“Hadley. Please...”
I didn’t answer. Couldn’t. The pain was too big.
We made it to Zariah’s rental SUV. Jake helped me into the back seat. I curled onto my side as best I could, breathing in short, sharp pants. Zariah slid behind the wheel. Jake took shotgun.
“Hospital’s twenty minutes if we floor it,” Jake said, already buckling in.
“Go,” I gasped.
Zariah peeled out of the lot. In the side mirror I saw Cal sprinting toward the band’s black van, Holland and the others piling in behind him. Kei was there too...face bruised from the fight, eyes haunted. He glanced at me once before climbing in.
The drive was a blur of red lights, horns, and contractions that came every four minutes now. I gripped the door handle; forehead pressed to the cool window.
“Talk to me,” Zariah said, glancing back every few seconds. “How bad?”
“Bad,” I managed. “Really bad.”
Jake twisted around. “You’re doing great. Just breathe. In through your nose, out through your mouth.”
“I can’t....” Another one hit. I moaned, low and animal. “It hurts so much.”
“I know, baby,” Zariah said softly. “I know. We’re almost there.”
My phone buzzed in my pocket...Cal’s name flashing. I ignored it. It buzzed again. And again.
Jake’s phone lit up too. He looked at the screen, then at me. “It’s him. He’s in the van behind us. Wants to know if you’re okay.”
“Tell him I’m alive,” I said through gritted teeth. “That’s all he gets.”
Jake typed quickly, then set the phone down. “Done.”
We hit the hospital emergency entrance like a storm. Jake jumped out first, yelling for help. Nurses rushed over with a wheelchair. Zariah parked crookedly and ran around to my side.
They got me inside fast, triage, questions I barely answered, monitors slapped on my belly. The baby’s heartbeat thumped strong through the speakers, fast, but steady.
“Thirty-seven weeks,” the nurse said, checking my chart. “You’re in active labor. We’re moving you to delivery.”
I nodded, teeth chattering. “Okay.”
They wheeled me down the hall. Zariah stayed glued to my side, holding my hand. Jake followed, phone in hand.
Cal and the band arrived minutes later. I heard them before I saw them. Raised voices in the hallway. Security telling them to calm down.
Zariah leaned close. “They’re here. You want me to tell them to wait outside?”
I swallowed. Another contraction was building. “No visitors. Just you.”
She nodded. “Got it.”
But Cal pushed through anyway.
He appeared in the doorway of the triage room, hair wild, eyes red. “Hadley....”
The nurse blocked him. “Sir, family only right now.”
“I’m the father.”
I turned my head away. “I don’t want him in here.”
