Page 85 of The Sailor

Chapter Eighteen

Marit was exhausted and sore, and she wanted to be anywhere but in this hospital. She’d been brought to Pen Bay, the hospital closest to Rockville, to be checked out. She didn’t want to go, and she really didn’t like riding in the ambulance, but Zach had looked positively freaked out after hearing what she’d been through, and she’d hated seeing him so frazzled. So, she’d agreed to go with the EMTs . . . as long as he was able to go with her.

She’d expected to be looked over quickly and released, since she felt pretty good, all things considered. But she’d been delayed . . . for a very good reason.

Zach had stayed with her as long as he could, but at one point an officer showed up to question him, needing to know how Zach, Linc, and Victor had found Marit. The young man looked at him suspiciously, as if he actually thought Zach might have been in on her kidnapping or something, but she made sure the man knew before he left the room that Zach and the other men were heroes. That they’d had nothing to do with her abduction.

The officer nodded and said he’d be back to take her statement.

Marit wanted to roll her eyes. She’d already told the Coast Guard and someone else from the police department everything that had happened. But as soon as Zach exited the room, the doctor arrived to discuss what all her blood tests had shown. It was the perfect distraction.

To say she was surprised by the blood tests was an understatement.

And now she was waiting for the paperwork to come through so she could be discharged . . . and waiting for Zach to return. She took the moment or two of solitude to reflect on everything that had happened.

It seemed almost impossible to believe that Lucas hated her enough not only to want to kidnap her, but to bury her alive on that random island. His plan might have worked too, if Marit hadn’t been so determined and stubborn. Too determined and stubborn to give up. But it was mostly luck that had allowed her to turn the tables on the man. If he’d gotten his hands on her again . . .

She shuddered.

Then she took a deep breath. He hadn’t. And she was alive and well . . . or mostly well, that was.

It still blew her mind that so many people immediately began searching for her. She’d always thought when someone went missing, there was a mandatory twenty-four-hour waiting period before the cops could get involved. But that wasn’t true. Apparently it depended on who was missing . . . how old they were, their mental state, and extenuating circumstances.

Since she wasn’t depressed, and had made plans for later that day, and because she’d left for work as normal and wasn’t at the boat when Eliot and Jonah had arrived, all that meant the report of her missing was taken seriously. Not to mention her history with Lucas and his apparent hatred for her, demonstrated in public on more than one occasion.

The curtain to her cubicle in the emergency room was pushed back, and Zach was there once more.

Marit hadn’t realized how tense she’d been until he returned, and now she felt the muscles in her body relaxing. The doctor said she’d be sore for a while, but he reassured her that she wouldn’t have any long-term effects from the drug Lucas had used to knock her out.

She also had a pretty nasty bruise around her neck from where he’d choked her, and more bruises all over her body from the rough treatment she’d experienced at his hands and from her time on the island. A mild concussion thanks to Lucas kicking her in the head. But overall, she felt pretty darn good for someone who’d been kidnapped and almost killed.

“Everything okay?” she asked with a frown.

“Everything’s fine. He’s just doing his job. Making sure to cross every t and dot every i. He needed more information for the report he’s got to write up. Are you okay? I missed the doctor coming back in.”

“About that . . .” Marit started, not exactly sure how to tell Zach what the doc had said.

The look of fear that crossed his face made Marit regret hesitating for even a fraction of a second.

“You know when we were talking about babies a while ago?”

“Yeah?” Zach said, now looking confused.

“Well, apparently your sperm is very determined and it took our conversation literally when I said I wanted kids,” Marit told him with a shy smile.

Zach stared at her for a beat as her words sank in. “Are you saying . . .”

She nodded. “I’m pregnant. That’s why the doctor wanted to do all those extra tests. The baby’s okay though,” she said quickly. “I’m not that far along, not enough to start showing yet. But your kid and Chad’s are gonna be very close in age. They’ll either end up best friends or super competitive throughout their entire lives, since they’ll most likely be in the same grade.”

“Holy crap,” Zach whispered. “A baby!”

“You think your mom’s gonna be happy?”

“Are you kidding? She’s gonna lose her mind!” he exclaimed. Then he grinned. “Pregnant. Wait, you’re on the pill. Is the baby okay? Are you okay? How did this even happen?”

“The doctor said we’re both fine. And sometimes the pill fails.” Marit shrugged. “We should probably buy a lottery ticket or two on the way home, considering how the last twelve hours have gone.”

Zach sat on the edge of the bed and leaned over, putting his hands on either side of her shoulders. “Are you okay with this?” he asked quietly.