Page 86 of Lick

It isn’t until the nurse comes for me that I realize he’s talking about me. “Sir, I need you to step outside.”

“I’m not leaving them.”

“You can stand just outside the door, but the longer you fight with me, the more distracted they’ll be trying to save her life.”

I feel like I’m being torn in two. Kissing the back of her hand, I gently release it. “Forgive me.”

I’m ushered outside as the surgeon yells, “We’re losing her.”

I turn to look, but a flurry of activity at my son’s table makes me stumble.

“He’s not breathing; start compressions.”

I’m shoved outside before I can even think of fighting. In shock, I let the nurse lead me just around the corner, out of sight.

“Stay here, I’ll be right back.” She runs back before I can form a sentence.

I stare at the floor and the stupid arrows showing you which way to walk, not knowing how the hell we ended up here. “Please don’t take them from me. You can take my legs, take my club, take everything I own, but don’t take them from me.”

A door slams open. I lift my head as my father jogs through. “A nurse upstairs pointed me in this direction. How are they doing?”

The noise that escapes me comes out barely human. The smile drops from his face. He must see what’s going to happen before I do, because by the time I fall, his arms are holding me up.

“I promised, Dad, I fucking promised her—” Suddenly. I’m ten years old again. Only this time, he won’t be able to fix everything.

If I lose them, he’ll lose me, and there is not a damn thing either of us can do to stop it.

39

Emma

Ifeel like I’ve been hit by a bus that then proceeded to back up and reverse over me.

I lick my dry, cracked lips before I attempt to open my eyes. The room is too bright, so I close them again, giving my brain a second to deal with the pain. The next time I open them, it’s not so bad. I gradually turn and see the top of a head resting on the edge of the bed. I frown, knowing that hair anywhere.

“Lick?”

His head jolts up like he’s been electrocuted. “Emma! Oh, fuck baby, you scared the shit out of me.” He dives up, and then his hands are on my face, and his lips are on mine. I’m too shocked to resist. When he pulls back, I swear his eyes look red around the edges.

“I don’t understand. What’s happening? What are you doing here?”

He smooths his hand over my hair. “What’s the last thing you remember?”

I sigh. I hate it when I get asked this question. It makes me feel like I’ve forgotten something import⁠—”

I suck in a ragged breath, my hands going to my deflating stomach. “The baby?” I whisper, almost too scared to ask.

“He’s in the NICU. He’s doing good. He had a rough start, but he’s a fighter like his mom.”

“And like his dad,” I choke out. “He? We have a boy?”

His grin is so wide and bright it’s almost blinding. “We have a son.”

The sob that tears out of me has me practically folding in two from the force of it. I hiss as pain ripples across my stomach. Lick curses softly, reminding me that I’ve just had surgery and to be careful.

“He’s okay? He’s really okay? Please don’t lie to me. Not about this.”

He takes both of my hands in his and sits on the edge of the bed. “I’ll tell you it all, but it’s not pretty. You’re both doing okay now, but for a while there…”