Page 66 of Nova

''Fuck, babe.'' Cain appears in front of me and gently examines my wrist. ''Shit, babe. I'm sorry you've been sittin' here all this time in pain.''

I try to calm him. ''Seriously, Cain. I just now started hurting. I thought it was just a sprain or something.''

He shakes his head. ''No excuse, Sugar. I should have checked you over better. This shit is on me.''

''No, honey, it's not.'' I try to take the blame off Cain, but I know he's not hearing me.

Then Riggs comes into the room. ''You two good? I just talked to Josie. Sadie and London are sleepin', and the girls are with Payton.''

Cain stands and turns to his brother. ''You good here for now? I'm takin' Promise to the ER.''

''What happened?'' Riggs asks.

''Promise may have broken her wrist. Doc needs to see her at the hospital.''

''Shit. Yeah, brother, I have us covered here. Take care of your woman.''

Before I can go to stand, a pair of arms slide under my legs and against my back. ''Cain, I can walk.'' I try to wiggle from his hold.

''You'll stay right where you are.''

I go to protest again. ''Cain.''

He cuts me off and stops mid-stride in the middle of the clubhouse. ''You bein' hurt, that's on me. That motherfucker walkin' into your friends' place, puttin' his dirty fuckin' hands on you, scarin' my daughter, scarin' Tequila's sister…that shit is on me.''

''Cain,'' my voice comes out soft, and I squeeze his neck with my uninjured hand.

He shakes it off. ''Not going to hear it, babe. I know you're about to say some shit to try and make me feel like what happened is not my fault, and I appreciate that. My woman has a good heart. I know you got a good heart because of how you protected my girl. You put yourself between my daughter and the son of a bitch who came after her. Then when you got back here to the clubhouse, you hid your pain because you were more worried about Piper and your friend. Now here you are, clearly in pain, your wrist fuckin' broken and you're tryin' to make me feel better. But what you're going to do right now is let me take care of you. Can you give that to me, babe?''

Knowing this is what Cain needs right now, I stop fighting. ''Yeah, honey. I can give that to you.''

Fifteen minutes later, we are checking in at the emergency room. A nurse at a reception desk greets us. ''Can I help you?''

''I got them, Patty,'' Teagan says as she approaches. She left the clubhouse a few minutes before us so she could make sure we were seen right away.

''You two can follow me back here.'' Teagan leads us past the reception desk and down a hall to an empty exam room. ''Okay, Promise. Hop up on the bed there, and I'm going to have a nurse come check your vitals and do a workup before we order an x-ray.''

As Cain helps me up on the bed, a nurse walks into the room. ''Hi, my name is Candace, and I'll be your nurse this evening. I'm going to start by taking your blood pressure, and then I'll ask you some questions.''

I nod, and the nurse goes about taking my blood pressure. Satisfied that it's stable, she grabs a tablet from the counter and starts asking a series of questions. She asks the basics, name and my date of birth. Next, she asks, ''Since you will be getting an x-ray, I have to ask, are you pregnant?''

''No.''

''Are you sure? Can you tell me the date of your last period?''

''Yeah. My last period was…'' I stop to mull over the dates in my head when suddenly it hits me. ''Oh, my God.'' I close my eyes as panic starts to creep in.

''I take it pregnancy is a possibility?'' the nurse asks.

Instead of answering her, I force myself to look at Cain, even though I'm afraid of what I will see. And when I finally allow my gaze to land on him, I am not prepared for what greets me. Cain is sitting in a chair beside the hospital bed, his face expressionless. I can't read what he's thinking. An uneasy feeling settles in my gut. I start thinking about what Cain has gone through with Piper's mom. How even though his daughter is his world, he may not want another kid. I don't want him to think I did this on purpose. I mean, I'm religious about taking the pill. I never miss a day.

Neither Cain nor I say a word. He stares at me, his face like stone. We're suddenly interrupted by Teagan walking back into the exam room. ''Everything okay here. I just got word we can take Promise to x-ray.''

''I'm going to suggest we put it off for a few minutes,'' the nurse tells Teagan. ''There is a possibility Miss Bailey is pregnant. I was just about to ask if you wanted to run a test.''

Over the next ten minutes, I sit in a daze while my blood is drawn, and the nurse asks a few more questions. The instant we're left alone, Cain is on his feet in front of me. He cups my face with both hands. ''I want you to get that look off your face right now, babe.''

I close my eyes. ''I'm so sorry, Cain.'' My voice shakes as I speak. ''I'm on the pill. I take it every day like clockwork. I don't know how this happened.''

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