Page 71 of Fighting for Family

“I’d love to go to England. I want to see Shakespeare’s and Jane Austen’s graves. They have a ton of literary memorials there. I can get a new book for my collection. What about you?”

“Anywhere you’ll be sounds great to me,” he said. “I’ve seen a lot of the world. It doesn’t matter to me as long as we’re together.”

Patch’s phone rang, and Gabby’s name popped up on the screen.

“Hey, sweetheart. Do you need me to come and bury Knight’s body?”

“He hasn’t returned, and he’s not picking up his phone,” Gabby told him. “I’ve said some cranky things to him all night. I think he’s left me,” she cried. “These damn hormones.”

Patch glanced at his watch. Knight left thirty minutes ago, and he seemed too nervous to leave Gabby alone for too long. “I’m sure he got stopped in the hallway with people congratulating him and welcoming him back. I’ll go check on him for you,” he assured her. “I’m sure you didn’t scare him off. No doubt he’s raiding the kitchen.”

“Thank you,” Gabby said. “The contractions seem stronger. I prefer he be here.”

“No worries. I’ll find him,” he said before hanging up the call.

“What’s the matter?” Claire asked.

“Knight must have set down his phone and lost track of time. He went to get Gabby popsicles from the kitchen and didn’t return. I’ll run down to the kitchen and get his ass back up here.”

“We’re not going anywhere. Can you bring me one, too? I’m hungry,” she said, watching the monitor.

“Absolutely,” he said, calling Knight’s number. It rang and went straight to voicemail. Patch left the room, trekked down the hall, and took the elevator to the hospital’s kitchen. He went around the assembly line and didn’t see his best friend.

Frustrated, he sighed and went to the freezer to grab the box for both women. “What an idiot. Doesn’t he understand she’ll hold this over his head forever?” he muttered as he jerked on the freezer door and stepped inside. “What the hell?” he exclaimed, seeing Knight sitting on a pallet with a burlap sack around his shoulders.

“Wait,” Knight exclaimed. “Don’t let the…” The door shut behind Patch as he moved toward his friend.

“Aww, shit,” Knight muttered, beating his head with his fists.

“What’s wrong with you? Gabby’s worried sick you ran away,” he demanded, grabbing the box from the corner. “Get your ass up and let’s go.”

“Don’t you think I tried already? The door’s jammed and it won’t open,” Knight told him, sounding frustrated.

Patch tried the door. He shoved and rammed it while holding the handle down. “We have to get out of here. No one will be here for hours and our wives are in labor.”

“Thanks, I never noticed,” Knight said sarcastically. “I beat on the door, and my phone won’t work down here.”

Patch hit the door. “We can’t stop. Claire and Gabby need us.”

“I’ve tried everything, man. It’s freezing in here. We’ll die before we even get a chance to see the kids,” Knight muttered. “I’ve failed Gabby again.”

“Oh, shut up and stop acting like a drama queen. We gotta put our heads together and figure it out. I refuse to become a Leo story about how he barely made it to his kids’ births.” Glancing at the small square, he noticed the vent at the top. “Maybe if we can remove the cover, we can crawl through it and get help.”

“How do you plan on removing it? I left my KBAR in the truck. It’s not like I planned on severing the umbilical cord with it,” Knight snapped.

Shaking his head, he said, “You never go anywhere without your KBAR. How many times do I tell you to keep it on you?” He reached to his side, realizing he left it on the dresser when he got dressed for the wedding. “Well, crap.”

“Yeah, Mr. Know-it-All. What’s your plan now?” Knight bit out smugly.

“We’re SEALs. Surely we can find a way out of a metal box. Let’s stack these crates and see if we can at least reach it,” Patch said, searching in the boxes. “Maybe Randy left a knife in here for cutting the inventory open.”

“I already checked. Unless you know how to get frozen chicken, steak, fish, or beef to act as a knife, we’re fucked,” he said, sounding tense.

Feeling his own panic rising to the surface, Patch beat on the door.

He didn’t plan to let Claire down at the birth of his first child.

* * *