Precious Consequences(27)

I chuckle. “Thank you, Han, but you’ve already done so much for me this week.”



It’s true. Hannah has been helping me stay up-to-date with all my classwork and assignments and spoke to all my professors about rescheduling a few tests.

“Oh please,” Hannah brushes me off. “That’s why you have me.”



“And me!” Taylor pipes up.

Macy yells, “And me!” and that has all of us giggling.

I slide past them and take a seat next to Ari on the bed, careful not to move around too much, and gently wrap my arms around her.

The door opens and I watch as Dr. Gates, Ari’s pediatric surgeon walks in.

“Good morning ladies,” he greets politely.

He stands at the end of Ari’s bed, making notes on his clipboard, and then smiles down at her. He’s a lot younger than I expected and far better looking than any other doctor I have ever seen, with his thick black hair, olive skin and dark brown eyes. I watch Taylor from the corner of my eye, and snicker. She’s flustered and totally beguiled by the good doctor. I’m tempted to tell her he had that affect on all of us, even my sixty five year old grandmother, but decide to wait until he’s left. I clear my throat and she whips her head back to me. Her cheeks flush crimson.

“How is my patient feeling today?” he asks Ari.

“Rough night,” I answer for her. “She didn’t sleep well.”



Dr. Gates frowns and makes notes again. He comes to stand on the other side of the bed, brushing past a still flustered Taylor, and moves to examine Ari’s cut. She squirms, trying to get away from him.

“It’s ok, Ari,” I reassure her. Her scared brown eyes meet mine and I give her a soft, comforting smile. “Dr. Gates just wants to make sure your tummy is getting better, ok? He won’t hurt you, I promise.”



Her little hands slide away from her stomach and Dr. Gates lifts her pajama top, going about examining her wound. He presses down and Ari flinches.

“Hmmm,” he says, scrubbing his chin. “It’s still quite tender, but that could be because we had a hard time getting her to keep still when she came out of surgery. I’ll give her something a little stronger for the pain, and something to help her sleep tonight, and then she should be okay to go home tomorrow. You’ve been shown how to clean the wound?”



I nod, remembering how I’ve been the only one, aside from Dr. Gates, who Ari has allowed near her stomach.

“Great,” he continues. “I will be back to check on you in the morning, Miss Arianna. And you ladies must enjoy the rest of your day.”



He looks at each of us, his gaze lingering a little longer on Taylor, and then promptly leaves the room.

“Holy cheese on a cracker,” Taylor sighs. “That man is fifty shades of sexy!”



“I know right!” Hannah chips in. “Did you see the buns of steel on his derrière?”



We laugh and I finally feel like I can breathe again, despite my state of exhaustion. My grandmother and Taylor decide to grab lunch for us and leave Hannah and I with Ari.

“Well, you look a hell of a lot better than you did yesterday,” Hannah observes. “How are you feeling?”



“I feel better, and I’m glad Ari can go home tomorrow. I’m just worried about having to take another week off school.”



“Don’t sweat it, Hayls,” Hannah says. “Your tests have been rescheduled and Professor De Jong said you can see her when you’re back at school for an extra credit assignment to make up for the practical you missed.”



“Thanks again, Han, I don’t know what I would’ve done if you didn’t go through all this trouble to help me.”



“Will you stop saying thank you already?” she chides. “It’s nothing. I’m just glad that you’re okay and that Ari is getting better. I also wish you had told me about her sooner, it’s not like I would have judged you or anything.”



I look down at Ari, seeing that she’s occupied with a new doll, and walk over to Hannah. “I’m sorry,” I tell her. “I thought I was doing the right thing by keeping quite about her. I want to protect her from my past for as long as I can. And I didn’t want anyone to ask me how I fell pregnant in the first place.”



“I understand,” Hannah says. She sighs and we both stand in front of the window overlooking the lush green hospital grounds. “But I want you to know that you can trust me.”



“I do. I guess I just expected everyone to react the way Cameron did. Not that I can be angry with him though.”



“Speaking of Cameron, I paid him a little visit this morning and pretty much tore him a new ass hole.”



I give her a stern look, motioning to Ari.

Hannah mouths ‘Sorry’ and I ask her, “Why did you do that?”



“Because he was a total…” she pauses, stopping herself from using another curse word that Ari is bound to repeat. “Jerk, and he could’ve handled it better.”



I’m in no position to argue, because I too believe Cameron could’ve handled it differently, but I’ve since let it slide on the premise that I don’t have time to wallow in self-pity. Sadly, it has given root to another concern; will every man I try to date react that way when I tell him I have a daughter?