He runs his hands through his hair like it’s the only way to keep himself from exploding. Without a word, he turns on his heel and storms out of the room.
I look down at Eva, who looks helpless and distraught. “I’ll go talk to him. You just stay here and relax. I promise everything will be okay. He’ll calm down.”
I walk out of that room, knowing I promised something I might not be able to deliver on. Walker might not calm down. He is hot with fury, and he blames me.
I step out of the room and look left. No sign of him. When I turn my head to the right, something comes in contact with my cheek, hard and fast.
I hit the floor as the pain immediately radiates throughout my face, hot and sharp.
“Son of a—” I clench my jaw in pain and taste blood.
“You fucking lied to me,” he grits. “My sister. You know she’s the one thing in my life I care about. And you went behind my back.”
I swallow down the blood and stand back up, trying to steady myself on the cart outside of the room.
Walker knows how to throw a punch. My cheek is throbbing with its own heartbeat. But I can’t focus on that right now. I owe my friend an explanation.
“I’m sorry,” I croak through the pain. “I tried so hard to stay away. I knew it was wrong, and I did it anyway. But one thing I need to make clear, if you cause her any more pain than she is in right now, your face will meet my fist.”
His eyebrows turn down at me. “Are you threatening me over my own sister? That’s my job, asshole.”
“That’s where you’re wrong. She is carrying my baby. Eva and our baby are mine. I love them with my whole heart, and no one—I mean,no one—will hurt them.”
A sinister laugh escapes him. “Love? You love her? Roman, the number of times you’ve fucked and left women in front of me, telling me love was for fools, would prove that to be false.”
I flinch, struck by the truth. He’s not wrong. I know it doesn’t make me look good. The truth is, I still haven’t resolved those feelings. Love is not something I am particularly comfortable with.
Here I am, pretending like I’m the type of man who deserves the woman in there. All it took is one punch to the face and a few words to put the doubt back in my head.
He stands in front of me, seething. “You know it. I see the doubt on your face. This is what I’m talking about. You fucked with my sister, knowing full well you can’t love her the way that she deserves.”
A nurse appears in front of us. “I’m sorry, but this is not the time or place for this conversation. If you do not take it outside, I will call security.”
Eva’s doctor walks past me and into her room. “I’m sorry.” I turn to the nurse. “You’re right. We apologize. I assure you there will be no more disturbances.”
Jessie comes running toward us with tears in her eyes. “Where is she? Is she okay? Kylie texted me and told me. I don’t know how she tracked down my information but thank god she did.”
“I need to go in there. The doctor just walked in.”
“The fuck you do. That’s my sister. I’ll go in.”
I put a hand up, stopping him from moving an inch. “What did I tell you? That’s my baby. Know your place.”
I turn around and walk into the room, hearing Jessie yelling at Walker to follow her. I join Eva at her side as the doctor is talking about her blood work.
I grab her hand.
“Your hCG levels are where we would expect them to be at this stage of your pregnancy. We will test it again tomorrow. If we see the numbers increase, that’s a good indicator that the pregnancy is progressing.”
Eva looks up at me. Her worry is apparent. I squeeze her hand.
“As for what’s going on,” the doctor continues, “the pain is coming from the rupture of what we call a corpus luteum that formed on your ovary.”
Rupture. I don’t quite understand the words coming out of his mouth, but a rupture doesn’t sound good.
“The rupture can cause internal bleeding. In most cases, surgery is not needed. Most of these ruptures heal with rest and monitoring.”
“Does this affect the baby?” I ask as my thumb rubs soothing circles over her hand.