Page 161 of Tempting Miles
“Yes,” I choke out as tears spill down my temples. “Whatever it takes to save my baby girl.”
They transfer me to another bed while more doctors crowd around me.
The room keeps moving around me in a blur of blue scrubs and bright lights. Someone places a mask near my face while another person explains something I can’t force myself enough to understand.
“Where’s Miles?” I ask desperately. “I need him.”
“He’s coming shortly,” a nurse says, picking up my hand and rubbing soothing circles across the back of it.
“Okay, Penny.” The same nurse adjusts something beside my head. “I need you to count backward from ten.”
“Ten… nine… eight…”
I send up a silent prayer that even if I don’t make it, our baby girl does.
Everything goes black.
“Hi, baby girl. You’re so beautiful. Just like yourmami. Yes you are.”
A pause.
“Come on, Penny. Wake up.”
Miles’s voice cuts through the darkness, and before I even manage to open my eyes, relief crashes through me.
“Miles?” I whisper weakly.
“Boss, fuck,” I hear quick footsteps approaching my bed.
I force my eyes open slowly until his face comes into focus.
His hair is a mess, his eyes red and swollen like he’s been crying for hours, but he still smiles at me like I’m the most beautiful thing he’s ever seen.
“There she is.” His voice cracks. “Hey, boss. You look beautiful.”
I huff out a weak laugh. “Stop lying. I’m sure I look like a hot mess.”
I try to sit up, but my body barely responds. Panic instantly shoots through me.
“Miles…” My voice rises. “I can’t move.”
“Hold on.” He presses the call button. “Nurse!”
A woman appears moments later, cheerful and calm in a way I envy.
“Oh, Mama is awake,” she says brightly as she checks the monitors around me.
“I can’t get up,” I say, my mouth extremely dry.
“It can take a couple hours for the anesthesia to fully wear off,” she explains kindly. “But once you’ve eaten something, I’d like for you to try to move around a little, take a shower, and eventually walk down to the NICU.”
I frown. “NICU?”
“The Neonatal Intensive Care Unit,” she explains gently.
My heart starts racing, and the monitors start to beep.
“Is she okay?” I ask Miles, terrified of the answer.
