Reese signed in under the doctor''s name Matthew gave her. The reproductive clinic was quiet that morning, so the wait was short. Before long, their number was called.
Inside the exam room, Dr. Bruce took the file from Reese and pushed up his gold- rimmed sses, giving her a friendly smile. He flipped through her chart, asked a few routine questions about how she''d been feelingtely, then started filling out the paperwork for some tests.
When they left the office, Sebastian nced back at the doctor, then at Reese, who hadn''t shown a single emotion the whole time.
"Reese, do you know that doctor?" he asked.
She didn''t look up from the list of tests. "First time meeting him."
"Then why wouldn''t you go to the hospital I picked?" Sebastian frowned. This was a military hospital, not a specialized fertility clinic, and he didn''t trust it was as good.
Reese stopped walking and turned to face him, her expression dripping with sarcasm. "What, you don''t think this ce is professional enough?
"Sebastian,st time we did IVF, we went to the specialist clinic you arranged. The doctors there were top-notch, right? And what happened?" She paused, her voice cold. "Their professionalism was for you-not me.
"As far as I''m concerned, any doctor or hospital that isn''t arranged by you is professional enough for me."
Sebastian was stunned. He watched her turn and walk away, then hurried after her. "Reese, I messed up before. I wasn''t thinking straight, and I never should''ve done what I did."
"Just trust me this onest time. I promise, it won''t be like before."
"Nope," Reese said tly. In her mind, Sebastian''s trust ount was already overdrawn.
She walked into theb, handed over her paperwork, and sat by the window, rolling up her sleeve for bloodwork.
A nurse took a seat on the other side, picking up a needle. As she grabbed Reese''s arm, Reese instinctively turned her head away. She hated needles- shots, IVs, blood draws, all of it.
Sebastian noticed and stepped in, blocking her view. His voice was tense. "Please be gentle. She''s afraid of needles."
The nurse hesitated for a moment, a little startled by his intensity.
"Don''t mind him," Reese said, pushing Sebastian aside and giving the nurse a small, apologetic smile.
Sebastian wasn''t used to being shut out like this. He looked embarrassed, like he wanted to argue, but Reese ignored him, closing her eyes and bracing herself for the prick of the needle.
The needle slid in. Her fingers curled
for a second, then rxed. She opened her eyes and saw Sebastian standing over her, his face full of worry The irony almost made her
the start, maybe the ''t have
ended up like this.
Back when she''d done IVF before, she''d gone through every appointment alone-the checkups the hormone shots, even the egg retrieval. Sebastian only started showing up afte imnted, suddenly eager to join her for every prenatal visit. Back then, she''d stupidly thought he was finally making time for her, that maybe the baby would save them.
3 the embryo had...
But the truth was, he only cared about the baby-a baby that wasn''t even hers.
Now, everything was flipped.
Sebastian was the one desperately
trying to win her back, trying to act
like he cared. But she didn''t want
him anymore. She didn''t want & child, either. This was just her way make everyone believe she was pregnant, so Leslie woule make a move and she could finally im the Meyer family shares her mother left behind.
Sebastian''s feelings didn''t matter. Not to her.
"All done,” the nurse said, pulling out the needle and handing Reese a cotton ball. "Keep pressure on it for five minutes. Don''t rub."
Sebastian immediately reached out to help, but Reese ignored him, bending her arm and holding the cotton ball herself.
"You''re up next," she said, ncing at the forms. "Let''s get this over with. We still have more tests to do."