"I hear ya, I hear ya." Heavy footsteps thudded toward the bed. Max turned his head. The vampire who stalked toward him probably weighed in at three hundred and fifty pounds of intimidating bulk stacked seven feet tall. His bushy red beard and beady black eyes looked more suited to a plaid shirt and overalls than the white doctor's coat he wore.

"Paul Bunyan?" Max said before he could stop himself.

The doctor didn't find it very humorous. "What do ya need? Keep in mind, I ain't lettin' you up, not 'til your Movement cred is established."

"Bella," Max wheezed. His chest ached with uncertainty. "Where is she?"

"She's over there." Dr. Lumberjack indicated a curtained-off cubicle not far from where Max lay. Fluorescent lights within cast ominous shadows of large medical machines.

At least Max could hear the steady beeping of a heart monitor. "Is she okay?"

"She's fine. We've got her sedated to keep her from moving around and opening her stitches, but she's gonna pull through."

"And the baby?" He wet his lips. "I mean, you knew she was pregnant?"

"We figured it out." The doctor raised an eyebrow "Got a personal stake in it?"

"What do you think?" Max snapped. Then he softened. "I'm just looking out for her."

"The baby is fine. We did an ultrasound for her file. Do you wanna see?" Before Max could answer, Dr. Bunyan flipped open a chart.

The picture he held over Max's face didn't look like anything at all, at first. Just a weird swoop of grayish lines against blue-black. Only when the doctor tapped the printout and said, "That's the kid, right there," did Max understand what he was seeing. Within a dark area shaped like a jelly bean was a grayish object that bore an uncanny resemblance to a shrimp.

"That's the baby?" Max asked, looking from the image long enough to see the doctor nod. Max's chest constricted as if his ribs were in a vise. "That's… amazing."

"Is there something you wanna tell us?" the doctor asked, whisking the picture into the chart.

Max shook his head. "I told you everything I know."

The big man grunted in disbelief, but let the subject drop.

"Can I see her?" The fact she hadn't spoken yet troubled Max. He didn't think there was a sedative on earth that would shut her up.

"Sorry can't let you up yet." The doctor tapped the chart in his hands cheerfully. "Well let you know when your Movement cred checks out, and then we'll talk. But you can push this button—" he pressed a plastic control into Max's palm "—if you want to talk to someone before then."

"You mean if I want to spill something about the baby?" Max narrowed his eyes at him.

"Not necessarily." Whistling, the doctor walked away.