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  I nodded, fiddling with the button on the flannel Danny had given me to wear. I couldn’t move my fingers with the brace, and grew frustrated. “Just forget it. It’s probably not that deep.”

  Danny moved to stand next to Brenden, motioning for me to look only into his eyes. With careful fingers, Danny undid the row of buttons, and then gently slid off the flannel. To his credit, he did not look down, but kept me locked into his gaze that told me not to worry.

  To my credit, I did not punch him for partially undressing me. I only looked away from Danny’s determined stare when Brenden gasped. “What happened to you? I’m serious, kid. What did this?”

  Danny glanced down and swore, scrambling for a quick lie. “We were camping, her fiancé, and a few others of us. We came across a wolf who took a shine to her.”

  Okay, well that’s not a total lie.

  “A wolf?”

  Danny cleared his throat. “You should treat her for an animal attack.”

  I looked down at my blood-soaked bra that had been teal and lacy once upon a time. It was now almost tie-dyed with the dried maroon that marred the perky original color. “Whoa. I guess it’s a little worse than I thought.”

  Brenden laid me back on the table and started dabbing at my chest with a warm cloth to clean the skin around the wound. “It’s nothing that’s not fixable.”

  I covered my face with my good hand, wishing I’d taken my chances with the hospital and no ID. “I’m so sorry I’m making you do this. I really was just coming here for the wrist. This is so embarrassing.”

  Brenden chuckled as he set to cleaning me up so he could get a look at the source of the problem. “It’s really fine. You’re a far sight better than the usual patients I get. That you think this is a chore is too funny.”

  Danny picked up my good hand and moved to the other side of the table, making sure I looked only at him when Brenden disinfected the cut and then stitched me up. He wrote me a prescription to treat any lingering infection, while Danny buttoned the flannel shirt back on me, like a gentleman. I thought sliding my pants down for Brendan to clean up the slice on my thigh would bring me to a new level of mortification, but apparently, I’d already reached my max capacity for humiliation.

  Brenden quirked an eyebrow at me while he washed his hands after he finished up. “Your fiancé let you go off injured like this? Not to speak out of turn, but no way would I send my brother with my wife if she’d broken her wrist.”

  Danny answered for me. “He ate something that was very bad for him, so he sent me until his sickness passes.”

  This seemed to make sense to Brenden, so there was nothing more said about it. There was only profuse thanks coming from me, and a polite smile emanating from Brendan before we left. After the brief glimpse into my former job, Danny clung tight to my hand as we made our way out into the fresh air.

  Forty-Six.

  Mariang’s Heartburn

  I stayed with Mariang and Danny in their hotel room that night to give Von some space from my blood. Mariang was good for what ailed me. She’d been super bored before I’d come, so she set to entertaining me with stories about her pregnancy, and the fun things she, Boston and Graham had gotten up to. I brushed her hair while she gossiped about the scandal of the mysterious man at the end of the hall who had a different woman with him every other night. I rubbed her sore ankles while she grinned at the brothers, as they argued about who could bench press more.

  The five of us laughed, traded stories and palled around until Mariang started yawning. She offered me a pair of her short pink shorts and a tank top to sleep in. I wished I had the guts to ask her for something less revealing, but I didn’t want to complain at the gift, especially when she was living out of her suitcase. I was a bit curvier than she, and knew I’d look not so classy in her clothes. But as Danny’s flannel had bloodstains on it, I took her gift with a smile of gratitude.

  Graham pulled down the covers for me, jerking his chin to the queen-sized bed near the window we were to share, while Boston and Danny did a double pull for Mariang in the other bed. I’d missed Graham’s company in the way you miss an old neighbor you hadn’t seen in too long. You missed him, but you didn’t necessarily feel the need to sleep in the same bed with him. However, until my body had a little more time to heal, it was best for me to stay away from Von.

  I got into the bed and twirled my ring around my finger. I watched the diamond sparkle in the dim lamplight Graham had on, so he could read his dusty historical biographies before he went to sleep. I don’t know why, but there was something precious about his affinity for history nonfiction books. His hand reached out and found its way into my hair I’d taken down, absentmindedly tangling in the tresses as he lost himself in the affairs of people who lived centuries ago. When he finished, he turned off the lamp and slid down in the bed beside me, his arm bumping against mine as we lay on our backs with the sides of our heads pressed together. “Missed you, little sis,” Graham admitted in a whisper.

  “Missed you, too.”

  Graham opened his mouth to say something, but Mariang let out a noise of discomfort from the next bed, turning on her side. My eyes landed on the clock, informing me that it was 11:05pm. It was the fourth time she’d tossed, and Boston apparently decided he’d had enough. “I’m jumping ship, mate,” he said to Danny. “Must sleep.” Boston slid into our bed on my other side, not bothering to ask if we had room for another. He cuddled up to me, his arm draping over my stomach, using me like a body pillow. “Much better.” He nuzzled my cheek and let out a contented sigh. “I missed you.”

  “Well, make yourself comfortable,” I chuckled, kissing Boston’s forehead. The slight stretch made my stiches pull, and I winced as the twinge pricked at my skin.

  Graham’s eyes flicked down to my breasts, masking his sheepish smile with concern. “Does it still hurt?”

  “It’s not so bad.”

  Boston pinched my abdomen. “How about I kiss your sweet breasts to make them feel better?” I elbowed Boston, satisfied when a loud “oof!” expelled from his lips. “I was mostly kidding. Calm down. Am I really the first to offer that?” He made himself comfortable, closing his eyes as he rested his chin to my shoulder.

  Graham went to open his mouth again, but Mariang let out another moan, turning to her other side with great clumsy effort. I sat up, ignoring Boston’s frustration that no one would let him sleep. Making my way to Mariang, my eyes met Danny’s as I touched Mariang’s stomach. I climbed in bed with them and checked the clock to time when her next pains hit her. Four minutes later, Mariang’s breaths picked up, and her hand tensed on the pillow while I rubbed her hard belly. “Hey, we should make a visit to the hospital. I think you’re having contractions, and they’re getting to be about four minutes apart.”

  Danny shot out of bed like he’d been spring-loaded, and waiting for this very moment. He whipped around the bedroom, throwing on clothes and getting out some for her, making sure her bag was packed as Graham and I slowly helped her out of the bed. “Wait, are you sure? I’m still two weeks early. I mean, maybe it’s just heartburn.”

  I could hear Mariang’s fear. I knew that fear; I had recently lived it. As much as you like to think that every mother in the world has done this, and hospitals are totally safe, there’s still that blast of panic that grips you when the time comes for the actual searing pain to start. “Maybe, but let’s go to the hospital, just to be safe.”

  We piled into the car, with Mariang in the front seat and Graham driving. Danny was a control freak, but Graham ganked the keys from his older brother when he noticed Danny’s fingers were shaking.

  Danny was in the middle of the backseat, leaning forward to hold Mariang’s hand while she gritted her teeth through the contractions that were steadily getting more painful. When she let out a howl, I thought Danny was going to lose his mind. I squeezed the fingers on her other hand, leaning forward from the seat behind her in the back of the sedan to cheer her on. I had on a baggy undershi
rt of Graham’s and borrowed leggings that clung to my scraped-up thighs as I leaned forward.

  I called Ezra, letting him know it was D-day, and that we were on our way to the hospital. Boston dialed his mother’s number and shoved the phone at me as soon as I hung up with Ezra. “Tell Mum. She’ll want to know.”

  “Um, I, um...” But the phone was already ringing. I shifted my shirt and tried to sit up straighter, keeping my voice even and pleasant when the woman I didn’t even know, but still feared, answered the phone. “Hello, Ms. Vandershot, Lavinia, um, Mama Vandershot. It’s October, Von’s friend?” I cringed and smacked my forehead with the phone when Boston sniggered. “Fiancée. Von’s fiancée. Sorry.”

  “Oh! Hallow, dear. It’s lovely to hear from you. How are the wedding plans going? Von never tells me anything.”

  “Oh, well there’s nothing to tell just yet. We’ve been too busy with work to plan anything.” I cleared my throat, cradling the phone on my shoulder so I could scratch my arm. “But that’s not why I’m calling.”

  “Very well. What can I do for you?”

  “I thought you’d like to know that Mariang’s in labor.”

  Ms. Vandershot’s voice went up an octave. “Mariang? Is she alright?”

  “We’re on our way to the hospital right now, Ma’am.”

  “Is Daniel there, perchance?”

  “Yes, Ma’am.” I gave the phone to Danny, my hand shaking as I gusted out a breath of relief that I hadn’t accidentally talked about Von naked, or cussed or something.

  Boston reached behind Danny to muss my hair. “That was brilliant. Mum’s nothing to be scared of, yeah? You don’t have to do anything to impress her other than walk upright. She’s just happy Von’s settling down. You could look like Kabayo, and she’d still be excited her eldest is finally getting married.”

  “Thanks for that, you jag. Never ever spring your mama on me again!” I pulled out my phone and called Von, who answered on the second ring. “Hey, babe.”

  “You’re talking to me,” he gusted out with relief. “I’m so sorry, love. Tell me where I can send flowers to show you how worthless and wretched I am. I’ll stay here until you come home, but give me an address I can tell the florist.”

  My nerves began to dissipate as a smile swept over my lips. “A florist? Do they sell unicorns at a florist? If you really want to say you’re sorry, say it with a unicorn.”

  “I’ll get on it straightaway.”

  “It’s all fine, Von. It was my fault. I egged you on when you told me you were at your limit. There’s nothing to be sorry for. Danny took me to the prison, and Doctor Brenden fixed me up, so I’m good as new.”

  “Danny took you where?” Von asked with a deadly threat to his tone. “Put him on the phone.”

  I winced at my slip. “I can’t. I called to tell you that we’re on our way to the hospital. Mariang’s having her baby. Or heartburn. She’s convinced it’s heartburn that makes her scream every four minutes.”

  Von’s voice swelled with emotion. “Tell my sister I’m on my way. Are you alright?”

  “Of course. Brenden patched me up just fine.”

  “I don’t mean that. I mean being around a woman in labor. Are you okay?”

  My heart sank. I’d been trying to put my own labor and tragedy out of my head so I could be a team player for my sister. “It’s all fine. We’re almost to the hospital, so I’ll see you there.” I hung up before Von could make me feel things I knew I shouldn’t. I reached forward and squeezed Mariang’s hand when she screamed through her contraction. Graham and Danny were pulling for her, but it didn’t seem to be making a dent. “You’re doing so great, honey. Honestly, mother of the century right here.” They were still four minutes apart, and I worried that the pain would only get worse, and she was nowhere near delivery.

  Forty-Seven.

  The Cold that Shouldn’t Be

  Watching Danny try to help Mariang would have been comedic gold if I’d been watching them on a sitcom. Every time she screamed, he jumped up from the chair next to her hospital bed, ran to the other side of the bed, then back again, tugging at his hair and shouting at her that it would all be okay. Then he shouted at the nurses to make her pain go away. Then he shouted at his brothers to get her more ice, though she had twelve cups of the stuff.

  Every. Single. Time.

  He’d tried to kiss her to give her a little bliss time in their happy place to take the edge off the pain, but the heartrate monitor blared that Mariang was dipping into the danger zone, so we ended that experiment right quick.

  Then the heartrate monitor kept going off no matter what we tried, making everyone panic. By the time the nurses came into the room to check it, her heart would be just at the bottom end of normal again, so they would leave. The whole thing was pretty frustrating.

  Danny was in a world unto himself, and didn’t temper his aggression when he yelled at the nurses. “Are you blind? Something’s wrong! I can hear that insufferable machine beeping every few minutes! Have the doctor check her again!”

  When the nurse looked like she might finally shout back at Danny, I intervened. I placed my hands on Danny’s shoulders, making sure he took a full second to focus on me. “You need a break. You’re stressing Mariang out, and she needs to calm down. It’s a big deal, what she’s about to do, and you freaking out isn’t helping her.” My tone turned syrupy when I checked Mariang’s vitals. “Honey?”

  “Yes?” Mariang’s face was red and sweaty. Her pulse was weaker than I would’ve liked, but the baby’s heartbeat was strong. I tried not to say anything that would make her worry.

  “Is it okay if I take Danny out into the hall for a minute? Give you a little space to breathe?”

  Mariang yanked me down by the front of my shirt and threw her arms around my neck, squeezing as tight as she could – which wasn’t tight at all. “Thank you. You’re a good sister. That you’re here at all... I love you.”

  I kissed her cheek and smoothed her raven hair back. “I love you, too. Can I get you anything? I mean anything. I’m pretty sure if you asked for the moon, Danny would lasso it for you. If you ever wanted a really nice piece of jewelry, now’s the time to ask for it.”

  Mariang held her back, wincing. “Just do what you can to calm him down. Is Dad okay? He knows, right?”

  “Of course. He was the first call. Alton’s fitted the black tether bracelet to him so he can’t leave the mansion, otherwise he’d be here with you.” I couldn’t imagine the carnage if Ezra showed up, what with Mariang’s baby coming ’round the mountain. There’d be an elephant-sized lion roaming the hallways of the hospital for sure. I clicked my fingers to Boston for his phone and dialed Ezra, putting him on speaker. “Ezra? Mariang just wanted to hear your voice.”

  I set the phone on the nightstand, instructing the guys to watch her while I shoved Danny out the door into the hall. He grabbed his chest, breathing too sharply to actually get any useable oxygen. “I can’t do this! She’s not strong enough for any of it! What were we thinking?”

  I didn’t know the right words to say, so I pulled Danny in for a hug, his pulse racing in uneven thumps. His heart moved only for Mariang, and now that her heartrate was weakening, his was erratic as well. “Listen to me. They’ve got her hooked up to a heart monitor.”

  “And it keeps going off! They’re looking like something’s wrong, but they don’t want to say it aloud. I know something’s wrong!” His fist banged to the wall behind me, making me jump. “Don’t bandy around the bush. Tell me straight what’s happening to my wife!”

  “First off, she needs to calm down. Thanks to you being amazing at keeping her safe, she’s not used to being in a whole lot of prolonged physical pain. Labor is... rough, and it’s long. So the more you freak out, the more she will. She needs to breathe and chill out as much as she can. You running around the room and barking like a lunatic isn’t going to help with that.”

  “Okay. Yeah. I guess I am a bit stressed.” Danny closed h
is eyes and leaned into my embrace. “Tell me the truth. It’s bad, isn’t it?”

  I rubbed his back to soothe his worst fear. “Her heartrate is a little lower than it should be. I’m worried about her pushing with it low like that. I want to talk to the doctor about a C-section, but I know Mariang didn’t want one.”

  Danny nodded, his cheek brushing mine. “Whatever gets the baby out safe and keeps Mariang healthy is fine by me. All we have to do is convince her.”

  “Good. Then come with me to talk to the doctor. Give Mariang five whole minutes of space. Then I promise you can hover all you want until she decks you.”

  “Thank you. I feel like no one’s listening to me. The nurses just shrug at the monitor, and then leave when her heart goes back to normal. But I know my wife. I know when she’s too weak for something, and she can’t handle much more of this!”

  “I know. I’m watching the whole thing.” We walked to the nurse’s station and requested the in-house doctor, since Mariang’s wasn’t there yet. It took only three minutes to get an audience with him, and he had many of the same concerns I did.

  “Our first option is to do the cesarean, where we can control the circumstances a little more. The second option is that Mariang can try to deliver the baby, her heart gives out or she faints, and we have to rush the C-section. I’m worried about how weak she looks. The fetal monitor shows the baby’s strong, but if we can’t get her out safely, that won’t matter.”

  “Do what you have to do to keep them both alive,” Danny agreed, clutching my hand so hard, I thought he might break my only functioning one.

  The doctor had salt and pepper colored hair, the beginnings of a pooched belly, and just the right amount of compassion in his voice as he explained the options to Mariang. He let her know she could still choose to try and deliver the baby naturally, and he’d let her go as long as her heart would allow her to try, but that there wasn’t much hope for it, weak as she was.