More Than Forever (Providence Series Book 2) (3 page)

Waking up in a hospital
had been surreal; the last thing I remembered was that I was reaching out to shake the Deputy Prime Minister’s hand.  

Why was I here? 

“Miss Banks? I’m glad you’re awake. I’m Jennifer, and I’ll be your nurse today.” I looked to the side and a very petite and beautiful smiling nurse stood there holding a clipboard. “You fainted earlier today and we’re just giving you some fluids and waiting for your test results to come back. How are you feeling now?” 

Struggling to process what she was saying, I asked for the one thing I was desperate for, “Water, please.” 

“Small sips, only for just now, Miss Banks. We’ve given you some medication which should stop the nausea your friend tells us you’ve been suffering from, but your stomach still needs small sips at a time.”  

Just as I was going back for my fifth sip, a man in a white laboratory coat walked in holding some papers in his hand. “Ah, Miss Banks, you’re awake. I’m Doctor Ng, and I’ve been treating you since you arrived three hours ago. How are you feeling?” 

That was a great question, how was I feeling? I didn’t feel sick anymore, which was a relief, but my throat hurt and I felt like I’d been drained completely of any energy. I was even struggling to raise the plastic cup of water to my mouth. “Exhausted. What happened to me, Doctor?” 

“I would expect that based on your test results. You appear to have been throwing up for quite a while, Miss Banks. Did you not think to seek medical attention when it didn’t go away?” 

“We had a lot of work that needed to get done. I thought that, perhaps, it was a stomach bug or food poisoning and that it would go away,” I was fidgeting as I admitted what an idiot I’d been. I should have gone to a doctor, now I’d probably screwed up the deal with the Singaporean Government.  

“Well, Miss Banks, your ketone levels are high as a result of the nausea, so we’ll be keeping you in for a couple of days to rehydrate you and get on top of the vomiting. You’ll need to be checked weekly afterwards, as this can be quite dangerous for expectant mothers.” 

Nodding my head as he spoke, I mulled over all of it. I’d never heard of ketone’s and had no idea what they meant. Suddenly, what he’d just said at the end hit me and my head snapped up.  

“Mothers?” 

Frowning at me in confusion he said, “Yes, Miss Banks. You’re pregnant, about three and a half months based on the tests. Didn’t you know?” 

L
uke
 

Derrik’s words went around
and around in my head throughout the flight.
She was pregnant?  Why hadn’t she told me? 
Well, I knew why she hadn’t told me - because I’d been in a coma, but why hadn’t she told my parents? Did she even know? 

Isla had been my life from the first day I met her when we were kids. Then, I’d messed up in high school and when I was given a second chance to be with her, I’d sworn that it wouldn’t be a chance - it would be set in stone. I’d fucked that up completely, though. I loved her so much it scared me, and now I had to get to her. I had to say sorry and prove to her that it wasn’t what she thought and that she was it for me. 

I knew I’d fucked up, but I hadn’t cheated on her with Kendal.  Her father was a very wealthy man with hotels and business property all over the world. Montgomerys was doing well, but in order to cement our status and get more important contracts, we needed to be seen as powerful, and me dating the daughter of Tim Raygan would give us that reputation.   

I hadn’t touched her or kissed her and Kendal had known the deal when we first discussed it, as it suited her as well. What had changed? I don’t know, but what she’d done to Isla fucked me off. I’d called Kendal before I left Piersville and told her to stay the fuck away from me and Isla and laid it all out and that she was never to contact me, my family, my friends, or Isla again. If she had any problems understanding this, I’d happily set her straight. 

As it was, I doubted I’d hear from her again after I told her that I’d share the shit that I had on her, that dear old daddy didn’t know about. I know for a fact that her dad would disinherit her in a second and she’d no longer have her beloved trust fund.  

It hit me all over again that I was going to be a dad; I knew Isla, and I had no doubts that that baby was mine. I wanted to call my parents and share the news with them, but I didn’t want to do it without seeing Isla first. The fact that the girl I’d been in love with since I was a kid was carrying my baby…reaching into the bag that I’d had Adam bring from my house, I pulled out the box with the ring in it that I’d bought for her two weeks after Isla moved back to Piersville. When I saw her again I just knew, but I’d been set on helping the business, too, and I’d fucked up; now, though, she was mine and I’d make sure that she knew just how much I loved her. 

When I was sixteen, I’d bought Isla a necklace for her birthday that had angel wings on it because that was my nickname for her. I remember her wearing it every day until the night of the prom in twelfth grade when I had completely fucked up and she’d thrown it at me before she ran away. Even thinking about that night made the nausea come back and my leg decided to amp up the throbbing at the same time. I picked up the painkillers the Doctor had given me and popped a couple.  I needed that necklace if I was going to convince her how much I loved her. It had been sitting in the safe in my study since I moved into that house. I hadn’t even been home before I got on the plane, and now, I needed someone to go and get the necklace so that I could get Dad to courier it to me. Picking up my phone before the painkillers kicked in, I rang him and outlined what I needed, as well as giving him the code for the safe. That detail sorted out, I leaned back in my seat and closed my eyes hoping the painkillers would work well enough to let me get some sleep. It was a long flight and all I wanted was to be next to Isla and my baby; sleeping would make it go faster and that’s what I was going to do.

I
sla
 

I watched as Jennifer
wheeled in a machine with a screen on it and looked back up at the doctor. “We’re going to do a scan to check the gestation of the fetus and also to check that everything is fine, too. Jennifer’s going to help you raise your top and lower your bottoms slightly, and then I’ll spread some gel on your stomach and we’ll use this,” he held up a bizarre looking thing, “to do the scan. Any questions?”

Questions?

He’d only just dropped the bomb on me that I was pregnant and he wanted to know if I had questions? I couldn’t even remember my date of birth right now, though, so I shook my head and put my head down as my gown was raised slightly and my panties were tugged down a little bit. I really needed to get my own pajamas, I hated hospital gowns. 

I was shocked out of my thoughts by something ice cold being squirted onto my stomach and looked down at where the doctor was pressing gently with the weird probe thing. Now that I thought about it, I had a pooch that I hadn’t had before; oh God, that was where my baby was. 

Hearing the doctor clicking away beside me, I started to panic that something would be wrong with him or her. I hadn’t known and I’d probably eaten or drank something that I wasn’t meant to; would it have harmed the baby? I hadn’t taken that acid stuff that they tell you to take when you were pregnant either. What if I’d hurt it when I fainted?  

“Calm, Isla,” Jennifer said beside me and squeezed my hand that I now realized was shaking.  

“Okay, Isla, here we go,” the doctor said as he turned the screen towards me. “I’d like to introduce you to your baby. Here’s the baby’s head, here’s an arm…oh, he or she is waving at you. The flickering thing there is the heart and it’s beating perfectly and then we have…” 

The doctor stopped talking and frowned as he clicked around the screen and moved the probe to a different part of my stomach. The longer he stayed quiet the more I panicked I got and looked at Jennifer for reassurance, but when I saw her squinting at the screen, I couldn’t help the sob that burst out of me.   

“Isla,” the doctor called from beside me as Jennifer gasped and then started stroking my arm and shaking my hand. 

“Isla, look at the screen sweetheart. The babies are okay, they just want to meet you, but you have to look first,” Jennifer whispered in my ear.  

Opening my eyes and turning to the side, I looked at the screen. From where the Doctor had the probe thing now I could see two of the flickering things he’d said was the heart beat before…was that two heads? Wait, what was I looking at? 

“Well, extra congratulations are in order, Miss Banks; you’re having twins. I couldn’t see baby two initially as they were hiding behind their brother or sister, but both twins look healthy and their measurements are perfect for their gestation, which looks to be around fifteen weeks and four days…” 

Looking at the screen, I saw two perfectly formed little beings with flutters in the middle of their chests. I was pregnant…I was having twins… 

Hearing a noise at the door, we all turned to see Luke standing there staring at the screen and at our babies. Just as I was about to say something to make sure he was real, the room started to get dark; the last thing I saw was Luke limping across the room…

Chapter

THREE

L
uke
 

G
etting off the plane,
I cleared the airport and got into the car waiting for me. I was stiff and sore from the flight, but I would deal with that later; I needed to get to Isla. 

We got to Gleneagles Hospital in record time and I was directed to Isla’s room by Teo in time to hear the doctor say that Isla was pregnant with twins. I almost collapsed against the wall.
Fuck me, we’re having twins!
  Just as I walked into the room and started to say something, she looked up at me and her eyes fluttered shut and didn’t open again.