I wiped the beads of perspiration that formed on my forehead and breathed out as I placed a shaky hand over my chest. I've never wanted to leave a place so bad that I even offered to take his blood samples to the lab for screening. The nurse who had drawn the blood looked at me like I had grown two heads; doctors don't handle blood samples.

Heading towards the lab with the blood samples, I sighted Meghan. She was a fellow second-year resident doctor. We both did our internship program together at this hospital and since then she had been out for my blood.

In her head, we're in some kind of competition. Always trying to outshine me even when I wasn't trying. In the past, I'd never let her get under my skin. But, since I found out about my pregnancy; it was like all my hormones and emotions came to life. Most of the time, I felt like jumping her but that would be unethical.

Hmmm, I bet she'd like that.

Not a single bone in my body had the energy for her so I increased my pace. It seemed like my village people, all the way from Nigeria had remembered me and decided to deal with me today.

"Reduced to transporting blood samples I see" she snickered, spotting a smug look. "Seems like they have come to their senses and put you right where you belong"

I tried to walk around her, not having it in me to deal with her rude petty self. She seemed to be losing brain cells today as she gripped my arm and held me in place. Ever since my pregnancy came to light, she had been coming on twice as hard, knowing I wouldn't fight back. I wouldn't want to put my baby in harm's way, and I also didn't want to lose my job.

"Don't you ever walk away when I'm talking to you." she gritted out

"If you don't want HR involved, I'd advise you to take your disgusting fingers off me." I sneered at her as I yanked my hand from her grip. "You're lucky I'm pregnant because so help me God, I would've slapped you senseless right now"

She chuckled and her smug expression returned. "You should have thought of that, before whoring around," she stated and walked away. Brushing my shoulders not so lightly with hers.

I gritted my teeth hard. I felt an intense urge to yank her back by her cornrow braids and beat the melanin out of her. So much so that she would look so unrecognizable by the time I let go. This baby was making me violent; I wanted to hit something so bad.

I felt a hand wrap around my arm, propelling me forward. It was Ashley

"Let's walk away, I see that look in your eyes," she rubbed my arm and gave it a comforting squeeze. "We don't want to have blood on our hands now, do we?" she added with a chuckle

"She gets on my last nerve" I sighed, feeling the fury bubbling inside me fizzle away.

"Just ignore her. She knows that no matter what she does, you'll always be better. She's just jealous of you" she stated

"Jealous of me? What is there to be jealous of? I'm a pregnant, single twenty-six-year-old. I'm not even jealous of me right now" I retorted

"Don't say that. You're smart, beautiful, and strong, to be able to go through your pregnancy alone. A lot of girls can't do what you're doing right now" she praised with a genuine smile, her dimples made an appearance.

"Naso, I don't feel strong on the inside" I muttered under my breath. (Indeed)

She tapped my arm and laughed, so I'm guessing she heard me.

We walked to the lab together before she left me to begin her evening rounds. After dropping the samples, I checked on my regular patients then headed to the locker room. My shift was almost over, I needed to retrieve my things and vacate the premises. My hand hovered over the locker room's doorknob when a hand clamped down on my shoulder. In the process, almost gave me a heart attack.

"Where do you think you're going? We are not done conducting the tests on our VIP patient" Dr Ambrose narrowed his eyes at me. "We need you to take him to radiology to get an MRI done"

At that moment, I wanted to dissipate with desperation. I wasn't one to complain when given a task, but this was different.

I didn't think I could be in the same room as him and I was exhausted. My feet were swollen and killing me. All I wanted was to go home, have a warm bath and put my feet up watching episodes of Love Island.

Was that too much to ask?

Instead of airing my grievances, I nodded and headed towards that darned VIP suite. I dreaded that location with passion at this moment. If I could switch places with anyone right now, I'll gladly do so.

The closer I got to his room, the harder my heart thumped against my chest. I stopped right in front of the door, took in two deep breaths and knocked on the door then let myself in.

He was seated on his bed, furiously tapping away on his phone. Upon my entry, he looked up from his phone. I really wanted the ground to open so I could fall in. The hospital gown against his toned muscles didn't do him well, like a man in a little girl's dress. It was comical, but this wasn't the atmosphere.

His unwavering gaze on me made me a tad bit uncomfortable. It was like a predator watching its prey. Scrutinizing its every move and waiting for the right moment to pounce on it.

"Uhm, we need to go to ra-radiology for... for the MRI" I stuttered as I shifted my weight from one foot to the other.

Please kill me now!

He responded with a swift head nod and got down from the bed. He stood there watching me and I kept burning holes into the ground.

"I'm ready when you are," he piped up.

His deep voice resounding in the quiet room. Darn, I had made a fool out of myself. My brain was lagging and I couldn't reason with his gaze on me. I tucked my lips in with embarrassment and started towards the door. Without a word, he trailed behind me.

I could feel his gaze burning holes into the back of my head. Or maybe, I was just nervous. I got lost in my jumbled mind that I forgot how to walk right and tripped on air. In a flash, his hands shot out to stabilize me.

"Be careful," a tinge of concern laced his tone. His hands lingered on my arm for some seconds before he let go. Right then and there, I wanted to vanish into thin air. POOF.

I muttered an inaudible 'thanks' before resuming the journey to the private radiology room.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The moment I stepped into my humble home, I breathed a sigh of relief. I have never been so happy to come back to this apartment.

I turned on the lights in the living room. Whitney wasn't back from her shift yet, so I decided to have that warm bath I'd been longing for and make dinner. Spaghetti and meatballs.

Not long after I got into the shower, I heard the door to our apartment open and close. Whitney was back. I got out of the shower, with a towel wrapped around my body and another around my freshly washed hair. I changed into a sports bra and some shorts; they were my go-to sleep outfit because of how comfortable they were.

My closet, composed of sports bras and shorts ever since my baby bump started showing. It got uncomfortable wearing too much to sleep. The towel wrapped around my hair remained in its place and I headed to the living room.

"You wouldn't believe what haa--" a high-pitched scream escaped my throat before I could stop myself. I clutched my chest and bump at the sight of the grey-eyed man seated on my couch. He looked comfortable like he owned the place.

"Oh my God," I willed myself to take deep breaths. "What are you doing in my apartment? And how did you get in here?"

"I have my ways, "he leaned back with a smug expression playing on his features and his eyes fixated on my baby bump. I remembered the state I was in and rushed to my room to wear a robe. I returned to find him scanning through the channels on our small TV set.

"What are you really doing here?" I said with my arms akimbo. "What do you want?"

"Isn't it obvious?" he stated with a blank face.

"Imagine my surprise, when I see my one-night stand of five months ago walk in as one of my doctors. Then, I come to find out that she's having my baby and didn't bother to let me know." he continued as he glared daggers into my skull.

"How are you so sure it's yours?" I asked, folding my arms across my chest.

"We hooked up like 5 months ago" he deadpanned. "And judging by that bump, the timeline seems to add up. Unless you're insinuating that you slept around after me"

"Excuse me?" I glared at him.

He held up his hands in mock surrender. "I'm only stating facts. Now, am I wrong?"

I remained silent. Mostly, because his audacity had me taken aback.

He leaned back on the sofa, manspreading. "I have my answer. Now, back to my initial question, why did I have no idea about this?"

"I'm sorry... Was I supposed to blurt out I was having your child in front of my superiors at my workplace?" I retorted, defensive. "And how was I supposed to find you? I don't know you. I didn't even know your name before today" I continued.

I had seen his name labelled on the blood sample when I transported it to the lab. Nicholas Wilson.

"Is that right? You didn't seem like you were keen on saying anything if I hadn't come to your home. Correct me, if I'm wrong" he tilted his head to the side and crossed his arm over his chest.

To be honest, I didn't know what to think when I first saw him in the hospital. I never thought that I would set eyes on him again in this life. This was straight out of a movie. In real life, not everyone finds their mysterious baby daddy.

"First of all, you're a complete stranger. Second, you showed up out of nowhere and that threw me off a bit. I needed some time to think things through before making any decisions" I retorted.

"I'm not a complete stranger anymore now, am I?" he said

Ah ah... Is this one okay?

"Yes... Yes, you are. I don't know anything about you. And with the way you broke into my home which I could swear I locked, you don't scream safety" I peered at him with caution.

"If I was here to harm you, I wouldn't waste time talking and would have already done it" he stated blatantly. "And I got a copy of your keys from your landlord, you'd be surprised what money can do" he continued.

That son of a horse. How dare he?

This man could have been a cold-blooded killer; he had no right to do that. I'm going to be having a word with him very soon, he better watch out. I was busy with my inner thoughts when the doorknob turned and opened to reveal Whitney. Her eyes widened as she looked from me to him.

"Oh hi, I didn't know we were having guests," she eyed us as she walked in.

Nicholas stood and offered his hand. "Hello, I'm Nicholas Wilson,"

"Whitney" she took his hand and gave it a firm shake.

She looked at me and raised a brow as if to say 'Is he the one?' and I nodded much to my chagrin.

She broke into an annoying grin. "Have you had anything to eat? Drink?"

"No thank you. I'm fine" he declined with a polite hand wave.

Oh, now he's being polite.

"Don't be silly, I'll get you some biscuits and a glass of orange juice," she said, her tone high-pitched. "I insist"

"Okay. If you insist," he smiled and returned to his position on the couch.

"I do"

What in the world was going on in my house right now? I glared at her.

"Mandy, come help me in the kitchen," she said as she headed in said direction. I followed wordlessly.

"What the hell was that?" I whisper yelled as soon as we got into the confinements of the kitchen.

"What do you mean?" she feigned ignorance as dropped her handbag on the kitchen counter. "What did I do?"

"Let me get you some biscuits and orange juice," I imitated her high pitched voice.

"First of all, I don't sound like that. Secondly, I'm just being a nice house host to my in-law... unlike you," she had an amused smile on her face as she turned to grab a plate then some biscuits from the top cupboard.

"Which in-law are you talking about? Are you sure you're feeling fine?" I moved to feel her forehead but she swatted my hand away.

"I'm perfectly fine"

I shook my head at her. "I don't think you are. He could have been manhandling me before you came in, for all you know"

She gave me a thorough physical examination and stepped back with a complacent look. "You don't look manhandled to me"

What in the world was wrong with this girl?

"The fact that you're comfortable with a complete stranger, worries me." Genuine disappointment etched on my features.

"He doesn't look harmful, Amanda. Calm down ... Your Nigerian 'Danger' antenna is up. Bring it down. We've always been worried about raising this child alone and now, that's no longer a problem"

We? Was she living in a separate world from me?

With that, she headed out with a plate of biscuits and a carton of orange juice. "Be a dear and grab a glass for me. Thanks," she threw over her shoulder with a mischievous smile.

"I wonder how you're African" I muttered under my breath as I grabbed a glass and followed after her.

Whitney placed the plate of biscuits and juice on a coffee table and then placed it in front of Nicholas. She helped him pour the juice into the glass and set it on the table.

"Thank you," he said and took a sip of the juice.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

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