Page 235 of Misrule
Along with Roxanne and Knox, Val, Zoann, Mortician, and Bailey were at the hospital with Johnnie, in support of Kendall. Cash, Digger, Slipper and his sons, Potter, Gabe, Bowlie, Boy, Danicka, Gypsy, and Derby had come to await word of Megan. Stretch had stayed behind to serve as protection for the children with Bunny and Diesel. What Christopher found odd was the fact that Krag, Webster, Pete, and Talbot hadn’t gone either place. They were Megan’s bodyguards, so Christopher thought they should’ve been amongst the first to arrive after the ambulance. Or, if not, gone to check on Johnnie. Even if they didn’t like Kendall,Johnniewas still their brother.
“Mr. Caldwell?”
Doc Will’s tired voice reached Christopher. Turning, he saw Cam standing next to his wife. Although Knox was with Roxanne, at the hospital Kendall had been taken to, his best friend, Cam, had come here because that’s where his woman was going to be.
Christopher rushed to her. “Megan?” he demanded, not having it in him to inquire after his son.
“She’s out of surgery and in recovery, but it’s touch-and-go,” Doc Will said quietly. “She developed pre-eclampsia, which led to a placental abruption. We had to deliver the baby. He’s very, very premature, but he’s alive.”
He heard the pause at the end of her sentence, picked up on what she’d left off:for now.
“I-I can lose both of them?” he whispered, his entire world reeling.
She grabbed his hand and squeezed it. “I’m so sorry, Outlaw,” she told him, the first time she’d ever called him anything other thanMr. Caldwell. “I wish I had better news.”
“Christopher,” Fee said from behind him, the grief in her voice gutting him.
He couldn’t move. His muscles felt cemented. Blood roared in his ears and his heart skipped a beat, pounded in agony. He thought he might fall to his knees.
“When can we see her?” Gypsy asked. She was Derby’s old lady, who had become a very good friend to Megan.
“And the baby?” Danicka added.
“Mrs. Caldwell will be brought to ICU in a couple of hours,” Doc Will explained. “Baby Caldwell is in NICU. He can be viewed through the window when he’s stabilized.”
“How far along was she?” Gypsy inquired.
Doc Will sidled a glance to Christopher. “She was twenty-five weeks. The baby has at least a fifty-fifty chance of survival.”
“And my Megan?” Christopher said on a swallow. “Her chances?”
“She’s a strong young woman,” Doc Will said, not offering a direct answer, and then changing the subject altogether. “A nurse will come out and guide you to the NICU as soon as possible.”
“I know how to get there, Doc,” Christopher answered. He looked at his boots. “This ain’t the first time I gotta go see one of my kids there.”
Doc Will nodded. “Does anyone have any more questions?”
A thought occurred to Christopher. “You say Megan was twenty-five weeks?”
Again, wariness entered Doc Will’s eyes. Megan had probably told her about what might happen to Christopher’s doctor if he found out the motherfucker fucked over him.
“He already fuckin’ buried, doc,” Christopher admitted.
Doc Will groaned. “I take it Meggie doesn’t know?”
“No. Ain’t wanted her to feel guilty.”
“I understand,” she answered. “And, yes, Meggie was twenty-five weeks.”
“She gave our new boy a name?”
“No.”
“I gotta name she might like. Axel. As soon as she wake up, Ima see what she say.”
“That’s a lovely name,” Doc Will said with a smile. “I’m sure Meggie won’t mind if you name him. In the event…” She glanced away. “A name is always good for paperwork.”
In the event that Megan didn’t wake up and the baby died.
