Total pages in book: 78
Estimated words: 77422 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 387(@200wpm)___ 310(@250wpm)___ 258(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 77422 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 387(@200wpm)___ 310(@250wpm)___ 258(@300wpm)
My only hand moved to my belly where it was more comfortable, and my head started to list to the side as I began to drift off.
Right before I fell asleep again, I suddenly remembered what I’d forgotten earlier.
My baby!
***
“I don’t think this is a good idea,” the doctor said for the fifth time.
I looked at my doctor, then back to Dean, and again stood my ground.
“I’m going. Whether you want me to or not. I’ll sign whatever forms I have to to get out of here. I’ll come right back. I just need to see her!” I said urgently.
The moment I’d remembered my baby, I’d been hell-bent on seeing her, but even I knew that I was in no shape to go see her. Dean brought me a picture every time he visited her in the NICU. I had waited 5 days, but I couldn’t wait any longer. I need to see my baby girl.
Baby girl.
The smile that overtook my face at the thought of having a girl was enough to convince the doctor.
“You can’t lift your bed any higher than you have it at right now,” he started listing. “You can’t hold her. You can’t get out of bed. You can’t remove your IV. If I receive a report from the NICU that you did anything other than lay there and look, I’ll get an order signed for all to know that you’re not allowed to go over there again. Do you understand?”
My lips thinned and my eyes narrowed, but I nodded.
I’d do just about anything, and Dean hadn’t said a single word during my argument with the doctor.
He was like Switzerland. Neutral and refusing to side with either party.
“Fine,” the doctor snapped. “Consuela, you will accompany her anywhere she goes, and you will listen to your instincts. If you feel that she’s overtaxing herself, you will bring her back immediately.”
I grinned widely.
“Thank you, Doctor.”
He rolled his eyes and left the room, leaving Consuela, my nurse, and Dean.
“Let’s go!” I yelled, my eyes once again going to the clock on the wall.
According to Dean, I had less than an hour until visiting hours closed in the NICU, a full two hours earlier than they closed in the ICU where I was at.
Where I wouldn’t be for long, according to the doctor. I’d actually be on a different floor, one that specialized in rehabilitation, had there been any rooms for me to move into.
According to my doctor, if I was well enough to argue with him, I was well enough not to be in the ICU anymore.
“Let’s go, people!” I yelled. “Time’s a wastin!”
Dean’s smile broke out over his face, and I was struck once again, for the fifteenth time since I’d woken up and seen him at my bedside, how handsome he was with a beard.
It would break my heart when he had to shave it off to return to work. Beards were, according to Dean, a no-no with the fire department. Something about masks not sealing correctly, or something to that effect.
“I’m ready,” Consuela said, unlocking the wheels of my bed.
Dean pushed from the end of the bed, and suddenly I was moving out my door, and down the hallway.
“Faster,” I ordered.
Dean snorted while Consuela gave me a ‘be good’ look.
I closed my eyes as elation tore through my body.
And five minutes later, as I saw my daughter for the first time, joy surged through me.
“Oh, God,” I breathed, tears coursing down my cheeks. “She’s beautiful!”
Dean’s eyes came to mine, and something so significant passed between us that I was left short of breath.
“She’s fucking perfect.”
***
“It’s time for you to tell me,” I ordered my man.
Dean looked like he’d rather do anything but. Thankfully he understood that this was important to me.
“Raven’s okay,” he started. “She’s being looked after by Wolf.”
I closed my eyes and breathed deeply.
“And Barrett…Jensen?”
“Jail.”
There was finality in those words, and I wondered if I could get any more information out of him than that.
“Are you…”
“No,” he said blankly. “I can’t. If I talk about them, I get angry. And when I get angry, my fists feel like hitting something.”
I closed my eyes and blew out a breath, knowing that was all that I would get out of him…today.
Tomorrow, however, was a new day.
And if he wouldn’t tell me, I damn sure knew my brother would.
***
A few weeks later
“July…” Dean grabbed a hold of my arm. “This is not a good idea.”
I turned and glared at him. I didn’t care if he was right.
That bitch had come onto him. Again!
And it had to fucking stop!
“You need to let me do this. I realize that you didn’t sleep with her. I trust you…but I don’t trust her. She’s going to try and try and try, and one of these times she’s going to put you into a compromising position, and I’m going to have to kill her. Then you’ll have to bail me out of jail, and I don’t look good in the color orange.” I snapped. “Now back away.”