Total pages in book: 86
Estimated words: 80660 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 403(@200wpm)___ 323(@250wpm)___ 269(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 80660 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 403(@200wpm)___ 323(@250wpm)___ 269(@300wpm)
He turned, ready to drag her to the truck. And that was when his foot hit the beer bottle someone had left just lying around, and for the second time that day he found himself upended and falling.
“Ian!” Charlie was yelling and he heard the dog bark.
His back hit the ground and he felt a nasty pain go through his skull.
And everything went black.
* * * *
“Mr. Taggart? Mr. Taggart, can you open your eyes for me?”
Pain flashed through his brainpan and nausea rolled through him. Some asshole was flashing a light into his eyes while he was trying to sleep.
“Whoa, brother. Theo, help me with him,” a familiar voice was saying.
“And I thought I was bad. Bad Taggart. Down.”
He felt arms holding him and the sound of his younger brothers arguing about the best way to deal with him.
“Are you sure we can’t tranq his ass?” Theo asked.
“His ass isn’t what I’m worried about,” a masculine voice said. It was familiar, too, but this wasn’t one of his brothers. “His brain took a beating. Come on, you big bastard. Open your eyes so I can make sure you’re not brain-dead in there. Do you know how many people are waiting to see if they can pull your plug?”
Yes, he knew that voice. Will Daley. He was a Dom at Sanctum. He was also a doctor of some kind.
What the hell had happened? Had an op gone bad?
He remembered something dirty and smelly. Something had been touching him. Jeez, had he been violated by Big Foot?
Nope. Bud. It had been that mangy mutt his daughters loved.
His daughters. His wife. Ian forced his eyes open. “Charlie. Where’s my wife? Where’s Charlie?”
What had happened? Charlie had been in labor and then there had been water.
“I’m over here, babe.” Her voice washed over him like a calming wave. “Welcome back. You were totally right. We needed that ambulance. That happened way faster than I thought it would. It was about twenty minutes from the time my water broke to giving birth.”
She was somewhere to his right. He tried to turn, but Will got in his way.
The neurosurgeon looked down at him. “Ian, you took a nice fall. You were in and out of consciousness and managed to scare some of the ER nurses. You have no idea how hard they are to scare. Your CT scan came back as nothing more than a mild concussion, and you likely pulled a couple of muscles in your back. Let me look you over and I’ll let you see your babies.”
He wanted that more than anything. He tried to relax as Will examined him by shining a way-too-bright light in his eyes. That was when the words he’d said actually penetrated.
“Babies? I thought the girls were going to day care. Did they come with us in the ambulance? By the way, I’m charging Remy for that. None of this would have happen if that asshole cleaned up his yard and was way less a redneck.”
“He took the girls to day care,” Charlie explained. “Li says they’re perfectly fine and Remy’s agreed to watch Bud until we get home. He says Bud is whining for the girls but he likes burgers.”
Oh, good luck with that. Bud liked to eat. And vomit. And eat again. And vomit. Maybe he would have his revenge on Remy after all. His vision came back into focus. He could see his two younger brothers standing at his bedside.
Bedside. He was in a hospital, a damn IV in his arm. What the hell had happened? The last thing he could remember was falling.
Babies?
“Charlie, please tell me you didn’t have twin boys,” he practically pleaded. They would be outnumbered. Hopelessly outnumbered, and he was pretty sure Bud would side with the children. Maybe if he gave the dog that ham he always promised…
“It wasn’t twin boys, silly,” she said. “The sonogram was completely wrong.”
“But the CT wasn’t,” Will said. “I think you’re going to be fine, but we’ll keep you overnight so you can get some rest and help Charlotte out. Her birth was smooth and easy. No problems at all except the fact that you were unconscious and unable to see your new baby girls born.”
He sat up. He thought he’d been afraid before. “The doc said it was a boy.”
“Nope.” Charlie smiled his way. “Two more girls.”
He reached out and grabbed Will’s coat. “I’m going to need drugs. Lots of drugs because you’re wrong. There’s something fucked up in my brain.”
Theo and Case started laughing and he knew he’d been had. Even Will couldn’t help a smile.
The doc looked back at Charlie. “Sorry, that was too funny. I’ll send the rest of them in. Make sure you both take it easy. I’ll be back in a few hours to check on him.”
“Charlie?” He was well aware of the amount of pleading in his voice.