Page 4 of A Magnolia Move-In
“Wait, did you just say baby?” Jackson asked at the same time I rasped, “What baby?”
Dr. Williams stopped and looked at both of us. “Naomi is pregnant.”
I stared at him. I saw his lips move, and I heard the words, but they weren’t registering.
“You’re pregnant?” Jackson asked, his attention now on me.
I swallowed, wincing as my raw throat screamed. “I didn’t know.”
“We were surprised the baby survived the trauma you experienced, but it’s a fighter.” Dr. Williams smiled. “From the ultrasound, I’d say you’re about five months along.”
“You’re pregnant?” Jackson asked again.
My world felt as if it were spinning. Nothing seemed to be making sense.
The accident.
The baby.
I wanted so badly to shake my head so I could clear it enough to process what was going on—but just moving my attention from Jackson to Dr. Williams made my head feel like it was being squeezed in a vice. Any shaking would send me into a tailspin of pain. So, I was left sitting there, trying to understand what was happening.
“Well, I’ll leave you two to talk. I have another patient to see. I’ll send in the nurse to check on you in a bit.”
Jackson pulled his attention away from me and nodded at Dr. Williams.
“Feel free to use the call button if you need it.” Dr.Williams nodded toward the small white box attached to the bed.
That’s where that was. “Thanks,” I whispered.
He shut the door behind him, leaving Jackson and me alone. I turned my attention back to my brother, who had started pacing by my bed. “You’re moving to Magnolia,” he muttered before he whispered, “Baby.”
“I can’t move to Magnolia. I have a life in North Carolina. I have a job.” I had Walker.
Even though he was the reason I was in the hospital, I couldn’t fully blame him for this. After all, he didn’t make the car hit me. And I wasn’t even sure he’d cheated on me. Sure, there had been a girl on the other end of that phone call. But she could have been anyone.
Was I willing to throw away my life on an assumption? Was that fair to Walker? Especially if I was pregnant…
Pregnant. My stomach felt as if it were flip-flopping.
“You have a severely bruised hip and a broken leg,” Jackson said as he waved toward my bed. “You are in no shape to take care of yourself.” He shook his head like I was being ridiculous. “You’ll have people who can help take care of you in Magnolia.”
“Jackson,” I said, as loud as my throat would let me. But he didn’t seem to notice.
“I’ll have to have Archer build a ramp for the porch so it can accommodate your wheelchair.” I could see him making a mental list of the things he needed to do. To him, this was already decided. I had no choice in the matter.
But I wasn’t going to give up without a fight. I waspregnant. I needed to find Walker, and leaving North Carolina seemed like the worst idea. How was I going to find him if I was states away? I cleared my throat. “Jackson, listen to me.”
He kept pacing and muttering to himself. I could only imagine the list he was creating was growing longer and longer.
Finally, I gathered my strength. “I’m not moving to Magnolia!” All the pain came to a head, and I collapsed against the pillow, squeezing my eyes shut.
That seemed to do the trick. Through the slits of my eyes, I saw him cease his pacing as he turned to face me.
“I’m not moving to Magnolia,” I whispered.
Jackson shook his head. “You can’t stay here.”
Tears began to well up in my eyes once more. Which surprised me. I felt as if I’d cried all the moisture from my body since I woke up, but apparently not. “I can’t leave my life here.”
