Valentine Babies (Holiday Babies Series) (11 page)

Roxanne blinked several times. The pain ebbed and stopped.
She breathed better. But Leila started another litany. More descriptions of
desert and mountains, and flowers again...

“Water,” Roxanne murmured. Her throat had dried like old
parchment. Had she drifted off?

Hushed whispers floated in the room. Leila and Steve rushed
to her side. “I’m calling Dr. Nick,” Steve said.

“No, call Greg,” Roxanne ordered.

“Yes, Dr. Greg.” Leila pushed Steve out of the room.

He came back a few minutes later. “You can take water. Keep
it in your mouth long enough to soothe your throat.”

Leila put a spoon between Roxanne’s lips. The few drops of
water were heaven.

“Time?” Without moving her head she tried to scan the area.
She was still on the sofa in the living room. Leila and Steve bent toward her.
She couldn’t see the two other men or the little boy.

“Six in the morning,” Steve said. “You’ve slept for seven
more hours since the last cramps.”

Her eyes widened in fear and she stared at her friend.
“Baby?” she mouthed.

“Shh, don’t talk. Don’t move,” Leila ordered. “I’ll explain.
You had painful cramps again around ten at night. They lasted longer than the
first time, but they stopped. No blood. The baby is still there. Soon, everything
will be fine. If you can still hold on for two more hours.”

Roxanne arched her eyebrows. “Two? Why?” she mouthed.

“Don’t talk, please.” As if any sound came out her vocal
cords. “I’ll tell you about the time we went to the garden of...”

“No,” she huffed. Enough boring stories. Roxanne yawned and
closed her eyes to escape into her own world. When they arrived in the U.S.
she’d teach Leila how to create interesting stories or relate funny tales.
Meanwhile, she’d have to listen to her talk of flowers and gardens and flowers
and water...

Strong voices pulled Roxanne from her lethargy. Leila’s
laughter bubbled, followed by her
Rabbena kebeer,
the Lord is great
.

“How is she doing?” Greg’s voice resonated in the room now
bright with sunshine.

 Oh dear, she was dead and hearing incredibly beautiful
sounds like Greg’s voice. Her punishment for causing Nabil’s death and exposing
her baby to danger. But if she hadn’t come to Baghdad, Elias wouldn’t have
lived.

A gentle hand cupped her face. “Sweetheart?”

“Greg,” she whispered. “Death good.”

“You’re alive, my love, alive.” Warm lips covered her face
with kisses. “Open your eyes.”

“Greg? How?”

“Later. Let me hook an IV in your arm.” He checked her
pulse, then rolled her sleeve and secured a blood pressure cuff on her arm. A
moment later, he smiled. “Better than I expected. Steve, please, get me the big
box labeled IV Fluids and open it.”

From the corner of her eye, Roxanne caught a glimpse of
Steve opening a box and handing Greg a pole, an IV bag full of fluid and a
small package. Brian set the pole on its base while Greg tore the package and
set a needle in a syringe.

“Look at me, Roxanne. I’m not going to hurt you.” He wrapped
an elastic band around her left upper arm, tapped on her skin, and slid the
needle in. She bit her lip. A tiny prick that really didn’t hurt.

“I gave you an injection of
Propanolol
to stop the
cramps
. Now I’ll hook up the IV drip because you’ve been
dehydrated in the last twenty-four hours.”

“Okay.” She smiled at Greg and a huge sigh of relief escaped
her.

Greg pricking her arm with a needle reassured her more than
anything in the world. Her baby would be safe.

How did Greg arrive here so quickly? He must have flown on a
plane. In spite of his phobia. To take care of her and save her baby. She
stared at him. Gleaming with tenderness, his beautiful hazel eyes met hers. She
mouthed, “I love you.”

He smiled, such a warm smile, and answered in the same way,
“I love you too. Later.”

Greg lowered his gaze back to her arm and disconnected the
syringe. Leaving the needle in, he connected it to the tube of the IV drip.
“You’ll be fine, sweetheart.”

“I know. Because you’re here with me.”

“Hmm.” Steve cleared his throat. “Should we step out?”

Greg laughed. “Not yet. I’m a doctor who’s just hooked an IV
line into my patient. Maybe later, when she’s in better shape we’ll send you
out.”

Roxanne chuckled. Anticipation tingled through her body. She
couldn’t wait to be alone with Greg.

Chapter Nine

“You’ve taken my blood pressure four times in the last three
hours. It’s stable. Relax.” Roxanne squeezed his hand to reassure him. Now that
Greg was beside her, she’d recovered her faith in the future. But boy was he
worried about her. Using her free arm, she reached for his forehead and
smoothed his brow with the tips of her fingers.

“I’m relieved the drug didn’t cause any detrimental side
effect.” He sighed and then smiled. “I’m sure you’ll be fine but I’ll feel
better after you get an ultrasound exam.”

“We’re not in Florida. Where do you think I can get an
ultrasound in Baghdad?” She snorted. Poor Greg the long flight had affected his
reasoning. She didn’t dare ask him how he’d managed to board a plane in spite
of his phobia. He wouldn’t appreciate
the question in front of the other
men.

“Colonel McGee who traveled with me from Frankfurt to
Baghdad assured me he’d send a technician with a portable ultrasound machine.”
Greg hid a yawn and then raked his fingers through his hair.

“Colonel McGee!” The gasps echoed from various parts of the
living room.

“You met Colonel McGee?” Roxanne smiled to her ears.

“You talked to our big guy?” Brian’s eyes almost bulged.

“Man, are you lucky,” Joe added with admiration.

“What’s so extraordinary? He’s a nice simple man. And we
chatted for almost two hours.”

“Are we talking about the same Colonel McGee who terrifies
our whole regiment?” Brian’s voice sounded as incredulous as if they were
discussing the big bad wolf.

 Greg shrugged. “He knows you, Roxanne. He was quite
interested in your problem.”

“My pro... You didn’t tell him?” He told the almighty
colonel that she was pregnant and having cramps.
Oh no
. “How could you?
I interviewed the man twice and had trouble getting him to spit interesting
tidbits. I’m going to lose his respect as a career woman and a reporter.”

“Not at all. He has a lot of admiration for you. He even
laughed and said, ‘Be careful with this young lady. She’s worse than a hound
when she wants an interview.’ And he added, ‘I’ll see that Ms. Ramsay gets
immediate help’. That’s how you’ll have the portable ultrasound coming all the
way to your bedside.”

“Really?”
Amazing Greg
.

“Doctor Greg, please,” Brian said with his sweetest voice.
“Now that you have the ear of our big boss, can you put in a good word for me
and ask him to send me home. I miss my kids. Tell him I need treatment. I
feel...weak.”

They all burst out laughing. The hunky bodyguard was
anything but weak.

“Roxanne has to be moved to a bed where she’ll be more
comfortable.”

“But I feel great here with all of you around me.”

Greg set a chaste kiss on her forehead. “Don’t give me a
hard time, sweetheart. I don’t like difficult patients.”

“Whatever you say, doctor. I’ll obey.” Maybe they’d be able
to steal a private moment in the bedroom. She smiled. A bedroom had a door
while this living room was more crowded than a local bazaar.

“Bring her to the master bedroom. I washed the sheets this
morning,” Leila said.

 With Brian and Joe holding the IV bag and pole, Greg lifted
her into his arms. Roxanne snuggled against his chest and hooked a hand behind
his neck. Being incapacitated had some fringe benefits. Greg carried her to the
master bedroom without disturbing the IV drip in her arm and carefully set her
on the bed. Then the men left and Leila closed the door behind them.

“Here are underwear and pajamas for you,” Leila said

“I’m useless with one arm paralyzed by the IV.”

“No problem.” Leila helped Roxanne out of her clothes, and
into panties and pjs, then covered her with a comforter, and fluffed up pillows
behind her head. “I’ll call Dr. Greg now.”

Greg returned, his stethoscope hanging around his neck.
“Stay, Leila. I want to examine Roxanne. You’ll act as my nurse.”

“But...” Roxanne huffed and swallowed her frustration. So
much for spending a private moment with Greg. He’d donned his best doctor’s
expression and would probably order her to stop playing the difficult patient.

Greg put the metallic disc of his stethoscope over her back.
“Breathe hard.” He moved the disc up. “Again.” Down. “Again.” Left.

She didn’t wait for another
again
and kept inhaling
deep breaths and exhaling them. “Enough. You don’t need to hyperventilate.”

She arched her eyebrows and waited. Greg eased her back
against the pillows and pressed the metallic disc against her collarbone. She
looked into his eye, trying to capture his gaze. He kept it glued on his disc
and moved it lower. Just at the top of the valley between her breasts.

She heaved a deep breath. Her breasts jutted forward.

He scowled. She bit back a giggle. Now she knew Dr. Hayes
was immune to the pretty women who visited his clinic. His poise had reassured
her.

The disc skated to under her left breast. She stopped
smiling, hoping her nipple wouldn’t harden. “Your heart and lungs sound great.”

Not true. She knew that her heart was beating too fast with
him bending over her. And her senses had played havoc with her rational mind.

“Leila, please, lower her pants, just below her belly
button.”

As if he couldn’t lower them himself. Or ask Roxanne to do
it. Her lips tightened into a thin line. Unfortunately, her stomach had rounded
a bit. “I’m showing,” she said with a grimace.

“It’s about time. I want to listen to the baby’s heart.”

Her baby? All sensual thoughts evaporated. Her free hand
rubbed the side of her belly and her eyes focused on Greg’s stethoscope. “Can
you really hear it?”

“It’s a very powerful instrument. The best. Be quiet now.”

She nodded, afraid to breathe and distract him. He skimmed
her middle above the belly button and below, blinked, listened, moved to the
right side, and paused.

Silence hovered over them. Even Leila stared at the powerful
disc.

Roxanne expected him to say something. He didn’t. His gaze
set on her belly, he moved the disc to the middle again, then to the left and
paused. A frown gathered on his forehead. He glanced at her.

“What? Please, tell me. Can you hear him?”

He smiled. “Yes, I can hear him well.” He shifted the disc
to the right side and paused, then backpedaled to the left. He tilted his head
and studied her. “Amazing.”

“What? Are you sure? You’re not lying to me.” She clutched
her pajama top above her heart.

“I hear it. Loud and healthy. Do
you
want to hear a
baby’s heart?”

“Can I, please?” she begged. Under her hand, her own heart
drummed like a tambourine.

Greg set the earphones in her ears and moved the disc to her
right side. “Shh, now listen carefully.”

She closed her eyes. And she heard it. “Tatam, tatam,
tatam...” Tears flooded her eyes and rolled onto her cheeks. “My baby, my little
one.”

Greg took the stethoscope away.

She threw her good arm around his neck. “Thank you. Oh thank
you.”

He patted her head and eased away. “Later, darling.” He
pulled up her pajama pants.

Leila discretely turned her back and walked out, closing the
door behind her.

“Finally alone. We can talk for a few minutes privately.”
Greg exhaled his impatience and sat on the bed next to her.

Talking was not exactly how she wanted to use their moment
of privacy. But if that was what he wanted. “Yes, tell me about your flight. I
didn’t want to ask in front of the others. Especially when I know how you
hate—”

“Shh.” Greg placed his thumb across her lips and slowly
rubbed their fullness until they parted. Her tongue skimmed the tip of his
finger and their gazes met. “Darling, I missed you so much. I went out of my
mind with worry about you. This isn’t a romantic place but...”

Not wasting another minute he leaned toward her and cupped
her face between his palms. She smiled. “Who cares? I’m a down-to-earth gal.
Having you here, next to me, so far away from our country makes it the most
romantic moment in my life.”

“I love you, Roxanne. It’s your picture in my heart that
gave me the courage to face my phobia. Imagine, I traveled on a plane, a
copter, and a military jet for the first time in so many years. And all the
time I prayed I’d reach you in time.”

She blinked back tears of happiness and hooked her free hand
behind his neck. “I love you, Greg.”

His mouth closed on her lips for a deep insistent kiss and
his tongue darted to meet hers in a frenzy of passion. She wished he’d pull her
onto his lap, squeeze her against him, and let her feel his love. Unable to
breathe, she moaned. He released her mouth and trailed soft kisses along her
throat.

His cell phone rang and he cursed. “Dr. Hayes speaking.”

Roxanne tried to recover her breath and resisted the urge to
cling to him while he talked in his phone. “We are on the third floor... Do you
need help carrying it?... Okay.”

“The guy with the portable ultrasound,” Greg said to
Roxanne. “I’ll go see him and explain your case.”

A moment later, Greg returned with a heavyset man who
grinned broadly.

“Math Laurens. How ya doing, young lady? First time, I’ll do
this type of ultrasound in Iraq.” The man’s chest shook with his laughter.
“It’ll go in my book of records and precedents. He, he, he, he.”