Empty Net Read online

  “No, I need to see Dr. Richards, Sr, or Bryan, ASAP.”

  “Okay, darling, my goodness, you got my hands shaking!” Linda turned quickly to the nurse standing behind her, “Put her in room 3. Tell Bryan to see her next. Audrey, honey, Matthew is sick today, so Bryan will have to work.”

  “That’s fine, thank you so much, Linda,” Audrey said as the door opened and she followed the nurse to room 3.

  “Anything for you, honey, I hope you’re okay,” she heard Linda say as she entered the room. Audrey sat on the foam bench and looked up at the ceiling. She felt bad for making Linda think she was dying, but Audrey needed to see someone who knew her cooter, and that person was Dr. Richards, or Bryan. They had both been there, Dr. Richards had been her OBGYN since she was 16 and Bryan used to…well, they dated for a very long time. Bryan had graduated from Vanderbilt last year, and had started interning here with his dad’s practice. She knew that he was more than qualified now. He had always wanted to deliver babies and she was proud of him for living his dreams.

  Kicking her legs back and forth, Audrey looked down to see her hands settled against her stomach. She slowly poked her stomach as her eyes pooled with tears. Was there a little someone in there? Was it to have Tate’s eyes and her hair color? Was it a girl or a boy? Audrey felt the tears come hot and fast down her cheeks as her heart skipped a beat. Could this be her chance? Did God bless her with a miracle?

  When the door opened, Audrey looked up to see Bryan Richards standing with a worried look on his face. Bryan was a beautiful man. Sharp angles to his face, light green eyes, and blonde hair that was cut high and tight. He had a friendly happy face, and was overall one of the best guys Audrey knew. The whole Richards family would basically do anything for her.

  “Audrey, are you okay?” he asked coming in and shutting the door. He came over to hug her tightly. She basked in the hug. She needed it. When they parted, she looked up at him and said, “I was just told I’m pregnant.”

  Bryan paused, and then lowered himself to a rolling chair, “Okay? That isn’t an emergency, honey, it’s a part of life.”

  “No, Bryan, Dr. Richards told me I couldn’t have kids because of that crappy abortion I had all those years ago,” she said through shuddering breaths, “I’ve gone almost nine years thinking I couldn’t have kids. Crying because I thought I wasn’t a complete woman but apparently I am! And I’m pregnant now!”

  “Okay, wow, this is a lot to process,” he said, “I didn’t know you had an abortion, It’s not in your file.”

  “Yeah, I did, Derek knocked me up and left.”

  “Well, hell, okay, so bad abortion leads to what?”

  “Blockages of the fallopian tubes and severe irregularity, apparently. I haven’t had a period in four months, but I know damn well I ain’t four months pregnant.”

  Lord, she hoped not, that would mean it was Levi’s baby.

  Holy fuck.

  “Okay, calm down,” he said, looking over her chart. “You were here in November for a screening, everything came back good, and you weren’t pregnant then.”

  Oh yeah, thank God! Audrey thought as she nodded, “Yeah, had unprotected sex with my now boyfriend, back when he was the one night stand.”

  “Wow, you’ve been busy,” Bryan said with a grin.

  Audrey laughed, “Shut up!”

  Bryan chuckled some more, “Okay, so who said you were pregnant?”

  “Doctor’s Care said they did a pregnancy test and it came back positive.”

  He nodded as he stood, “Okay, we’ll do one now and also take some blood samples to send off. I’ll meet you in the ultrasound room.”

  “Ultrasound?”

  “I know you, you won’t believe this ‘till you see it, so let’s see if we can see this baby.”

  “But, Bryan, I can’t have kids,” Audrey insisted, tears rolling down her face.

  “Well, Audrey, apparently something was overlooked or something changed. It’s been nine years, a lot changes in your body during that time.”

  “Oh my God,” she whispered as she wiped away her tears.

  “Why are you crying, this is a good thing.”

  She looked up as the tears ran faster down her cheeks, “I want this so bad, Bryan, but I can’t let myself get excited ‘cause what if everyone is wrong and this is just some mean joke nature is playing on me?”

  Bryan came over, cupping her face before wiping her tears away. She could have loved this man her whole life, but God had a different plan for them. He was meant to be with his partner and she was meant to be with Tate. She was okay with this, but a piece of her heart would always belong to Bryan. He was her first everything. Bryan smiled as he held her gaze with his and said, “Audrey, come on, let’s get this stuff done so we can have your answer.”

  Thirty minutes and a positive pregnancy test later, Audrey was looking at a fuzzy screen showing her uterus, from what the tech, Rachel, had informed her. It was extremely uncomfortable getting a long stick, that was the ultrasound probe, shoved up in her cooter, but she had been here before. Only last time they were looking at what was damaged while this time, they were looking for a baby. Bryan stood behind Rachel as Audrey lay with her legs wide open and Rachel’s hand between her thighs.

  It wasn’t very comfortable.

  Audrey watched as Rachel pressed buttons and then moved the probe deeper and then up. Audrey’s eyes cringed a little, in pain, but she wouldn’t take her eyes off that screen for anything. When Rachel stopped and pointed, looking back at Bryan, Audrey said, “What? What’s that, what’s wrong?”

  All Audrey could see was an empty space and what looked like a ball. Squinting her eyes, she waited for an answer from someone but they were both looking very closely at the screen, not paying her any mind.

  Was that a baby?

  Her heart had beat at a rapid speed since that morning, but now it was in overdrive, and she felt light headed. Hell, she felt like she was going to puke.

  “Audrey, look,” Bryan said a grin forming on his face, “Rachel, zoom in closer please,” he asked as he bent over her, pointing at the screen. Looking back down at Audrey, he said, “that is the yolk sack, and that is the embryo.”

  Embryo? Embryo! That meant baby!

  “I’m pregnant?” she asked as the tears filled her eyes before running down her face. Rachel smiled at her as Bryan nodded.

  “Yes ma’am, your baby has a nice strong heartbeat of 126 beats per minute.”

  “My baby has a nice strong heartbeat?” Audrey asked, “I have a baby in me.”

  “You sure do, buttercup, congratulations, it looks like you are six weeks along, making your due date,” Rachel looked down at a little wheel and then smiled up at Audrey, “August 3.”

  “I’m due August 3?”

  “Yup,” Rachel said with a grin, “so this was a surprise I see? I bet daddy is going to be excited.”

  Audrey couldn’t breathe as she watched the little spot on the screen twitch. Not even a couple days ago, she asked how life could get any better and here she was. A girl’s hand up her cooter and her baby on the screen. Her baby! Her little person who was growing inside her! She had waited for this moment for the past nine years, and it was happening! She was going to be a mommy, and Tate was going to be a daddy. To their baby. She choked on a happy sob as the tears rushed down her face. When she looked up at Rachel and Bryan, the biggest, brightest grin ever came across her face as she gushed, “He’s gonna flip.”

  ***

  Where the hell was she?

  Tate paced through a hotel room as an interviewer was finishing up with Shea. He didn’t know where Audrey was, and he had even called Piper and Fallon to see if they knew. No one knew. Everyone was just as clueless as he was and it drove him insane. He knew she went to the doctor and the last text he got was asking him to tell her what he had to tell her. After that nothing. He was not only getting pissed but worried too.

  Tate turned to say something to Lucas, but he was on