Page 32 of Dangers of Love

The latter would have annoyed me normally, but nothing about this situation was normal. And if I were to be entirely honest, I didn’t mind the radio being on because neither of us had said more than a few words, and I preferred the background noise that prevented a total awkward silence between us. Now it was only an awkward semi-awkward silence.

Walking into the waiting room did absolutely nothing to ease the awkwardness either. While Dr. Rhimes kept tasteful art and stuck to entertainment and sports magazines, there was no doubt what sort of office this was. I’d seen men in here a few times since I’d started coming to see Dr. Rhimes, but it definitely wasn’t a regular thing.

This morning, we were the only ones there so far, which I hoped would make it easier for Eoin to wait. I’d told him that I wouldn’t mind if he stayed in the car, that I could understand him being uncomfortable. His dry response had made me laugh.

“I’ve spent days packed into a small metal box with nine other men. In the desert. Without bathing. I think I can handle a doctor’s office.”

As I signed in, out of the corner of my eye, I caught him looking around the room and couldn’t resist a little tease.

“The waiting room might not be that scary, but you’d never be able to handle what goes on behind those doors.”

I surprised a laugh out of him, and a warmth went through me. I liked that I could bring out this side of him. I wasn’t foolish enough to think that he was only soft and sweet on the inside, that his tough exterior was all an act. Honestly, I didn’t think I would have wanted him this much if that had been the case.

I liked that he was rough around the edges. I liked that he was strong, and not just physically. I liked his determination and even his stubbornness. Even butting heads with him wasn’t always a negative thing.

I knew I could be head-strong, and contrary to what a lot of people probably thought, I didn’t want a man I could walk all over. I wanted one who pushed me out of my comfort zone, to think about life in a way I hadn’t. Someone who didn’t treat me like a delicate, fragile doll who needed to be protected from everything and anything the big, bad world had to offer.

A couple minutes after we sat down, Eoin half-turned toward me, a slight flush to his cheeks.

“You know that if you want me to go with you, I will? I mean, I don’t want you feeling like you can’t ask me to go in the room during appointments or whatever. I mean, if you are pregnant, I want to do that sort of stuff. If you’re okay with it.”

I couldn’t imagine how difficult that was for him to say, especially since, by the end, his ears had turned bright red. I leaned over and kissed his cheek. “Let’s take it one day at a time, all right? Right now, I want to go back by myself, but if I am pregnant, we can talk then about what we’ll do next.”

He nodded, relief on his face, though I wasn’t sure if it was because I hadn’t asked him to come back with me now, or because I hadn’t made any sort of decision about future visits. I honestly didn’t know what I’d want at any point other than right now. And it might not even matter.

We were saved from further discussion by a nurse who came out and called my name. I followed her into the back, where she took my vitals and asked why I was there.

Heat rushed to my cheeks, but I refused to look down. I hadn’t done anything wrong. “An exam and blood work for a pregnancy test.”

She glanced at my file. “Right, I see that Dr. Rhimes put a note on here to do the blood draw first, and then she’ll come do the exam. She’s putting a rush on the test results so they can come in today.”

“A rush?” I asked, my heartrate speeding up.

“Mm-hm.” She didn’t sound worried as she went about getting the things she’d need to take care of the basics.

When she didn’t give more of a response, I flat-out asked the question, not even trying to hide the annoyance in my voice. “Why is she rushing it?”

“Oh.” The nurse seemed taken aback, but she recovered quickly enough. “I don’t know.”

Another few seconds passed, and I began to wonder if this was going to be a pattern. Unfortunately, I was not in the right presence of mind to be patient and polite, and while I’d never been shy about making my thoughts known, the incident in Iran seemed to have given me a new sort of boldness.

Like finally drawing a line in the sand with my family.

If this woman thought she was going to get off easier than them, she was sadly mistaken. “Does it say in my file? I’d like to know why my test is being rushed. I’m grateful that I won’t be waiting as long as I thought would be necessary, but I would like to know why.”

She sighed as if I’d asked her to do something extremely difficult, but she did turn her attention back to my file, so I held my tongue.

And held it.

And held it.

Just when I was about to snap at her to hand over my damn file so I could read it myself, the door opened, and Dr. Rhimes came in.

“Good morning, Aline.” She smiled at me and then looked at the nurse, the smile vanishing. “Do you have a good reason as to why you aren’t done, or at least in the process of taking Miss Mercier’s blood?”

The tone made me think I wasn’t the only person unhappy with this nurse’s work, and I had to stop myself from snickering.

“I told her there was a rush on her test, but then she wanted to know why.” The nurse sounded like a petulant child. “I didn’t know, so I was looking it up.”

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