Page 131 of Family Bonds- Gabriela & Luca

She could almost see him rolling his eyes at her. “Try not to miss me too much,” he said.

“I’ll manage.”

And with that, she hung up, her heart still racing, her mind caught somewhere between work and him. He had a way of making even a simple walk to the hospital feel like the start of something dangerous and thrilling, yet welcoming at the same time.

She shook her head of those thoughts.

There was a job to do. One she loved and was damn good at.

Her pace picked up as she made her way to the cafeteria to order a turkey sandwich that she’d throw in the fridge in her office, then got a smoothie to go that she’d drink on the walk back and while checking in with her patients.

Thirty minutes later, she was walking out of the first room.

“When do Nick’s parents normally stop in?”

“They should be here soon,” Veronica said. “It’s been hard for him to be here so long, but for the best. His father had to go out of town for work, and his mother had to return to work.” One of her favorite nurses put her head down and lowered her voice. “It’s just so sad, but they are juggling things as best they can.”

Nick was eight and had lymphoma. A patient of her brother’s, and stayed in the hospital when having his treatment. The stays were now longer with each treatment taking a toll on his body, but since they lived and worked on the island, for now they’d rather stay here than Boston.

“They are doing a great job. I’m sure Garrett will be up to check in on him soon. I’ll pop back around and speak with them also.”

But she left most of Nick’s care to her brother and followed his guidelines.

By seven, she actually had made all her rounds, ordered her tests and was going to eat her sandwich when her phone vibrated in her pocket.

She pulled it out and saw the text from Hudson to come to the ER.

She stopped at the nurse’s station, told them where she was going and to text her if they needed anything.

The minute she was on the floor she heard crying and moaning. More than normal. Like a major emergency and it should be all hands on deck, yet no one was really rushing.

The nurse at the desk waved her over. “Room six has a teenage pregnancy in there. There is bleeding and cramping. Ava is in delivery right now and will be down as soon as she can, but Hudson needed another set of hands.”

“Got it,” she said, forcing herself to move. But her body felt heavy, like every step was dragging her deeper into something she wasn’t ready for.

Her feet wanted to stay frozen to the spot, yet she wouldn’t do that.

She felt off. Odd. Like it was a premonition that what was behind that door wasn’t going to be good.

No, don’t think that, she scolded herself.

Though really, how many teenage pregnancies were on this island?

She got to the doorway and saw Hudson doing an exam, Cora in the corner, and Taylor crying.

She rushed in. “What do you need?” she asked Hudson.

“I need you to stay with her until Ava gets here,” he said. “She’s dilated and bleeding some. Thankfully not much.” He moved out of the way and had her check it out.

It’d been a long time since she’d been here. Since med school where they want you there for a birth with possible complications with a newborn.

And that was why she was here.

Because there was a good chance this birth wasn’t going to be stopped and it was nine weeks early.

“Looks like five centimeters.”

“What does that mean?” Cora asked.