying in a different position making it impossible to hear. That’s why we use sonogram. It’s the best way.” Slade took the probe placing it in the gel running it along her stomach. “You’re going to feel some pressure, but no pain. If you feel any pain, let me know right away.”

Duncan watched Pam who watched the screen of the machine holding her breath. “Breathe,” he whispered, placing his lips to her temple, his eyes going to the screen. The whooshing sound of the sonogram filled the room. All eyes were on the screen. As Slade ran the probe around her stomach, a different sound filled their ears. The sound of the baby’s heartbeat, faint at first, slowly got louder until it filled the room.

Pam lost it. Tears filled her eyes at the sound. Turning her head, she buried her face in Duncan’s neck. “Thank God.”

Slade hit buttons on the machine before moving the probe more. “You said you estimate you’re three months pregnant?”

“Three months and a week to be exact.” Pam still had her face buried in Duncan’s neck trying to compose herself.

“That’s impossible.” Slade hit more buttons, the machine making different noises. Even the nurse had a look of disbelief on her face. “You are in the third trimester. Are you sure about the three months?”

“Yes, I’m sure,” Pam replied. It was a day she would never forget. “I was given a shot.”

Slade looked up at Duncan who nodded toward the nurse shaking his head. “Okay, we’ll talk about that in a few minutes.” He turned the machine so she could see it better. “Would you like to meet your baby?”

“Yes.” Pam sniffed wiping her eyes smearing blood on her cheek. Duncan wiped it away with a small smile. Turning, she looked at the screen, and there was her baby, nestled in her womb. “Is it okay?”

“Yes, ten fingers and toes with a cute little nose.” Slade laughed when the baby yawned.

“Oh, did you see that?” Pam’s eyes shot to Duncan.

“Yeah, I did.” Duncan watched amazed. Never had he seen anything like it. Looking down at Pam’s excited face, he felt such a sense of home, it blew him away. Never did he think he would have a family of his own, but looking from Pam to the baby, he knew without a doubt, his secret hope was finally being fulfilled.

“Do you want to know the sex?” Slade moved the probe around more.

“I don’t know.” Pam looked at Duncan. “Do we?”

“It’s up to you, babe.” Duncan felt honored she asked him. Even though he wasn’t the father by blood, she made him feel that he was.

Biting her lip, she looked back at the screen nodding, excitement blooming across her face. “Yes. We want to know.”

A wide grin spread across Slade’s face. “Congratulations. Looks like you are going to have a strapping young man.”

“A boy?” Pam put her hand across her mouth. “I knew it. I knew it was going to be a boy.”

When Pam smiled up at him, Duncan couldn’t resist kissing her.

Slade put the probe up, clicked a few more buttons before cleaning off Pam’s stomach, and pulled her shirt down. He turned to the nurse. “Thank you for your help. I need a few minutes with my patient.”

“Yes, sir.” The nurse replied heading out the door.

Duncan helped her sit up. “Thanks.”

Slade picked up a few pictures handing them to Pam. “Here’s the little guy’s first photos.”

“How adorable.” Pam stared at the pictures, and then laughed. “It looks like he’s smiling in this one.” She showed Duncan who laughed.

Slade pulled the stool in front of them. “I need to know what’s going on.” He broke into Pam’s excitement. “If I’m going to keep you and the baby alive, I need to know everything. This is not a regular pregnancy.”

Pam’s mood turned in an instant. “What do you mean keep us alive? You said he was fine.”

“He is, but he is a big boy, and you are a small woman.” Slade replied glancing at a printout from the machine. “By what I can tell, your due date is less than two weeks. The pains you were having I believe were Braxton Hicks contractions, which is what doctors like to call practice labor, getting everything ready for the real thing. Also with the baby nesting down, and not moving much, could also mean he’s getting ready. I’m concerned because he is not in the right position for delivery yet.”

“But you can still do a C-section, right?” Pam put the pictures down before she crimped them in her nervous hands.

“Yes, but…” Slade stopped pinching the bridge of his nose. “As a doctor, what you are telling me, I know is impossible. You’re telling me you are only three months pregnant, but the size of the baby indicates you are in your third trimester. What I don’t understand is how you can be six months off. What makes you believe you are only three months pregnant?”

“I know exactly when I got pregnant because I was raped.” Pam reached back grasping Duncan’s hand. “As I was being raped, I was given a shot that supposedly contained a fertility substance.”

Slade’s eyes darkened at the word raped. “I’m sorry.”

“Two days after I was raped, I started having morning sickness. I knew what he wanted and what the vial was for, so when I started throwing up, I got a pregnancy test and it was positive. Actually, I took three of them, all positive,” Pam sighed.

“How do you know what was in the vial?” Slade frowned.

“Because it was my ex who raped me. He bragged that he was going to make me a breeder.” Pam’s eyes became angry.

“Breeder?” Slade looked to Duncan. “A breeder of what?”

“Half-breeds.” Duncan answered. “Listen, we can fill you in on the rest of it later. Right now I just want Pam taken care of.”

Slade nodded in total understanding. “I guess we don’t have a vial of what you were given.”

Pam shook her head. “I’ve tried to find it, but nothing yet.”

“Okay, well it is what it is.” Slade stood. “We just go from here. With your permission, I would like to examine you. I really need to see if you’re dilated at all. The timeline is throwing me way off.”

“Okay.” Pam didn’t sound so sure.

“I can have someone else do it if you’re not comfortable with me, Pam.” Slade informed her wanting her to be at ease.

Remembering the way the nurse had looked at her, Pam shook her head. “No, I would rather you do it.”

“I’m going to have to ask you to step out.” Slade told Duncan as he pushed the sonogram machine back out of the way. When Duncan looked ready to argue, Slade held up his hand. “I’m going to have the nurse come back in during the examination, but I have to ask you to leave.”

“It’s fine, Duncan.” Pam squeezed his hand. “It’s kind of embarrassing anyway, so I’d rather you not be in here if that’s okay?”

“Whatever you want, I’ll do.” Duncan kissed her before heading for the door. “I’ll be right outside.”

Slade handed her a hospital gown. “I’m going to get the nurse. Go ahead and put this on and I’ll be right back.”

“Okay.” Pam took the gown staring at it.

Duncan watched Pam who looked so alone and scared sitting on the table he almost went back to her, but Slade stopped him. “I will take good care of her Duncan. I swear it.”

With one last look, Duncan let Slade push him out the door.

******

“Is she okay?” Nicole ran up to Duncan.

“Yeah.” Duncan replied looking at the anxious faces of Damon, Jared, Tessa, Sid, Jill and Sloan as they waited for word on Pam. “She’s fine. Slade is going to do an examination on her right now.”

“How about the baby?” Tessa walked up next to Nicole.

“The baby is fine and will probably be here sooner than we thought.”

“What? Seriously?” Nicole replied looking panicked. “Crap! We haven’t had the baby shower yet.”

They stepped away from the door as Slade and the nurse came back. Slade knocked making sure Pam was ready. Everyone heard Pam’s voice carry through the door.

“I’ll be right out when I’m finished, so you can go back in.” Slade told Duncan before disappearing inside.

Duncan nodded without saying anything, but as soon as the door closed, he stepped right next to it so he could hear if she needed him. If she did, it would take an army of men to keep him out.

“Is she going to have to stay here?” Sloan asked. “Because that may be a problem.”

Duncan’s protective instincts kicked in. “Why would that be a problem?”

“Because we didn’t cover our tracks, so this place is crawling with media.” Sid answered, tossing back a bag of potato chips. “And it will be hard to keep her safe from Kenny.”

“You told them?” Duncan glanced at each of them. The angry frowns on their faces answered that question.

“He comes anywhere near her, we’ll know it.” Jared growled.

Sid watched a nurse walk by eyeing him. Knocking the crumbs off his shirt, he crumbled the empty bag. “So the pregnant one is good, as well as the little rug rat?”

Rolling his eyes, Duncan nodded. “They’re fine.”