Page 23 of Hollow State

"I know you're right." Darwin could admit that to himself and to Prewit. "But what does that have to do with Wynn and being afraid I'm going to repeat history? There’s a very real part of me that believes I pushed Sarah out the door, and I'll do the same thing with Wynn.”

"You just figured it out yourself." Prewit stepped back, raised his palms to the ceiling and smiled. “You’re already preparing to blame yourself for losing her before you’ve given the relationship a chance.”

Darwin opened his mouth but closed it quickly. Prewit was right. However, there was more to it. He removed his glasses and set them on the counter. “I don’t want to hurt her, and with everything hanging over my head, that's a real possibility.”

A throat cleared quietly behind them.

Darwin turned.

Wynn stood just inside the laboratory, holding a thin folder against her chest. A few strands of hair had pulled loose from the bun at the nape of her neck. Her gaze shifted between the two men.

Prewit straightened. “I should check on Kane’s imaging.”

"He's in his room," Wynn said. "He was hoping for a game of rummy. Something about a rematch."

"I love taking that man's money." Prewit smiled. “See you two…in the morning?”

He walked past Wynn, paused long enough to squeeze her shoulder, then disappeared into the corridor.

The door eased shut.

“How long have you been standing there?” Darwin asked.

“Long enough to hear about your ex-wife’s affair.” She set the folder on the counter. "I can't believe you never told me that."

"It's not something that naturally lends itself to casual conversation."

"Right, because our chats are so casual." She folded her arms.

He hated that he’d hurt her feelings.

"I don't understand how you could possibly think your marriage ended⁠—"

"There's another piece that Prewit doesn't know about." Darwin inched closer, circling his arms around Wynn's waist. He hadn't told Prewit, or anyone else for that matter, including his brother. Sarah hadn't wanted anyone to know. She'd only been six weeks along, and they'd barely had a chance to get used to the idea. They'd agreed to wait a month before telling anyone, but when tragedy struck, Sarah didn't want to deal with pitying looks and explanations, and Darwin couldn't blame her.

However, Darwin needed to be honest with Wynn. "Sarah had a miscarriage a year after we got married."

"Oh, I'm so sorry."

"It wasn't a planned pregnancy," Darwin said, wincing. These were the kinds of clinical words that Sarah always complained about. "Though, that didn't make it any easier. And again, we were so young. I was in medical school. She was already starting to feel alone. She thought she understood what it was going to be like, but once the classroom part ended, and I was doing hands-on learning, things really changed. I wasn't with her when she lost the baby. It actually took her two hours to reach me. I was observing a surgery. I don't think she ever forgave me for that." At the time, Darwin had been scared shitless about being a father. It wasn't that he didn't want a family. He did. Maybe in ten years. Not at twenty-two. "I didn't handle the loss very well. I was a little more clinical than Sarah would've liked."

"I find that hard to believe."

Darwin cupped her cheek and smiled. "Oh, I might have said something to the effect that it was nature's way of taking care of business."

She leaned into his palm. "That is a shitty thing to say, but it's true." She rested her hands on his shoulders. "My parents took risks without thinking about the consequences and how their actions might affect other people. You never stop considering others. You do it so much that sometimes, you forget to think about yourself. I love that about you. But you've got to stop worrying that being together under these circumstances is going to hurt me. I'm a big girl who can make her own decisions. And getting hurt is a risk that's involved in any relationship. If you keep focusing on that, we'll never know if what’s between us is worth fighting for."

"You certainly have a way with words."

"Shut up and kiss me."

He wasn't about to argue with her. He leaned in. The first touch of his lips to hers was soft, testing, until she rose into it. She had a way of making him feel young again. Of making him want things he thought he didn't want. Or need. Or even care about anymore.

But he did. And he could see a life with her. One that had windows. One that⁠—

The floor rattled beneath his feet, and a deep boom echoed in his ears. "What the hell?" He gripped her hips as a rack of sample tubes toppled from the counter, scattering across the tile. Glass shattered at their feet. The blast rocked the room, and he had to let her go and brace himself against the counter.

Wynn did the same.