Total pages in book: 66
Estimated words: 61929 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 310(@200wpm)___ 248(@250wpm)___ 206(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 61929 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 310(@200wpm)___ 248(@250wpm)___ 206(@300wpm)
Lincoln grabbed my shirt in response, seeming lightheaded too.
“Breeched. I read about that, but I can’t… my brain isn’t working,” Kai muttered in a frustrated manner. “What does that mean again?”
“The baby’s feet come out first. They’re supposed to come out headfirst,” the nurse said. “Natural childbirth is risky when the baby is breeched, so an emergency c-section is recommended.”
“Will Aisling be okay?” Hayden asked.
“She was in some distress before being put under, but we’re carefully monitoring her. When we have an update, the doctor will talk to you,” the nurse replied before hurrying off.
At first, no one said anything. We were too stunned, not expecting this sudden turn of events. We’d just rescued Aisling from the Hornets, thinking that the worst is over. Now, we were finding out that Aisling and our son were at risk again.
This time, we couldn’t do anything, though. That was the worst part. All we could do was stand there and hope that we received good news.
“She’ll be okay. We have to be optimistic,” Cameron told me as he patted me on the back.
I looked at him, able to see how haunted his eyes were. He was just as terrified as the rest of us.
“What if she won’t be okay? What if we lose them both?” I asked, hardly able to even get the words out.
Cameron couldn’t speak. He merely retreated to one of the chairs, sinking down with his head bowed.
The others followed suit, feeling too dazed and shocked to keep standing. We sat in silence, unable to even comfort each other because the situation was so shocking and dire. How did this happen? How did everything feel okay one moment and then turn into disaster the next?
Minutes turned into hours. At three hours, a middle-aged doctor strode into the waiting area, glancing around.
“Who’s here for Aisling?” he asked.
All eight of us sprung up to our feet, nearly bumping into each other as we hurried over to the doctor, whose expression was completely unreadable.
“Are they okay?” Kai asked him, looking as tired and stressed as the rest of us.
“Please, follow me,” the doctor said before turning and walking back down the hallway he came from.
I shared a horrified look with Auden, feeling my stomach sink. That fantasy of our incredible future together started to lose its vibrant color, fading darker and darker as shocked silence surrounded us. I couldn’t even move at first, not wanting to see my nightmare come to life.
I didn’t want to see her pale and cold. Still. Gone.
“Come on. We have to see her,” Chris told me with a worried look on his face. We had to do this. No matter what awaited us.
With a nod, I followed the others as we trailed the doctor, walking right toward the terrifying unknown.
Chapter 25
Kai
With every step I took down the hallway, it felt like I was about to fall to pieces more and more.
The doctor’s response wasn’t promising, but I didn’t ask him questions. I wanted to see what happened to Aisling with my own eyes.
I didn’t think that we would ever end up here. Our story wasn’t traditional in the slightest, but I believed that was what made it so special. We went from a hook-up to a business arrangement to so much more.
Lovers. Parents. Family.
Lust bloomed into love, and she broke down my protective walls with every smile and sweet kiss.
I knew she was special from the moment we met at that club, and when she showed up with the news that she was pregnant with my baby, I knew that everything was going to change.
I just had no idea that things would lead to this point where I was in love and terrified that I’d just lost her and possibly my son.
My throat tightened as the doctor stepped into one of the hospital rooms, moving to the side so that we could approach. I stepped past the curtain and released a sharp exhale when I saw Aisling in bed, looking exhausted and a bit pale, with a baby boy swaddled in her arms.
“Aisling…” I murmured, feeling able to properly breathe again as I moved to her side.
The others piled in, surrounding her bed with looks of awe and relief as we checked her over.
“Are you okay?” Bradley asked from the other side, reaching out to gently brush her damp hair back from her face.
Aisling smiled and nodded.
“Feels like I just ran a marathon and then got hit by a truck at the finish line, but I made it,” she laughed weakly before looking down at the small baby in her arms. “Isn’t he perfect?”
“He is,” Chris said as he caressed her feet through the hospital sheets. “And you are too. You did amazing.”
“We were worried about you,” Claude told her as he squeezed her knee. “They couldn’t tell us much.”