Page 237 of Show Me

I gag hard. My stomach heaves again. Behind me, metal clicks again as the second cuff snaps shut. Lindsey is screaming something. Her voice sounds hoarse now. Broken. But it barely registers.

My whole body shakes. Fear claws violently through my chest. What if one pill was enough? And the second one dissolved. What if….

I spin around so fast the room sways. “Call Emily.”

Jake looks up sharply.

“Ruby–”

“Call her!” My hand presses instinctively against my stomach. Panic tears through me. “The baby–” My voice breaks. “Oh God… what if I hurt the baby?”

Chapter One Hundred Twenty-Eight

Xavier

Baby. For one terrifying second, my brain stops working. The word hangs there while everything else around me blurs.

Broken glass. Jake fighting with Lindsey. The flashing lights outside the windows as more patrol cars arrive.

Baby.

My chest tightens so hard it hurts. Ruby is pregnant. The realization slams into me all at once. A baby. My baby.

Shock crashes through me so hard I almost miss the way Ruby sways beside the sink. Fear snaps me back instantly. I move toward her without thinking.

“Hey.” I catch her before she loses her balance. Her entire body is shaking. Mine might be too. “I’ve got you.”

The words come out rough. Unsteady. Not confident. Just desperate.

Ruby grips the front of my shirt hard enough to wrinkle the fabric between her fists. “I swallowed one,” she says. “I cheeked the other one, but it dissolved and–” Her breathing breaks. Fear flashes hard across her face. “What if something happens?”

My stomach twists. I don’t know. Jesus Christ, I don’t know. Behind us, Jake forces Lindsey down into a chair. She’s crying. Still ranting. “It’s their fault.”

Ramirez ambles through the door, grabs Lindsey’s arm. “Give me the rundown.”

“Wait.” Jake grabs his radio. “Dispatch, I need EMS at Ruby Bennett’s address now.” His eyes cut toward the sink. “Don’t rinse anything out yet. Emily will want to know what came back up.”

Ruby makes a small broken sound beside me. I tighten my grip on her. Her forehead presses against my chest. She looks terrified. Not just shaken. Terrified. And all I can think about is how close this came to ending differently.

If I hadn’t realized it was Lindsey…. If Jake hadn’t agreed with me…. If we would’ve gone to Ruby’s Dad’s place instead of coming here when she didn’t answer…. If Lindsey had….

I shut the thought down hard before it could finish.

My hand slides shakily through Ruby’s hair. “You only took one, and the second dissolved, right?”

“But what if that was enough?” Ruby nods once against my chest as Jake briefs Ramirez and Lindsey denies everything.

I have no answer for that. None. And I think she realizes it the second I hesitate.

Fear flashes across her face again. I pull out my phone with numb fingers and call Emily. She answers. “Xavier?”

“Ruby swallowed something.” My voice sounds strange. Tight. “We need you here now.”

“We’re two blocks away. Is she conscious?” Professional. Evaluating. Emily transitioned from friend to EMT in one breath.

“Yes.”

“Breathing okay?”