Wild Rodeo Nights, Page 9

  “Which way?”

  Carrie sat in the middle between him and Jess with her arm around her sister’s shoulders. She pointed them in the right direction, but when her attention was drawn back to Jessica, he took a moment to study her. She hadn't changed much in the last six months. Still gorgeous, still full of fire and still bossy, he noticed.

  Her murmurs of comfort to Jessica kept his mind on the emergent situation at hand while he continued to pick his way along the slippery highway.

  There sure aren't many people out.

  "Has the weather been bad here?"

  "Yeah," she murmured, but didn't take her gaze off her sister. "It's been snowing heavily for several days."

  "Wyoming's been bad, too."

  "That where you've been?"

  "Since the season ended, yeah."

  The lights of the hospital came into view, and he almost sighed with relief. He really didn’t want to have to witness a baby’s delivery in the cab of his truck. Pulling right into the ambulance bay, he said, “I’ll go get help. Stay here and stay warm.”

  Carrie put a hand on his arm. “Thanks for being here.”

  He let a small smile play on his lips, and his hand covered hers. “Where else would I be?”

  A frown pulled down the corners of her mouth, and her lips parted like she wanted to say something, but he didn’t wait. Sliding out into the snow, he felt his feet hit pavement under the six-inch deep drift before he shut the door. Rushing inside, he almost slid on the wet floor as he stopped at the reception desk.

  “I need some help, fast.”

  The young woman’s appreciative gaze raked him from the top of his blonde head to the tip of his cowboy boots as she popped the gum in her mouth and grinned. “I bet you do, handsome.”

  “Not me. I have a pregnant woman in my truck who is going to have a baby. Can you get someone, please?” He wasn’t in the mood for a flirtatious woman right at the moment.

  “Sure, honey.” The woman picked up the phone next to her, dialing with her bright red fingernails. “Hey. There is a guy out here with a pregnant woman in his truck. Can one of you grab a wheelchair? Okay. Thanks.” She turned her gaze back to him. “They’ll be out in a sec."

  “Thanks.” He walked to the window and watched the snow swirl in the wind before it hit the ground until he heard someone behind him.

  “Which way?”

  “Under the ambulance bay.”

  “Is she in labor?”

  “How in the hell am I supposed to know?” He was getting agitated.

  These people obviously had no clue what was going on, or did they?

  Hell. He’d been around pregnant horses and pregnant cows, but a pregnant woman—he didn’t want to go there.

  Following the orderly out the door, he directed him to where the truck was parked. They struggled through the snow even though they had obviously shoveled the walk recently and put some kind of salt on the pavement.

  When they finally reached the passenger side, he could see Carrie and Jessica talking, but he could also tell something wasn’t quite right. Jessica’s face was contorted with pain as Carrie tried to calm her. They opened the door as both women turned terrified eyes to him.

  I don’t like the looks of this. “What’s wrong?”

  “I don’t know. We need to get her inside—quickly,” Carrie answered her voice crackling with tears.

  “Well, ma’am, if you’ll just get in this wheelchair…” The orderly from inside tried moving into position, but Cole stopped him as he reached inside the truck, sweeping Jessica up in his arms, heading for the door.

  “Show me where. We don’t have time for the damned chair.” The orderly finally must have decided not to trifle with him as he opened the ambulance door, ushering the trio inside.

  Cole moved inside one of the exam rooms and gently laid Jessica down on the bed as Carrie took the other side, wrapping her sister’s hand in her warm one.

  One of the nurses came into the room and began preparing things to get Jessica’s checked in. “My name is Mandy. I'll be taking care of you while you are in the emergency room."

  “Where’s the doctor?” Patience was not his virtue, and he knew it, but damn these people were driving him crazy and it wasn’t even his wife or his baby.

  “Sir, I’m sure your wife will be fine. The doctor will be in here in a minute, but I need to get her into the computer system before we can do anything.”

  “She’s not my wife, she’s…” What the hell is she to me? Nothing, really—just Carrie’s sister, but that's enough.

  Carrie was worried, he could see the terror in her eyes and that was enough for him.

  “Well, anyway, I need to get her processed. If you’d like to step out, I can get this done a bit quicker.”

  “Fine.” Jamming his hands into his pockets, he flashed Carrie a look meant to reassure her before he pulled open the door and slipped out. He started pacing the hall like an expectant father until Carrie came out a moment later. Without a word, she walked into his arms, wrapping hers around his waist and laying her head on his shoulder while he rubbed her back. “Everything will be okay. We’re at the best place for her.”

  “I know,” her murmured words sent a tingle down his arms when they whispered against the skin of his neck. “I’m just scared. It’s too early. She’s not due for a month.”

  “Come on. Let’s sit down over here. This could take a while.” He steered her in the direction of several chairs. When they sat down together side-by-side, he took her hand in his, threading their fingers so he held her soft palm against his. He wrapped his arm around her shoulder and tugged her close while his lips brushed her forehead. “She’ll be fine.”

  “God, I hope so,” Carrie whispered, terror so clear in her voice his heart ached for her.

  * * * *

  Several minutes later, the nurse rushed out and hurried around the desk. Carrie stood and moved toward the room where Jessica lay just as the doctor rushed out, too.

  “What’s wrong? What’s wrong with Jess?”

  “Are you family?” She didn’t like the look on his face.

  “Yes. I’m her sister.”

  The doctor’s gaze stopped on Cole’s face before coming back to hers.

  “She’s bleeding. We need to take the baby and quickly. We are calling in the surgical team right now.”

  “Oh, my God.” She almost collapsed—would have if Cole hadn’t grabbed her.

  “Are you the father?”

  “No. I’m just a friend,” Cole answered as he held her up.

  “He’s with me,” she answered. “Can I see her?”

  “Of course. It will probably be good for you to be there until we take her to surgery. She’s upset, and we’ll be giving her something to calm her, but she’s scared.”

  The doctor escorted her and Cole back inside the room. When Carrie moved to her sister's side, Jessica opened her sleepy eyes. She brushed the hair off her sister’s forehead, trying to smile encouragingly. “Hey.”

  “Hi.”

  Jessica’s looked at Cole standing behind her with his hand on her shoulder.

  “Take care of Carrie okay? If something happens to me, you have to take care of her.”

  “Nothin' is going to happen, Jess. You’ll be fine.” His self-assured voice calmed the whole atmosphere in the room. He was right. He had to be right. Nothing would happen to her sister. It couldn’t. She wouldn’t be able to handle it, if it did. God couldn’t be that cruel, could He? She started to shake, and he wrapped his arms around her waist. Leaning against his side, she tried desperately to absorb his heat and his calm.

  The surgical team came in the room and prepared her to be moved. She took Jessica’s hand in hers and whispered, “I love you, sis.”

  “I love you, too, Carrie.” They started to move her, but Jessica stopped them. “If something happens and the baby makes it, but I don’t, take care of him, okay? Love him like I would have.”

  “Don’t s
ay that, Jess. Everything is going to be fine. You are going to be here to raise this baby.”

  “Promise me, Carrie—please. “You were always the strong one, you know. Always taking care of me, even when I didn’t want you to.”

  She would do anything for Jessica. “Okay. I promise.”

  Gripping her sister’s hand for a moment, she tried to smile encouragingly. The frightened look in Jessica’s eyes did nothing to calm her own fears. Cole stood behind her and all three of them held hands for a moment before they began to move her and they had to let go.

  "I'll take care of her, Carrie," Martin Jessup said. He arrived shortly after the surgical team, and he would be performing the surgery on Jess. They had known Martin all their lives. He was there when the girl’s were little, bandaging up scrapped knees and broken bones, and he had been with them when their parents died. He was their father’s best friend, constant companion, and the strength behind them when they broke the news about their parent’s death. He was the man who was supposed to deliver all their children, the best OB-GYN in the whole area.

  "I know, Martin." Carrie wiped a tear from her cheek. "Keep her safe for me, okay?"

  Martin nodded before he disappeared shortly after the stretcher rolled through the double doors.

  She turned around and buried her face against Cole’s shoulder. Tears rolled down her face and sobs racked her body while he held her tight.

  Chapter Eleven

  Carrie and Cole sat there for what seemed like hours, waiting. Every once in a while, she would stand up and pace the waiting area, rubbing her arms to calm the chills, but nothing helped—nothing but Cole’s touch.

  The moment the doctor came through the double doors, her heart dropped into her stomach at the look in his eyes.

  No! It couldn’t be!

  “The baby is fine. A nice healthy boy.”

  “Jess?” The words left her mouth in a whisper as she felt Cole behind her, hugging her like he’d never let go.

  Martin's eyes filled with tears. It was a sight she’d never forget. “I tried, Carrie. God knows I tried.”

  “Don’t…” She shook her head in denial. “Don’t say it. I can’t do this again, Martin. I just can’t!”

  Martin held her close while the sobs racked her body, and they both cried the tears of those who lost people they loved way too soon.

  Pushing against her shoulders, he looked down into her eyes. “She’s still here—for now, Carrie, but there isn’t anything else I can do. She’s bleeding internally, and I can’t stop it. I’ve already taken out everything I can.”

  “What happened?”

  “The placenta ruptured, tearing away from the uterus. We are lucky the baby survived, but Jessica has systemic bleeding. In other words, she’s bleeding from several areas in her body—her blood is too thin.”

  “Take mine. I’ll give her whatever she needs.”

  “It won’t help, Carrie. I can’t give her blood as fast as she losing it.”

  “Can I see her?”

  “Of course.” He wrapped his arm around her shoulder to lead her away, but she turned and grasped Cole’s hand.

  “Come with me. I can’t do this by myself.”

  Cole entwined his fingers with hers as they walked down the hall. Sandwiched between the two men, she felt their strength—the strength of a man too wise for his years in the friend of the family, a man who had seen way too much death in his lifetime. Martin still continued to work as a doctor, delivering babies everyday and sharing in the joy of a new family or the sorrow of a lost one.

  Cole’s strength became her lifeline, too. She didn’t know why God brought him back into her life on this very important day. In her mind, she screamed it wasn’t fair for God to take Jess away from her when He’d taken her parents not so long ago. Right now she didn’t have the strength to question why Cole was back.

  She almost couldn’t put one foot in front of the other as they walked. I so tired, tired of losing the people I love, tired of doing this all alone.

  When they approached the door to one of the hospital rooms, she held back.

  “I can’t do this,” she whispered when her gaze met Cole’s.

  “Yes, you can, Carrie. She needs your strength right now.”

  “But how can I say goodbye?”

  “I don’t know, honey. You’ll do just fine, though.”

  They walked in together, the door closing softly behind them.

  She moved toward the bed, her sister’s pale form lying in the center with so many wires and tubes hooked to her. Carrie didn’t know how she could even reach her. Picking up her hand, she whispered softly, “Jess?”

  Jessica opened her eyes and smiled. “Hey.”

  “Hi.” Carrie tried to smile. “How are you feeling?”

  “Like shit. How’s the baby?”

  “He’s fine. I haven’t seen him yet, but Martin says he’s doing okay.”

  “Good,” Jessica whispered as her eyes closed tiredly.

  The store opened silently, and the nurse brought the baby in wrapped in a pale blue blanket. “I thought you might like to hold him.”

  Jessica smiled. The nurse laid the baby on her chest, and she wrapped her arms around him. “I love you, baby boy,” Jessica said when tears welled up in her eyes and her gaze returned to Carrie. “I want his name to be Robert, Carrie. Robert Allen Marsh.”

  Carrie choked back a sob. “I’ll make sure of it.”

  “He’s so little.” Jessica’s finger slipped down the sleeping baby’s cheek.

  “Jess?” She turned back toward Carrie, her gaze sweeping up to take in Cole standing behind her. “Do you know what’s happening?”

  “Yeah, sis. Martin told me.” Tears slid from the corners of her eyes into her hair. “You promised, remember?”

  Carrie choked back a sob as she nodded.

  “Take care of him. He’s going to need you,” Jessica whispered.

  Her shoulders shook. “I can’t do this without you, Jess.”

  “Yes, you can, Carrie.” Her gaze swung to Cole. “You promised, too, Cole. You have to take care of Carrie.”

  “I’ll do my best.” She could hear the tears in his voice, too, as he stood behind her, his hand resting on her shoulder.

  Jessica’s dim gaze returned to hers and a heart-wrenching smile life her mouth for a moment. “Please make sure he knows who I am though. Make sure he knows I love him and I wanted him, no matter what.”

  “I will. I’ll show him pictures every day of you,” Carrie murmured, tears rolling down her cheeks while her heart shattered from the pain.

  Jessica closed her eyes. “I have to go now, Carrie. Momma and Daddy are waiting for me.”

  “I love you, Jess.” She reached over and hugged her sister close. “Tell Mommy and Daddy I love them, too, and I miss them terribly.”

  “I will,” Jess whispered.

  A moment later, the machine over her head beeped, a long mournful sound that tore through Carrie’s heart while she sobbed, holding her sister close.

  * * * *

  Three days later, she stood solemnly at the side of the casket as it sat perched on the table, waiting to be lowered into the gaping hole in the ground. The whole town turned out for the funeral of Jessica Anne Marsh. People milled about, talking in low whispers when they moved to their cars to leave. The service was over and there wasn’t anything left except to lower her into the grave sitting next to her parents.

  Carrie lovingly ran her hand over the top of the pearl white casket a moment before she lifted her face to the sun overhead, letting it dry the tears on her cheeks. Hearing the soft mews of the infant, she turned around and had to smile. Cole stood holding the baby in his arms, cradling him softly to his chest. He looked like a natural father. One would never know up until two days ago he’d never held a baby before.

  “Here, let me take him.”

  “Good. He’s starting to get fussy, and I don’t do babies very well.”

  She gave
him a sad smile and took the baby from his arms. “You could have fooled me.”

  Her face sobered when he wrapped his arm around her and they walked to his truck. Once inside, she put the baby in his car seat before buckling her seatbelt. They drove back to the house in silence.

  The house was eerily quiet. Her gaze swept the room as tears pooled and a sob shook her shoulders.

  “Here. I’ll change him and put him down.” Cole took the baby from her arms before he pushed her down on the couch. “I’ll be right back.”

  She sat in the same spot until he returned. Her head dropped onto his shoulder when he took a seat next to her.

  “What am I going to do without her? How am I supposed to take care of a baby? I’ve never even babysat a newborn.”

  “It’ll be okay. You’re a natural, Carrie.” He stroked her arm with his hand, calming her nerves and her sobs with his presence.

  Does he have any idea what his being here means to me?

  He had been back in Silver Ridge four days—four days spent helping her deal with Jessica’s death and her burial—four days holding her at night, soothing her when the terrible nightmares woke her.

  What am I going to do when he leaves? "Are you opening the store tomorrow?"

  "I don't have a choice. It's the only way I can pay the bills."

  "I'm sorry, honey, but what about the baby?"

  "I'll take him with me. I have Mark who works with me. I'll have to increase his hours."

  "I know you'll figure out something, Carrie. You're such an organized, responsible person. You don't know how to be any other way."

  She snorted when she heard his words. Until now, they hadn’t even had a chance to talk about why he came back and what it meant to their relationship.

  Or lack thereof.

  “Cole.” She took a deep breath and sat up.

  “Yeah.”

  “We really need to talk.”

  “I know.” A rush of air left his mouth before he stood. “I think I need a beer before we get started on this.”

  She chuckled. “Bring me one, too, would you?”