Page 21 of The Moment You Know

“Our boy,” she whispered. “He’d have been so beautiful. I would’ve loved him so much. I lost him.”

“Please, just rest. Don’t think about it.”

“Ashley. Has … my baby. Jacob.”

He felt his throat tighten at Paige’s confused distress, knowing he couldn’t help her, but unable to stop himself from saying, “She doesn’t have our baby.”

“You. Gave her our baby. I saw her.”

“Paige, no.”

She pulled her hand from his and brought it to her chest, holding it there as if protecting herself, before turning her face away from him.

David couldn’t stand to see her like this and he stared down at the beige, utilitarian tile on the floor. His mind flooded with painful memories of when she had miscarried and he felt the pain all over again, right in the middle of his chest.

He was almost grateful when Dr. Wiseman made an appearance to check on Paige. “How is she doing?” he asked, picking up Paige’s chart and looking it over again, not reading it any faster this time around.

David rubbed his face. “She was awake for a few minutes, but she was pretty confused. Then she fell asleep again.”

Dr. Wiseman nodded/wobbled, as if expecting to hear that and made a few slow notations on the chart. When he was finally done, he replaced the chart carefully, and went to leave. At the door, he stopped and turned around, steepling his fingers again.

“One more thing. I wanted to let you know there’s a man in the waiting room inquiring about Paige. We can’t tell him anything, but I thought maybe you could go have a word with him. He seems quite concerned.”

David had pretty much forgotten about Paige’s date and sighed as he got to his feet. “I’ll go talk to him.”

Chapter 8

In the elevator on his way down to the waiting room, David checked his phone and saw that he had numerous texts from Ashley, which had come in after he’d silenced his phone. Not one of them inquired how Paige was.

ASHLEY: Are you still at the hospital? Are you coming home soon?

ASHLEY: Hello?

ASHLEY: Will you be home soon? Text me back.

ASHLEY: Asshole. I’m going to bed.

Shaking his head in disgust, David put his phone back in his pocket and went into the waiting room. It turned out to be surprisingly quite full, with more than a dozen people scattered around in uncomfortable looking chairs. Some appeared to be sleeping, some were on their phones, and a few were watching an air fryer infomercial being broadcast on the wall-mounted TV.

Hale was doing none of the above and when he spotted David heading his way, he got to his feet. “How is she?”

David stopped in front of him. “She’s in and out,” he said and then shared the rest of what he knew, which didn’t take long.

“Can I see her?”

“To be honest, I wouldn’t recommend it,” David told him honestly. “She’s still really disoriented and confused. I don’t even know if she’ll know who you are.”

“Great.” Hale shoved his fingers in his hair in disappointment. “And tonight started off so well, too.”

“I’m sorry.”

“Thanks. That means a lot.”

David overlooked the sarcasm; he understood the guy’s anger. “I’m David, by the way,” he said, extending a hand.

After a brief pause, Hale gave David’s hand a brisk shake. “I’m Hale.”

Genuinely curious about the man Paige had chosen to go on a date with, especially given that his name was Hale and he wore suits, David couldn’t keep from inquiring, “So, you and Paige are dating?”

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