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“Holy shit,” one of the paramedics said, the words getting caught in the wind.
“Sir—” the second man said to me. “We need you to back up.”
I nodded and swiped the tears from my face. “She’s…she’s pregnant. Be careful.” I started rattling off the details to the rescue team as they sprang into action. A fire truck arrived a minute after the ambulance along with a couple of squad cars and police officers. Soon, the SUV was engulfed with rescue workers and I was pushed off to one side, helpless to do anything but watch as they got the driver’s door open and then took painstaking care to remove Holly’s limp body from the car.
Everything moved in a blur of activity—barked orders, commands, and instructions. When Holly was freed, she was immediately strapped to a gurney and then taken down the hill, past the trees that had stopped her car from rolling right out onto the highway below and loaded into a second ambulance. I hopped in with her and the sirens roared back to life as the medics raced us up the highway to the nearest emergency room.
I took Holly’s hand and stroked her fingers gently. “Come on, baby. Come back to me.”
The hospital was a different kind of chaos. I was once again shoved to the side as Holly was triaged. The doctors and nurses spoke in their own language, but it was obvious there was a lot of damage. She had cuts and scrapes, a broken arm, and likely head trauma. As they’d wheeled her out of my sight, she still wasn’t responsive.
“Jack!” Gemma raced toward me, wearing her scrubs. “Aaron just called me!”
She ran down the hall and thudded into me in a tight embrace. “I’m so sorry! He’s on his way.”
I nodded. He was my first call after they took Holly away. He was out for the afternoon, a few miles down the coast, but had assured me he was on his way as soon as we got off the call. I’d forgotten that Gemma was likely at the hospital.
“Is she going to be okay?” I asked Gemma.
She released me and I caught a worried glimmer in her eyes. “She’s pretty banged up. Broken arm, significant bruising from the seat belt against her chest, and then a laceration on the side of her head from hitting the side of the car. They’ve stitched that up and stopped the bleeding but she still hasn’t woken up yet.”
“And the baby?”
Gemma glanced down the hall before returning her eyes to mine. “I don’t know, Jack. Do you know how far along she is?”
I shook my head, desperately wishing I knew the answer. “I didn’t even know she—that she was—until right before… It would have to be at least three months since…since we were together.”
“Right.” Gemma frowned. “Okay. Well, they’re doing everything they can to get her stable.”
I nodded, even as my jaw tensed to keep from yelling. How did this happen? Why did she keep something like that a secret? God, Holly, what were you thinking?
“It’s going to be all right, Jack,” Gemma said, brushing her hand over my arm.
A set of frantic footsteps joined us in the quiet corridor. “Boomer!”
Player ran down the hall and skidded to a stop in front of us. “What the hell happened?”
Gemma filled him in on Holly’s condition and Aaron’s eyes went wide when she mentioned the baby. I cringed. I hadn’t told him that part over the phone.
“Baby?” Aaron said, turning toward me. “Holly’s…?”
“Yeah. She told me just…uh…just before.”
“Fuck.” Aaron looked at Gemma. “She’s gonna be all right, isn’t she?”
“They’re doing everything they can,” Gemma said.
Aaron tensed. “That’s not good enough! Holly has to make it and the baby too!”
A sad smile crossed my lips at Aaron’s outrage on my behalf.
“She will be,” Gemma said soothingly. “I’ll go check on her and see if you can go in and sit with her.”
“Thanks, Gemma.”
She nodded and then disappeared around the corner. I glanced at Player, who had tears building up in his eyes. “I’m gonna be a dad, man.”
“Yeah, yeah you are,” he whispered, not hiding the tear that fell down his face. Times like this was when I knew what a great friend—no, brother—I had in Player. I leaned against the stark white hospital wall and waited.
26
Holly
The world was foggy—but loud—so very, very loud. Beeping and hissing and people talking and shouting. My eyes were heavy—so very, very heavy. An urge to wake up, to see what was going on, fought through and my eyes opened. Bright lights shone down and I quickly closed them again. I tried to speak but my mouth wouldn’t move. My head. My head hurt. I needed a glass of water but couldn’t find the strength to move. What time is it? Why is it so bright? Who are you? What is that beeping sound?
