Page 55 of The Golden Goalie

“Okay.”

“Are you still cramping?”

“No.” The IV they hooked me up to must have really helped with that.

“And the bleeding?” he asks.

Surprisingly, I’m not even embarrassed by his questions. “I’m not sure, but I need to go to the bathroom. I can check then.”

He stands to his feet. “I’ll help you there.” I take his hand and let him guide me to the bathroom. I’m very aware of the fact that the back of me is barely covered in this hospital gown, but he doesn’t say a word to make me feel awkward. He leaves me in the bathroom and closes the door behind him. When I pull down my underwear, I’m relieved to see that the bleeding has stopped. I finish and open the door. His worried gaze meets mine. “It stopped.”

A look of relief crosses his face. “Good. Here are your clothes if you want to change so we can get you home.”

“Thank you.” I look up and meet his gaze. “Thank you for everything, Rico. I—” I don’t even know what to say.

“I’m glad you called me.” That’s all he says before he closes the door, so I can change. And just like that, there’s a connection between us, deeper than before.

Chapter 22

Rico

I lean against the door to the bathroom and try to get my own racing heart to settle. I swear she took ten years off my life tonight. I rub my heart that hasn’t exactly recovered yet. I don’t think I’ll ever forget the sound of her panicked voice when I answered my phone. I close my eyes. I don’t want to ever hear that kind of panic from her again. There’s movement on the door handle behind me, and I stand up. “Hey,” I say softly as she opens the door. My heart gives another beat of relief to see her in regular clothes and not the hospital gown that she was swimming in. I step close, needing to touch her. I put my hand around her elbow and guide her back to the bed while we wait. I barely get her settled before the nurse comes bustling back in. “Okay. You are good to go. All your instructions are on that paper, Hon.” Then the nurse pins me in her gaze. “Dad, you need to step it up and take better care of your girls.”

“I will,” I tell her, meaning it with every fiber of my being. Amber and I are going to be talking. Well, I’m going to be talking, and she’s going to be listening. We finally get to leave. I put a hand on Amber’s back and lead her to the door and out into the hallway where Aiden and Bri are standing, carrying on a very intense conversation. They turn when we walk towards them.

“We’re cleared to go home,” I say as we move past them. “Aiden, do you mind pulling up my truck?” I throw him my keys, not giving him a chance to argue. He disappears as Bri comes up on Amber’s other side and walks next to her, talking quietly to her. I don’t tune in; my brain is firing off everything that needs tohappen next to take care of Amber the way she needs to be taken care of.

When we get to the front of the hospital, Aiden steps out of my truck. I walk Amber over to the passenger side. Bri and then Aiden both hug her. Bri grasps her hands and says a few more things, and I can see that Amber is fading. “Okay, in you go,” I say, taking control. I put my hands on her sides and lift her up and into my truck and shut the door behind her. Brielle gives me a hard look before walking over to the entrance and disappearing inside.

“Well,Dad,”Aiden starts.

“Don’t,” I cut him off. He stares at me with that intense gaze of his. “They wouldn’t let me in unless I was family. I told them I was with Amber. They assumed I was the baby’s father, and I never said anything different. Amber was panicking and alone.” I rub a hand over my chest. “Don’t make a bigger deal out of this than it needs to be.” I don’t stick around to hear what he thinks about all this. It doesn’t matter. What matters right now is taking care of Amber. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”

“Garcia,” he calls out right before I climb in. I turn back, ready to go head-to-head with him. “Get some sleep.”

The fire leaves me. “I will.” I climb into the truck and settle behind the wheel before I glance over at Amber. I turn the vents so they’re tipped towards her. “You warm enough?” I ask softly.

“Yes, thank you.” Her voice is so soft and unsteady, so different from the fiery girl I first met. I hate it. The ride is silent, and I don’t bother to push her. She’s beyond exhausted. Besides, I don’t think once I start, I’ll be able to stop. I hate that she’s in the state she’s in. I just want to see her happy, healthy, and taken care of. I think of the fact that she’s alone, and anger burns in me. I can’t believe that any man would walk away from his woman when she’s carrying his baby.If she were mine, I’d never let her go.I take a breath, pushing away those dangerousthoughts because she’s not mine. I glance over at her. At least not yet, she’s not. I try to rein in my thoughts; I need a good workout today after I get a few hours of sleep. I need to blow off some steam. Maybe I’ll head over to Aiden’s later.

When we get to Amber’s house, her eyes are barely open. I hop out and come around to her side. I help her down and inside. “Oh, Baby,” her mom greets us at the door. “Bri told me. Are you okay?”

Amber looks absolutely depleted, so I step in. “She’s okay. She just needs to sleep now.” Her mom’s eyes meet mine, and she must understand what it is I’m trying to convey because she nods.

“Okay, Love, let’s get you to bed.” I let her mom guide her away from me, and I have to stop myself from following them. I want to be the one to help her into bed, but I know that’s not going to happen. So, I pace a circle in their small living room instead. About ten minutes later, her mom comes back into the living room. “What happened?” There’s no softness in her tone now; there’s just the worry of a mother.

I motion to the couch, and she sits down as I give her a rundown of the night. I can see the worry all over her face, and I try to ease it. But I get it. “We’re going to make a gameplan going forward, but right now, she needs sleep.”

She nods and sighs, sounding as exhausted as I feel. “My Amber has many wonderful qualities, but she’s stubborn as all get-out.”

“Oh, I know.”

She gives me an appraising look. “She’s going to be difficult to keep down.”

“I know.”

“She won’t want to slow down or cut any of her classes or hours at work,” she continues.

“I know.”

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