Adeline is pregnant. And it explains so damn much. Back on the island, before everything went to shit, she had been complaining about not being able to keep food down and being sick.
Lucien thought she had a stomach bug of some sort, and I willingly played it off as such. But I should have checked her out or been more attentive.
Not that it would have changed much considering that wouldn't have altered the fact that she was kidnapped days later.
I watch as Lucien brushes Adeline's dark hair away from her beautiful, ashen face. Fuck, I would give anything for her to be okay right now. I miss her smile and her laugh. I'd pay any sum of money just to see and hear them again.
"Turn right up here," I tell Wraith as we near a crossroads. Then, I lean over the seat and check Adeline's pulse. It's there, but it's so damn weak.
"I can't lose her. I can't lose her. I can't lose her," Lucien chants over and over again, and I'm not even sure if he realizes he's saying it loud.
He's a fucking wreck. Fuck, I am too, but I'm better at keeping it together than he is. "I know," I tell him. Then I say to Wraith, "Turn left up here, Wraith, and fucking step on it."
Moments later, the SUV is stopping in front of a large hospital. I open the door and climb out first. Lucien gathers Adeline into his arms, grimacing again from the exertion and toll it's taking on his debilitated body.
I run ahead with Wraith through the automatic sliding glass doors leading to the emergency room as Lucien follows behind us.
But just as I'm about to call for help, I realize Lucien's still outside. Turning back around, I stare at Lucien, and I can see his inner struggle written all over his face.
Lucien doesn't do hospitals.
He's staring at the people in the waiting room, probably obsessing over germs and shit. But we don't have even a second to waste on his bullshit right now.
"Fuck," he grunts. His knees wobble as he nearly drops Adeline from his arms. He manages to recover and pull her tightly against him once more.
"What's wrong?" I ask him, concerned and worried, even though I already know the answer to that question. I'm just hoping he'll man up and tell me to take Adeline because he's having a fucking meltdown right now.
He gasps a haggard breath and tells me, "I…I can't…" Then he shakes his head, unable to finish the thought.
I don't even hesitate at that point. I simply run to him and pull Adeline from his arms, ignoring his protests. My eyes meet his as I apologize. "I'm sorry, Luc." I back away with her cradled against my chest, and she looks so damn pale…so innocent. "I have to be strong enough for all of us right now," I say softly.
I leave my cousin standing outside as I walk back inside the hospital with Adeline, calling for someone to help us. My voice is desperate, and that's exactly how I feel right now.
Desperate for some kind of miracle to bring Adeline back to us and have her recover from this…both mentally and physically.
CHAPTER 37
KATYA
THERE'S NOTHING I can do but sit in stunned silence from inside the SUV as I watch Jax disappear into the hospital with the girl, who I now know as Adeline, in his arms.
He's the first guy I've ever cared for, and I feel like I'm losing him right before my eyes.
Little by little my heart is breaking into tiny pieces, and there's nothing I can do to stop this train wreck that's bound to occur.
After Jax yelled at me at that house, he never apologized or spoke a word to me on the way to the hospital. I know his mind was elsewhere, but I can tell that he's really mad at me right now.
Maybe even hates me.
I did run away and not listen to a single thing he told me back at the mansion. I felt safe with Wraith, however…but maybe I let my jealousy of Jax trying so damn hard to get Adeline back cloud my judgment. I should have waited with him, like he told me to.
Tears well up in my eyes, but I refuse to let them fall. I stupidly fell in love with the bastard, and now I have nothing left to do but curse my weakness and my traitorous heart.
Sitting quietly in the SUV, I wait for him to come back, but he never does. I stare at his cousin, Lucien, who looks like he's close to losing his shit right now.
I don't know why he couldn't take care of his girl — well, if Adeline is, in fact,his girl. The details of their mysterious relationship, how they came to be involved in the first place and how Jackson fits in to that whole mess is hazy at best.
Maybe they're all together…liketogether, together. I've heard about those types of relationships before. Maybe the three of them are happy.
