Page 118 of The Doctors Will See You Now

“Okay. Just take some deep breaths,” I reassured and rubbed a soft hand down her stiff back. “I’ll grab a cab, and we’ll go straight to St. Luke’s.”

“Okay…Oh! Ow! Motherfuckingshit!”

Oh boy. Maybe Cassie was some kind of witch. It looked like Georgia was about to have her bundle of joy four weeks early.

Mel had officially moved in to her apartment and out of Bill and Janet’s place.

Obviously, since she’d been pretty goddamn consistent about not answering my calls, I didn’t find that information out from the source herself.

Rather, Georgia had been the one to fill me in, and even then, she’d done it reluctantly—the little traitor. Still, I didn’t blame her. I liked Melody better than I liked me too.

I looked around the too quiet space that was my living room, and sadness clenched my gut. Everything sucked without Mel. My apartment. Work. My goddamn life. Every-fucking-thing.

I stared at the two lonely tongue depressors in my hand. I had no idea why I’d brought them home from work with me, but here they were, in my hands, and a constant reminder of what I’d lost when Melody walked out of my life.

I wanted her back in my space, back in my life, back with me.

I needed a plan.

Since the clinic, her life’s passion project, had become reality, I needed to find the right way to present it to her. I needed her to understand that I would literally do anything for her, that I loved her, that I wanted to spend the rest of my life with her, and that no matter what happened between us, even if she still didn’t want to be with me, I wanted her to be happy.

I’d been hoping Georgia would throw a surprise birthday party for Kline so that I could talk her into inviting Mel, but Kline didn’t want to focus on anything but his wife and kid—soon to be kids—this year. I was disappointed, but reason told me Melody probably wouldn’t have come—thanks to me—anyway.

Twirling my two lonely tongue depressors in my hand, I looked down at the screen of my phone again, but it gave me nothing.

No phone call. No text. No Facebook message to tell me how she was.

I just wanted to hear from her, even if it was only ten seconds to hear her voice. Every cell inside of my body felt starved for her—her presence, her smile, her laugh, basically anything that made up the woman I couldn’t picture a future without.

Just then, a buzz made my skin hum as my phone danced across my leg. I looked at the screen for at least ten seconds before believing the name I read on the screen.

Melody.

Hope blossomed, filling me up like a balloon and lifting me off of my couch.

“Mel?” I answered, swiping to pick up as quickly as I could and shoving the tongue depressors in my back pocket so I didn’t have to busy myself with holding them anymore.

“Will, it’s—”

“I’m so glad you called,” I interrupted because, fuck it, I’d always regret not putting my heart on the line. I already regretted having not done it sooner. I fucking missed her.

Her voice softened just slightly, but her overall tone was ominous. I braced myself. “Will, I’m calling for your sister.”

Panic seized control of my veins and made them constrict.

“Gigi? What’s wrong? Are you guys okay?”

“She’s in labor.”

Now? It was a good month early. Shit.

“Tell her to go to the hospital right now.”

“Will, I know,” she said, and a horn honking in the background filled the receiver.

Right, right. She’s a nurse, for fuck’s sake.

“Right. I’m sorry.”