Well, that wasn’t too bad. I liked the attached garage thing. She could go straight into the house without going outside. I walked her out to her car, leaning against the frame as she slipped inside. “Call me when you get there. Let me know you got home safely.”
Her smile was indulgent and she fisted the front of my shirt, dragging me down for another kiss before pushing me away. “I’ll let you know I’m home, I promise. Now go inside. And don’t put the dishes in the oven. I’ll know if you do.”
Laughing, I pushed off her car and stepped back, waving as she reversed out of my driveway and drove off. Maybe soon I could go visit her place. Find a little more privacy. Because after tonight, I knew once wasn’t going to be enough. Simone was quickly becoming an addiction I didn't want to kick.
I woke up when my door flew open. Jumping up, I looked around in confusion, finding Jasper in my doorway holding a crying Isla.
“She threw up!”
“Fuck,” I muttered, rolling out of bed. My foot got caught on the blanket and I tripped a few times trying to get free, hopping to the foot of the bed and putting my hands out for the baby. Jasper handed her over, looking frantic as he studied his baby sister.
“She never throws up,” he continued anxiously. “Even when she was a newborn, she didn’t spit up much. Mama said she had a steel stomach. What’s wrong with her?”
“Alright, alright, hold on,” I murmured, putting a hand against Isla’s forehead. She was burning up, which wasn’t good. And I didn’t know shit about sick babies. I jerked my headtoward my nightstand, telling Jasper, “Open my phone. There’s a contact in there labeled ‘little sister’. I want you to call that number. Mel’s a nurse, she works with kids all the time. She can tell us what to do.”
He raced to do as I asked, tripping over my blankets, while I gave my attention to Isla. She was sweaty and screaming, and she kept pulling at her ears. I tried to stop her, but she just screamed louder when I did, and no amount of shushing or bouncing soothed her.
Jasper shoved my phone under my nose just as Mel’s voice spoke over the speaker. “Zero? Tell me what’s going on.”
“I don’t know. She’s hot, sweaty, and Jasper said she threw up. She won’t calm down either.”
“Did you take her temperature?”
Shit. Did I even own a thermometer? Of all the shit I bought to get the house ready for kids, medicine wasn’t one of them. Nor was a thermometer.
“I don’t have anything to do that. Can we bring her to you?”
Mel’s laugh was reassuring. She wouldn’t be laughing if it was serious, right? “Considering I’m at home right now, that wouldn’t be as helpful as you’d think. Tell you what; bring her to the ER. I’ll meet you there and we’ll figure out what’s going on. And Zero? Drive safely. I promise, whatever is happening with Isla, it isn’t going to be fixed faster if you speed. Drive the speed limit, bring her straight to the ER, and I’ll let them know you’re coming. See you in a minute.”
“Okay,” I breathed. “See you.”
Jasper was already moving when Mel hung up, running down the stairs and shoving shoes on his feet. I had to catch him with a hand on his shoulder to stop him from running out the door without us.
“Hold on. I need you to take Isla so I can get some shoes on. Take a deep breath, man. You heard Mel. She’ll be okay.”
“Hurry up!” he shouted, then winced as Isla shoved at him, her wailing meeting ear splitting volume. I pulled on my boots, snagging the diaper bag and my wallet and keys before hustling them both out the door. I could see it in his eyes that Jasper was going to panic if I didn’t move my ass. His hands shook as he buckled Isla in, and he actually let me check the straps because he was too worked up to do it himself.
Sliding behind the wheel, I pulled out my phone and typed out one quick message before starting the car. Dealing with a sick baby was going to be hard enough. I needed back up. And if there was anyone Jasper trusted, it was Simone. Hopefully she wouldn’t be too pissed at me for waking her in the middle of the night.
CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT
SIMONE
I hadn’t expected to get a message from Elias in the middle of the night. It was lucky that I was a light sleeper and the buzzing woke me up. When I saw his panicked message asking for help, I moved before my mind had even fully come online. Pulling on a sweater over my pajamas, I grabbed my purse and ran out the door, so focused on getting where I needed to go that I almost forgot to put on shoes. I had to double back, stuffing my feet into my running shoes that were right by the door, before rushing into the garage again and dropping into the car.
The hospital wasn’t far from my home and since it was the middle of the night, the roads weren’t busy. I considered testing speed limits a bit to get there faster, then decided against it. Even if there were fewer police on the roads, if I did get pulled over, it’d be just that much longer until I got to the hospital.
I was on an empty stretch of highway when lights appeared in my rearview mirror. Not flashing lights. Motorcycles. A big group of them raced toward me, overtaking my car so quickly, it was obvious they hadn’t been paying the speed limit any mind. Ithought they’d pass me by, maybe it was Zero’s crew going to the hospital as well, so when I was suddenly surrounded on all sides, I was confused.
Cautiously, I eased off the gas, thinking if I slowed down, they’d go around me. They didn’t. They slowed down with me, and the one next to my door kept swerving and grinning at me. My blood turned to ice as I realized what was happening. They were trying to get me to pull over. In the middle of the night on a mostly empty road, surrounded by bikers I wasn’t familiar with, none of which looked like they were in any hurry to get somewhere. Most rode without helmets and I could see them laughing as they brake checked me and forced me to slow down even more.
I didn’t want to stop my car, I was under no illusions that they’d let me go once I did, but I didn’t have much of a choice. I was surrounded. If I stopped too quickly, the bikers behind me would hit me. If I accelerated, I would run into the ones in front of me. The ones on the side prevented me from switching lanes. I was trapped.
My heart hammered in my chest and my fingers gripped the steering wheel tightly. Using the button on my steering wheel, I called the emergency line, watching my speedometer needle slowly drop as they forced me to slow down even more.
“911, what’s your emergency?”
“I’m on the highway surrounded by a group of bikers who are trying to get me to pull over. They’ve got me boxed in. I don’t know what to do.”
