For one horrifying moment, she thought she’d empty the entire contents of her stomach right there on the pristine white tablecloth.
“Jannie?”
She held up a hand.
Breathe in. Breathe out.
Nick rose and moved to stand beside her, lightly gripping her elbow. “You’re white as a sheet.”
Searing pain suddenly sliced through her middle like a red-hot blade.
She doubled over, and the cramp soon eased, but another intense, rolling spasm quickly followed, and Jannie gasped, pain shooting down her legs that suddenly felt like rubber.
Her knees buckled.
Strong hands kept her upright.
Suppressing a cry of agony, she blindly clung to Nick’s solid body.
Consciousness faded. She sank into a fog as something hot and thick gushed, soaking her underwear.
The babies … the babies …
The world tipped, and suddenly she was swept up and swiftly carried in Nick’s arms.
This isn’t real … This isn’t happening …
She squeezed her eyes shut tight, and a whimper escaped her even as she tried to hold it back.
“Hold on to me,” he murmured. “I’ve got you.”
She clutched his shirt. Through the high-pitched whining in her ears, she heard him boom, “Someone call an ambulance! Now!”
•
Nick
She looked like a sleeping goddess in that bed.
Nick closed the door softly behind him, keeping his footsteps light as he approached. Not that he needed to be quiet; she was still out and would be for a while if things continued as they had so far.
Her blonde hair looked like a spun gold cloud. He pressed his lips together. This was not the scene he’d pictured when he imagined that hair fanned across the pillow in a bed.
She stirred a little. Still out cold. Just as well. He dreaded what she’dhave to face when she awakened from the anesthesia.
“When do you think she’ll wake up?” he asked the young nurse who was writing something in Jannie’s chart. He noted that her name tag readErin.
“Not for a while. We gave her morphine for the pain. That will make her sleep.”
Nick’s gaze roamed over Jannie’s alabaster face, which was naturally pale to begin with but now was even more so. His chest tightened as he realized she looked waxen. That small nose, those sweet lips he’d tasted only hours ago … the way she’d responded, melting in his arms.
Throat suddenly feeling raw, he moved to sit by her bed but only managed to settle into the chair before his watch went off. Nick glanced at it, feeling his gut clench as he read the screen.
Myla, the sub he was currently playing with.
This was her fourth call, and he couldn’t ignore this one or she’d keep calling until she got an answer.
Swiftly, he surged to his feet and exited the room, still keeping an eye on Jannie through the door’s narrow window. He pulled his phone out of his pocket. “Yeah.”
