If I lost my babies, it was all my fault.
I never should have broken my own rule. No romance. I would never forgive myself…or him. I managed to get to the edge of the bed. The sun wasn’t even up yet. Where was my phone? I tried to stand and fell to the floor, still naked and terrified. I was going to lose my babies and bleed to death.
Once more, pain ripped through me, this one the hardest. I screamed for all I was worth until it passed. Then I heard a noise from the living room. A door opening. Footsteps. I didn’t care who it was. I needed help.
“Help me, please,” I managed to say.
“Tiffany? Oh, you poor dear,” Mrs. Cartright appeared in my bedroom. She hurried over to me and grabbed a blanket from the bed, draping it over my shivering body. “Matt gave me the security code to get inside in case he was gone, and you ever needed anything.” She stood and headed to my door.
“Don’t leave me like he did.” I cried harder. “Please, I’m afraid.”
Her kind faded brown eyes filled with compassion. “I’m not going anywhere, honey. I’m calling 911.”
The next couple of hours were a blur.
Officer Pickles, Fire Chief Monroe, and Dr. Joy arrived at the same time as the ambulance. It was a small town, after all. When an emergency happened, everyone banded together to help.
Dr. Joy insisted on riding in the ambulance with me, monitoring my vitals and assessing the situation. I didn’t understand half of what she said. All I knew was that I was on pain meds and half out of it, but finally pain free and resting in a private room.
Dr. Joy walked into my room and smiled. “How’s my favorite patient?”
“Afraid.” I pressed my lips together, waiting for her news.
“Don’t be.” She squeezed my hand. “Where’s Matt?”
“I have no clue,” was all I said, and she nodded once, no judgement or prying as usual.
I was thankful for that right now.
“Well, I can put your mind at ease.” She scanned her charts. “Your big, beautiful boys are stable.”
“Y-You mean I didn’t lose them?” Tears leaked from my eyes and trickled down my cheeks as my heart ached with love for them.
“I’ll admit, things were touch-and-go for a while there. You were in early labor and lost a lot of blood, but we managed to stop the labor and the bleeding.”
“We?”
“Dr. Anderson is one of the best physicians I’ve ever met.”
I nodded. Chaz. I owed him everything. “What caused this to happen?”
“Pregnancies are tricky with twins to begin with. I’m guessing the fall you took when the fire broke out in your spa caused trauma. Did anything happen last night that might have affected that trauma?”
I squeezed my eyes shut for a moment. “Matt and I had sex.” I wanted to say made love, but he didn’t love me. He couldn’t have because he left me.
She looked pensive. “Normally, sex is very safe for a pregnant woman, but in your case with the recent trauma, it might have triggered early labor. I would suggest abstaining from intercourse or anything remotely stimulating until the babies are born.”
“Oh, you don’t have to worry about that.” I raised my chin a notch and forced the tears to stay at bay.
Of course, Bud was at the root of this incident. I wanted to blame Matt for his part, but it wasn’t all his fault. I’d needed him after Grammy’s letter. He’d complied, no questions asked, but then he left me alone to deal with the consequences....
That hurt more than I could say.
Steeling my resolve to never let someone hurt me again, I asked. “So, what does this mean going forward? Bedrest?”
“Not necessarily total bedrest, but I don’t want you doing anything that might trigger labor again. That includes extremely emotional situations. Try to stay calm and still as much as possible, okay?”
“Okay.”
“Good.” She nodded. “I intend to keep a close eye on you from here on out.”
“I won’t complain about that.” I watched Dr. Joy leave and closed my eyes, exhausted. What a difference twenty-four hours could make.
A knock sounded.
“Come in,” I said with my eyes still closed, too weary to open them.
“I’m here, lass,” said a deep baritone voice that pierced straight through my heart.
I opened my eyes and stared at him. “You’re late,” I managed past the lump in my throat.
He wore the same clothes he had from the evening before as if he’d rolled out of bed after making love with me, dressed, and left as quickly as possible. Had he really needed to get away from me that badly that he couldn’t even change his clothes?
“I know. I’m so sorry. I was a little preoccupied with a problem at me pub.” His eyes were full of regret.
I looked away. “Well, I was a little preoccupied saving our babies.”
“I know. I can’t believe what happened. The timing was horrible.” He set some flowers on my bedside stand. “These are for ye.”
