AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Looking towards the corner Cal had disappeared around, she saw him reemerge, gun at the ready. Screaming his name to warn him, she heard gunfire belch loudly from her left. Cal dropped to the lawn, firing quick rounds past where she sat cringing against the wall of the villa.
It started to rain in buckets. Soaked, shaking, Sky saw Cal running toward her, rifle up, as lightning flashed again. She wasn’t sure she could stand. Cal knelt at her side and Sky could hear him breathing heavily.
“They’re all dead,” he rasped. “Lauren’s out front with the SUV. I’m going to carry you. Hang on…”
Sky bit back a cry of pain, feeling as if her belly were ripping apart. The pain was stabbing, and she winced, trying not to cry out as Cal gently eased her into his arms. The rain soaked her in an instant, the silk robe clinging to every part of her skin as he ran around the villa corner, toward the parking lot. The firing had suddenly stopped.
Cal halted, opening the rear door to the SUV and gently depositing Sky into the large cargo area. Alex appeared at his side.
“She’s injured,” Cal growled. “Climb in!”
Alex threw his rifle into the middle seat, tore off his helmet, vest, and balaclava, then reached for his medical ruck. Cal shed his combat gear as well. They both climbed in the rear of the SUV to be with Sky.
Driscoll shut the rear door and then climbed in the passenger side seat. He slammed his door shut.
Lauren gunned the SUV, hauling it around like a race car driver, heading down the rain slick driveway, the lights stabbing through the stormy night.
Cal yelled to Driscoll, “Alert the carrier. Wounded coming on board.”
Sky lay on her back between the two panting men. Her hands were pressed tightly against her abdomen, and she brought her knees up because it caused her less pain. She felt Cal place a blanket beneath her head. He was touching her, his roughened, wet hand sliding soothingly down her left arm, his knees pressed into her hip.
“Alex,” Cal growled.
Alex handed him a flashlight. “Turn it on and hold it for me?”
Sky winced as the halogen light was turned on, lighting up the entire rear of the SUV as it sped through the rainstorm. She looked up and saw Alex’s face. His eyes were slits, his focus completely on her.
“Where are you hurt?” he asked her gently, pushing his hand across her brow in a gesture to calm her.
“My baby,” she sobbed. “I tripped and fell in the hall. I-I hit the floor hard. There’s pain…”
“Anywhere else?” Alex enquired quietly, nodding, focused. He kept his hand on her shoulder to help stabilize her.
“Nowhere else.” Sky cast a quick look up at Cal. His face was sweaty. He had his game face in place. She reached out, finding his hand, gripping it hard. She bit down on her lower lip as Alex gently lifted her hand away from her abdomen.
“I must examine you, Sky. I will be very gentle. I want you to slow your breathing for me. Breath in your nose, out your mouth?”
She gave Cal a desperate look. “I’m sorry…”
Cal leaned down, kissing her wrinkled brow. “Don’t be,” he told her huskily, holding her hand. “You’re alive. That’s all that counts.”
Alex was incredibly gently as he palpated across her abdomen through her wet silk robe. He checked each quadrant. Only when he pressed his fingers into the lower right did she wince and cry out, jerking her knees upward, hitting Alex in the shoulder.
“It is all right, all right,” the medic soothed, placing his large hand against her belly. “Do you have any discharge, Sky? Any fluid coming out of your vagina?”
She shook her head. “I-I don’t think so. Why? What does that mean? Am I losing my baby?” Her voice cracked as she stared pleadingly up into the medic’s darkly shadowed features.
“No, no, you are stable, Sky. I need you to keep slowing your breathing. Your baby is all right. I think you tore part of the placenta away from the uterine wall. But you are not bleeding, so that is good news.” Alex took her blood pressure and then her pulse. He then brought out a blanket and gently enfolded it around her. “Good. You’re doing fine, Sky. I need you to lay there, hold Cal’s hand, and relax. Relax,” and he tenderly moved his hand in slow motions across her belly.
Sky closed her eyes. Alex’s large hand nearly covered her belly. It was like a warm blanket, and it was helping the pain recede. “Th-that feels good. The heat… the pain is starting to go away…”
Alex smiled and nodded. He looked over at Cal. “Just keep doing what I just did? She is your wife, married or not. I think she would prefer your hand on her baby, not mine,” and he gave Cal a sloppy grin.
Cal followed his instructions. He felt the SUV shift, heard the pounding rain beginning to lessen. They were now on the main highway leading away from the villa. He lifted his head and called forward, “Anyone tailing us?”
“Negative,” Jack called back. “How’s Sky?”
“She’s stable,” Alex said. “Everything is okay back here.”
