“Just two floors,” I said.“Then I’ll carry you the rest of the way if I have to.”
She laughed, but it was tired.“Such a gentleman.”
“Always.I have an image to uphold.”
She patted my chest.“Uh huh.”
We made it up the first flight; her hand tightened in mine, fingers slick with sweat.
“You want to take a break for a sec?”I asked.
“No, I just want to get to bed.”
I heard the door below us open, the sounds of people echoing off the concrete walls.“Okay, upward and onward.”
We stepped onto the landing and made our way to the next flight.One step, two.Rose’s foot slipped, her body faltered.One minute she was there, warm and solid against me, then she stumbled forward, her grip tearing loose from me as her body pitched sideways.
“Rose!”I lunged for her, catching air instead of her arm.
She went down hard, too hard, her body twisting as she tumbled against the railing and collapsed on the landing.
Everything fell silent.
My heart slammed violently against my chest, stealing my breath.I jumped down the three steps, landing beside her, and fell to my knees.“Rose, hey, hey!Look at me.”
Someone shouted.Footsteps pounded.Someone screamed for help.
“Rose!”I cried out, afraid to touch her, afraid to move her in case she was hurt.
Her eyes fluttered; a rush of relief slammed into me, but then I locked eyes with hers, unfocused, scared.
Her fingers latched onto my wrist.“Wyatt,” she whispered, panic threading through that single word.Her eyes flicked past me to the woman pushing her way through the crowd of people I hadn’t even realized were there.
Lori dropped beside us.Rose held her gaze.“You don’t think… You don’t think I hurt the baby… do you?”
The word hit me like an uppercut to the solar plexus.
My entire body froze.
“The what?”I breathed.
The concrete walls tilted and swirled.
Someone said my name.Someone else said an ambulance was on the way.But all I could hear was that one word echoing in my head.
Baby.
My hands shook as I brushed her hair from her face.
“Rosebud,” I said, my voice barely holding it together.“What are you talking about?”
Light filtered in through my eyelids, but no matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t get them to open.Annoying beeping assaulted my ears, and I just wanted it to stop.My head hurt, but not nearly as badly as my shoulder and right butt cheek.
Flashes of what happened unblurred in my mind.The stairs.The fall.The pain as my shoulder, ass, and head slammed into the concrete.The fear in Wyatt’s eyes.Lori.The—
Oh God.
I sat up with a start.
