by Force, Marie
“David.” Big Mac McCarthy’s hand on his back snapped David out of his contemplation, and he stood to face Janey’s father.
Big Mac’s eyes took in the blood that was all over David’s scrubs, and swallowed hard. “Is she…”
“She should be fine. It’s going to be a tough recovery, but I was able to save her uterus.”
“And the baby?”
“I just don’t know, Mr. McCarthy. He’s only thirty-two weeks. I wish I could give you certainties, but we’re going to have to wait and see.”
“You gave them both a chance, and I’ll never have the words to properly thank you for what you’ve done twice now for my family.”
“I did my job. I did what I would’ve done for anyone on this island, but I’m happy I was here when Janey and her son needed me.”
“Thank you.”
David nodded.
Linda joined them and gave David a hug. “Thank you so much. No matter what happens, we’ll always be grateful for what you did.”
“I just hope it was enough.”
“Did you reach Carolina?” Big Mac asked his wife.
“I did. She’s stuck in bed with some deep wounds from her fall, so she won’t be able to go to the mainland for a couple of days. I promised we’d keep her posted.”
“Let’s go find Slim and get to Providence.”
Mr. and Mrs. McCarthy left, but their four sons waited to shake hands with David and thank him for his efforts on behalf of their sister. He saw them off and went inside, where Victoria and Mason were cleaning the procedure room.
“Thank you both for your help,” he said.
“You were amazing, David,” Victoria said. “Amazing. Any chance they have is thanks to you.”
“It was all of us. I couldn’t have done anything without you guys.”
“We helped,” Victoria said, “but you were the star. I’m so proud of you.”
“Thanks. I um, I need to…” David walked out of the room and went into his office, closing and locking the door behind him. The emotion-packed hour caught up to him, and he wanted to be alone when the tsunami overtook him. He sat on the sofa, head in his hands, and finally let in the overwhelming fear he’d kept at bay the entire time Janey had been open on the table.
“Janey… God…” When he allowed himself to think about how easily it all could’ve gone very wrong, he began to tremble violently. He’d been in way, way over his head performing surgery under those conditions and on Janey of all people. “Janey…” He sat back, fingers buried in his hair and tried to calm his racing heart.
For the first time since Joe screamed his name at Mac and Maddie’s house, David thought of Daisy and winced at the way he’d run from her side and never looked back. What was she thinking right about now? All at once, the only thing that mattered was getting to her. He stood and pulled off his bloody scrubs, changing back into the shorts and polo shirt he’d had on earlier.
Filled once again with adrenaline that zipped through his veins, he pulled opened the office door. “Victoria!”
Alarmed by his cry, she came out of the procedure room. “What’s wrong?”
“I need to borrow your car.”
She didn’t hesitate when she said, “Let me get my keys.”
David was coming out of his skin by the time she returned and handed the keys to him.
“Everything okay?”
“It will be,” he said, leaving her stunned when he kissed her cheek and hauled ass out of there.
Victoria’s old car started on third try, and David spun out of there as fast as he dared and drove directly to Daisy’s house in case she’d gone home while he was in surgery. He didn’t want to drive all the way to Mac’s house if she wasn’t there, and since he’d gotten separated from his phone at some point, he had no way to call her.
He pulled up to her house a few minutes later and was alarmed to find her door standing open. “What the hell?” The new door Mac had recently installed was in splinters and hung askew from the door frame. Running from the car, he went up the stairs and into the house, which had been trashed. The bouquet of lilies was scattered on the floor, the vase smashed to pieces. “Daisy!” The powerful aroma of the lilies filled his senses, and he screamed for her as he ran through the house, broken glass crunching under his feet. “Daisy!”
After establishing she wasn’t there, he ran down the stairs and out to the street, where several of the neighbors had gathered to find out what all the screaming was about.
“Someone call the cops,” he said as he got into the car. “Daisy’s house has been vandalized.”
“Where is she?” a woman asked.
“I’m going to find her.”
He drove faster than he ever had on the way to Mac’s, hoping and praying she was still there, that she hadn’t come home and been attacked again. Had Truck Henry been released from jail? Why hadn’t they been told? Maybe they had been told, he conceded, wondering where in the hell he’d left his cell phone. David had so many questions as he made the turn onto Sweet Meadow Farm Road. He brought the car to a skidding halt in Mac’s driveway and took the stairs to the deck two at a time, calling for Daisy as he went.
Everything stopped as he burst into the house, probably looking like a madman. “Where’s Daisy?”
She appeared at the top of the stairs, seeming baffled by his odd behavior.
Right then and there, at the sight of her beautiful face, safe and sound, David dropped off the cliff and landed in love. He ran for her, up the stairs, again two at a time, and took her into his arms. He kept going, seeking privacy for what he needed to tell her. Inside one of the bedrooms, he kicked the door shut behind him.
“What’s wrong? Is it Janey? Did she, she didn’t… David!”
He poured every bit of fear and love and desire he felt for her into a kiss he hoped she’d never forget. “I’m so sorry,” he said after several deep kisses that calmed his nerves and steeled his determination to make this sweet, beautiful woman a permanent part of his life. “I ran out of here without talking to you or saying anything. I’m so sorry, and then I went to your house, and… Is Truck out of jail?”
“What? What did you say?”
“Did Truck get released?”
“If he did, no one told me.” She drew her phone from the pocket of her shorts. “Oh my God! There’s a bunch of calls from Providence and several from the Gansett Police. I put my phone on silent while Hailey was napping. How did you know?”
“Your house, honey. Someone was there. The door was kicked in, and when I couldn’t find you… I thought… God, Daisy, I’m so glad you’re here and you’re okay. And I love you. I love you.”
She tipped her head as if she hadn’t heard him correctly. “You…”
“I love you. I’m in love with you. I have been for quite some time, but the second I couldn’t find you, I knew for sure that I had to tell you. Because if anything ever happened to you and you didn’t know that I love you…”
She put her arms around him and drew him into her warm embrace. “I’m fine. I’m right here, I’m fine and I love you, too. I heard you saved Janey and her baby. I’m so proud of you.”
His entire body shuddered as he exhaled. “I left you here like you mean nothing to me, and that couldn’t be further from the truth.”
“You did what you had to do in an emergency. I’ll always expect you to do what has to be done, no matter who the patient is.”
“I feel so lucky to have found you, to have somehow gotten you to fall in love with me.”
“Falling in love with you was the easy part,” she said with a smile that lit up her eyes. “Convincing myself it could actually last has been the hard part.”
“And how are you doing with that?”
“Better now.”
“Were you mad about the way I left earlier?”
“I wasn’t mad. I was…”
“A little hurt?”
“Maybe a little, but then I was immediately ashamed
of myself in light of what Janey was going through—and what you were going through trying to save her.”
“I’m sorry, honey. I swear I’ll never do that again.”
She rested a finger over his lips. “Don’t make that promise. So many people are counting on you. Sometimes you’ll have to put them ahead of me, but as long as you promise to find me when you’re done the way you did today, we’ll be okay.”
As he kissed her again, a peaceful feeling came over him that was all new. Even at the best of times with Janey, he’d never felt the sense of rightness he experienced with Daisy. She calmed and soothed him. She knew the worst of him and loved him anyway.
“Let’s go find Blaine and figure out what’s up with your ex, and then I want to go home and sleep for a year—after I make love to you.”
Her saucy smile was a huge relief to him after the news he’d brought her about the damage to her house. They’d find their way through this latest challenge and move forward from there.
Blaine met them on the stairs. “I was just coming to find you guys. I finally checked my phone for the first time in hours.”
“So it’s true?” Daisy asked. “Truck’s been released?”
“How did you know that?”
“He’s already been to her house, kicked in the door and trashed the place,” David said.
“Son of a bitch,” Blaine muttered, placing a call on his phone. “This is Chief Taylor. I want all units on the lookout for Truck Henry, and position a car at the Harbor Road home of Daisy Babson in case he comes looking for her there again.” He ended the call and looked at his phone. “I missed ten calls from Providence while I was off getting married. I’m really sorry, you guys.”
“Please don’t be,” Daisy said. “You have a right to a day off when you’re getting married.”
“We’ll find him and get him back to where he belongs. Until then—”
“Until then,” David said, his arm tight around her shoulders, “she’ll be with me at my house.”
Blaine nodded in approval. “Good plan. So how’s Janey?”
“Stable and on her way to Providence.”
“And the baby?”
“Same. That’ll be a wait-and-see thing for a few days.”
“They were really lucky you were right here when it happened,” Blaine said.
“I know Janey will feel awful for putting a damper on your wedding celebration,” David said.
“We feel terrible about what happened to her, but our day has still been amazing. In fact,” Blaine added with a silly waggle of his brows, “I think it’s about time I collected Mrs. Taylor and headed off to get the honeymoon started.”
Laughing, they followed him down the stairs to find Tiffany surrounded by her friends admiring her new rings. The atmosphere in the group had lightened considerably since word got out that Janey and the baby were stable and on their way to Providence.
Despite the fact that he was exhausted and emotionally drained, everyone wanted to shake David’s hand and thank him for what he’d done for Janey and the baby. Janey’s Uncle Frank hugged him, as did her cousins Laura and Shane. With everyone back from the clinic, Grace, Stephanie, Jenny, Maddie and Sydney fell over themselves getting him food and a beer, which went down easy after the stressful day.
Tiffany and Blaine were corralled into dancing to “Make You Feel My Love,” performed again by Evan, cutting the cake and tossing the bouquet before Maddie finally allowed them to leave. Before they went, though, Blaine found David and Daisy and promised to keep in touch with them until Truck was apprehended.
“Can we go, too?” David asked Daisy. “I’m fried.”
“Sure, let me just find Maddie to tell her we’re going.”
In the kitchen, Maddie was wrapped up in her husband’s arms.
“Oh, sorry,” Daisy said. “I wanted to tell you that David and I are leaving.”
Maddie pulled back from Mac, wiped her tearstained cheeks and turned to hug Daisy. “Thank you so much for watching the kids while we were at the clinic.”
“It was nothing. I was happy to be able to help, and I’m glad Janey is okay.”
“So are we,” Mac said. “I’m putting a moratorium on babies in this family. I can’t handle the stress.”
“You can’t, huh?” Maddie said. “You might want to rethink that, because I’m officially late, my love.”
The look on Mac’s face as he absorbed her announcement was nothing short of priceless.
“I need a really big drink,” he muttered as he left the women laughing in the kitchen.
“Do you think you’re pregnant?” Daisy asked her friend.
She shrugged. “I’m regular as clockwork, so probably. I have half a mind to kill him for knocking me up again so soon after Hailey was born, but I love him too damned much to kill him.”
Daisy hugged her again. “Keep me posted.”
“I will and thanks again, Daisy.” Maddie lowered her voice. “Your handsome doctor seems very smitten.”
“He’s in love,” Daisy whispered.
“Is he now?”
Daisy nodded.
“And you?”
“Crazy in love.”
“Oh, I’m so happy for you! You so deserve to be happy after all that’s happened.”
“Apparently, it’s not over yet.” Daisy told Maddie about Truck being released and how they suspected him of vandalizing her home.
“You’ll be with David, right? Until they find him?”
“He won’t let me out of his sight. Don’t worry.”
“I will worry until I hear they’ve put Truck back where he belongs.”
“They’ll find him,” Daisy said confidently as Maddie saw them out. “He’s hard to miss, especially when he’s high and enraged.”
When they were in the car, David reached for her hand. “I won’t let him get anywhere near you, so don’t worry.”
The man she loved was holding her hand, and he loved her, too. What did she have to worry about?
* * *
Janey’s first conscious thought was that everything hurt. She fought her way through the confusion, trying to make sense of the pain. Her eyes were too heavy to open, and her mouth felt thick and dry, so dry. “Joe.”
“Janey! Janey, talk to me. Oh God, honey. Please talk to me.”
“What happened?”
“You wouldn’t wake up, and you were bleeding.”
At that news, she forced her eyes open and blinked him into focus. He looked like hell, and was he crying? “The baby.” She tried to move her arms to feel the baby, but they wouldn’t cooperate. They felt like lead weights had been attached to them. “Where’s the baby?”
“Our son is in the neonatal ICU. I’ve been with him all afternoon.”
“It’s too early!” Her voice broke on a ragged sob. “It’s too soon.
“He’s beautiful, Janey. The doctors say he’s going to be okay. He’s going to be here awhile until his lungs develop some more, but he’s going to be okay, and so are you.” Tears rolled down his cheeks as he bent over her, kissing her forehead and stroking her hair. “You scared me so badly. I’ve never been that scared in my whole life. I was so afraid I was going to lose you.”
“I don’t understand what happened. We got to Mac’s early. You wanted to get me settled before everyone started coming. I was tired…”
“Yes,” he said, his lips soft against her face. “You took a nap, and when I went to wake you up so you could see Tiffany and Blaine come in after the wedding, you wouldn’t wake up. You wouldn’t wake up. Thank God David was there, and he knew what to do. He got you to the clinic and did an emergency C-section.”
“Why was I bleeding?”
“David said you had what’s called a partial placental abruption, which is very rare and happens suddenly.”
“Did I do something wrong to make that happen?”
“No, honey. It wasn’t your fault. One of the nurses told me she’s seen instances of the mom and b
aby both dying from an abruption. We were so lucky that David was there and he knew what to do.”
“David… I need to talk to him, to thank him.”
“There’ll be time for that when you’re feeling stronger.”
“Where are we now?”
“In Providence. The Life Flight helicopter brought us over. Your parents are on their way with Slim. I’ve talked to them twice since we got here, but I know they can’t wait to see you.”
“They must be so worried.”
“We all were.”
“I want to see the baby.”
“You can’t get up quite yet, but I took some pictures for you.” He turned on his phone and took her through the series of photos he’d taken of the baby through the incubator.
“He’s so small.”
“But he’s perfect. See his little fingers and toes? And his nose is just like yours.”
“Can we have others?”
“We should be able to. The doctors here said David did an excellent job.”
“We owe him so much.”
“We owe him everything.” He kissed her nose and her lips and the tears on her cheeks.
She tried again to move, but the pain brought tears to her eyes. “Hurts.”
“What does?” he asked, alarmed.
“Everything.”
“Let me get the nurse.”
He returned a minute later with a nurse who adjusted Janey’s pain meds and taught her how to use the morphine pump to get immediate relief.
When they were alone again, she held on tight to his hand. “Joe.”
“I’m here, honey.”
“After seeing the pictures, I know what I want to name him.” They’d been debating names for weeks now without settling on one. “Peter Joseph, after your father and you. We’ll call him P.J. What do you think?”
“I think P.J. Cantrell is the nicest name I’ve ever heard, second only to Janey McCarthy. Thank you so much for my son and for honoring my dad with his name and for not dying and leaving me all alone to raise him. I never could’ve faced the rest of my life without you.”