“Elle!What does that mean?”
She doesn’t respond and merely breathes long, and loud, and deeply.
The driver chuckles again and stomps the brakes. “Go, son. I don’t charge you.”
“Thanks!” I holler, pushing the door open with my shoulder, but also shoving my hand into my pocket at the last second to toss a twenty into the backseat.
I slam the door shut, andrun.
Anothertwenty minutes later, I arrive at Elle’s door, out of breath and sweating like a mother fucker after running twenty-five blocks.
“Elle!” I bang my fist on the door and twist the knob. “Elle, open up!” I press my ear against the door while stripping off my jacket and shoving it under my arm. Nothing but silence.
I pause to double check the address I saved in my phone after she gave it to me during the Archer arrest fiasco. I’m definitely at the right place, and she’s definitely in there. But she’s not making a sound, and I’m freaking the fuck out.
“Elle!” I bang and twist the knob again.
Taking a step back, I pause to catch my breath and call her again. She doesn’t pick up this time, and now I’mreallyfreaking the fuck out. I’m wondering if this is some kind of joke my ancestors are playing on me after I forgot it was St. Patrick’s Day, because everything thatcould'vegone wrong todaydid.
Also…
If she’s inlabor…
This is like amonthearly.
And that’sbad.
At least… I think it is.
I bang on the door again. “Elle! I can’t hear you, and I can’t open the door, so I’m going to have to force my way in.” I pause, shifting my gaze back and forth down the hallway, and her new place is pretty nice. “I’ll pay for the damages.”
I’ve seen about a million movies, so surely I know how to do this. Lead with the shoulder, right?
I back up to the other side of the hall and then launch myself shoulder first into the door, and it flies open, smacking against the inside wall. I stumble in and swing the door shut, then toss my jacket on her couch.
“Elle!”
Still nothing.
Making my way down a short hallway, I locate the bedroom and see the light on in the attached bathroom, and practically leap across the room toward it.
I skid to a halt just on the threshold because she looksterrifying.
She’s either asleep or passed out. Half-wrapped in a towel. Curled up on her side on the cold, hard tile.
“Elle,” I say, more quietly as I get on my hands and knees, bracing a palm on the tile on one side of her head while stroking back her hair with the other. “Honey, can you hear me?”
She’s perfectly still for about five seconds before she sucks in a hiss through her teeth and appears to clench every muscle in her body as if bracing. “Oh God. Oh God, not again.”
I blindly swipe a towel from one of the racks and slide it under her head before holding her shoulders and helping her shift to lie on her back. “What’s going on? Talk to me, Elle.”
She grabs my biceps and squeezes so hard that her nails dig into my skin. “I’m dying.”
My heart rate skyrockets.“Why do you keep saying that?”
Her eyelids fly open, and she levels a death glare at me.“Because it fucking hurts, Colin, Jesus fucking Christ!”
“Okay, okay.” I take a deep breath because one of us is going to have to stay calm in this situation, and it’s going to have to be me. Brushing her damp hair away from her face, I keep my eyes locked on hers and say calmly, “Try to breathe. Try to relax. I’m right here.”
