Page 113 of Denim & Diamonds

I raked a hand through my hair. “Jesus Christ. Can they give you medicine for it, or fix it somehow?”

“No, but sometimes it corrects itself. As the uterus expands, it can naturally push the placenta back up. If it doesn’t, I’ll probably need a C-section. But they’re going to keep me in the hospital for a day or two, to monitor things and keep an eye on the bleeding.”

“Damn, I’m sorry. Is someone there with you?”

“My sister Kelly dropped me off. She had to go to work. But I’m fine. They have me on bedrest, which makes me miserable, so I’m not the greatest company anyway.”

I was quiet for a few heartbeats. “Okay. Is there anything I can do?”

“No. I just wanted to keep you updated.”

“Alright. Well, I guess give me a call tomorrow to let me know how things are going?”

“I will.”

“Thanks. Take care, Nina.”

I pushed the button on the dash to disconnect and felt more overwhelmed than ever. “What if something happens to the baby?”

Elvin looked over. “You can’t think like that. She’s in the right place. She’ll get good care.”

“Did Linda have placenta previa?”

Elvin shook his head.

“Should I go to Boston?”

“If you feel like you should be there, you should go.”

“I still have so much shit to do here to get ready to bring a baby home.”

“You need to do what your gut tells you. But I can promise you that half the shit we buy for babies, they don’t really need. You need diapers, formula, and a couple of outfits. Hell, our grandmother didn’t even buy a bassinet. She would just clean out a dresser drawer and put the baby in there for safe keeping.”

I yanked at my hair. “Fuck. We never stopped to get a bassinet either. But I think I need one. I’m not using a drawer.”

“Take a deep breath, Brock. That vein in your neck is starting to bulge. I’ll grab one for you.”

“What if the bleeding starts again so they do a C-section and I can’t get there? What if there are no flights available?”

Elvin pointed ahead. “Slow down. You’re about to miss our exit.”

My jobsite was only a few blocks off the highway, so my head was still spinning when I pulled in.

“You want to swap trucks for the night?” my brother asked. “So you don’t have to bring the haul to my place? You’ve got enough going on.”

“It’s okay. I’m just going to check what the guys got done here and then I’ll stop at your house on my way home and help you unload.”

He nodded. “Thanks. And I’ll have a cold beer waiting if you want to talk some more. I feel like you might need a few minutes to yourself first anyway.”

My brother wasn’t wrong, though I needed a lot more than a few minutes to get my head on straight. The problem was, I didn’t have time. What I really wanted to do was call February and talk to her about how I should handle Nina being in the hospital. But I wasn’t sure it was fair to dump this stuff on her. I was lucky she was still speaking to me at all.

A few hours later, though, even after a beer with my brother, I still had no damn clue what I should do, so I wound up calling her.

February answered on the first ring, though I could see she was still at the office. “Hey, you. Can you hang on just a minute?”

“Yeah, sure.”

She moved the phone away from her face, but I could still hear her talking. “Thank you for staying so late, Oliver.” She laughed. “And for making sure I didn’t strangle that thread supplier.”

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