His Brand of Passion by Kate Hewitt

Author:Kate Hewitt
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
ISBN: 9781472002174
Publisher: HarlequinUKLtd
Published: 2013-06-02T21:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER EIGHT

‘IT WAS AN ectopic pregnancy.’

Aaron stared at the rumpled-looking doctor and tried to make sense of the words. ‘Ectopic,’ he repeated. He’d heard the word before, but he didn’t know what it meant. All he knew was the last four hours had been hellish, from the moment Zoe had woken up in his arms, gasping with pain, and then fallen unconscious.

The call to 911, the ride to the ER in an ambulance, the endless wait in a fluorescent-lit waiting room—all of it had felt like a mindless blur until now, when he was finally going to find out what had happened to Zoe—and to his child.

‘An ectopic pregnancy is one in which the embryo implants outside of the uterus,’ the doctor explained. ‘In this case, in Miss Parker’s fallopian tube. the tube ruptured, and we had to operate to remove the damaged tube as well as the embryo.’

The embryo. Aaron blinked. He meant the baby. Their baby was gone. Swallowing, he asked the question he knew mattered most. ‘Is—is Zoe all right?’

‘She’ll be fine,’ the doctor said with a tired smile. ‘She’s lost a lot of blood, and we’re giving her a transfusion. She needs rest to recover, but she will. In a few weeks, a month, she should be fine.’

A month? Aaron passed a shaky hand over his face. ‘May I see her?’

‘She’s sedated, but you can have a look in if you like. If you come back tomorrow, she should be awake and able to receive visitors.’

Aaron nodded and wordlessly followed the man down a long corridor to a hospital room. Zoe lay in bed, looking pale and small and so unbearably fragile. Her lashes feathered against her cheeks, and her breathing was slow and even, but faint, so faint.

Aaron reached out a hand to the wall to steady himself. He felt as if his whole world had shattered, exploded, in the course of a single night.

He barely remembered the ride back to his apartment; his mind was numb, blank. He stepped inside the penthouse and felt its emptiness, which he knew was ridiculous because Zoe had only been living with him for a short while. He was used to being alone. He liked being alone.

Except now he found he didn’t. Now he found he felt empty and wretched, lonely. This was what loneliness felt like, he thought as he poured himself a double shot of whisky. It felt as if his whole world had collapsed around him and there was absolutely nothing left.

He tossed back the whisky and strode towards his study. Sleep would not come tonight. He powered up his laptop and stared resolutely at the screen. At least now he could focus on work; he could remain alone, he could do what he needed to do. He need never see Zoe again.

The thought made emptiness swoop through him, air whistling right through the place where he should have had a heart.

Eight hours later Aaron was back at the hospital, gritty-eyed and dressed for work.

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