Page 55 of Tempt Me-

The sound of sirens blares, and relief floods me.She says it is her shoulder that burns, but until I know if that bullet exited and didn’t hit anything vital, I won’t breathe easy.

I suck in a shallow breath, possibility suddenly becoming definite.In the chaos of her getting shot, I forgot my earlier thoughts about her potentially having my baby.

“I know you are,” I say with a soft smile.“I figured it out, but right now we’re going to focus on you, and when the ambulance gets here, we’ll fill them in.”

Her eyes open wide at my admission.“You know?”

“I just figured it out as we pulled into the garage.”I push harder on the jacket as the ambulance pulls up to the curb.

Paramedics run out and push me aside.I know the drill, but it still rankles.“She’s pregnant,” I inform them.“Make sure they’re both okay.”

“We’re on it.Just stay back,” a female says.

I can’t see over their backs or shoulders, and I am in a panic of my own.Finally, they put her on a stretcher, and I run up beside her, grasping her hand.

“Sir, you can’t—”

“I’m her fiancé.I’m coming with her,” I say in my sternest, most insistent voice.

Mia’s eyes grow wide in her now pale face.

Ignoring her shock, I push past the paramedics and join her in the back of the ambulance.

***

Mia

I lay ona bed in the emergency room, my shoulder burning, the pain agonizing, but I am fortunate the bullet only grazed me.The amount of blood after the shooting was deceiving as far as the damage done.They gave me a painkiller, assuring me it is safe for the baby in the early stages of pregnancy, and considering the level of pain I am in, I decide not to argue.I’ll take it to get over the initial pain and cut back as soon as possible.

Now I have to face Austin.The fact that they didn’t let him back with me while they worked on my shoulder is a blessing because I didn’t want to deal with the baby talk on top of everything else going on.But now I am alone, it is quiet, and I’ll have to deal with the fact of my pregnancy and my future.

The sweet nurse who was by her side through the worst of the cleaning of the wound went out to get my fiancé, as he called himself to the paramedics.Not that I blame him.The label enabled him to stay by my side, and I appreciated not being alone and afraid at the same time.

“Hello?”Austin pushes aside the curtain.“Is it okay if I come in?”

“Sure.”

He steps into the small cubicle in which I was placed.One look at him, and I know he isn’t doing well.He took off his jacket to staunch my blood loss and now wears a rumpled white shirt, sleeves haphazardly rolled up.His hair stands on end as if he was running his fingers through it over and over again.He is pale, his eyes glazed, and my heart squeezes tight in my chest.

I didn’t mean to put him through something so traumatic, and though I understand this is his job, even I have to admit he’s been affected by today’s events.

“Hey.”He comes up to my bed and grips the metal side rail.

“Hey.”

Unable to help myself, I reach out and place my hand over his.“I’m okay,” I reassure him.“The bullet grazed my shoulder.It didn’t penetrate or do any major damage.”

“Because you dropped your glasses.Otherwise, you would have taken a direct hit somewhere more vital.I wish I’d been on your other side,” he says, teeth clenched, his frustration and anger with himself obvious.

“You couldn’t have guessed where he’d be.”

Austin nods, his jaw tight, as if he really does know that, he just hates the fact that I was hurt.

Silence follows for a few minutes, and he finally speaks.“Are we going to talk about it?”he asks.

I glance down at my still-flat stomach.“We should.”I run my tongue over my dry lips.“I was going to tell you right after the trial.”

He inclines his head.“I believe you.I just can’t really wrap my head around the fact that you’re pregnant.I mean, we used protection, no holes in the condoms,” he says wryly.