Page 125 of Embracing the Beat
Ordinarily, I would disagree, but the edges of my vision are fuzzy, and the pain is like nothing I’ve ever experienced. I nod, tears dripping onto my thighs and terror spiking through me.
“It hurts,” I whimper.
Warm lips press against my temple, his hand covering mine where it curls protectively around the barely there bump.
“It’s going to be okay.” He stands, leaning over and lifting me as if I weigh nothing. The cramping intensifies with the movement, and I bite my lip on a moan, pressing my teeth so hard into the flesh the metallic taste of blood coats my tongue.
I keep one hand on my stomach and dig the other into the soft cotton of his shirt.
“Who the hell are you?” Mia’s voice cuts across the patio, and the light smell of jasmine perfume mixes with West’s cologne and the laundry soap scent of his shirt. “Kayla?”
“Ames, what the hell?” Garrett’s voice is close by as well, even if I don’t open my eyes to confirm.
“Something’s wrong.” West shifts his grip slightly, and I whimper.
“West.”
“I know, baby.”
“West? You’re West? You have some fucking nerve—”
“Ames,” Garrett interrupts her tirade.
“What?”
“We need to get Michaela some help,” Garrett says. Thank god for his rational response since my stomach is being turned inside out through my belly button. “Is that your car in the driveway?”
“Yeah,” West answers, taking a few more steps. They’re cautious, but the jostling creates lightning strikes of agony across my abdomen.
“Why don’t we drive? You can sit in the back with Michaela,” Garrett offers.
Mia makes a noise like she might disagree, but Garrett keeps talking.
“Ames, look at her. She needs him.”
I do need him. His warmth against me is the only thing keeping me sane right now. What would I do if he wasn’t here?
I’ve never been so terrified. Panic, anxiety, and pain all center in my stomach, radiating outward and causing other muscles to cramp in sympathy. Easing me into the car, he brushes his lips against my forehead.
“Be right back,” he says, and I don’t even inhale and exhale before he’s opening the other door, sliding next to me.
Two other doors slam, and we start to move. I try to hold myself upright and still since it seems to help the cramps a little—until we go over a bump. I cry out, squeezing West’s fingers resting on the seat between us.
“I’m here,” he murmurs, draping an arm around my shoulder and pulling me next to him.
“What if…what if…the baby.”
“Shh. It’s going to be okay.”
“You d-d-don’t know that.”
He huffs a laugh. “You’re right, I don’t. But I’m going to do everything in my power to keep you safe. Both of you.”
West races around the car to help me out when we pull up to the hospital’s emergency entrance. I try to stand, but my knees buckle, and he scoops me up again.
“If you think I’m leaving you alone with her,” Mia warns, her car door echoing mine. “You’ve got another thing coming.”
“Ames,” Garrett calls out.
