Page 114 of Three Months Yesterday

“Don’t worry about any of that right now. Just get to the hospital. Be with Madison.”

“I’ll be there as soon as I can,” I tell him, forcing the thoughts of Aaron out of my mind and focusing on what matters—on Madison and Shepherd. “Don’t leave her side,” I say before we hang up.

“No one could drag me away.”

The line goes dead, and I’m left staring at my phone, the reality of everything crashing over me.

“What’s the update?” Ryan asks beside me.

“Madison’s in labor,” I start. “And Aaron…” I pause, the hurt too fresh to put into words. “Aaron was behind the stalking.”

Ryan’s eyes widen, but he doesn’t ask questions, doesn’t say he told me so. He just nods and reaches over to squeeze my shoulder.

I lean my head back against the seat and close my eyes, trying to block out everything except the image of Madison’s face. The way she laughs. The way she looks at me. The way she loves me.

Aaron’s betrayal will have to wait. My entire future is in a hospital room in Pennsylvania, and that’s where I need to be.

Please. Please let me get there in time. Please let them be okay.

The hospital doors slide open with a hiss that grates on my already frayed nerves. I’m moving before I fully process where I am, my legs carrying me toward the same desk I stopped at the last time I was here.

“Where’s Madison Hawthorne?” I ask the nurse behind the desk, my voice coming out rough and urgent.

The nurse looks up. Her eyes go wide and her mouth drops open. For a moment she just stares, frozen. I recognize the look, I’ve seen it thousands of times, but right now, I don’t have the patience for it.

“Please.” I try to soften my voice, to smile, but it feels more like a grimace. “I need to find her.”

The nurse blinks, her cheeks flushing pink. “I-I’m sorry. I just⁠—”

Ryan steps up beside me. “She was brought in by ambulance. In labor. Can you check for us?”

The nurse shakes herself, her professional mask sliding back into place. “Yes. Of course.” She types something into her computer, her fingers fumbling slightly. “Room 304.”

She’s quick to give us directions, and I’m on the move as soon as she’s done.

“Thanks,” Ryan calls over his shoulder as he keeps pace with me.

The elevator takes an eternity. My hands clench and unclench at my sides the entire ride up.

“She’s fine,” Ryan says quietly. “Someone would have called you if she wasn’t.”

I don’t answer and when the doors finally open, I sprint down the hall, scanning room numbers as my heart hammers against my ribs.

I push through the door without knocking and my world narrows to one thing.

Madison.

She’s lying in the hospital bed, her hair piled on top of her head, her face a little pale but she’s beautiful. Our eyes meet and everything else disappears. The fear, the betrayal, the exhaustion—it all fades in the face of her.

I stumble—actually stumble—getting to her. My knees go weak and my vision swims with the force of what I feel for this woman. I catch myself on the doorframe, barely managing to stay upright.

She doesn’t say anything, but when she reaches for me, her hand trembling with tears in her eyes, I pull myself together and am by her side in two strides. My hands find her face, her arms, her stomach, everywhere I can get my hands on. I need to touch her, to feel that she’s real and whole—that she’s okay.

“You made it,” she whispers, her voice breaking over the words.

I meet her eyes, drawing in the brown depths, and I kiss her. It’s soft and desperate and full of everything I’ve missed over the last month. I pour every ounce of love I have into this kiss, hoping she can feel it.

When we pull apart, her cheeks are wet with tears, and I gently wipe them away.