Page 100 of Armed ’N’ Ready

“C’mon, Matt. Let’s give them some privacy.”

Trista started to rise, when Matt solicitously placed one hand at his wife’s lower back, holding out his other for her to use for balance. There was something so loving and intimate in that simple gesture, it tugged at Andi’s heartstrings. Like Nick, Matt was a giant of a man, but watching him with his petite wife gave her hope. Hope that Nick would wake any day now and they could start working on the same kind of beautiful, loving relationship his friends so obviously had.

After Matt and Trista left the room, she clasped Nick’s hand in hers, threading their fingers. “I have news for you, and I hope you won’t be mad. Do you remember when I said I couldn’t get pregnant?” She uttered a soft laugh. “Every word of it was true, but somehow…I’m pregnant. Can you believe it? I’m going to have a baby. We’re going to have a baby.”

The blood pressure monitor took that moment to kick on, re-inflating the cuff on his arm. She watched the readout on the screen, then waited for the cuff to deflate with its usual whooshing sound.

“It was when we were in the woods and we didn’t use a condom. I mean, who goes running with a spare condom, right?” Her tight laugh came out sounding like more of a sob. “I knew almost right away. My breasts are already tender and swollen, and my back is achy all the time. I’d really appreciate it if you’d wake up and give me a back massage with those magic hands of yours.”

Clasping his hand tighter, she bent down and kissed his fingers. “I love you with all my heart. Please come back to me. Please wake up. I need you. We need you.”

Overwhelmed by emotions she could no longer contain, she rested her head on the mattress while her entire body racked with uncontrollable sobs. “I love you, Nick. I love you.”

…

I’m pregnant… We’re going to have a baby… Please come back to me… I love you…

The words were fuzzy and jumbled, and Nick could swear it was Tanya’s voice. But that couldn’t be right. Tanya couldn’t have children, and she was…dead.

Maybe I’m dead.

Beeping intermingled with the muted voice, along with weeping. Somebody was crying, but who?

Something soft and silky slid across his arm, bringing with it the flowery scent of freesia and reminding him of…

Andi.

With her long golden blond hair and eyes as blue as wild cornflowers. With skin so soft and smooth he could spend hours caressing her body. He wanted to get to her. Needed to get to her. She was in danger, about to be shot by Meera.

The beeping in the distance grew louder, faster. The weeping he thought he’d imagined stopped.

Someone gasped. “Nick?” Andi’s voice, and so, so close.

He tried lifting his arm, but it weighed a ton. Worse was how every time he took a breath, it seemed as if there was an armored SWAT tank parked on his chest. Darkness surrounded him, but he needed to escape. To save Andi. She was everything. Without her, nothing mattered.

He wanted to open his eyes, but he was so tired and weak, he couldn’t find the strength to lift his eyelids, let alone his arm.

“Nick?” Andi’s voice was panicked.

The enshrouding darkness clawed at him, threatening to pull him back under, but he wouldn’t let it win. She needed him. He could hear her crying, screaming his name, and it was killing him not to get to her. Every sob threatened to rip his heart from his chest.

Hand over hand, he crawled up the steep incline of a deep, dark, craggy ravine, clutching at rocks and roots—anything to get closer to that pinhole of light at the top. With every inch he gained, the pain magnified, and it was all he could do not to let go and plunge back into the dark nothingness that awaited him if he did.

Finally, darkness bled to gray. Something squeezed his hand. Not something—someone. At first, he tried pulling away, fearing it was the blackness threatening to undo his efforts to escape the hellhole he’d been relegated to. The light overhead grew brighter, yet something kept holding him back.

Looking over his shoulder, he peered into the inky void below, straining for a glimpse of what was tying him to that place. But there was nothing.

More tugging, this time pulling him closer to the light. If only he could reach it.

“Nick? Nick?” Again, Andi’s voice, although this time it was clearer and right there next to him. “You can do it, baby. I love you, and I’m here. Open your eyes. Please, open your eyes.”

And he did.

“Oh, thank God.” She was laughing and crying at the same time, clutching his hand, then kissing his face.

He blinked, trying to clear his blurry vision. Bright. Too bright. He squinted, allowing his eyes to adjust to the ambient light in the room. A hospital room. Like so many bad movies he’d fast-forwarded through, it all came back to him in a flash.

Meera shooting him square in the chest—no wonder his chest felt tight. Running. Andi handcuffed to the window-washer cage. Saxon leaping onto the platform, then Meera going over the side. The last thing he remembered was grabbing on to the railing with one hand, and with the other—