“Something’s wrong,” I manage, my chest constricting, the air suddenly too thick to even draw a breath.
A moment later, I feel the solid weight of Ian’s hand on my shoulder, grounding me so I don’t come apart. There’s no time for that.
“It’s going to be okay,” he says.
“You don’t?—”
“No,” he admits. “But you have to keep it together for Piper.”
Fuck yeah, I do.
“What do you need?” Eric asks quietly.
I look toward the stairs, where Ellie is sleeping peacefully, completely unaware that the woman we both love to the moon and back might be in trouble.
“Can you stay with Ellie?” My voice sounds hollow. “She should nap for at least?—”
“However long it takes,” Ian tells me. “I’ve got her. You know where you need to be.”
“We’re here, too,” Chase says. “Whatever you or Piper need.”
Eric nods. “We’ll wait to hear before we do anything else.”
The proposal plans. Wildflowers and stuffed animals. All of it suspended now, hanging in the balance along with everything we stand to lose.
I grab my keys with shaking hands. None of it matters without her.
Ian’s right. I do know where I need to be—at Piper’s side, for as long as she’ll have me.
Without another word, I race past all three of them and out the door.
30
FELIX
The hospital smellhits me as soon as I clear the ER’s automatic doors, and my stomach churns hard enough that I have to pause just inside the doors to get my bearings. My heart is pounding so hard I can feel it in my throat. Skylark Community Hospital is relatively small, but it felt like miles from the parking lot to this moment.
“Felix.” Sadie stops pacing when she sees me. Her voice is tight, and she looks like she’s been running her hands through her hair for the past hour. “She’s still in the exam room. They haven’t told me anything yet because I’m not—” She waves her hand in frustration. “She went back on her own about twenty minutes ago.”
“Is she okay? Is the baby?—”
“I don’t know.” My sister-in-law’s eyes are red-rimmed. “She tried so hard to stay calm in the car, but I could tell she’s scared. If something happens to this baby?—”
“I’m going to get to her.” I grab Sadie’s shoulders, to steady myself as much as to comfort her. “No matter what, we’re going to get through this.”
“You better mean that.” There’s a warning in her voice, butalso a soft thread of approval. “She loves you, Felix. Even when you’re a complete idiot, she loves you.”
“Not half as much as I love her.” I give Sadie a quick hug that I hope conveys everything I can’t say right now, and charge toward the information desk. The young woman behind it has pink hair, matching cotton-candy-colored scrubs, and is snapping her gum like she’s getting paid per pop.
“I need to see Piper Hart.” My voice is rough but sounds steadier than I feel.
She looks up from her computer, her eyes narrowing slightly as she assesses me. “Are you her husband?”
“I’m going to be.” The words tumble out before I can think about them. “I’m her person. She’s mine. And I’m the father of her?—”
“Holy shit, you’re Felix Barlowe.”
I turn toward the new voice. A man in his fifties with wire-rim glasses and a completely bald head that gleams under the fluorescent lights has appeared behind the desk. His expression vacillates between professional concern and the kind of starry-eyed recognition I’m used to.
