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ChapterThirty-Four
Chase
I was speeding. A lot. I couldn't get my heart to slow down with my pulse racing at a full gallop. Dread coated my stomach.
I practically skidded to a stop in the hospital parking lot in Anchorage, bolting through the doorway at the emergency entrance. I stopped at the desk, barking out, “Hallie Thomas.”
The receptionist was on the phone. She glanced up, holding up a finger, and I wanted to scream at her.
“Chase?” a voice said.
I glanced around, my eyes landing on a man. Although he was a guy, he looked like Hallie’s brother. He shared the same bone structure in his face. He was also wearing his police uniform. He stood from a chair, and I crossed over to him.
“How is she?”
“She’s fine.” He held a hand out. “I’m Darren.”
I distractedly shook it. “I'm Chase. What happened?”
“She slipped.”
“What do you mean she slipped?”
A woman approached with two paper cups in her hands. Her dark hair fell in a swingy bob. Her blue eyes were bright and alert as she glanced back and forth between us. “You must be Chase. I’m Risa,” she said with a warm smile.
“Yes,” I ground out. “I need to know what happened to Hallie.”
“I told you. She's fine,” Darren repeated.
I took a breath. I wasn't going to feel okay until I could see her. Just then, Hallie’s doctor appeared, the very one I’d met when I’d gone to Hallie’s appointments with her. She didn’t even bother with the niceties. “She's stable,” she said before I could even get a word out.
“She is?” I pressed.
“Yes,” Dr. Williams replied.
“We both told him that,” Risa said, her tone dry.
“Is the baby okay?”
Dr. Williams nodded. “Absolutely fine. We're going to keep Hallie here tonight for observation, but that’s solely out of an abundance of caution.”
I let out a breath, my chest loosening for the first time since I'd answered the phone and heard Darren's voice. “When can I see her?”
“We’re getting her situated in a room right now. You can go back in about ten minutes,” the doctor replied.
I nodded, relieved I happened to be standing beside a wall when I sagged against it.
“Sit.” Risa herded me over to a chair with Darren and the doctor following. “Do you want some coffee?”
At my nod, she said, “You can have this one. I'll go get another in a minute. I haven't taken a sip from it yet.” She handed me one of the cups she held and sat down across from me beside Darren.
“What happened?” I asked.
“She was leaving her studio and slipped on a wet patch on the sidewalk and fell. She started having contractions,” Risa explained.
“She fell harder than normal because she has extra weight on her,” the doctor offered matter-of-factly. “I'm going to go check on her and make sure she's all situated. When I come back out, you'll be able to go see her.”
“Okay. That's it? Are you sure she’s okay?” I asked again because it seemed I couldn’t ask enough.
