It was a good thing that the professors always spent the whole cla.s.s going over the syllabus on the first day because Keeley wasn"t processing a thing. Seeing Aaron yesterday knowing she was pregnant with his child was more overwhelming than she had antic.i.p.ated.
He was acting the same as usual but the entire world had changed. She was going to be a mom. She was going to be his wife again. And she was terrified of both.
What if she couldn"t protect her child from the viciousness of a rich man"s world? What if everything happened over again exactly as it had before? She really couldn"t bear to live through that twice.
Ever since she found out she was pregnant she had been taking extra precautions. She went out and bought prenatal vitamins immediately and looked up what she was supposed to eat and drink. She researched as many do"s and don"ts as she possibly could before making it back to Aaron"s place.
When she walked into the lab, she affixed a surgical mask in place before putting on her goggles and gloves. Erica looked at her like she was nuts. The masks were there for student use but n.o.body ever actually used them because they were annoying.
"What are you doing?"
"Following proper lab procedure," Keeley said crisply.
She knew the chances of getting contaminated by something were slim since this wasn"t a biohazard lab but it was better safe than sorry. She was fiercely protective over this child. It would be born safely and healthily no matter what it took.
Wearing the mask definitely hindered her as she went about her tasks. More than a couple of times she was tempted to rip the stupid thing off her face and fling it away but she resisted. The baby was more important than her discomfort.
She began wondering some of the same things she had the first time she was pregnant. Questions that had haunted her over the years. But this time she could think about them with a degree of excitement because she wasn"t thinking about her loss.
Was it a boy or a girl? Would the baby look more like her or Aaron? What kind of person would it grow up to be?
Her innocent excitement being pregnant at age twenty-four was different than her more seasoned, cautious excitement now. She may not like the fact that she felt robbed of options but she was still thrilled about the new life inside of her. She was going to get to be a mom this time!
She really needed to set up a doctor"s appointment but she wasn"t sure where would be safe. Definitely not the clinic she went to last time since Lacy Knighton had a rat in there. Would anywhere in Manhattan be safe?
When she took a bathroom break, she texted Valentina. She might know somebody trustworthy. She was surrounded by doctors all day long.
"Do you have an OB/GYN friend you would trust with your life?"
Surprisingly, she answered within two minutes. "You don"t text me for two weeks and this is the first thing you ask me? No "hi Valentina, how are you" for me?"
Okay, that was fair. "Hi Valentina, how are you?" Keeley texted with a slight smile on her face.
"Too busy for it to be the first day of school. What do you need an OB/GYN for?"
"I just do. Do you know one or not?"
"Okay, okay, but I fully expect a proper explanation from you in the near future about why you weren"t at Ryan"s party. It was weird being the only girl there" Valentina complained.
She sighed. She should have known this would come up eventually. "The name, please"
"Dr. Felicity Chapman. She"s one of my professors and follows protocol more strictly than anyone I"ve ever met"
Caring about protocol was a good sign. That lessened the probability she could be bribed. "Does she have any connections to a Dr. Jesse Rothman or Mount Sinai Hospital?"
"No, she works solely at the NYU medical center. Why do you ask?"
"No particular reason. Thanks Val. Text me when you"re free and we can catch up"
"I"m never free" she texted with a series of sad face emoticons.
Keeley had to laugh. That much was true. She hadn"t seen her friend since a couple weeks after Jennica"s wedding. Medical school students didn"t have much in the way of social lives. It was why doctors frequently seemed to marry each other—they didn"t have time to socialize with anyone else.
She had been in the bathroom for longer than she could probably get away with so she stowed her phone away and headed back to the lab. Everything went back on, including the irritating mask.
She planned to call Dr. Chapman in the morning and set up a consultation before Monday if she could. Not knowing who might be out to get her, it might be best to have more than one OB/GYN.
Aaron was even more paranoid than she was by nature. There was a very good chance he would set her up an appointment in a neighboring state the moment he found out.
Keeley was in the lab until 8 PM like she usually was and he brought her over food around dinner time without saying a word about it beforehand. This kind of consideration was what she was coming to expect from him.
She gave him a sad sort of smile as he handed over the sandwich bag that matched her conflicted thoughts. He looked her up and down suspiciously.
"Are you sure you"re okay? I thought you were just tired from traveling but it"s spilled over into today too."
"Maybe I"m coming down with something."
Aaron frowned. "Well, be sure to take care of yourself properly. You can"t afford to get sick now during your last semester. You have too much to do."
Laughter bubbled up in her throat. She knew how busy she was better than anybody. His concern was sweet though.
Since they were sitting up against the wall near the lab door, she leaned her head against his shoulder for a moment. "I know. Thanks for caring about me."
He hesitated briefly before twisting his head a bit to kiss her forehead. "Of course I care about you, silly girl. Who else would I possibly care about but you?"
His words both made her feel guilty and warm and fuzzy inside. It was on the tip of her tongue to say he would care about their baby too but kept it to herself. Now wasn"t the time. She still had to eat her sandwich before her break ended.