My hands shake as I scoop up keys and pat my pocket, double checking for my phone.
“Why would you need to call him?” I spit in annoyance. He’s delaying me from getting where I need to be.
Fuck, I’m going to be sick.
“You seem upset…”
I pause.
Gregson has been around for a while and is familiar withmy history at my old firehouse. He thinks I’m spiraling. There isn’t time for spiraling. Not until Harriet is in my arms, safe and unharmed. She sounded shaken up on the phone as she reassured me she was okay.
A deer. A motherfucking deer plowed through the windshield of Parker’s truck and then skipped away as if nothing happened.
Crash. Rain. Hospital.
Harriet was in a car accident.
Harriet was caught in a rainstorm.
Harriet is at the hospital.
She said she’s fine. The baby’s fine. It’s a precaution.
“My partner was in an accident.” The words claw their way out of my throat. “She’s at the hospital.”
His eyes widen. “Shit. Go. I hope she’s okay. Call if you need anything.”
I’m already sprinting toward the rear exit.
Rubber squeals and burns as I speed out of the lot. Panic blurs everything until I almost blow past a stop sign. I’m no good to Harriet if I end up in a wreck. The rain is relentless, pounding against my skin as I jump out of the truck and sprint toward the hospital entrance. Wet tarmac turns into tiled floor, and I nearly collide with a hospital porter pushing a wheelchair while searching for the ER.
It’s a tiny hospital, yet somehow, I still get lost. I skid to a halt and scan the confusing signage.
Emergency Department left.
I barely hear a nurse telling me to slow down through the roaring in my ears.
She said she’s fine. The baby’s fine. It’s a precaution.
My self-assurance does jack-shit to calm me. Nausea has riddled me ever since Harriet called me. Not even twenty-fourssince we decided to move forward together and disaster strikes.
She said she’s fine.
The baby’s fine.
It’s a precaution.
Over and over, I repeat those words until a flash of blonde peeking out from behind a blue curtain catches my attention.I’m there in a heartbeat, snatching it to the side. Harriet smiles at the nurse adjusting a strap across her belly. Her mouth drops when she sees me.
“Warren,” she gasps.
She’s breathing, giving me permission to do the same.
I’m a wreck; hair plastered to my face from a mixture of sweat and rain, and my boot laces almost trip me up as I stride to where she lies.
My hands find her cheeks, moving to her neck, arms, legs before finishing on her belly. I gently search every inch of her, checking for the tiniest scratch. I’m no longer on the verge of cracking and crumbling under the heaviness of my thoughts, leaving my body to tremor in the aftermath.
“Hey. Breathe.” She cups my jaw when her calm gaze meets my manic one. Her soothing voice anchors me amidst the crashing waves trying to sweep me away. “We’re okay. You didn’t have to come here so quickly.”
