At the entrance, Jay stopped short and turned. I didn’t stop fast enough, so we were nose to nose when he said, “Don’t tell Cate I said that.”
I nodded. “We good?”
He clapped my shoulder. “We’re good.”
And we waited.
The guys talked shop, including strategic planning for the week ahead.
Mary, Madi, Ashley, Meg, and Emily’s mother, Anne, took turns checking on Emily and Jamie.
Minutes turned into hours, and the date on our phones turned over.
One by one, couples left. Chris took a very pregnant Vicky and their daughter home. Doug took Beth and Chase home. Blake and AJ felt useless, so they left shortly after.
Jack and Meg stayed as long as they could, but a screaming Natalie forced them to go home.
Jay and Cate, and Nathan and Ashley stayed. So did the parents.
Everyone planned to stay through the night.
Madi refused to leave her twin brother, which meant I was staying.
In a moment of rare vulnerability, Madi had mentioned that the guys she’d dated assumed she didn’t want to be taken care of because she was strong and independent. She’d admitted, “Just because I can do it alone doesn’t mean I want to.”
She didn’t have to anymore. I was nothing like those idiots, and I had plenty of time to prove it.
“Hey, let’s take a walk,” I said to Madi after she returned from her most recent shift with Emily.
She nodded. The bags under her eyes were more pronounced, and I had a feeling she needed to talk. When I reached for her hand, she absentmindedly accepted it.
In my mind, I raised a fist in victory.
We walked just far enough for privacy.
“Is everything okay with Emily?” I asked after we sat.
Her head snapped up. “Yeah, why?”
“Madi, I can see the worry in your eyes and the toll it’s taking.”
She blinked a few times before looking down at our entwined hands.
With my free hand, I lifted her chin. “Talk to me.”
Madi took a deep breath and opened up. “Emily’s struggling more than is normal.”
I let her have the moment she needed to compose herself.
“Her contractions are closer together, but her cervix isn’t dilating like it should, and her blood pressure is skyrocketing.”
I didn’t have half the medical training Madi had, but I knew that was a bad omen.
“What do you need from me?”
There she went again, blinking as if she expected me to disappear when she opened her eyes again.
“Why are you still here?”
