“Yes?” she asked, turning.
“You’ll call me if anything is wrong, as far as the doctor?”
“Nothing is going to be wrong,” she said, smiling. She saw his raised brows and nodded her head. “Yes, I’ll be sure to call in the rare event I have a dire illness.”
“Just call me. Period,” he said.
She nodded, hesitant to yank her eyes off the glorious vision of him propped up on the pillows and naked save for a thin sheet draped low on his hips. She shook her head as if to ward off his spell and exited the room.
It was hard to think like a rational human being with Marc around.
Once she reached the hospital, Mari noticed she’d missed a call from her brother. She put off returning his call, none too eager to speak with him when memories of Marc still crowded her consciousness. Instead, she called the number Allison had given her yesterday for Colleen, Marc’s sister. She still clung onto the strand of hope that Colleen would at least meet with her to discuss The Family Center and a possible job.
Colleen didn’t answer, but Mari left a message with her number saying she’d love to meet while she was in town if she had a chance. If she didn’t call back, at least Mari would have her answer.
Eric had made her appointment at Harbor Town Memorial with a friendly, middle-aged, female physician named Estelle Hardy. She kept up such a pleasant, steady stream of conversation while she examined Mari that it hardly felt like a typical doctor’s visit. She sent her to the lab and asked her to sit down in the waiting room until the results could be obtained. While she was waiting, Mari saw with a leap of excitement that Colleen had returned her call. Colleen had left a warm message, saying that she very much wanted to meet and could stop by Mari’s house after work that afternoon, if it was convenient.
Mari immediately redialed Colleen’s number. She got her voice mail at the same time that Dr. Hardy’s nurse beckoned to her. Mari left another message saying she’d be happy to have Colleen over at the house at five, as the nurse led her to a consulting room.
She was just ending the call when Dr. Hardy walked in, carrying a chart.
“Well, I think we’ve figured out the reason for your malaise and bouts of nausea,” Dr. Hardy said after they’d both sat down.
“Really? What?” Mari asked, still happily preoccupied with the prospect of Colleen Kavanaugh agreeing to see her again.
“You’re pregnant, Mari.”
Chapter Eight
Through the roar in her ears, Mari distantly became aware of a familiar voice. She blinked open her eyes with effort. Eric Reyes sounded nervous.
“Mari? Mari…open your eyes, please.”
She saw him standing in the consulting room. He looked very doctorlike in an unbuttoned lab coat a
nd with a stethoscope around his neck. He also looked very, very worried, Mari realized. She abruptly sat up on the exam table.
“What’s wrong, Eric?” she demanded.
A bewildered, alarmed expression came over his handsome features. He reached out, stilling her from sitting up farther.
“What’s wrong with me?” he asked dubiously.
She just stared at him, amazed. Disoriented.
“You passed out. Estelle Hardy called me down here. She knows we’re friends. Mari, what the hell is wrong? Estelle refused to tell me—patient confidentiality and all.”
For a few seconds, she just stared at him, her mouth hanging open, the news Dr. Hardy had given her minutes ago striking her consciousness like a hammering blow.
“I’m pregnant,” she blurted before she could stop herself. She wasn’t telling him as much as repeating the shocking news to herself.
“You…you are?” She blinked and looked up into Eric’s face. “It’s…that’s…wow,” Eric finished feebly. He inhaled slowly, collecting himself. “I was beginning to wonder, given your symptoms.”
“You were?” Mari asked. “Why didn’t you say something?”
He shrugged helplessly. “I thought it seemed a little farfetched after you’d told me about breaking up with James five months ago,” he said, referring to Mari’s old boyfriend.
“James?” Mari repeated dully as if she’d never heard the name in her life. “Yeah. James Henry. The guy you saw for four years?” Eric’s grip tightened on her arm. “Mari, I think you need to lie down again. You’re white as a sheet.”