Total pages in book: 63
Estimated words: 57341 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 287(@200wpm)___ 229(@250wpm)___ 191(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 57341 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 287(@200wpm)___ 229(@250wpm)___ 191(@300wpm)
River strode through the waiting room doors at that moment with Sam, Jesup, and Tank behind him. A sob ripped from my throat as soon as I saw him. Joey quickly pressed a kiss to the top of my head before he let me go. I rushed towards River, and he met me halfway across the room, wrapping his arms around me so tightly, for a moment I couldn’t breathe. He sandwiched Axel between us as he pressed his lips to the top of my head.
“Still no news on Reina,” Joey informed them. “Zyla will be awake in a few hours according to her doctor.”
Jesup took off for the nurse’s station. “What do we know about Reina so far?” Sam demanded to know as River led me over to a chair and forced me to sit down, taking a now whimpering Axel from my arms, instantly calming him down.
“She took a shot to the shoulder and to the thigh,” Joey told him. “She’s in surgery, and she’s lost a lot of blood. The doctor told us she barely made it here alive.”
Sam swung his angry eyes to Ink, who was meant to be protecting her. Ink clenched his jaw but didn’t say anything, fully prepared to take whatever shit Sam threw his way. “Why the fuck weren’t you with her?” Sam snarled at Ink.
“She was coming out of the bathroom from a shower, Sam,” Ink informed him. “I swear to God, I tried to get to her in time, but I’m not as fast as bullets.”
Sam clenched his fists at his sides, his eyes flashing with barely restrained rage. “Sam,” River snapped, drawing his VP’s eyes to him. “Cool it down. I know you want to bash his face in, but this isn’t the time nor the place.”
Sam stepped back from Ink and stormed over to one of the windows to look out at the darkening sky, his back rigid with tension.
I rubbed my hand over my belly and winced in pain when it cramped. River’s eyes instantly locked on mine, nothing getting past him. I shifted uncomfortably as the pain worsened. “Adelaide?” he asked as he moved closer to me, kneeling in front of me, his worried eyes running over my face.
“I think I need a doctor,” I whispered, knowing this cramp all too well. Terror swept through me, constricting my lungs and damn near choking me.
I only prayed that it wasn’t what I thought it was, that I wasn’t miscarrying. Not this late in my pregnancy.
I whimpered, tears filling my eyes when the pain only worsened. I couldn’t lose Jaxon. I wouldn’t survive the heartache.
Sam instantly took Axel from River. River lifted me into his arms, striding to the nurse’s station. My eyes met Joey’s. He watched helplessly, pain for me shining in his dark eyes.
Hold me with you, he mouthed.
I sobbed. River clutched my body tighter to his chest. “I need a doctor,” River snapped at the nurse working the desk.
“I’m having contractions,” I informed her when she opened her mouth to no doubt inform him that he would have to wait, as was normal protocol.
Her eyes widened, and she instantly paged for someone from labor and delivery. I sobbed as I got another strong contraction. River’s jaw clenched, and he pressed his lips to my forehead, trying to console me as much as console himself.
We were both terrified that I was losing our baby.
“They’ll pay for all of this hell, Adelaide.” River laid me on the stretcher that a nurse brought over to us. “They’ll fucking pay,” he swore.
I resisted the urge to wail as another contraction tightened my belly. The pain in my stomach was nothing compared to the pain in my heart. I was fucking terrified.
“River,” I cried, “stay with me. Fuck, please stay with me.”
He brought my hand up to his lips as he hurriedly walked with the nurses beside the stretcher. “Always, darlin’,” He promised. “For as long as you’ll have me.”
I burst into tears, falling apart.
Chapter Thirty
River
Iclosed my eyes, leaning my head back against the back of the uncomfortable hospital chair as I held Axel’s sleeping form in my arms. Adelaide was passed out on the hospital bed, where she’d been for the past several hours. She had gone into premature labor, and the doctor had to give her a shot to stop her contractions.
I wanted to fucking drop bodies for the hell that she was going through, for making us almost lose our son. Losing our baby, especially this late in her pregnancy, would destroy her. I’d never be able to save her.
Axel yawned as he came awake, his blue eyes locking onto my own instantly. “Hey, kid,” I murmured.
He gave me an adorable, toothless smile at me in response. Adelaide whimpered, her features twisting with pain. I instantly got up from the chair and strode over to her. “No,” she whimpered before I gently shook her awake. Her beautiful, dark eyes snapped open, locking on my own. Then, they immediately welled with tears. My heart twisted. “You’re okay,” she breathed.