Club Scars Read Online Free PDF Page B

second hand ticked around the dial. A sterile room with a large industrial clock flashed into her mind. She shook her head trying to chase the memory away. The pound of her heart synced to the second hand in the silent room like so many years ago. Her stomach lurched and she swallowed desperately. Her knees shook. The remembered chill from the stainless steel table seeped into her bones. She glanced toward Crux’s sleeping form; needing to feel his arms around her so desperately at that moment.
    The face of the watch blurred. A soft sob bubbled from her lips and a tear splashed on the luminous surface. She tried to wipe the moisture away with shaky fingers and fumbled the time piece. It clattered on the hardwood and she sank to her knees, searching the dark floor through tears that fell harder. The floor creaked and Crux squatted down behind her. The heat of his bare chest seeped through the flannel of her nightshirt and she pressed back against him, her shoulders shaking with the force of choked sobs.
    “Talk to me, baby,” he rumbled in her ear, his strong hands coming around to palm her belly.
    “I-I dropped your watch,” she whispered, leaning forward to run her hands over the floor.
    Crux pulled her back to him.
    “You aren’t crying over my watch. Did you have a nightmare?”
    “No,” she said, her voice sounding tiny in the quiet room.
    “Kat?”
    The warning tone in his voice didn’t frighten her, but it brooked no argument.
    “I think I’m in labor and I’m scared, Tommy,” she whispered, her nails digging into her palms to try and still the shake.
    His arms tightened around her, his nose burrowing in her hair.
    “I’m right here, baby, and I’m not going to let anything happen to you.”
    “They said I was never going to be able to have a baby. What if they were right? What if something happens?”
    “They thought the scarring would keep you from getting pregnant. The doctor said she will monitor things closely and if you don’t dilate right then she will do a cesarean. Everything is going to be okay.”
    “You really were listening,” she said, trying to wipe away the tears.
    “You’re my woman. Of course I listened. Now, let’s get you ready.”
    “I don’t want to go and just sit there,” she grumbled, pushing deeper into his arms.
    “I want the doctor to look at you as early as possible so she can evaluate if you need the C-section or not.”
    “Listen to you, Doctor Croston.”
    “It’s no joke, Kat. I don’t know what I’d do without you. I love you.”
    Kat sobered at the sincerity in his voice and the intensity in his eyes and nodded. She let him help her stand. Almost immediately she doubled over with the force of the next contraction. Her fingers bit deep into his forearms, a little whimper escaping her as she rocked with the pain.
    “Breathe.”
    “I’m trying.”
    When she slumped against him, he held her easily. Moving her to the foot of the bed, he helped her sit and turned to dig through the dresser drawer for a pair of pajama bottoms for her to slip on underneath her nightshirt.
    “We’ll get you ready and then I’ll go out and start the Navigator and get it warmed up. Is your bag still in the coat closet by the door?”
    She nodded, clasping shaky hands over her belly.
    “Tell me this is going to be okay,” she begged.
    “It’s going to be okay,” he said firmly. Determination was stamped over Crux’s scarred face. If sheer willpower could make this happen, her man had that in spades. “Text your doctor and tell her we’re on the way to the hospital.”
    “My phone is on the charger there,” she said, gesturing to the night side table.
    He circled the bed, grabbing the phone and handing her it with her pajama bottoms.
    Struggling into the fleece pants, Kat sent a text to her doctor and Gin. It was no surprise when Ginny texted her back immediately.
    I’ll meet you there. Do you need anything?
    A little courage would be great.
    I’ll be right there