Page 4 of Break

Her face pinches in confusion and she shakes her head, “Who?”

I straighten up and grab my phlebotomy bag before placing my tablet under my arm. “Exactly. I’ll see you around, Alex.” Istep out of the room, shutting the door behind me. I wait in the hall for James to finish up pissing in the cup.

I feel sick. If it weren’t already for the nausea threatening me to puke up my mediocre meals for the day, I would just succumb to the feeling and let it expel everything out of me. But I need the nutrients, and I’d rather not have the office knowing what’s going on, ever. Or until it’s obvious, I guess.

This woman doesn’t know about me, his sisters… He’s getting tested to have unprotected sex with her and doesn’t even remember our night together. Is he going to remember to make sure that Alex is on birth control? Maybe we can be maternity ward buddies once he knocks her up once the results are in since obviously his swimmers don’t give a shit about birth control.

The man of the hour steps out of the bathroom and smiles widely at me. His perfect, white, straight teeth are gleaming under the lights and he runs his left hand through his thick blonde hair. “I know it’s sudden… but I really think she’s great. What do you think?”

I shrug and point to the wall in the bathroom where he can place his urine sample. “Go ahead and set the cup over there. Did you label it?”

He nods and saunters back into the darkened bathroom to set it down. All six-foot-four of him. He’s broad, muscled… perfect. And now he’s getting into a serious relationship while shoving his best friend, the mother of his unborn child out of his life.

“Are we all set?”

I shake my head. “With me, yes. Dr. Patterson should be right in. See you at home.” Or not.

____________

Someone knocks on my office door and I groan when I look at the time… I’m here late. Very late.

But I just can’t see James any time soon. I found a cute house down the road that’s available to rent starting next week. I called every realtor I knew to see if they could find anything for me ASAP, and I’m thankful we live in a smaller town. It’s pretty much a done deal already.

The girls already called me and said they’re going to a friend’s house for dinner and would be getting home after James got out of practice anyway… So I decided to stay here for as long as I could.

Making plans to get the hell out of there as soon as I can. It works out better this way anyway, there’s no way that another woman would be okay with me living there with her boyfriend. Especially not pregnant and raising a baby there while they’re getting serious or whatever.

“Come in!” I call out before rubbing my fingers over my temples and blinking up at Dr. Patterson as he strolls in. His thick brown hair is pushed back and he adjusts his glasses after he sits down at the chair in front of my desk.

He frowns at me and tilts his head, “Are you feeling okay? You look quite pale, Marie. You’ve been acting off all day.”

I shrug and cross my arms over my chest. My white coat pulls and tightens against my arms and I roll my head around my shoulders. Man, I’m tense. “I’m fine. I saw the emails earlier, what’s that about?”

He smiles widely and claps his hands once. Even his brown eyes seem to be sparkling, he’s truly excited about this. “Annikaoffered to open a second location across town… She will be working with the NFL and half of the college players accounts so that I could focus more on the rink, where I belong. I’m already hiring a few MD’s and PA’s to take over this location, you and I will be taking over the arena and will be on the rink. Home games, away games, practices. We can figure out how to split them.”

I blink at him and nod, waiting for the punchline.

“So I’m promoting you and have an office ready for over at the rink. I’ll be here and there until everything’s all straightened out.”

I blow out a breath and chew on my lip. I need to be honest with him, don’t I? Shit. “I… I just found out I’m pregnant. Will that be a problem on the ice?”

He pales and rubs his hand over his face. He shakes his head and stares down at my flat stomach. “I’ve seen you skate… I highly doubt it, you’re pretty much as professional as our players. Fuck that’s going to be a nightmare with insurance though, isn’t it? I can have waivers printed for us to sign, for both us and the owner of the team. The only other option is for you to move to Annika’s office. Unless you want to be at the rink and just stay off the ice.”

I sigh and lean back in my chair. “That would probably be best, to work with Annika. I’ll be moving next week and wouldn’t mind a break from hockey. I’ll work with you, be it here or at the rink until you find someone to take over here. I can put my bullshit aside for a few weeks.”

He frowns at me and wipes his hands down his thighs. “Annika really said she needed a break from the rink, but I canfind someone else. What’s going on though, Marie, do you want to talk?”

The tears threaten to fall once again and I shake my head quickly. “Nothing to talk about. I’m fine. I’ll be moving next week, hopefully… if I’m approved for the house. I’ll let you know. Outside of that, no. Everything will work itself out.”

He stands up and steps around my desk, enveloping me in his warm arms. He’s always been like a father figure to me. Even when I was still in the PA program, he allowed me to intern here because I loved sports medicine. He hired me before I even graduated and the rest is history.

Every holiday he invites us all to his house, always gives the best gifts for birthdays and Christmas. And he actually remembers our birthdays, doesn’t even force his assistant to do everything for him.

I love him so much and I hate feeling like I’m disappointing him.

He trained me, has been so patient with me, and so caring and accepting. I don’t know what I would do without this man.

“I’m here if you need me, you’re family, Marie, always remember that. You’re incredible for the office, for our clients, the rink or no rink. You got this.”

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