Page 26 of Derecho

“Lach, I…”

“I’d do it from the floor, but my leg is bothering me. Putting yours up on my lap is the easiest option.”

“Oh.” Lainey twisted in the seat, her back pressing against the arm rest a little as she lifted her leg up. I grasped her ankle through the sweatpants, pulling her leg a little to settle it where it needed to be across my legs.

“Is this okay?” I asked, watching as she brought her hand up to rub the top of her belly.

“It’s fine.”

I slowly rolled up the fabric until it nearly reached her knee. The cut was thin, but long, and I couldn’t tell if the redness was from the initial irritation or maybe something more sinister already setting in.

“It doesn’t look deep enough to scar,” I said, finally settling my hand on her skin. Lainey stilled beneath my touch, and I tried my hardest to not read into the way her breath hitched. “I’m still going to put some antibiotic ointment on it and bandage it, though. And you need to tell me if it starts hurting or feels hot in the next day or two.”

“Sure thing, Florence.”

I ignored the jab, or rather, the weird way it made my heart feel. Antibiotic ointment would be enough, I tried to convince my mind. She hadn’t been in more pain since she got here, and I was taking care of her leg, which I had plenty of experience in. It was going to be okay. If she’d just let me⁠—

“I think I should call Birdie,” I blurted out.

“No!” Her leg jerked back, like she planned to pull it off my lap and run, so I settled my hand over her ankle and applied pressure. Not enough to hold her there if she really wanted to go, but enough to let her know I hadn’t meant to spook her.

“She’s a midwife, and I’m just a washed up mechanic.”

Lainey was hurt. I could make her pain better. At least, the pain from her cut. I had no idea what the hell we would do if the baby decided to come. No. I did—I’d call Birdie, no matter what. And we’d get Lainey to the hospital. An ambulance would get her to the hospital…I’d get her to the hospital.

My hands shook as I ripped open the packaging of the alcohol wipe.

I’d have to go inside. The hospital. There would be nurses and doctors and machines that made that awful beeping sound. And Lainey would be in pain. Pain that I couldn’t help her with…just like my leg.

Fuck! I hadn’t had time to think about this situation. About how I would handle this for her. There were so many things I couldn’t control, and that thought, that never-ending list of things that could go wrong that I would have no idea how to help with, was moving from my shaking hands. It was like a black cloud of smoke so thick, it strangled the life from my lungs.

“Hey.” Lainey leaned over, her warm, soft hands wrapping around my arm. “I can call Birdie. I mean, I probably should call her, anyway. I know it’s the middle of the night, but I could drive up—” She hissed as I ran the wipe over her wound. “God, that stings.”

“Better stinging now than an infection later. My second surgery almost cost me my leg again when my incision became infected. It was nasty. I don’t want that to happen to you.”

She sat back, her eyes closing as her hand ran over her belly. She hadn’t winced since the porch, but that didn’t mean anything. My eyes lingered on her extended stomach, trying to see if there were any outward signs of contractions. Her belly began to shake, and my eyes jumped to her face.

Lainey was laughing. “He’s not going to explode out of there.”

“Could have fooled me with the way you doubled over out there. Are you sure you’re okay?”

“I don’t know what that was.” Her face fell. “I…I think he’s okay. I just over did it trying to get to the porch as fast as I could.”

“Maybe we should call your doctor? They might want you to go in.”

Lainey shook her head. “It’s not safe to be driving in the storm. Greg’s listed on my file, and I…it’s just not a good idea. I don’t have my phone, but if it happens again, you can call her. If it doesn’t…” Lainey’s lip went between her teeth as her eyes dropped away from my face.

“What is it?”

“I was hoping maybe me being here could just stay between us for tonight. I don’t know what I’m doing here, what I was thinking, other than I couldn’t stay with Greg for another minute. I mean, I don’t even know if your offer from before is still⁠—”

“Of course it is. You can stay here. Tonight. Tomorrow. Until you figure out your next step. Until you have the baby.” Jesus. What the fuck was I saying? “I have the room, and I’ve gotten too damn addicted to that mac and cheese you make. I won’t survive without it. And I have to know the secret ingredient.”

“If that’s the cost of staying, then I better head back out to my car.”

My heart thumped painfully in my chest. “Trouble⁠—”

Then I noticed the smile growing across her face. “I’m kidding. It’s just using a dash of sweetened condensed milk. Like just a tablespoon or two depending on the batch size I’m making. I’m surprised your mom doesn’t make it that way. Her’s is always so gooey at the diner. ‘Course, I use a little chipotle powder in my base. I think the smokey flavor adds something extra to it.”