Page 16 of Purrfect Planning

I’m not going out to party and drink. I’m not celebrating the fact that no woman has a hold of me.

Instead I’m sitting up nights and wondering what my woman is doing and if she misses me. If my little bean is alright. If they miss the sound of my voice.

Because I miss both of them….and I can’t stay away any longer. I need to go home to Starlight Bay and the two people in the world that I love the most.

My family.

CHAPTER 9

Aspen

It’s only a day or so before I start to feel off. I’m exhausted because I can’t sleep. I miss Micah. Miss the way he talks to the baby when he’s sitting there and making the point that I need to take better care of myself. Miss the way he annoys the hell out of me but yet takes care of me.

What the hell is wrong with me? The man is annoying as hell and if I had to guess he took off because he didn’t want to care so much.

I’ve got this. I don’t need him. I don’t need anyone but myself. Thank you very much.

I shuffle out into the office and then out the door to Bayfront Beans. I need a quick hit of something and I can have caffeine-free coffee and although it’s not the hit I need, it will do.

I stand for a moment and study the menu, lost in my own head and exhausted beyond belief.

“Can I help you?” The server asks me and I turn to look at her, surprised when she’s wavy and her face slips in and out. Her voice sounds like it’s coming from a tunnel and my mouth falls open, shocked. “Are you alright?”

My heart races and I move to sit in a chair, holding my head. “I-I don’t know. I don’t feel very well.”

“Are you sick?” She asks, backing away a little bit to give me air.

Shaking my head, I mumble through suddenly-numb lips, “I’m pregnant. Not sick.”

“Oh, congratulations!” But I can’t hear through the buzzing in my ears and I put my head down on the table, feeling the cool wood on my cheeks.

“I’m gonna call for someone. It’s okay!” And then it feels like everything goes black.

I wake up later in the hospital again, with the same doctor staring at my chart. He glances up at me from over top of his glasses. “I’m not surprised to see you again. You seem like the kind of woman who’s gonna push it no matter what.”

“What’s wrong?” I whisper through suddenly-dry lips.

“You’ve been stressed and working too hard if I had to hazard a guess. I know you said before that you’ve got your own business and that’s highly-stressful but I feel like there’s more and you’re floundering a bit.”

I sit up straight and my lips tighten. “I’m fine. I probably just forgot to eat dinner yesterday and I need to take better care of myself.”

He nods. “I’d say that that’s true. But I’m not sure that you can be trusted to do it at this point. Your blood pressure is up which could lead to pre-eclampsia. You’re dehydrated. You’re pale and shaky and exhausted if I had to hazard a guess.”

Hanging my head, I groan under my breath. “I’m sure you’re right,” I whisper. “I just haven’t been able to sleep.”

“Fine. Now you’re going to have to stay here. We’re going to observe and make sure that everything is alright. And if you’regood in the morning, you can go home but you’re going to have to take it easy for a little bit. Until you get yourself all straightened out. Okay?”

“But what about my cat?” I wail, tears in my eyes.

“Call a friend and have them feed the cat.”

I don’t know who to call. But my phone rings and I pick it up, ignoring the glare that the doc gives me. “Hello?”

“Aspen! I got here early and thought we could meet up. Maybe have a drink.”

I squeeze my eyes shut. “Ummm. I can’t do that. I’m kind of in the hospital right now. Maybe I can meet you tomorrow. At my house,” I sigh when the doctor glares at me harder.

“You’re where?! Oh my god! Are you alright? I’m on my way!” I stare at the phone when the dial tone is all I hear.

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