Runaway: The Sequel to Secrets, a sexy and dramatic western romance (Finding Love ~ THE OUTSIDER SERIES)

by Lorhainne Eckhart

  Andy rose up on his elbow so he could easily look down into her eyes. “Don’t you worry about Doctor Richardson. I’ll deal with her. I want you to relax. You need to let me handle this.”

  “But, Andy, what are you going to do? I mean, I heard Jed, what he said….”

  “Laura, go to sleep. There is nothing for you to worry about. This is my responsibility. I’ll handle it.” He cut her off, and his expression appeared to darken, but it wasn’t for her. He leaned down and kissed her, and for the first time, she didn’t feel the need to wonder and worry. She really believed he would handle it.

  “You make me feel so safe, Andy.” She yawned because letting go and being able to lean on Andy had her so relaxed that she thought maybe she could sleep for a week. So she snuggled into his arms, one hand resting on his very sexy hip, the other linked with his, feeling as if she was nestled in a very protective cocoon. She felt the tension melt from every muscle, every limb, until she was so relaxed that she felt herself floating to a place of absolute peace.

  She didn’t know what woke her, she lay there in that place, not really awake, listening to Andy’s heavy breathing behind where she was still pressed against him. She first became aware of the cramping down her thighs, and it brought her instantly alert. She waited for it to pass as it slowly grew stronger, as if someone had pulled the belt tighter around her and then let it go. She breathed out and blinked in the darkness. How long had she been asleep? She didn’t know, but as the cramping passed, she became aware of an ache pinching her lower back. It had been there last night and must have come from all the running she did, dragging Gabriel down a darkened path. She had pushed herself too hard—of course she did. After all, she’d been on bed rest, and Andy had all but waited on her hand and foot. Her body wasn’t used to this. She needed to move, as the cramping in her back was getting worse, and she hated moving because Andy was so tired and he was such a light sleeper that she didn’t want to wake him. She didn’t want to move out of the comfort of his arms.

  “What’s wrong?” Andy muttered in a deep, groggy voice.

  “I didn’t want to wake you. It’s just that my back hurts,” Laura said. Then she felt the cramping again down her thighs and lower belly. “Ohh,” she groaned as she pulled her knees up and blew out as the tightening seemed to go on longer, stealing her breath.

  Andy was now sitting up and leaning over her, rubbing her arm. “Are you having contractions, Laura?” He sounded wide awake now.

  It took Laura a minute before she could answer. “I don’t know. My back was hurting. I just thought I did too much last night.”

  “I’m going to call the doctor.” Andy started to get out of bed.

  “No, don’t call that doctor. I don’t want her anywhere near me and the babies. She’s going to hurt me, take our babies.” Laura started to cry, and Andy slid his hand under her shoulder and lifted her as she struggled to sit up. He held her against his warm chest.

  “Shh, don’t cry. I’m not calling Doctor Richardson. I’m going to take you to the hospital.”

  “No, I don’t want to go to the hospital. Andy, please.”

  “Laura, it’s too early for you to have the babies. I’m going to wake Jed, get the name of Diana’s doctor.” Andy slid out of bed and had his jeans on in a second. He sat beside her on the bed and pulled on his boots. “Look, I want to talk to someone to make sure that you and the babies are okay. I promise I’m not going to let anything happen. You’ve got to trust me, Laura.”

  “Andy, I do trust you. I’m just scared.”

  He touched her face with both hands, and she grabbed both his wrists, holding on to him because she didn’t want him to go. Andy leaned in and kissed her lightly.

  “I’m not going to let anything happen to you. No one is taking our babies.”

  She watched him, and something inside the blue-gray of his eyes had her heart doing a flip-flop. That wolf, predator, and protector was all around her. My God was all she could think as she swallowed and then finally nodded, hypnotized. She felt the sync of his flow, and she wasn’t on the outside looking in. It was powerful and beyond words, and it was all she had ever wanted. So absolutely, yes, she trusted him with her life, her babies’ lives.

  “I’ll be right back.” He grabbed his coat off the chair and pulled it on as he hurried down the steps, and Laura listened as she felt the tightening low in her pelvis, across the front and down her thighs, and she rocked on the bed and groaned from the ache. It was stronger, longer, and it was just passing when she heard footsteps, Andy running up the steps and another behind him. She pulled up the blanket over her breasts, as she sat naked under the covers.

  “You have another contraction?” Andy said. He was behind her on the bed. Jed was standing by the stairs, and she felt so exposed. Andy must have known, as he reached for his shirt on the chair and helped her put it on, buttoning up the front. “The bed’s wet,” Andy said as he pulled back the covers.

  “I think my water broke.” Laura could feel it trickling out of her. “Can I have a towel? The mattress is soaked under me.”

  “Diana’s calling her doctor, Laura, but it sounds like you two need to go to the hospital now.” Jed was standing over them.

  “Jed’s right, Laura. We need to go now. I’ll help you get dressed.” Andy was off the bed, reaching for the clothes tossed on the floor.

  “No, I don’t want to go, Andy. I want to have the babies here.”

  Both men gave her a look as if she’d just lost her mind.

  “You’re thirty-three weeks. It’s too early; there could be complications, and you’re having twins. We are not staying here. You are having these babies in the hospital, where there are doctors and nurses who know what to do if something goes wrong, where there is medical equipment.”

  Jed opened his mouth as if trying to figure out what to say. Andy was now pacing beside the bed, the wolf she’d come to know as part of who he was wound so tightly that she wondered for a moment whether he wouldn’t reach down and scoop her up. She could also see that he was holding himself back from leaping in, taking her, dumping her in his truck, and driving fast and furious to the hospital.

  He pressed his fingertips to his eyes and hovered above her. “Laura, you are going to the hospital….”

  She didn’t hear what else he said, because another contraction squeezed, shooting pain like shards of glass jabbing into her thighs. It was the worst yet, and she rocked on the bed and moaned. “Oh, Andy…”

  The bed squeaked, and the mattress dipped beside her. His hand was pressed against her lower back, rubbing, his other across her front so she could lean into him.

  “Andy, it hurts. I don’t remember it being so hard.”

  “That’s pretty close together, Laura,” Jed said. The floor creaked as he stepped closer. “Andy, you need to talk your wife into going to the hospital, or you should just take her.”

  “No, I don’t want to go. Please, Jed, if I’m in the hospital, that doctor could sneak in and take my babies, our babies, Andy. If they planned this, how easy would it be for them to do it, give me a shot, put me out? I know it sounds paranoid. I’m scared, and it’s nothing to do with me not trusting you, Andy, because I do. I just don’t trust what they’d do.”

  Laura rode out another wave of contractions and leaned against Andy, fisting his leather coat, squeezing it. His chin rested on top of her head. She heard him say something to Jed and listened to Jed’s footsteps going down the stairs, but that was all that registered in her brain. She was simply here with Andy, thinking the pain, becoming a part of it.

  “Laura, you’re fighting it. Breathe, come on, take a deep breath and let it out, and again.”

  She listened to his voice and did what he said, and it helped. She wanted to sag into him when it passed, because she was so tired.

  She knew the sound of Jed’s heavy footsteps as he hurried back up. The hardwood stairs and the open beam brought an echo every time someone came up or even walked across the
floor. Laura welcomed the sound because she loved it here; it was safe and a haven, and to her, it was a comfort.

  “Diana just spoke with her doctor. She wants to know how close they are together. She said she’ll meet you at the hospital.”

  “Still no cell service out here, right?” Andy was on his feet, reaching into his coat pocket for his cell phone and holding it up. “Shit, nothing. Jesus, Jed, of all times for you to live out in the middle of nowhere.”

  “Andy…” Laura called out to him and let out a loud groan. The pain was tearing at her thighs and in her back, and she thought she’d go out of her mind. He was beside her again, and she leaned on him as he rubbed her back and talked her through it. Then it passed.

  “That’s pretty close together. Two minutes, Jed. Call your doctor back. Tell her we’ll meet her at the hospital. I’m taking Laura now.”

  Jed took off down the stairs again.

  Laura didn’t want to go, but she was also scared now because she didn’t think she could handle this. Andy grabbed her pants on the floor and held them so she could step into them. “Laura, come on, put your legs in.”

  She slid her legs over the side of the bed, pulling back the damp covers. She could still feel the amniotic fluid running out of her. “Andy, my pants are going to be soaked. It’s going to look like I peed myself.” She put her feet in, and Andy lifted her up and slid them over her hips.

  “I don’t care. I’m getting you to the hospital if I have to wrap you in a blanket and carry you naked.”

  “Andy,” Jed shouted up, “Diana’s on the phone inside with her doctor. She’s on her way, but she has to drive past us. She said Laura’s contractions sound too close together. She’ll be here first if you want to wait. She also said to call an ambulance. Don’t drive, or you may be delivering on the side of the road.”

  “Andy, there’s another one coming.”

  Andy had her lean against the bed rail, his hand pressed into her back. “Come on, breathe through it. You know this. We learned all of this. Let it go; focus on your breath.” His voice and the strength in it brought her through and over the peak of the pain, his hand rubbing her lower back as if he knew instinctively where the pressure and burning ache came from.

  “Andy, oh my God, it hurts.”

  “I know it does,” Andy said. His voice was her anchor, and he spoke deeply and softly. She held on to that, just like his arm, which snaked around her front, holding her shoulders. She reached for his forearm and held tight. She felt weak and tired when it passed, but she’d only just started.

  Footsteps pounded up the stairs again. “Diana’s calling an ambulance. Her doctor’s here, Doctor Caldwell.”

  Laura was still holding the bedframe when a dark, mocha-skinned doctor with light brown eyes and dark hair pulled tight in a ponytail set a bag on the table.

  “Hi, you must be Laura. When was your last contraction, honey?”

  “She just had it,” Andy said. “I’m her husband, Andy. Did Diana and Jed tell you why she called?”

  “Quite a tale I was told. Don’t know if I believe it, but let’s get your wife settled and looked after. Laura, I want you back on the bed so I can check you and see how far you’ve progressed.”

  Andy helped Laura back on the bed.

  “Let’s get your pants off, too.” The doctor was short and a little on the chunky side. She had full, dark lips and a no-bullshit attitude that made Laura want to trust her. “Jed, I’m going to need some towels here, too. Laura, it looks like you’re leaking some amniotic fluid.”

  “My water broke. The bed is wet,” Laura said.

  Andy slid off her pants. “Come on, Laura. Lift your butt.”

  The doctor pulled a rubber glove from her bag and slipped it on. “If you feel a contraction, you need to tell me.” She slipped her fingers inside and stared up at Andy. Jed was just outside the bathroom. The doctor shook her head. “Jed, see if the paramedics are here. Laura, you’re ten centimeters, honey, fully dilated. I’m going to need you to start pushing.”

  “Well, how can that be? My labor started not long ago.”

  “Any back pain?” she asked and reached for the towels Jed held out to her.

  “Yeah, last night or tonight when I left, my back was killing me all the way here. That was around nine. I don’t even know what time it is!” Laura cried.

  “It’s four in the morning, way too early for anyone in their right mind to be up. Jed, also, when you’re down there to get the paramedics, tell them I need a clamp and mask. They’ll know. Just tell them Mom’s in active labor, twins early at…” She hesitated and looked to Andy just as Laura felt another contraction pull her in. The muscles tightened her back, her thighs, across her belly and went on and on.

  “She’s thirty-three weeks,” Andy said as he rested his hand on Laura’s bare hip.

  “Oh, I need to push!” she screamed, grabbing the side of the mattress and squeezing it.

  “Okay, Laura, how do you want to deliver? On your side, your back?” the doctor asked, but Laura couldn’t answer. “Andy, get behind your wife. Get her up. Laura, legs apart. Come on. You’re going to push when I tell you and push with the contraction.”

  The doctor slid a towel under her butt, and Andy’s shirt was pushed up.

  Andy was behind her, and he had her lean against him and took both her hands in his. He kissed her cheek. “You can do this.”

  “As soon as the next contraction hits, I want you to start pushing,” the doctor said. She rested her hand on Laura’s knee, pushing it open wider.

  It was so fast, the power of the next contraction, that they were almost on top of each other, so strong she felt as if they were ripping her apart. She screamed as she pushed, and Andy was loud and demanding in her ear, telling her to push, to keep going.

  “I can see the head. Stop pushing, Laura.”

  “Oh, it hurts,” she cried out and rolled her head against Andy’s shoulder. “Andy, I can’t do this. It hurts so much.”

  “Yes, you can,” he said sharply as he held her, his lips against her ear, his warm breath on her cheek. “I’m getting you through this. Just you and me, let’s bring this baby in.”

  “Laura, slow and easy, just a small push. Okay, stop. The head’s out.”

  Laura could hear commotion, voices, people coming up the stairs, two paramedics and Jed, and she didn’t care who saw her like this, not at this point. She just wanted her baby out, the pain to stop, for this to be over.

  “Laura, okay, push again on the next contraction.” Dr. Caldwell was sitting right on the bed, her hands gloved. “Cord’s around the neck. Okay, it’s off.”

  Laura didn’t really know who the doctor was talking to, but there was a man there now, speaking to her. The last contraction ripped through her, and she pushed and yelled, squeezing Andy’s hand hard.

  “That’s it. The shoulders are out. Stop pushing, Laura. Ah, there we go.”

  Laura waited but didn’t hear anything. “I can’t hear my baby,” she said.

  The doctor said nothing, but her face was harried, and she clamped and cut the umbilical cord. “Mask here now!” she shouted at the paramedics, who hovered while the doctor used a suction in the baby’s mouth and then put a mask over it, squeezing it three, four times. Then the baby cried. “That was way too close.” She wrapped the baby in a towel. “Here, Mom. It’s a girl.”

  Laura stared at the angelic tiny face on her naked belly and held her. It was Andy who touched her tiny finger and asked, “What happened?”

  “Cord was around the baby’s neck. We were lucky. Let’s get her to the hospital now. I’m not chancing anything else going wrong. I’m operating blind, and I don’t like that.” She turned to the paramedics. “Can you bring the stretcher up here?”

  “I’ll carry my wife down. Jed, take our baby.” Andy reached for their tiny daughter, who just fit in his large hand. He watched her for a second and then kissed her forehead before setting her in Jed’s arms.

  �
��I’ve got her. Get your wife down to the ambulance,” Jed said.

  Andy grabbed the quilt at the foot of the bed and wrapped Laura in it, lifting her and carrying her down. The paramedics had already gone down first and had the back door of the ambulance open. The doctor and Jed followed. Diana was outside by the ambulance now, waiting in her housecoat, and she looked tired, worried, and scared for Laura.

  “Laura, we’ve got Gabriel. Don’t you worry,” Diana said to her as Andy stepped into the ambulance and laid her on the stretcher.

  Jed handed the baby to the doctor. “It’s a girl,” he said to his wife, and as she peeked at the baby the doctor was holding, her face lit up.

  “Oh, she’s so beautiful,” Diana whispered.

  “Laura, how’re you doing?” the doctor asked as she handed the baby to the short, balding paramedic in back with them, who set the baby in the crook of Laura’s arm on the gurney.

  “I’m sore, but I haven’t had another contraction like I did. Is that normal?” Laura gazed into the face of her daughter. She was moving her tiny mouth, and it looked so much like Andy’s.

  “Having twins, there is nothing normal, but it happens where contractions slow. Let’s get going. I want to get an ultrasound on the next one.” The doctor climbed in and sat beside Andy on the bench.

  The back doors shut, and the ambulance started moving. Andy caressed Laura’s cheek, pushing back her damp hair, and the expression on Andy’s face, in his touch, was filled with so much love that she thought her heart would burst. When he looked down on his daughter, she knew without a doubt that not one of them would ever be an afterthought.

  Chapter 23

  “My leg’s wet. I feel wet. I’m not feeling so good,” Laura said and then searched out Andy. “Andy, take our baby. Don’t let her go.”

  The doctor had pulled back the blanket, and Andy slipped the baby in his arms. Laura’s face paled. The pink cheeks and all the color she’d had moments ago appeared to drain away.

  “Okay, she’s bleeding. I’m blind, here. She could be delivering the placenta for the first one. I need some light here. Andy, do you remember what Doctor Richardson said about the twins? Are they sharing the same sac? Fraternal twins, identical?” The doctor spoke fast, but there was an edge of urgency to her voice.