Page 18 of Seeking Vengeance
She shook her head with vehemence. “First one … takes … forever. Rather be … here … as long as … I can. Hate … hospitals …”
“Sorry, Mags. I love you, but …” Sean whipped out his mobile and hit the speed dial. “Mick, yeah, Sean. Listen. Yeah, I think so. Hang on.” He looked at Maggie. “Did your water break?”
She nodded. “Yeah.”
“When?”
Maggie looked at the clock. “T-t-ten …”
“Ten minutes ago?”
She shook her head.
“Ten of eight …” she blew out.
The clock read nine fifteen.
“Holy shit, Mags! Mick, she says her water broke over an hour ago.”
Sean was forced to hold the phone away from his ear; even Maggie could hear her husband cursing a blue streak on the other end. He mentally replayed the last half hour, seeing her shifts and grimaces in a new light. He’d been so preoccupied with thoughts of Nicki that he hadn’t recognized them for what they were.
“Yeah. About two to three minutes, I think,” Sean said, his eyes sharp and accusing. “Uh-huh. Got it.”
Sean pocketed the cell. “Oh, Mags, he is so going to paddle your ass for this one.”
She nearly collapsed in relief as the pain ebbed away, and she smiled weakly. “That’s what got me into this mess in the first place.”
Despite himself and the worry he felt for her, he smiled. “Come on. Mick’s waiting for us at the hospital.”
“I thought you were the nice one,” she complained in a breathlesswhooshas he helped her to her feet. “I gave you cookies.”
Maggie struggled to walk on her own, but the next pain had her nearly doubled over. Sean slung her bag over his shoulder and easily scooped her up into his arms.
“Sorry, babe. Common misconception. Shane’s the nice one, and I’m under strict orders here. Hey, you’ve got one hell of a grip, you know that?”
He got her settled into the car as quickly as possible, and then he took off like a bat out of hell.
“Have you thought about asking her to work at the garage?” Maggie asked in between doglike-panting breaths as Sean drove expertly down the mountain roads at speeds that probably shouldn’t be attempted below ten thousand feet.
He glanced over to see her clutching the dash with one hand and the door with the other.
It took him a moment to realize what she was talking about. “Nicki? Yeah, I was thinking about it, even brought it up as a possibility to Nick, see what he’d think. If she’s really as good as Nick says, I’d be stupid not to. But I don’t know. There’s a lot of testosterone in the garage. I might have to kill one or more of my guys. And I really don’t know if it’s a good idea to work with someone I’d like to get involved with.”
“Yeah … could be a problem. Sean?”
“Yeah?”
“Hurry.”
He pressed the gas pedal to the floor and engaged all twelve cylinders of the sleek black Jag.
Sean whipped up to the emergency room entrance in a perfect horizontal slide to where Michael was waiting with his preferred team. The door was opening before he even came to a complete stop.
“How are we doing, sweetheart?” Michael asked, his calm, soothing voice at odds with the quick, efficient way he moved.
Incapable of answering, she looked at him with wide eyes, her knuckles white from where they gripped the seat.
“There’s hardly any time between them now.” Sean’s voice held the unshakable calm of his brother’s, though his body was tense, coiled. “She didn’t tell me she was in labor, Mick,” he added on.
