I’m alive and nothing’s broken!
Someone was screaming, pounding on the passenger window. Cole.
“Brooke! Brooke! Are you okay? Brooke! Unlock the door!”
She groped for the switches on her crumpled door panel. But when she pressed the toggle, nothing happened. She tried again, pushing every toggle, with no results.
“I can’t open it!” As she yelled, a sharp pain tore through her abdomen. She cried out in pain, fumbling under the airbag to press her hands on her belly. She felt warm moisture between her legs. “The baby! Help me! The baby’s coming!”
“I’m getting you out, right now.” Cole’s mesmerizing hazel eyes locked with hers, and she felt an eerie calm. He was going to take care of her. “I’m breaking this window.”
It took several blows before he hit the window just right with some part of Shrek and shattered the glass. Then he cleared an opening and reached in to unlock the door. In a flash he was inside, his hands unlatching her seatbelt.
“Is anything broken? Does your back hurt?”
“Just my belly.” She panted to control the intense pain.
“Labor pains?”
“Yes, but it doesn’t stop.” She tried to hold her composure. If this was labor, the pain was going to get a lot worse by the end. “It’s contracting, and it feels like someone is stabbing me.”
“The ambulance is on the way. I’m going to get you out of here.”
The sirens were getting louder but didn’t sound that close. Then again, her ears were still ringing and everything sounded muffled. Outside, she could hear more shouts.
Mack stuck his head in the open door. “Is she hurt?”
“She’s in labor,” Cole answered. Then he covered her hand with his and caught her gaze. “You’re going to be okay. I’m not leaving you.”
She nodded, grimacing from the pain.
He carefully brushed away the safety glass fragments and pushed up on the airbag, clearing it off her lap.
And she saw it… blood.
A lot of blood.
“I’m bleeding, Cole! Please, God! Don’t let me lose the baby!”
“You’re going to be fine. You’re both going to be fine.”
Cole’s voice was calm, completely in control, but she saw tears rolling down his face. She’d never seen him afraid before, and it scared her even more. Her heart raced, out of control.
He scooped his arms under her and hefted her across to the passenger’s seat, her legs dragging awkwardly over the center console. Every bone in her body hurt, but the pain in her abdomen was so severe she couldn’t help sobbing. She ended up in Cole’s lap, and she was horrified that she was bleeding on him.
“I’m so sorry,” she said, fighting a wash of vertigo. “I’m ruining your suit.”
His words came out angry and strangled, like he was talking between his teeth. “I don’t give a flip about the suit, Brooke. All I care about is you!”
The sirens were louder. Closer. More shouting. Hands grabbing her.
Her vision narrowed.
Why does it hurt so bad?
Cole’s voice in her ear. “Shhh… I’m right here. Shhh… I’m right here…”
And then nothing.
CHAPTER 23
“Finn and I are already on our way. We’ll be in the air in twenty minutes. Jarrett’s taking off as we speak. He’s only two and a half hours away.”
“It’s all my fault, Bran. I might as well have been driving the car that hit her.” Cole’s throat cramped, making it hard to speak.
“You need to calm down. You aren’t helping anyone by panicking.” Bran’s voice in his ear should’ve been soothing, but Cole found himself gripping the phone so hard his hand was shaking.
“They sent me out of the room,” he said, not caring that his voice broke. “I told her I wouldn’t leave her, but they made me. What if she wakes up and I’m not there?”
“She’ll understand. You can explain it when you see her.”
People were staring at him with wide eyes. Maybe they recognized him. Or maybe they were afraid of the blood-soaked, deranged-looking man who paced relentlessly from one side of the emergency waiting room to the other. Mack had stayed behind to talk to the police, which meant Cole was alone and feeling as desperate as he probably looked.
“There was so much blood.” He choked. “So much blood.”
“But she’s in good hands now. The doctors know what to do. They’ll take care of her.”
