Page 98 of The Ranger
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I’m alive.
Cole found us and, oh my god, I’m having this baby.Now.The pain is so intense, but my brain is dizzy.I’m so thirsty I can’t think straight.
But we are alive.
God, I hope the baby is okay.
I’m going insane worrying.It’s the strangest feeling.I’m almost certain that if I wasn’t pregnant, I’d be in major survival mode and only thinking about myself.
Unconditional love.
I would die for my child, but I really hope I don’t need to do that.
Everything is a blur.I recall seeing Ryder and Liam and some medical people, but my entire focus is the baby and Cole.I’ve been clinging to him like he’s my lifeline.
He is.
She’s my wife.
I might not be completely with it, but those words connected, collided with my brain and imprinted.
Your team needs to clear the warehouse because when that ambulance arrives, I’m taking her out.And I’m shooting anyone who gets in my way.
He’s protecting us.
There isn’t a single other person alive that I want with me.He’s the only person I’ve thought about for days.All I focused on was Cole.
I knew he would come.
I hoped.
Now he’s here, and we are having this baby.It’s hard not to see him as my knight in shining armor.I know this is what he does—saving people.I know this is his baby, and he would have been losing his mind wondering how to find us.
But...I know Cole.He was distraught when he found us.Even now, he still looks ready to blow up the planet to protect us.
Don’t leave me.
Never.
The conviction in his voice and the way his entire body enveloped me as he locked our eyes almost rocked me to the core.
Never.He’s never leaving me.
I can’t focus enough to consider what that means, but I needed to hear it.I needed to know he will protect me and the baby as it arrives into this world.
I need his strength and promises right now.
The rest we will work out when I am back to full health.
As we bump along the road, I catch the attention of the paramedic, who has pressed a device to my bell.I ask, “The baby?Is it okay?”
He glances up at the bag of fluids that is pumping into my veins then back at me, removing the cold stethoscope.
“Both your heart rates are high, indicating stress and dehydration.The fluids will help quickly,” he explains.The doctor will give you more information when you’re inside the hospital.They know we’re on the way.”
“Fuck,” Cole rubs his hand over his face.
