Page 63 of Consume Me

“No one’s sure what to do out there,” she told me. “Brex and Smith are keeping them away from the door. Are we sure she should…”

She trailed away as Clara let out a blood piercing cry and reached for her. Belle took her best friends hands, the momentary shock wearing off with the contact. Tears began to stream down her face.

She sniffed hard, shaking her head and channeling the stalwart British calm our people called upon in moments of crisis. “Well, let’s get this going, shall we?”

Clara shot her a wan smile. “It’s going. Oh my god, I think I want to push.”

At her words, the hospital door opened and in strolled Dr. Ball, who did a double take at the scene unfolding before him.

“Clara, we need to get you into surgery,” he began. “I’ve been trying to reach Dr. Rolland. We’ll want to control…”

I stopped listening to him as I felt Clara shrink in my arms. When I looked to her, her face was wild and desperate. Her hand reached for my collar, clutching it tightly. “Don’t let them touch me. Not them. Don’t…let…the baby…”

She was trying to tell me something while a contraction complicated things. But the message was clear. She was terrified of him—and there was only one reason why.

My eyes flew to Ball, as fury blazed within me. I wanted to pin him to the wall and beat him to a bloody pulp.

I released Clara into Belle’s keeping and rounded on the doctor, who backed up, his hands flying into the air in surrender. Either he was a very good actor or completely flummoxed as to the cause of Clara’s fear. Grabbing him by the lab coat, I dragged him into the hall.

“Watch him,” I ordered Brex. “I want him questioned.” The nurses who had been waiting in the corridor tried to blend into the wall. “Get another doctor up here and find me someone who can operate on the baby.”

I didn’t have time for clearer instructions. I shoved Ball in their direction. He’d begun to protest the treatment but otherwise didn’t resist. I didn’t care what he had to say. I’d seen the pure terror on Clara’s face. That made him guilty in my eyes.

When I returned to the room, Clara reached out for me. Hurrying to her, I knelt and allowed her to hold onto my shoulders.

“Dr. Rol—” A contraction halted her and she fought to keep speaking. “Land was….there…”

My eyes flashed to Belle’s. I didn’t know this doctor, but Clara did.

“It’s the neonatal surgeon,” Belle said quickly, conveying what Clara could not at the moment. “The one who confirmed the baby’s heart condition.”

“I doubt he’s on his way here,” I muttered, doing my best to stay calm as fury ripped through me. A doctor—one she’d known and trusted—had betrayed her. “What about Ball?”

Clara shook her head. “But I…I…”

“I know, poppet.” She didn’t have to explain. There was no way to be certain Ball hadn’t known more about what happened to her, which meant he wasn’t about to get near her.

“I think I want to push,” she said through clenched teeth.

“Clara, I’m going to get a doctor,” Belle said gently. “Not Ball, I promise.”

She nodded to her best friend, her teeth beginning to chatter.

“Are you cold, poppet?”

She shook her head. I wanted to take away her pain—to bear it for her. It was driving me crazy to see her like this, and yet, I was proud. She’d fought them. She’d survived. She could do anything.

“X.” My name on her lips was a soothing balm but also a plea.

“Tell me what you need.” I would do anything for her. I just had to know what to do.

She pulled away, bending over the bed and beginning to sway as Belle reappeared with an older female doctor.

“Doctor Thompson.” She came over and shook my head purposefully looking me directly in the eye. “It seems your wife has had a change of heart.”

That was a mild way of putting it. “Is it safe for her to have the baby?”

“She seems to be doing just fine.” Thompson looks her up and down. “I’d like to check her though.”