Page 41 of Sweet and Wild

“What happened? Is the baby okay?” I shout.

“West,” Mr. Winchester shouts. “Get this head of cattle through the gate on the north side.”

“We can just herd them back into the west pasture until tomorrow, Pops.”

“No. I need ’em moved today.”

“Okay.” West nods and he glances at me. “I got it. Just go.”

I glance at Mr. Winchester, half expecting him to order me to stay, but I dig my heels into Knievel’s side and take off for the house at a full tilt.

Thirty minutes later, I enter the yard and jump off Knievel. I don’t have time to take off his tack, curry his coat, or hose him down. I tie him to the fence post and run to the house. I yank open the front door and storm in without mucking off my boots—a punishable offence in Mama Winchester’s house.

“Lemon!”

I take the stairs two at a time and burst into her room. It’s empty, but the bright red stain in the middle of her sheets tells me everything I need to know. I holler and slam my fist into the door, leaving a hole in the solid oak wood. “Fuck!”

“Colton!” Mr. Winchester comes up the stairs, panting like he’s just covered 100,000 acres in a sprint and not his horse. “Where is she?”

“Hospital is my guess.”

“Come on, then. I’ll drive.”

“If it’s all the same, sir, I’d rather drive myself.”

“Why? So you can break the speed limit the whole way and end up dying before you get there?”

“I’m afraid, sir.”

“I know it, but you gotta pull yourself together and be strong for her. You understand me?”

I nod, though I don’t feel strong. I feel as if I’m falling apart.Please, God, let my woman and my baby be okay.

I follow Lemon’s daddy down the stairs, my nerves shot to hell. And I climb into his truck, though it takes everything in me not to just drive myself. But I can’t stand the thought of leaving Lemon to do this alone, and forcing my child to grow up without a father.

When we finally get to the hospital, I race inside while Lemon’s daddy finds a park. I’m led upstairs to the maternity ward, and through the viewing window inlaid into the door, I see the love of my life sitting on a bed in a white hospital gown, her normally tanned face almost as pale as the robe she’s wearing. Her mama is talking to a doctor, and I enter the room and rush to Lemon’s side.

“Colt,” she sobs.

“I’m here, darlin’. What happened?”

Mama Winchester excuses herself from her conversation and comes to stand on the opposite side of the bed from me. “Why don’t you come outside and I’ll fill you in.”

“No, don’t leave—” Lemon’s words are abruptly cut off by a sharp gasp, and she clutches her stomach.

“Lemon, what is it?”

“You’re okay, sweetheart,” Mama Winchester says as she rubs Lemon’s back. “Just breathe.”

“Do something!” I yell at the doctor, who looks a little taken aback.

“Sir, we’re doing everything we can. We’re waiting on the OB-GYN to assess Miss Winchester’s sonogram.”

“Lemon?” Mr. Winchester says from the doorway, no doubt feeling the same shock I did at seeing Lemon so defeated.

“Daddy,” she sobs. “It hurts. It hurts so much.”

Her father’s long legs swallow the distance between them, and I move out of the way so he can comfort his daughter. I rub my own arms to ward away the chill. The woman I love is in pain and there’s nothing I can do for her, and my baby’s life is at risk. I know that. I might be a kid preparing to be a dad, but I know bleeding and blinding pain like this ain’t a good thing. We’re losing our baby. I see that now. I just pray to God that I don’t lose them both because I can’t handle a world that doesn’t have Lemon Winchester in it.

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