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Chapter 12

Ellie blinked open her eyes. Everything was dark. From a distance she heard a voice calling to her. Something cold against her face.

She blinked again, clearing her vision finally and Ezra's worried face was there. He pressed a damp paper towel to her forehead.

When he saw her open eyes, his shoulders sagged in relief, but the worry was still drawing his face in tight lines.

"I was about to call an ambulance," Ezra said, sounding like he still thought it was a good idea.

"Don't do that," Ellie said, feeling her already overheated cheeks burn more hotly. Calling an ambulance because she was pregnant and sick was more embarrassment than she would be able to recover from. "I'm fine."

She started to push herself upright, catching a hand behind her to balance as her head swam again.

"You often collapse on the floor?" Ezra asked wryly.

"Only on Christmas," Ellie responded, trying to prod a smile onto his serious face.

Ezra didn't look amused.

"Really, it's nothing," she said. She let him help her to her feet and didn't mind his hand on her arm while she got herself steadied. In spite of her assurance to Ezra, she wasn't sure everything was fine. Passing out couldn't be normal, could it? So far she had avoided pregnancy books like the plague, not sure she wanted to embrace the reality of her life just yet.

"I can drive you to the hospital, let a doctor look you over on the way home. Mercy Hospital isn't that far from here."

Ellie bit her lip. She reluctantly nodded. If nothing else, she could maybe get something for the relentless nausea.

Ezra flipped off lights and locked the door, arming an alarm system, before guiding her carefully to his car.

Ellie took the seat gratefully. In spite of her bravado, she really didn't want to do this on her own. She swallowed hard, the lump in her throat painful.

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Ezra watched the nurse take Ellie back to the exam area. He took a seat, concealing the worry that made him want to pace in agitation. Ellie hadn't looked well when she turned up in his bar, even before she passed out.

He watched the television set on the wall, a reporter with an overly bright smile tracking Santa's progress around the globe. They had moved onto advertising for last minute donation requests for charities that would be providing Christmas dinners to those in need tomorrow when a nurse finally came out.

Ezra stood. She smiled at him.

"Your wife's going to be just fine," she said. Ezra didn't correct her, thankful for the misunderstanding that was leading her to give him an update on Ellie. "Do you want to come back and see her?"

Ezra hesitated, uncertain if he really should impose on Ellie, then decided he could at least let her know he would wait until she was released so she wasn't worried about lining up a ride. "I would appreciate that," he said.

The nurse led him through the double doors Ellie had gone through earlier. "She just needed some fluids. As soon as we're finished with her fluid bolus, she should be all good to go. She and baby are just fine."

Ezra started to nod, then stumbled a step.

"The baby?"

The nurse gave his arm a pat. "Just fine, like I said."

"Good," Ezra said, trying to get his bearings back. "That's good news." It was alarming news. Ellie was pregnant. And seemingly alone.

He made sure to steady his expression when the nurse pulled back the curtain to the room Ellie was in.

Ellie had an IV in her arm, a bag of fluids rapidly pumping into her, but it appeared to be working. Her face looked less drawn, her eyes more alert.

Ezra waited until the nurse pulled the curtain closed again and left before settling into the uncomfortable chair near Ellie.

"You didn't have to stay," Ellie said apologetically.

"Like I said, I had no other plans this evening."

Ellie's lips curved in a smile. "I bet you could have found a million better options than this."

Ezra waved a dismissive hand. He tried not to think of what Ellie would be doing right now if he wasn't there. She would be alone. And pregnant. His thoughts kept going back to that. He thought of the scowling man in dark clothing he had seen at Ellie's door months earlier. Concern grew as he thought of Ellie with that man. If that man was the father of her baby. If that was the case, it was no doubt better she was on her own.

"The nurse informed me you aren't the only patient they're treating," he said, trying to sound like he hadn't been rattled by the news.

Ellie's brow furrowed, then cleared, then distress had her brow knitting. Ezra watched in fascination as her emotions and thoughts played out as clearly as a neon sign.

One of her hands started drifting toward her stomach before the tether of the IV stopped her and she dropped it to her side on the gurney.

"She told you that I'm…about…" Ellie gestured vaguely toward her stomach.

"She mistook me for your spouse," Ezra said. "I should have corrected her."

Ellie shook her head. "No. No, that's ok." Her brow furrowed more deeply. "It's not like it's a secret. Or shouldn't be. I just…Chris…" her voice trailed off and she looked even more distressed.

"Chris is the father?" Ezra asked when she looked like she was about to pass out again, this time from her own stress level.

"Yes," she said. "But I can't tell him. Not right now." She didn't offer any more than that, her hands fisting on the rough blanket over her lap.

"And your family?" Ezra asked. He tried to tell himself it wasn't any of his business. But he was sitting here on Christmas Eve with Ellie in the emergency room, so clearly it had become his business.

"It's just me and my brother," she said. "But he's deployed right now. I can't tell him right now," she repeated what she had said about the baby's father. "He's—" she started, but was interrupted by a ring coming from her phone. Her eyes widened in alarm.

"That's Buck," she said. She scrambled for her phone and looked at the screen and Ezra swore she went paler than she already was. She shoved the phone at him.

Ezra reflexively took the ringing device from her.

"You have to answer it," she said.

"Excuse me?"

"He'll be worried if I don't answer. And freak out if he sees me here." Ellie grabbed the phone back from him, hit the button to answer it and pushed the phone back in his hands.

Ezra eyed her to see if she was going to duck under the blanket. She pulled her lower lip between her teeth and winced at him.

Ezra lifted the phone to see an unfamiliar man on the screen. He cleared his throat. "Hello."

Ellie's brother's confusion was clear. "I'm tryin' to reach my sister. Ellie."

Ezra gave an easy smile. No big deal, everything was fine, this man's sister hadn't just lost consciousness on the floor of his bar and she wasn't sitting across from him squeezing her eyes shut like she thought it might make her invisible.

"Ellie. Yes. She's indisposed at the moment," Ezra said.

"Indisposed?" the man repeated. Ezra watched as the confusion turned to suspicion. "Who the hell are you?"

"I'm Ellie's friend." That sounded less concerning than her neighbor or bar tender. Less like a starring character on Law and Order SVU. Just a friend.

Another face appeared behind Ellie's brother on the screen, his eyes narrowed at Ezra. Then another.

"Where's Ellie?" This one, Ezra recognized immediately. He wasn't dressed in all black, but he looked just as unfriendly as when he had stood at Ellie's door months earlier.

Ezra tried not to bristle, but before he could answer, Ellie grabbed the phone back from him.

"Hey, Chris," she said breezily. "Hey Buck. Vin, Nathan. Merry Christmas."

Ezra leaned back in his chair. He probably should step out and give her some privacy, but even the thought of her on a video call with that man had him on edge.

"Who's that with you?" Buck asked.

"Where are you?" Ezra recognized the voice of the one Ellie called Chris. "Are you in a hospital?"

The other men chimed in with a chorus of concern and Ezra could see Ellie's hand tremble slightly as she held the phone, but she rolled her eyes and managed a smile. "Just a little accident. No big deal."

"What accident?! Are you hurt?"

"Buck," Ellie said, tightening her grip on the phone, her smile tightening around the edges. "I just…fell. No big deal. Ezra was with me, so he brought me here."

"To the hospital?" Buck asked. Ezra didn't need to see the man's face to tell he wasn't buying Ellie's nonchalant story.

"It really was just a stupid accident. I tripped, but I hit my head, so Ezra thought I should get checked out."

Ezra listened as the story flowed out convincingly. He couldn't help but feel a bit impressed at how easily she came up with the story, with just the right amount of details.

There was a light knock on the door and the doctor slid the door, then the curtain back.

"Buck, the doctor's here, so I'm going to go," Ellie said. Her words were just rushed enough for Ezra to pick up on how badly she wanted to end the call. "I'll call you tomorrow when it's Christmas morning my time, OK? I love you all, Merry Christmas!" Without giving any of them a chance to respond, she ended the call, then dropped the phone on her lap like it was burning her.

Ezra lifted his eyebrow at her when she looked his way, but didn't comment on the odd family call. After a lifetime with Maude, he didn't have much room for judgment.

"Ellie," the doctor said, drawing her and Ezra's attention. "It looks like it was just dehydration. That's not uncommon in early pregnancy. But everything else looks good for you and baby. As soon as your fluids are done, you'll be free to go." She gave Ezra and Ellie a reassuring smile before leaving the room.

Ellie heaved a big sigh and dropped her head back against the pillow. That was when Ezra realized how worried she had actually been. Between the call filled with her reassuring her brother of something that was entirely untrue, the way she had rushed to put Chris' mind at ease, and the worry she clearly had about the pregnancy, Ezra wondered if she had anyone looking out for her.

"Is there anyone I can call for you?" he asked. "Clearly not your brother," he said drily.

Ellie let out a small groan. "Was it bad? Do you think I sounded believable?"

Ezra thought she had sounded panicked. "You're clearly in the hospital. There's no reason for him to doubt you."

"Right," Ellie murmured. She still looked worried.

"I take it your brother doesn't know about your…condition."

Ellie sighed and this time Ezra thought she blinked faster to ward away tears. She shook her head. "I can't tell him. Not when he's deployed. He'd worry."

Ezra didn't ask about the father of her baby. It was obvious why she wouldn't want that man to know. Clearly a short lived relationship, or a one night stand that she knew was a mistake.

"They…" Ellie said hesitantly. "They did an ultrasound." She produced a small black and white square of glossy paper. Ezra could see how much it meant for her to share it with him.

He took it and studied it. He had expected to see an unidentifiable grainy image, but Ellie was clearly farther along than he had assumed. The perfect outline of a baby, grainy but clearly a baby, was there. "That's remarkable," he said. He looked at the clarity of a tiny hand with perfectly formed fingers, the legs curled up to a rounded abdomen.

"I know, right?" Ellie said. Ezra shook himself and cleared his throat. He handed the picture back to her. Ellie held the picture and stared at it. "So perfect," she whispered.

Ezra didn't know what to say, something that he didn't struggle with often. Ellie carefully tucked the picture back with her phone and gave him a smile that was too bright.

"Well I guess you know all my dirty laundry now."

Ezra chose his words carefully. "I wouldn't call this dirty laundry. More of an unexpected turn of events." His words must have been right because she rewarded him with a grateful smile.

"Very unexpected," she said. Then a shadow passed her eyes, but she clearly decided not to dwell on whatever thought came. "Thank you for everything, Ezra," she said sincerely.

"It's been my pleasure," he said, surprised to find he meant it.

Ellie didn't say anything more, but she pulled out the picture again and looked at it, the worry on her face mixing with a kind of private wonder. She looked over at Ezra and shared her look of awe for her baby with him. And for the first time in a long time, Ezra was included in someone's life.

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