Page 118 of All In
Oh God, no…
“Kacey? Kacey!” Dena raced toward me. “What’s happening?”
I sucked in air, “I can’t… I can’t…”
Dena and the entire world faded as my vision grayed and then went black.
CHAPTER
FORTY-SEVEN
I locked up the shop and stared at the front door a moment.
It was mine. I’d been so busy finalizing the details, I hadn’t the time to process it. I owned this place. It all belonged to me, including the responsibilities. If a pipe burst, it was my problem. If the electrical blew a fuse, it was my job to fix it. Inventory, advertising, employee payroll, taxes. All of it.
“Holy fucking shit.”
This is what you signed up for,I thought and gave a little chuckle. I’d always wanted this, but I always thought I’d be doing it alone. Instead, I had an amazing woman standing beside me, believing in me.
And she’s going to have a baby. I’m going to be a father.
“Holy goddamn fucking shit.”
I stood there, smiling like a dope on the sidewalk in front of my own place. My entire life was opening up, expanding out. We had baby to prepare for. The grand opening of the shop, Kacey’s music career. We were building a life together, and it was fucking better than anything I had ever hoped for myself.
I need to get a ring.
Even though my nervous hands nearly dropped the keys, my dopey grin wouldn’t quit.
A ring. What kind of ring? What did she like? What could I afford? And how should I propose. I sucked at romance. Couldn’t I just propose in bed? Was that allowed?
My cell rang as I climbed into the truck, Dena’s number on the display. She was out with Kacey today, scoping potential houses for rent and hitting the mall for some shopping.
“What’s up, Dena?”
“Theo, listen to me,” she said. Her tone was calm, but her voice trembled at the edges. “I’m at Sunrise Hospital with Kacey.”
“What happened?” My blood felt like gasoline someone had set a match to. “What happened? Is she okay? Was there an accident?”
Oh my God, no. This isn’t happening. Not again. I can’t do this again…
“We were coming out of the parking lot, and she doubled over in pain. I don’t know what happened, they haven’t told me any details yet. You need to come. Just get here quick but drive safely.”
I dropped the phone on the passenger seat and threw the truck into drive. It took every bit of my will power to not floor it, to not run red lights, and it felt like I hit every goddamn one.
Hold on, baby, I’m coming.
I screeched into the parking lot in front of the Emergency Room, parked, and ran for the entrance, a refrain in my head pounding along with my steps.
Not again, not again, not again.
I hated Sunrise Hospital. I was here when Jonah was flown in from a hospital in Austin, Texas, after the frantic departure out of Venezuela. I lived here when he was waiting for a transplant. I camped out in his room for the early biopsies. I was on a first-name basis with the staff in the cardiac unit.
The last time I was here was when Jonah slipped away.
I stepped inside the sliding doors and pressed my hand to the wall, suddenly dizzy.
Not again. I can’t do this again. I’m tapped out. I’m…
