21

Jane's POV

It was day three of being in the hospital and I was playing with my baby peacefully. The handsome doctor came in a little while ago for a check-up and left about twenty minutes ago.

"Jane," a voice said at the door and I turned to look up, seeing Nate standing there with a bouquet of flowers in one hand.

"Nate." I was hurt that he didn't show up for the birth like he promised to. Not to mention, he didn't show up two days later too.

He walks in with his killer smile that usually I'd swoon over but not any more.

I've seen better.

After putting the flowers in a vase, he comes over to sit on the chair next to the bed.

"How are you?"

"We're alright."

"How was it?"

"How was what?" I ask, still not looking at him as I smile at my baby when she opens her mouth to suck on her disinfected rubber dummy.

"The whole birth thing."

Thing. Nice choice of words Nate. Really appreciated.

"It went well. Nothing out of the ordinary," I replied as I glanced at him to see him staring at our child with a distant look on his face.

"You want to hold her?" I ask. It's his child too, wouldn't he want to?

"Nah, I'm good," he said, crossing one leg over the other. I stopped my movements, his words ringing in my ears. Who the fuck is he and what does he think he's doing?

"Excuse me?" I ask, but it comes out meekly. He just shoots me a 'what' look which I ignore.

"Where were you, Nate?"

"I was caught up with something," he says simply.

"Was it more important than being present for your first child's birth?"

"Jane, let's not argue."

"We're not arguing, we're talking."

"You know how these talks go."

"Did my mom tell you?"

"About?"

"Me moving out of your place." They left to go get my belongings from his place, how can he not be aware of this? Unless he hadn't been home recently.

"And who decided on this?" He raised his voice at me.

"Don't yell," I say sternly, covering my little baby's ears as she continued to stare at me. "I agreed to move out because it's not childproof."

"You know I can arrange for that."

"Do you actually know anything about taking care of a baby?"

"Do you?" He shot back, a condescending look in his eyes.

"Obviously not, but I'm going to do my best. And my parents are there with me all the way."

"So, basically, you're taking my kid away from me."

"You know that's not how it's like. After everything that's happened, I need time to think and decide how I want things to be now that we have a little one involved."

"It's been almost a fucking year Jane. When are you going to grow up and realise you're being childish?"

"Have you ever thought, 'why is she like this'?" I ask, feeling myself close to being mad but refusing to show because I don't want my baby to see that.

"Yes, Jane, I have," he scoffs, pacing around the room going from one end to the other.

"And?" I press on.

"It's annoying," he says, looking me dead in the eyes.

"Mhmm," I hum, not feeling the need to say anything else.

"I have to go," he says after a short while.

"Where to?" I ask because I felt like I should have been a little bit interested.

"I'm meeting up with a business partner," he says briefly.

"What for?"

"For business," he says slowly as though I'm some demented little kid.

"Where?" What's with these questions, Jane?

"At the company. Do you also want their star sign and social security number or can I go?" He snaps, losing his cool.

"Fine," I shrug.

"Good," he said in a tone that had me feeling insecure as he walked to the door.

"Nate," I say, not looking to see whether he heard me or not. "I don't bother coming back."

He doesn't say anything but the only proof that he heard me is the loud slamming of the door, instantly making Kárri cry out because it frightened her. I cursed him as I soothed her calmly and in no time she fell asleep.

I just stared at the door he left through, feeling nothing. No pain, no sadness, no worry, no anxiety of where he's going or when he's gonna return.

Nothing. Just peace. And boy was I glad to finally know what that feels like.

Little did I know that him slamming the door caused the attention of a certain doctor to be interested in why Nate was here and why he left in such a sour mood. So obviously, the doctor called the one person he knew would find out anything about anyone he wants to be investigated.

***

"Hello, Jane," Doctor Stamford walks in with the smile I secretly started look forward to seeing everyday.

"Hey Doc, how are you?"

"I'm good, I should be asking you that though," he laughs as he takes a sit on the bed and takes hold of Kárri's little hand.

We have gotten well acquainted during the week that I have been here that I feel like I can tell him about anything related to Kárri or myself. He's made it his priority to make sure Kárri and I are as comfortable as can be.

"Are you really checking out today?" He whines childishly. I nod, biting back a smile. "I'm gonna miss my favourite patient," he says with a warm smile, making me laugh.

"It's not like I'm going forever. I'll have to come back for her monthly check-ups, right?" I ask, referring to Kárri who's now sucking on the bottle in which I collected some milk in. He shifts on the bed and gently picks her up in his hands, swaying her in his arms slowly as he continues feeding her.

I can't wait for when she starts talking. I'm sure her laughter will be extremely adorable and I'll be there to pick her up whenever she falls. Just as mine were always there, ready to catch me when I stumbled.

"Yeah, but, who else am I gonna talk to every morning before I start my rounds or every evening before I attend to late night patients?"

"Come on, it's not like there isn't anyone else that is good company?" I challenged.

"Yours is the only one I look forward to," he said with a hint of a British voice.

"Well, isn't that charming. And very, very sad," I joke, ignoring the warm fuzzy feeling in my tummy.

"It's not sad because I tend to have the most fun within these walls."

"Don't speak like that," I say, hitting his arm playfully when he takes a seat with her still in his arms. He hands me the bottle and cradles her against his chest.

"Remember, your appointments are in the early afternoons so you might want to come a little bit earlier, like around lunch time? I don't really have lunch so don't worry about it. And you may also call to ask or double-check anything for her or you," he reminds me, laying his hand on mine. Although it catches me by surprise, I don't remove my hand from his. It's soft and comforting.

"She's fallen asleep," I whisper as I watch Kárri suck her thumb quietly, her head in the crook of his neck as his arm goes around her tiny body, his hand on her back to support her minute weight.

Is it just me or have they bonded beyond than patient and doctor? I can't help but think as I stare at him hold her.

"Thank you," I find myself saying. He doesn't know it yet, but I'm grateful for him stepping in these past few days and being there for Kárri when Nate chose to walk out. I'm sure Doc does it because he helped me bring her to into this world, but that's not the only way I see it.

"Don't mention it," he says, squeezing my hand while giving me a genuine smile that's rare to anyone else. Or at least that's what Dan said.