#Bae (The Hashtag Series Book 8)

by Cambria Hebert

  Trying to push past the feelings, I turned all my attention to Romeo. “Well? Did you see him?”

  “We saw him,” Romeo muttered.

  “Rome kicked his ass.” Braeden cackled.

  “Are you hurt?” I worried and shoved away from the door.

  “I’m…” His voice fell away, like all sound totally faded out.

  I stood there, swayed on my feet, and stared at him talking, not hearing a single word he said.

  I saw my name on his lips. Concern darkened his incredible eyes.

  There was some commotion around me, but it all disappeared. All I saw was Romeo…

  Until he disappeared, too.

  And then everybody died.

  The End

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  Romeo

  I wasn’t losing my shit.

  For the most part. The only reason I was keeping it together was because she was in my arms, I could see the steady rise and fall of her chest, and I knew this was probably stress related. Rim was having a lot of trouble with panic attacks and anxiety, through no fault of her own.

  I had no fucking clue if being panicked could make someone pass out, but it was what my brain was going with. It was the lesser of the bad shit running rampant through my mind.

  No one ever told me falling in love so hard had the power to make a man feel so small. I wasn’t used to this; I didn’t think I ever would be. Everything I had was quite literally wrapped up in the woman lying flimsy in my arms.

  Before Rim, I never realized just how much bigger everything around me was. How out of control in this life a man really was. We were all at the mercy of something greater… the universe, a god… luck.

  I wasn’t entirely sure.

  I never worried before. It didn’t matter what came at me in life ‘cause I was in control

  But I wasn’t anymore. I hadn’t been for a long time. Since that day at the shelter, when I saw Rim soaking wet from the rain.

  Now everything for me hinged on her. On Rimmel.

  She was the only thing I couldn’t live without.

  I found myself praying a lot, asking the force that was so much greater than us to just take care of her, to just please not take her away.

  We were in the backseat of the rental when her eyelids finally fluttered.

  “Rimmel,” I said, turning her face so I could stare down. “Open your eyes; look at me.”

  She listened. There was a dreamy appearance to her gaze. Her full lips turned up, and she smiled at the sight of me.

  She has my heart.

  She has it all.

  “Hey, handsome,” she murmured, as if she didn’t know I’d just been to hell and back.

  “How are you feeling?” I asked, stroking her cheek.

  Her brow furrowed, and the dreamy appearance vanished. I knew the second she remembered what happened, because she tried to sit up.

  “Just lie still,” I told her, gently pushing her back down.

  “What happened?”

  “You passed out. Guess knocking Missy into next week wore you out.”

  She rolled her eyes, and a lot of the worst worry I felt left me immediately.

  “Where are we?” She glanced around the inside of the car.

  “On the way to the ER.”

  “What!” She tried to sit up again. I restrained her. “I’m fine!”

  “You just face planted on the carpet. You aren’t fine.”

  “I didn’t eat. I was lightheaded.”

  My mouth thinned. “I told you to eat.”

  “You tell me to do a lot of things,” she muttered.

  “Well, maybe you should listen.”

  “Maybe you shouldn’t act like a caveman!”

  “We’re here,” Drew announced, and the car came to a stop.

  That was fast… ‘Course, that was Drew’s specialty.

  “There’s no need to be here. Let’s just go back to the hotel,” Rimmel said, sitting up to glare at the entrance of the ER.

  “That’s not happening,” I told her.

  Her eyes narrowed.

  Only my wife would pass out one minute and then be ready to argue the next. Maybe I should watch my face; she was apparently pretty damn skilled at breaking noses.

  “You scared the crap out of us, sis. Just go inside,” Trent implored from the front seat.

  Her shoulders slumped. “Fine.”

  “So you’ll do what he tells you to do?” I muttered as I unfolded from the back of this lame rental and hefted her into my arms.

  “I’m sorry I worried you. Again,” she whispered, resting her cheek against my shoulder.

  I grunted. I couldn’t stay mad at her.

  “I’ll meet you inside,” I called into the car at Drew and Trent, then strode through the wide double doors.

  I was prepared for a fight to get a room right away. I wasn’t about to fuck around in the waiting area for hours, all the while wondering what the hell was wrong with my wife.

  Maybe it was some kind of complication from the car accident. Something no one caught when she’d been in the hospital the first time.

  Thankfully, I didn’t have to fight. The nurse at the station was a dude and a football fan. He recognized me even though we weren’t in my home state.

  “Right this way, Mr. Anderson,” he said after I told him my wife passed out and needed looked at ASAP.

  He showed us into a cubicle with curtains all around. Gently, I placed Rim on the generic bed and took up residence in front of her. “Our family will be in shortly,” I told him. “All four of them.”

  B and Ivy had followed behind us in their car with the car seat.

  He nodded and cleared his throat. “I need to get her vitals.”

  “Right,” I said and stepped aside so he could get to her.

  I didn’t go far, though, and stared him down the entire time he was taking her blood pressure and her pulse.

  “I’m sorry,” Rimmel told the nurse. “It’s not you. It’s him.”

  The man and my wife shared a laugh.

  I didn’t think it was funny.

  Once everything was recorded into his laptop, he left us to wait for a doctor.

  “Stop being so mean to the staff.” She admonished me. She looked better, more alert. Though her face was still too pale for my liking, and the circles under her eyes concerned me. Still, she looked pretty damn adorable sitting there with her legs dangling over the edge of the bed/cot thing. Her feet were bare because the second she’d dropped, I’d scooped her up, and we all piled in the cars.

  Unable to resist, I moved back in front of her, balanced my palms on the corners of the bed, caged her in, and leaned close. “I’m not being mean. I’m getting results.”

  She kissed me.

  She pulled back inches, her eyes on mine, and smiled.

  “Stop that,” I demanded, but it sure as hell didn’t sound very forceful.

  She kissed me again.

  I let her, of course. I wasn’t about to turn down some sugar.

  “You like it,” she whispered against my lips.

  “That I do.” I kissed her back. “How do you feel?” I asked, shifting away, scrutinizing her face.

  “Not bad enough that I need to be here. I hate hospitals.” She stuck out her tongue.

  I tucked a loose stand of hair behind her ear. “What’s not bad enough?”

  “I’m just tired. I don’t feel good… Threatening to have your sordid past splashed all over the internet will do that to a girl.”

  “He’s not doing the story,” I told her.

  “Really?” Her eyes sparked with hope.

  “Really. I already put his ass on a plane.”

  “How did you get him to cancel the interview? Who’s to say he won’t just agree to another one?” She worried.

  There was always that slim chance, I suppos
ed. But I really didn’t think so. He saw how serious I was when I vowed he’d never get any peace. I’d blow up that fucker’s world if he messed with Rim. “Don’t worry about. I took care of it.”

  “Are the police going to be looking for you?” She sighed.

  I laughed. “What do you think I am? An amateur?”

  The curtain made an earsplitting sound when the doctor slid it open and strode in. With him was a nurse dressed in yellow scrubs with a lab kit in her hand.

  “I understand you fainted,” the doctor said, not looking up from her chart.

  “Yes.” She confirmed. “But I really don’t think it’s anything.”

  “People don’t just pass out for nothing. There’s usually a reason.”

  “Told you,” I cracked.

  The doctor looked up. He was probably in his late forties, with dark hair that was cut really short. “Romeo Anderson?”

  I gave him my hand. “Hey, how are you?”

  He shook, then looked at Rimmel. “This is your wife?”

  No. It’s my girlfriend. Idiot. “Yes. I’m hoping to find out why she fell over on me,” I said instead.

  “Jackie here is going to take some blood. Then I’ll ask a few questions. I’ll come back in when the labs come back, and hopefully we’ll know what’s going on.”

  Rimmel gave the lab kit and Jackie a dubious look. I caught her eye and lifted a brow, daring her to argue. I’d embarrass her. I wasn’t above it, and she knew it.

  With a sigh, she surrendered her arm and looked away when the needle poked her.

  The doctor asked a bunch of questions, made some non-committal sounds, and then we were left alone to wait for the results.

  Rimmel pointed dramatically to the giant cotton ball and tape on the inside of her arm. “Are you happy now?”

  “I won’t be happy ‘til I know nothing’s wrong.”

  My phone went off, and I pulled up the text and made a rude sound. “They won’t let everyone back.”

  “It’s not like we’re doing anything anyway,” she said, exasperated.

  My phone went off again. FYI: He got the website shut down. For a while anyway.

  Good. Missy, aka #BuzzBitch, never should have messed with us again. She’d get hers.

  We’ll be out soon, I typed out, then slid my phone away.

  “You’re okay, right?” Rimmel asked, her voice unsure.

  I tilted my head to the side. “Why wouldn’t I be?”

  “Well, Braeden said you got into a fight with… him. And I’m sure he wasn’t very nice to you.”

  Kane. The jackass.

  “He’s a loser.” I scoffed. “He didn’t even try to hit me. He knew it would be a lost cause.”

  “And seeing him?” She fretted.

  Her concern for me always got me in the feels. How she always seemed to worry about me the way I did her.

  That’s what made this love thing so worth it. The feeling small and vulnerable. The being out of control… I wasn’t alone.

  Rimmel was right there with me.

  We were in this together.

  I went to her, cupping her cheeks. “Seeing him changed nothing between us, baby. You’re still and always will be my before anyone else.”

  Her hands closed around my wrists. “You know the hip term for that these days is #bae.”

  I made a face. “That’s just terrible.”

  “It actually means poop in Danish.” She pulled back her hand, pressed it to her mouth, and giggled.

  Her laughter was the sound of my everything.

  “I guess I should be glad you didn’t try to name Ralph that.”

  She swatted at my stomach, and I chuckled.

  “Maybe we should just stick to the long version.” She smiled. “I like the way it sounds when you say it anyway.”

  My arm slid around her back and pulled her to the very edge of the bed. Her thighs parted, and I stepped between them, brought my head down, and claimed her mouth.

  I didn’t lift my head, not at all. We remained fused together for one endless kiss. The sounds of a busy ER faded away until all that remained was her and me. The softness of her lips accepted me again and again; the feather-light way her mouth danced across mine made my heart thud heavily as full-blown thirst for more left me feeling dehydrated.

  It wouldn’t really matter how long we stood here and kissed. I’d still want more later.

  A heavy clearing of a throat behind made me release her lips and glance over my shoulder. Rim ducked her head so she was completely hidden behind me, and I straightened a little farther to give her even more protection.

  The doctor was standing there with the curtain in his hand and what I assumed were her lab results in the other.

  “Doc,” I said, acting like he hadn’t caught me making out with my wife.

  Dude was probably jealous anyway.

  He stepped into the cubicle, the curtain falling closed behind him. “I have your results.”

  I glanced over my shoulder at Rim. She nodded, so I pivoted around to stand beside her. Both of us stared at the doctor expectantly.

  “Did you find anything?” Rimmel asked.

  “Actually, yes, we did.” he said, and my stomach dropped.

  My brain went into crisis mode, and I began creating a list of specialists and favors I could call in to be sure she got whatever the hell she needed. “What is it?” I asked, trying not to show how rattled I was.

  “You’re pregnant.” He smiled, like he’d just dropped the happiest news bomb on us ever.

  Our silence was not what he expected.

  In fact, we both stared at him as if he hadn’t spoken at all.

  “I, uh, take it this is a surprise?” he asked when we still remained speechless.

  Did he not read the papers?

  “Did you just say I’m pregnant?” Rimmel asked, her voice shaky.

  He nodded. “Changes in the body during the first trimester, like the blood volume in a woman’s body nearly doubling as well as hormonal fluctuations, etc., can cause a woman to faint. That coupled with the fact you said you hadn’t eaten and have been under some stress… well, that will do it.”

  “I’m pregnant,” Rimmel echoed. “Romeo?” Her hand reached out blind, grappling for mine.

  Her fingers gripped mine so tight it almost hurt. “Are you sure?” I asked.

  “Positive. We ran it twice to be sure,” the doctor replied.

  I felt dizzy, shocked… so fucking thrilled.

  Rimmel burst into tears. Like full-blown meltdown cry fest.

  I picked her up, lifting her so her face was level with mine. Tears were trailing down her face as sobs wracked her chest. “You’re having my baby,” I told her, smiling so wide it hurt my cheeks.

  Another sob ripped from her throat, and I pulled her against me. She clung to me and cried. The relief, the joy, the fear… it poured off her so heavily I felt it all. Even my own eyes started to get misty.

  “I told you, baby,” I whispered in her ear. “I knew this was going to happen. This time everything is going to be just fine.”

  She wiped her nose on my shirt and looked up. “A baby,” she whispered.

  “Our baby.”

  More tears slid over her cheeks, but she smiled before burying her face in my neck once more.

  The doctor was very uncomfortable.

  I didn’t fucking care.

  I’d never see him again.

  He had no idea what this meant to Rimmel. To me.

  God, we’d barely even started trying. She was convinced it would take months and months just like with Evie.

  Bigger things are in control. Some things are just meant to be.

  “When did you say your last menstrual period was?” the doctor asked, turning back to his chart, trying to move this along. “If you can get that down to the day, I could tell you with good accuracy how far along you are.”

  “I’m three and a half weeks.” Rimmel lifted her head and said immediately. “Almost
four.”

  I glanced into her damp eyes. “How do you know?”

  “It was that first night,” she whispered low. “I just know it.”

  Good enough for me. “Almost four weeks it is,” I told the doctor.

  He just wrote it down. He probably thought we were crazy.

  “You’ll want to see your regular OB when you get home,” he said. “They’ll be able to do an ultrasound in a few more weeks and give you an estimated due date.”

  Rimmel gasped and pressed a hand to her stomach. “Is everything okay? Did me passing out hurt the baby?”

  Slayed.

  Seeing her press a hand to my baby growing inside her just fucking slayed me.

  “No, I’m certain your little one is just fine. All the other lab results looked great.”

  She didn’t seem so ready to believe him. Doubt clouded her eyes.

  “Do an ultrasound,” I demanded. If that would make her feel better, then he was going to do one.

  “At just under four weeks, a sonogram would show nothing,” the doctor replied. “It’s just too soon. I would recommend waiting until six weeks. Then you’ll be able to see everything much clearer.”

  I was about to argue, but Rimmel put a hand to my cheek. “He’s right. We’ll wait a few more weeks.”

  “You sure?” I asked, searching her eyes.

  She smiled and nodded. From within my arms, she glanced over her shoulder at the doctor. “Thank you.”

  “You’re very welcome. If there isn’t anything else, I’ll have your paperwork waiting for you at the desk out front.”

  Rimmel nodded, and the doctor left.

  She reached around, took one of my hands that was at her back, and guided it around to cover her flat stomach. A tear fell down her face.

  “Are you happy, sweetheart?” I asked, rubbing against her stomach.

  “So happy,” she whispered. Soon as she said it, some familiar guilt crept into her eyes.

  “Hey,” I said. “It’s okay to be happy. This baby deserves that.”

  It was like my words flipped a switch inside her; her eyes literally lit up.