swiftly through the double doors.
“Miss, you can wait in the waiting room. We’ll come find you when we know something.” They went inside.
“No! Stop.” Hara sprinted after them, trying not to slip on the tiles in her wet sneakers. “She’s pregnant.”
Maneuvering down a crowded hallway, they slowed but didn’t stop. “How long?” said a doctor.
“I’m not exactly sure, but I think she said it’s been five or six weeks.”
One of the nurses exchanged a glance with the doctor. “At least she’s still early.”
Hara frowned. “She wants this baby. You’ll try to save it, right?”
“Of course.”
And then they were gone. She leaned against the wall, drained of energy.
“Did you just say she’s pregnant?” Derek, having caught up to her in the hall, folded his arms, his face scandalized. “Naomi’s pregnant. Yet she’s been trying to get with Charles?”
It took Hara a second to process his comment, which seemed to come from left field. “Wow. Feminism incarnate, right here, in the flesh.”
“Give me a break.” He made a disparaging noise. “Jersey chaser, nothing new.”
“Nice. Also, super-empathetic for the girl who just got knocked out.”
“Honestly, this mess is why I don’t trust anyone. Period.” Derek’s copper eyes were dark, scanning Hara up and down.
“Are you referring to me now? Thanks.” Hara put her hands on her hips. “You know, for a Pepperdine guy, you’re awfully dumb. Who do you think the father is?” Hara dropped her voice, trying to get control. “He was with her last night, you know. Not for the first time. She says she loves him.”
“Come on, don’t try to pin this on Charles.” He jammed his hands into his pockets. “He and Tina might have problems, but they were together up until last week. And they’re together now. I know my boy, and he wouldn’t do this to her. There are less than five people on this planet I like and trust and he is one of them.” His voice had begun to sound less confident, but then he ended strong: “Naomi is not.”
“Naomi and Charles are not who you think they are. Neither am I.”
“Really? You’re the one who’s got them wrong. And you—you’re not a reporter, doing whatever it takes to get a story?”
Hara rocked back. “Believe what you want. You’re going to anyway.”
“Why would I believe any differently? I know how you got the interview. I know you’re only still in Boston to sniff out a story on Charles. You don’t care about Naomi.”
“You are so far off base.” Of course he brought up the interview. She started for the outer doors. “Just give me my suitcase and go. Just freaking go.”
“What are you going to do?”
“Well, because I’m a normal human being, I’m going to call her family and then I’m going to stay here until I know Naomi is okay.”
* * *
The phone went to voicemail three times in an hour before Charles finally picked up.
“Derek, now is not a good time.”
“Hold up,” Derek spit out, barely able to talk he was so angry. “Your side piece is in the hospital. She was knocked unconscious and breathed in water. She’s not okay. And the baby. She might lose it.” He paused, waited for some reaction. When there was none, he said, “Charles? Did you know she’s pregnant?”
“Uh huh.”
“Uh huh? That’s all you’re going to say?” The rookie leaned against a wall in the hospital lobby, drawing his beanie lower, flipping up the collar on his wet puffy coat.
“Listen, I gotta go. Tina has me looking for candles and flashlights.”
“Dude! Even if you’re not the daddy, you were just with this girl. You don’t want to be here for her?”
The phone clicked off. Derek slowly put it in his pocket, reining in his anger, fighting for impassivity, for distance. His new mantra: This is not my concern. This is not my concern.
But rage blew past his walls. Dammit. Hara was right. His teammate was not who Derek thought he was.
He paced back and forth. Where was the hardworking, loyal friend he’d known his whole life? Derek stopped and almost slapped himself. Thinking back on Naomi, he realized he should have withheld judgment until he’d had more information. Charles was in the wrong.
And, right now, Derek was responsible for the unconscious girl. He’d let her come out of her building door without him, knowing how stormy it was. Regardless of her relationship status with Charles, he had to do what was right. Derek jogged back to the waiting room.
And Hara … he had no idea what