Ever.
“Remember to breathe, Holly,” Kelsey said, wiping a damp cloth across myforehead.
“I am breathing,” Iwhimpered.
Looking for Trent? He was in the waiting room. Kelsey had tried sending him home hours ago, but he had refused to budge. But it had more to do with his girlfriend being here than it had to do with me being inlabor.
Kelsey’s phone dinged from her purse. She removed it and read the screen. “Josh wants to know if he can talk toyou.”
“He textedyou?”
“No, he texted Trent, and Trent relayed the question tome.”
I slid a glance at the nurse who had come into the room to see how I was doing. At the last check, I was seven centimeters…and extremely cranky atthat.
I was beginning to think the NHL season would be over before Noah cameout.
“He’s going nuts not being here foryou.”
“Okay,” I whispered, too tired to speak louder thanthat.
“Where’s yourphone?”
“In my bag. Sidepocket.”
She retrieved my phone and handed it to me, then sent a text on her phone. Less than a minute later my phonerang.
I accepted the call. “G’day,” I said, willing the next contraction to stay away long enough for me to talk toJosh.
“How are you holding up?” he asked—and his deep, sinful voice soothed me to my bones. I missed thatvoice.
I missedhim.
You know what I didn’t miss? Thecontractions.
Another one slammed through my belly, and I did my best to breathe through it while Kelsey removed the phone from my hand. Possibly to prevent me from crushing it single-handedly.
Heehee.
Whoowhoo.
Heehee.
Whoowhoo.
Once the contraction had passed, I released a slow cleansing breath and took the phone back fromKelsey.
“Sorry,” I said. “I had acontraction.”
“You don’t need to apologize. I’m the one who’s sorry. I should be there with you instead of stuck at the airport inPittsburgh.”
“That’s not your fault. We both knew the odds of you being away when I went into labor were high.” It just would have been lower if Noah had been a little more patient and waited until closer to his duedate.
But it was too late to tell him thatnow.
“Our flight’s been approved to leave in the nexthour.”
And then he had a five-hour flight. The airport was at least an hour away—which meant roughly seven more hours before I would seehim.
