Page 29 of Derecho

Oh shit! My ass was asleep, tingles shooting down my right leg. I hadn’t moved because I was completely engrossed in this chapter about managing pain in labor. Not that I’d need to know it…Birdie would come support Lainey. And they’d both leave for the hospital probably as soon as the first contraction hit. If she was still here. God, my chest tightened at the thought that she might not be.

I cleared my throat, trying to tuck my phone away undetected. “Hey.”

“Uh…what’s going on?”

“I…” There was no use lying. “I was just worried you might need me. Figured I could sit out here for a bit.”

She leaned against the door, one hand running over her belly, the other coming up to cover her mouth as she yawned. “What time is it?”

I looked at my phone. Damn, it was almost two in the morning. I’d fallen down a research rabbit hole and completely lost track of time.

“Still early enough that you should get back to bed.”

She smiled, wincing as her fingers brushed over her cheek.

“It's kind of hard to sleep when someone is bouncing on my bladder.”

I nodded, pushing up off the floor, using my cane and the wall to keep my balance. “That makes sense. Are you okay…otherwise?”

“Yeah,” she whispered. “I’m okay.”

My fingers brushed back some of her hair out of her face, careful to not bump her cheekbone. “I’m right down the hall if you need anything.”

“Just need the bathroom…and maybe a few more hours of sleep. But I can get up early.” Her teeth claimed the corner of her bottom lip, pulling it punishingly through their grasp before her eyes met mine again. “You know. To figure out what’s next. To get out of your hair.”

“No.” I shook my head. “Rest. As long as you need to. There’s no pressure.”

“No pressure,” she repeated, her eyes going glassy.

“None.”

Her hand landed on my arm, gentle and warm, as she nodded.

“Thank you,” she whispered, her hand falling away as she pushed off the doorframe and walked past me, toward the bathroom across the hall. Lainey turned, the first real smile I’d seen on her face since she got here. “Good night, Florence.”

“Good night, Trouble.”

Lainey

“Hey, Lach.” Beau’s voice traveled up the stairs. I stopped, holding my breath to see if my sister’s voice followed. Maybe I was sleep walking? My leg did feel oddly numb. But I knew that was just from the way I’d slept, curled up on my side, and the nerve in my back that the space invader loved to press against.

“Hey, Beau. Birdie.”

God. There was my answer. I hadn’t even had a day to just sit and think about my life imploding. My sister would want answers. She’d want to make a plan. And what I needed was to just turn my brain off.

“Why is Lainey’s car here? Where is she?” Birdie sounded frantic, but I wasn’t ready to face her yet. I pulled at the short sleeves of the shirt Lachlan had let me borrow, but it wouldn’t hide the bruises on my arm…or face, for that matter.

“Upstairs. Still asleep the last time I checked.” Lachlan’s cane tapped against the table. He must be sitting on the couch. God, was he going to tell them what happened?

“Asleep? What? Why is she sleeping here?”

“Greg called.” Beau cleared his throat, and my heart banged wildly in my chest. “Said he and Lainey had a fight, but she left in the storm and she hasn’t been picking up her phone. He’s worried something happened to her.”

“She’s okay…isn’t she?” Birdie asked.

“That piece of shit waited until this morning to reach out?” Lachlan’s anger was palpable, even more when he lowered his voice. “He should know why she isn’t answering her goddamn phone. She doesn’t have it with her. Because of him.”

“What’s going on, man?” Beau asked.