Page 147 of Sinful Promise

This was not who I was expecting.

“Where’s Dr. Brooks?” My heart rate spikes.

Is something wrong? Why have they sent in a different doctor?

“Hi, Emily, I’m Dr. Weisman. I’m the OBGYN on call.”

I stare at the doctor. “I’m sorry, what?”

“Did Dr. Brooks not tell you I was coming?”

“Uh…” I look at my sister, who shrugs.

Zara places a hand on the slight swell of her stomach. “I don’t need checking out, if that’s what you’re here for. Perhaps Dr. Brooks got confused.”

Dr. Weisman looks down at her clipboard and frowns.

“No, I have an Emily Mullens on the chart. It’s been noted that a urine sample has come back positive for hCG.”

My blood drains from my body. “What? How? I’m not pregnant.”

Dr. Weisman looks a little startled by my reaction, but she approaches the bed nonetheless.

“There is a chance something may have gotten mixed up at the lab… Why don’t I just take a little look at your uterus just to be safe.”

I look at Danil, but he seems so lost in his own thoughts that I don’t think he’s been paying attention to the conversation.

I can’t blame him. He’s been through hell and back in the past few hours.

Zara takes my hand and squeezes it once. “It’s okay, Emily. Ultrasounds aren’t painful. Just try to relax.”

“You’re joking, right?”

Zara gives me a look that reminds me so much of our mother that I almost laugh.

She hops off the bed, but she doesn’t let go of my hand as I lie back and adjust the sheet over my legs.

“It’s okay to be a little nervous,” Dr. Weisman says kindly as she wheels a portable monitor over to the bed and picks up a wand-like instrument and starts covering it in jelly.

I glance anxiously at Zara, and she smiles.

“It won’t hurt, I promise, Emily.”

I nod, feeling relieved that Zara is here with me. Not that Danil isn’t comforting, but this isn’t exactly his area of expertise.

“Are you expecting?” Dr. Weisman asks Zara as she readies the probe.

Zara smiles. “Yes. I’m about ten weeks along.”

“Congratulations.”

I smile at my sister. “She has three-year-old twins at home. Plus, Dimitri.”

Zara chuckles, and the sound eases some of my anxiety.

It feels good to talk about something positive after everything that’s happened.

“I have my hands full, that’s for sure.” There’s such joy in my sister’s eyes as she talks about her family that I feel a little pang of envy.

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