SH Medical 07 - The Detective's Accidental Baby (18 page)

Chapter Eighteen

“So you’re my shadow.” Looking oddly wise, an old soul and a child at the same time, Kelli DiDonato regarded Lock across the restaurant table.

He and Randy had met her at the Sea Star Café near the harbor, where the girl asked Lock to buy her a sandwich. As she wolfed it down, Lock remembered how hungry he’d been after he ran away.

Around them, an early dinner crowd was filling up the place. Despite the warm air, Kelli shivered in her thin jacket. Long brown hair hung damply around her face.

“You spotted me?” Lock asked.

“Yeah. At the supermarket, I figured that was you who ratted us out.” Kelli downed another bite. As for where she’d been the past couple of days, she’d claimed she’d hung out with some girls she’d met at a nearby college student center.

It might be true or not. In any event, she showed no obvious signs of abuse or trauma.

“I understand why it ticked you off to be dragged away, but your uncle was trying to protect you,” Lock told her.

“By humiliating me?”

“If necessary,” he said.

Kelli studied him skeptically. “Do you have kids?”

A stab of pain caught him off guard. For a second, Lock couldn’t hide it.

Kelli’s eyes widened apologetically. “You must have lost someone. Wow. You seem like this big tough guy.”

“Anybody says otherwise, I’ll punch his lights out.” The weak attempt at a joke drew a thin smile from her.

Randy clinked the ice cubes in his soft drink. “You, uh, you said she’s not in any trouble, right?”

“Right.”

“And me neither?”

“I assume not.” As far as Lock could tell, Randy hadn’t done anything wrong.

Kelli spoke up again. “When I have kids, I’ll be really nice to them. I won’t yell and I’ll let them do whatever they want.”

“Even if it’s bad for them?” Lock asked.

“Being with Randy wasn’t bad for me.” She turned to her friend for support.

He averted his gaze. “I thought you were older. You’re a baby.”

“Am not!”

“Then quit acting like one. I could have been arrested. And when you disappeared, the cops assumed I had something to do with it. Did that ever occur to you?”

“No.” Kelli’s shoulders slumped. “I figured my friends would be glad to have me move in, but they weren’t. And now Uncle Phil and Grandma hate me.”

“Are you kidding?” Lock sought a simple illustration of how much they cared. “Your uncle’s paying me to search for you. He could have spent that money on himself. After all, you aren’t his responsibility.”

Kelli bit her lip.

“But he loves you,” Lock went on. “That’s the funny thing about love. It makes us put other people ahead of ourselves. We may act grumpy with them, but if they’re in trouble, we’ll make any sacrifice to help.”

“Not like my so-called friends,” she muttered, wiping her face with her sleeve.

“How about if I take you home?” Lock said.

“I don’t have a real home,” Kelli answered. “My dad died and my mom’s all messed up.”

“I understand how that feels. When I was a kid, my dad left and my mom went to prison for drugs.” Lock had the girl’s full attention now. “I didn’t have a grandmother or an uncle. I didn’t have anybody, so I ended up in the foster care system. You’re lucky.”

“Really?” Kelli said. “You’re not making this up?”

“I’m not. That’s why I’m such a tough guy.”

“No, you aren’t.” She glanced at the menu as if she might request more food. Instead, she said, “You think they’ll forgive me?”

“I think they already have.”

“Okay, then.”

As he put in a call to let Phil know they were heading home, Lock hoped Erica would forgive
him.
Not only for leaving the hospital, but for stalking out of her apartment and ignoring her attempts to call him back.

He supposed that depended on exactly what he’d been talking about—whether she loved him enough.

Or at all.

W
HEN
THE
NURSE
allowed Renée to visit, Erica kept the conversation short. Her head still hurt, and her friend looked tired, as well. Erica promised to call once she learned about the baby’s condition.

There’d been no word from Lock. Could he be that angry with her? Or had something gone wrong with Kelli? Erica hated to think of the worry that child’s family must be enduring.

A lot like I am.
She understood why Paige had had to finish the delivery before driving over here, but waiting was hard. Still, while Erica could have requested that another doctor check her, she wasn’t bleeding or showing other signs of distress. Since she faced no immediate danger, and her fetus was too small for there to be any question of saving it by an emergency delivery, she might as well relax.

She didn’t want to learn the bad news from a stranger. If there was bad news.

Erica’s hand drifted over her abdomen. A month ago, when she’d learned of the pregnancy, she’d been horrified. Now, she had trouble remembering why she’d felt so unhappy, or why she’d been so determined to keep Lock at arm’s length.

True, they’d met under such peculiar circumstances. But she no longer held it against him that he’d been investigating her, testing to see if her ex-husband was lying. He hadn’t known her then.

But he does now. And I know him. That teasing smile. That rebellious hair. The habit of blinking when a remark hits home.

Erica missed him intensely. But she’d seen this afternoon, as he’d faced Renée, how raw the wounds still were from his troubled upbringing. He might not be ready for a long-term commitment and the intimacy and vulnerability that came with it. Given the strength of his defenses, he might never be ready.

At her bedside, the phone rang. Her heart leaped. “Hello?”

“Erica?” It was her mother.

Not Lock. Although her spirits sank, she tried to rally for Bibi’s sake. “Hi, Mom.”

“Are you all right?”

“Mostly I’m sore and bruised. I guess the nurse told you I fell on the stairs.” Might as well spill the rest. “I don’t know yet about the baby.” She braced for a scolding. Why hadn’t she been more careful…? What had she been thinking…?

“Please forgive me for coming down on you so hard,” her mother said. “I can’t tell you how scared I’ve been. I already lost one child. I couldn’t bear to lose you, too.”

“You aren’t going to lose me.”

“Don’t worry about the baby. You can have more.”

“What if I can’t?” You never knew about something like that, as Erica had seen with Dr. T’s patients.

“Then you’ll live a complete, fulfilling life without children, and I’ll enjoy the blessings I have,” Bibi said. “I’m sorry about the things I said to you. You’re a wonderful daughter in your own way.”

Erica started to chuckle, and winced when the movement brought a sharp twinge. The doctor had gone easy on the pain medication because of the pregnancy, leaving her right side aching from shoulder to ankle. Her head still throbbed, although less than before. “You’re a wonderful mother in your own way, too.”

Bibi laughed. “Fair enough. Forgive me?”

“Of course.” While they were on the subject, Erica added, “I wish Dad could have forgiven me. It wasn’t my fault Jordan died.”

“You think he blamed you for that?” Her mother sounded astonished.

“He could hardly face me.” Erica’s sharpest image of her father was of him turning away, time after time, when she got close.

“He may have said some things at the time, but he blamed himself for not finding a way to help your brother. Then you nearly died in the crash, too. He believed he’d let you both down.”

“He let that come between us all those years?” she asked in dismay.

“Guilt is a powerful emotion,” Bibi replied. “People with the strongest sense of responsibility are the most vulnerable. That’s my opinion.”

“Makes sense to me.” If only she’d understood about her father while he was alive. All the same, a burden had been lifted.

The curtain around her cubicle parted. In marched Paige Brennan, pushing a cart of baby monitoring equipment. “How are you? I got here as fast as I could.”

Into the phone, Erica said, “Mom, I have to go. The doctor’s here.” They said goodbye and hung up.

“How are you feeling?” the obstetrician asked gently.

“You tell me.”

“Any abdominal pain, cramping or bleeding?”

“No,” Erica said, grateful that she could honestly answer in the negative.

“Let’s check you out.” Paige indicated the Doppler stethoscope and ultrasound equipment she’d brought.

Erica had to remind herself not to hold her breath.

A
MONG
THE
SCATTERING
of people in the emergency room, Lock didn’t see Renée anywhere. At the desk, he asked about Erica. After obtaining his name, the receptionist sent him back to a curtained cubicle.

Inside, he heard women talking, too softly for him to make out the words. “Erica?” he called.

“Come in!” her voice sang out. His spirits leaped. She was awake and even sounded cheerful. Cautiously, he opened the curtains.

Erica lay on a narrow bed, blond hair mashed against the pillow, the hospital gown parted in front above a drape. To him, she had never looked more beautiful.

A red-haired woman in a white coat pressed a device against Erica’s abdomen. It took a moment for Lock to notice the screen displaying a black-and-white cone of shifting images.

His throat tightened. “Is that the baby?”

“Yes, and he’s fine.” Erica seemed alight with joy. “That’s him on the ultrasound.”

A great swell of joy swept over Lock.
Alive. Safe.
Then he registered the pronoun she’d used. “It’s a boy?”

“I mean him or her.”

“It’s too soon to tell.” The doctor gave a friendly nod. “Hi, I’m Dr. Paige Brennan. You must be the father.”

“I am.” The
father.
Would he ever get used to the power and wonder of that word?

“Let me explain what we’re seeing.” Dr. Paige began pointing out features on the screen. As Lock studied the flickering shadows, they took the shape of a baby, curled like a seahorse. It was tiny, the features not clearly defined, yet filled with promise. His son or daughter. A little person who would grow to be a complete individual, an envoy to the future. A man who’d shake his hand and clap him on the back, or a woman who’d, well, probably shake his hand and clap him on the back, too.

“I was explaining that at eight weeks, the baby is only half to three-quarters of an inch long,” the doctor explained as she slowly moved the device. “At this stage, the eyelids are beginning to form and toes are growing.”

“It’s…unbelievable.” Lock moved closer to Erica.

“After it gets bigger, we’ll be able to see only part of the baby at one time, so enjoy this stage,” Dr. Brennan told him.

“Ouch.” Erica shifted on the bed.

“What’s wrong?” Lock demanded, instantly concerned.

“It’s sciatic nerve pain,” she said.

Lock frowned at Dr. Brennan. “Shouldn’t you stop whatever you’re doing? It’s hurting her.”

The doctor didn’t appear offended at his accusatory tone. “She just needs to change position, which she’s done.”

He felt embarrassed. “I didn’t mean to overreact. Is this from the fall?”

Dr. Brennan gave a quick headshake. “It’s a common discomfort of pregnancy. She and I discussed it last week.”

“This is common, so early?” Lock hadn’t realized pregnancy affected women at this stage, aside from morning sickness. “I thought all those aches and pains came from carrying a large baby.”

“Pregnancy involves a woman’s entire body. It floods her with hormones, creates an entire new organ called the placenta, and swells her blood volume. And that’s just for starters.”

“I had no idea.” He should have been more sympathetic when Erica complained about carrying a child against her wishes. All the more reason for her to be angry with him.

She didn’t look angry, though. To Lock’s surprise, she reached for his hand and grasped it firmly.

The doctor pressed a button and printed out several images. “Here’s baby’s first portrait. Everything appears fine. The little guy was cushioned during the fall, so there shouldn’t be any long-term effects.”

“What about Erica?” Lock asked, his worry returning full force. “She suffered a head injury.”

“When someone loses consciousness, that’s always a concern.” After removing the paddle, Dr. Brennan wiped Erica’s stomach with a wad of tissues. “Normally, we’d run a CAT scan, but even though we can largely shield the baby from the radiation, I don’t like to risk any exposure unless absolutely necessary. The neurologist who examined her found no danger signs, such as confusion, dizziness, ringing in the ears or slurred speech. She remembers what happened during the fall, which is good.”

“I’m not sure if it’s good or not,” Erica added wryly. “That’s one memory I could do without.”