COWBOY AND THE BABY, THE

by Ferrarella, Marie

  Smiling to himself, he began to eat, discovering only then just how hungry he actually was.

  * * *

  CODY SAVED SOME of the food that Miss Joan had brought, just in case Devon woke up hungry. But the hours passed and the young woman continued sleeping.

  Reminding himself that the doctor had told him this was a good thing—and checking on Devon a couple more times to assure himself that she was breathing—Cody finally settled back in the chair he’d relocated by her bed. Within minutes, he fell into a light, uneasy sleep.

  * * *

  FRAGMENTS OF DREAMS kept collecting, then colliding and ultimately breaking apart in her head. They were all different from one another, but they still had one thing in common.

  They were all dreams that revolved around being lost. Hopelessly lost. Lost in the desert, lost in an amusement park, lost in a large city, lost in a school she remembered from her childhood. In each instance, for however long or short that particular dream fragment lasted, she was trying to find her way home, trying to find something she had lost besides herself. Though, in the scope of the dream, she had no idea what it was that she was looking for or even exactly where this “home” was.

  Or even if it was home.

  All she was aware of was this urgent need within her to find it.

  It felt as if it went on for hours, this odyssey-without-end that she was on, going from dream to unsettling dream. A few times, as the kaleidoscope of locations kept changing, she somehow felt that she was close to journey’s end only to have home suddenly disappear, leaving her stranded. And then the so-called adventure began again, taking on a new scenario, but accompanied by the same feeling.

  Eternally lost, Devon felt exhausted, frightened and incredibly sweaty as she continued trudging to nowhere. A despondency began to eat away at her, making her feel as if she was in some kind of a loop, a loop that kept sending her through the motions of this search-without-a-solution over and over again.

  Somewhere in her dream, Devon came to realize that the baby that had literally been a part of her for so long was missing, abruptly taken away from her very body. The sense of urgency to find the infant, to find home increased exponentially. She strained to wake herself up, somehow sensing that if she could just do that one thing, if she could succeed in waking herself up, then this futile search would be over and her baby would be returned to her.

  She tried to cry out, to somehow rise above the downward pull that was attempting to submerge her once and for all.

  Opening her mouth, she felt water rushing into it, threatening to drown her. She had no idea where it had come from, but if she wanted to remain alive, she knew she was supposed to close her mouth. But if she did that, then she couldn’t wake herself up and, eventually, that would completely suffocate her.

  Feeling she had no choice, afraid that retreating would ultimately lead to her baby’s demise somehow, Devon opened her mouth and screamed, even as water once again came rushing in to silence her.

  She screamed again, louder—and finally, just before drowning, succeeded in waking herself up.

  She woke up looking at the sky.

  No, not the sky. She was looking into the bluest eyes she’d ever seen.

  And she wasn’t drowning anymore.

  Chapter Six

  Cody had just managed to doze off, despite his best efforts not to. In this case, although he was generally a light sleeper, he had somehow fallen into a deep sleep. So much so that the screams he heard initially incorporated themselves into his dream and, suddenly, he was back in Devon’s truck, doing his level best to help her bring her daughter into the world.

  But because he was always so logical, even when asleep, something nudged at Cody’s consciousness, making him realize that the scenario he believed himself in was all wrong.

  They had both been through this already. Devon had already given birth to the baby and, since she’d only been pregnant with one child, this couldn’t possibly be real no matter what it felt like.

  She couldn’t be giving birth again.

  But the scream was very real, so there had to be another reason for it.

  Devon was in trouble.

  Sheer will and almost military discipline forced Cody to wake up. He did so with a start.

  The second he did, he was up on his feet and beside Devon’s bed. A railing was all that separated them and Cody hardly noticed it. He hovered over Devon, wanting to wake her up. The only thing that stopped him was that he’d once read that it was bad to wake up someone who was sleepwalking.

  The moment’s hesitation evaporated as he reminded himself that she was not sleepwalking, she was obviously in the throes of some kind of nightmare.

  Before Cody could put his hand on her shoulder to rouse her, Devon’s eyes flew open. He saw fear mingling with confusion within the deep blue orbs.

  But what he also saw—and what seemed to grow at nearly lightning speed—was relief.

  “It’s you,” she breathed. Devon felt as if she was still gasping for air. She struggled to tamp down the sense of panic.

  “It is,” he replied, only hoping that she wasn’t mistaking him for the low-life scum who had allowed this woman to be out on the open road by herself.

  The look of relief on her face gave way to concern as Devon attempted to prop herself up on her elbows while looking around the room at the same time.

  “Hey, you’re supposed to be lying back and resting,” Cody insisted, gently putting a restraining hand on her shoulder. “Don’t exert yourself.”

  “My baby,” Devon cried. Still scanning the area as if she’d somehow missed seeing the baby in the small room the first around. “Where’s my baby?” There was panic in her eyes as she clutched Cody’s arm. “She’s not—”

  It didn’t take much to guess at what Devon wasn’t saying.

  “Oh no, no, she’s fine,” Cody reassured her. “She’s better than fine. Layla’s with Dr. Dan.”

  “Layla?” Devon repeated, bewildered, her brain still somewhat foggy. She was having trouble processing information. Nothing seemed to be making sense to her. “Dr. Dan?”

  To Cody’s relief, he began to see color returning to the young woman’s cheeks. If she seemed addled, that was just because the last few hours of exertion had caused her to forget some things.

  He backtracked. “Layla’s what you decided to name the baby,” he told her patiently. “And Dr. Dan’s one of the two doctors at the clinic who saved your life. He lives in town. Dr. Dan thought it might be easier for you, as well as the baby, to have someone else take care of Layla while you just concentrate on getting better yourself.” He saw that she was about to protest so he quickly pointed out, “By the time I got you to the clinic, you’d lost a lot of blood. You gave us all quite a scare.”

  Devon blinked, trying to absorb everything this man had just told her and make some kind of sense of it. It wasn’t easy. Her brain felt like a giant piece of Swiss cheese with information falling through the holes. Devon looked at him more closely.

  And then she remembered. “You’re the guy who stopped.”

  Cody supposed that was as apt a description for him as any. Except that there was one important thing missing. “And the guy who delivered your baby,” he added matter-of-factly.

  It began coming back to her in large, all-encompassing chunks. Her eyes widened as she suddenly recalled his name. “You’re Cody.”

  Sharing the moment with her, Cody felt almost triumphant.

  “That’s right.” He leaned in a little closer to her. “How are you feeling?”

  That was an easy one. She didn’t even have to pause before answering his question.

  “Like one of those Saturday-morning cartoon characters who was run over and flattened by a truck.”

  Cody laughed quietly. �
�There’s a reason for that,” he told her.

  Devon eyed him warily, trying to understand. “You ran me over with a truck?”

  Cody suppressed a grin. He didn’t want her to think he was laughing at her. “No, but you did lose a lot of blood. That would explain why you feel the way you do now.”

  The room was well lit and Devon was able to focus on the man sitting beside her bed. There were streaks of blood evident along both halves of his tan uniform.

  “Is that some of mine?” she asked, nodding at the blood.

  Connor had brought him a change of clothes, but Cody hadn’t wanted to leave her side long enough to change—and it didn’t seem right to do it in her room, even though she was unconscious. After a bit, to be honest, he’d been too concerned about Devon to even think about his own appearance.

  Looking down at himself now, he saw what Devon was seeing. There were streaks of blood, dried now, along the front of his shirt, as well as additional amounts, not nearly as pronounced, along his pants legs.

  “Yes, it is. Sorry,” he apologized. Getting up, he walked over to where he’d left his other clothes. Removing the bloodstained shirt, he switched into the clean one.

  Devon’s head was still spinning a little and there was no question that she felt pretty woozy, not to mention shaken. But, even factoring that in, Devon could still appreciate the fact that the person she was looking at was more than just a passably attractive man. He was the closest specimen to bone-melting gorgeousness she had ever seen. His solid muscles testified that he was a man who didn’t allow others do his work for him but tackled head-on whatever came his way.

  She caught herself wondering if those muscles felt as hard as they looked.

  Get a grip, Devon.

  “I can wash that for you,” she told Cody, feeling somewhat guilty that he had gotten his clothes dirty on her account.

  He flashed a quick smile of thanks even as he shook his head. “You’re in no shape to do anything right now,” he told her.

  “I didn’t mean right now,” Devon protested. Right now, she doubted that she could even stand up. But she was determined to be better by tomorrow. “But when I get back on my feet... Where am I, anyway?” she asked suddenly, trying to look around again.

  This time, she didn’t try to sit up. Exhaustion prevented her from doing very much of anything but lying there. Still, she was able to take in her surrounding area, such as it was.

  “This is the clinic I told you about earlier,” he reminded her, doing his best to give her a sense of continuity. “The doctors have this room set aside for any emergency surgeries that might come in.”

  “Why not just have people go to the hospital?” she asked.

  Cody shook his head. He had lived here all his life, so to him what the doctors did at the clinic wasn’t unusual, but he knew that an outsider wouldn’t see it that way.

  “The closest hospital is fifty miles away,” he told her. “A person can’t always get there in time. It would be too dangerous to wait that long.”

  Devon took in a deep breath as the fact that she might have actually died today began to dawn on her. “Like me.”

  “Like you,” Cody confirmed. He thought of the meal that Miss Joan had brought him. There was still a little of that left. Devon needed to eat something so she could build up her strength. “Are you hungry?” he asked.

  The mere mention of food caused her stomach to bunch up and threaten to rise up in her throat.

  “Oh Lord, no,” Devon cried with feeling. Cody had already seen her close to naked, but she found the thought of throwing up in front of him extremely embarrassing. It took her a moment to catch her breath.

  When she did, Devon asked him, “Did I say thank you yet?”

  Without specifically answering her question, Cody grinned and replied, “As I recall, you were kind of busy screaming and pushing.”

  That part was still rather a blur, with the events all running together into one murky whole.

  Her eyes held this. “Then I’ll say it now.” Her voice softened. “Thank you.”

  Cody wasn’t a man who felt comfortable in the face of gratitude, even though he appreciated the fact that she felt that way.

  He shrugged off her words, murmuring, “Well, I couldn’t very well have left you like that.”

  “Someone else did,” Devon said under her breath before she could stop herself.

  She was referring to the SOB who’d gotten her pregnant and then abandoned her, Cody thought. Ordinarily an easygoing, mild-mannered man, he could feel his temper spiking. Who did that kind of thing?

  “About that—” Cody began.

  “I don’t want to talk about it,” Devon responded, her tone shutting down any conversation that might have gone in that direction.

  “Then we won’t,” he told Devon.

  But mentally, Cody made a note to look into the matter for his own edification as soon as the dust settled. Someone needed to be taught a lesson about basic responsibility.

  Looking back at the entire incident now, Cody was well aware that had he not happened along when he did, Devon could have very well died, either in childbirth or right after that from blood loss. It wasn’t something he wanted to think about, but, on the other hand, the man who had gotten Devon pregnant and then pulled a vanishing act had to be held accountable for this.

  Unless she had felt compelled to run away from him, Cody thought suddenly. But for some reason, as he reconsidered the matter, he didn’t think that was the case.

  Telling himself to revisit the subject later, when he could do something about it, Cody turned his attention back to the woman in the hospital bed for now.

  “Are you thirsty?” he asked her. He could see not wanting to eat right now—although that had never been his problem. But she needed to stay hydrated. “Do you want something to drink?”

  The second he asked, Devon became aware of being thirsty. Very thirsty. She couldn’t remember the inside of her mouth ever feeling as dry as it did right at this moment.

  She nodded. “Some water would be nice,” she told him.

  But as he rose to his feet, a sense of panic suddenly swooped out of nowhere, seizing her. Looking back, her reaction made Devon feel ashamed of herself, but at the moment she felt completely overwhelmed by the feeling. She reached out and grabbed his hand, trying to hold on to it.

  “Don’t leave me.” It was almost a plea. The nervousness undulating through her took Devon’s breath away.

  If her request surprised him, Cody gave no indication. “I’m not going anywhere,” he assured Devon. “There’s water right over here.” He pointed to the faucet over the sink. “Just a couple of steps away.”

  Devon flushed, feeling like a complete idiot. What the hell was wrong with her? This wasn’t like her at all. She wasn’t normally needy or clingy. If anything, she prided herself on being the total opposite.

  “Sorry,” she murmured as she accepted the water-filled paper cup he brought back to her. “Must be all these hormones acting up,” she told him. “You can leave if you want to. I’ll be fine.”

  He didn’t buy it for a minute. And even if she really wanted him to, he wasn’t about to leave her alone. Cody planted himself on the chair that he’d pulled up next to her bed earlier and got as comfortable as he could.

  “Don’t have anywhere I need to be but here,” he replied simply.

  “No wife and family waiting for you at home?” she asked. She’d taken up enough of his time. If he had people waiting for him, if wasn’t fair of her to make him stay.

  “No wife,” Cody told her.

  “No family?” she pressed, unable to imagine someone like Cody being utterly unattached.

  “Oh, I’ve got family,” Cody assured her. “But it’s not like we tuck each other into bed.”

/>   Half the time Connor did act like their father, but it was Connor who had always said to never leave a job unfinished and, as far as Cody was concerned, seeing to this new mother’s needs through the night qualified as a job that he had undertaken.

  “Do you have brothers and sisters?” she asked, curious.

  It was a question, but he also caught a rather wistful tone in her voice, which in turn had him asking a question of his own.

  “Are you an only child?”

  Cody could see that Devon was struggling to erect a protective wall around herself or, at the very least, a protective shield. But she wasn’t fast enough. He’d glimpsed the vulnerable woman who was just beneath the bravado and the careless act.

  Devon frowned, ignoring his question.

  “How many brothers and sisters?” she asked, stubbornly pressing on.

  Cody felt he had gotten his answer about her family dynamics. “Two of the first, one of the second,” he told her.

  Devon tried to envision them all around the dining table, talking over one another, arguing, laughing. “Parents?”

  Cody shook his head. “Not for a while now,” he told her quietly.

  So his life wasn’t as perfect as she thought. Devon felt sympathy stirring within her. “Me neither.”

  “Guess that gives us something in common,” Cody replied.

  Devon nodded. For just a single moment, she felt close to the man who had rescued her. “Guess so,” she murmured.

  He wanted to keep her talking and thinking of something else. “Were you headed somewhere?” When she didn’t answer him, he gently pressed, “When I found you, where were you going?”

  A single tear spilled out of the corner of her eye, leaving a trail along her cheek until it stained the sheet beneath her ear.

  “Doesn’t matter now,” she told him quietly.

  Jack was gone and he had left intentionally, deserting her as well as the baby she now realized he’d never really wanted. She was not going to lower herself any further by continuing to search for him. Jack wasn’t going to take her back and even if he did, she didn’t want him to. But it would have been nice to recover her mother’s jewelry.