Page 62 of Consume Me

“Let’s focus on Clara first.” I had no doubt that our dramatic arrival at St. Mary’s would catch media attention. That meant there was no need to call up her mum. The last thing my wife’s blood pressure needed at the moment was Madeline Bishop.

Clara’s body went rigid in my arms and I looked down to discover her face twisted in pain. “And Brex? Fly fast.”

“Roger,” he said. I took off the headset and passed it across the seat, looking up for the first time to see the new addition to our party.

Norris’s blue eyes met mine, his face a mask of reassuring calm despite the smeared ash and drawn lines. He looked like he’d been through battle. I didn’t bother to question his odd clothing. He was here, and I knew he was the reason Clara was alive and in my arms.

Keeping one arm around her, I stretched the other across to him and he gripped it firmly. I had hundreds of questions for him. They could all wait. I was about to become a father again and judging from Clara’s near constant pain, that would be happening soon.

I rearranged her in my arms, helping her rest against me as I supported her weight. I knew she couldn’t hear a word I whispered to her over the blades cutting through the air but I kept talking anyway.

“You’re so brave. It’s nearly over. I’m here. I’m going to be right here with you.” I wrote promises on her skin with words unheard. She felt them. I hoped they gave her strength.

Clara had faced so much. She would overcome this, too.

When we finally touched down on the helicopter pad at St. Mary’s, a medical team was waiting. Clara shrank away from them as they tried to help her into a wheelchair.

“I’ve got it,” I called as the blades began to slow.

The nurses looked torn between fighting for their jobs and taking on the King. In the end, they stepped aside.

“Show me the way.” I wheeled Clara quickly after them. She reached up, covering my hand with hers, as desperate for the contact as I was. If it was up to me, I would have carried her inside and held her through the entire labor.

“They’re prepping the surgery suite,” a nurse told me as we made our way out of the lift and down the corridor. “Dr. Ball is on the way to deliver the baby.”

“No,” Clara moaned. “I want a room. I need to move.”

The nurse shot me a panicked look. “How long has she been in labor?”

I didn’t have an answer to that question, but I wasn’t about to go against my wife’s wishes now. I had no idea how she’d been violated during our time apart, but I would do everything I could to empower her from this moment forward. “Get us a room. I’ll speak to the doctor.”

When we were finally shown into a birthing suite, Clara looked to me. “You and Belle.”

This proclamation was followed by an unearthly moan. I turned on the nurses who’d begun to set up monitors. One had rushed in with an IV. “Clara, they need to prep you for…”

She shook her head. “Baby is coming now.”

“Your Majesty,” a nurse dared to interject, earning her sharp looks from both of us.

“Out!” I ordered them.

“We can’t allow—” the nurse argued.

“Out!” I roared. They didn’t dare to disagree.

“Poppet,” I said gently. “We’re probably going to need the nurses.”

Her eyes narrowed, but she finally nodded. “Just give me a minute.”

I’d been trying to help her into bed the entire time, but she wasn’t having it. Instead, she shucked off the hospital gown, tossing it to the ground with a disgusted whimper. I watched as her abdomen tightened and Clara lunged for the bed railing, bending into the pain.

I didn’t know what to do, so I stayed close, rubbing her back, and supporting her. My wife knew what she needed and I wasn’t about to question that—not after what she’d been through.

We’d endured another five contractions in various positions when there was a knock on the door. A second later, Belle poked her head inside.

“I was called…oh!” She took in Clara, who was currently leaning against me in a sort of half squat. “Should I get the nurses?”

Clara shook her head, her teeth gritted as she breathed through another round. Belle came inside and closed the door quickly behind her.