Total pages in book: 61
Estimated words: 57866 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 289(@200wpm)___ 231(@250wpm)___ 193(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 57866 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 289(@200wpm)___ 231(@250wpm)___ 193(@300wpm)
“Five pounds, two ounces,” a nurse announced. “We’ll have him over to you very soon, Mom.”
I tried to compose myself as they swaddled him in a blanket and put a little cap on his head. Once they put him in my arms, though, I lost it again. Marlowe was beside the bed, snapping photo after photo of us.
“Your name is Charlie,” I said, looking into his wrinkled, red face. “After your great grandpa.”
The nurses helped me try to nurse him, but he didn’t latch on. They assured me it was okay and we’d try again later.
“Do you want to hold him?” I asked Marlowe. “I’m hoping you’ll be his godmother.”
“Me?” Her eyes filled with tears. “Of course, I will.”
She reached over and gently took the bundle that was Charlie from my arms.
“Oh, Shelby, you did good. He’s perfect.”
“Let me take a picture of you with him.”
She handed me her phone and posed with my newborn son, and my heart filled with love for them both. It would have been the perfect moment, if Beau were here, too.
“Has he called?” I asked Marlowe.
Knowing who I meant, she walked over to check my phone, which was in her bag. She shook her head and I sighed softly. Either something was wrong, or Beau had changed his mind and bailed. Both options made me feel physically ill.
“Hey, stay in this moment,” Marlowe said gently. “This is one of the most joyful days you’ll ever have.”
I nodded, knowing she was right. Charlie deserved all my attention.
“I’m going to try nursing him again,” I said.
A nurse walked in and saw me untying my hospital gown.
“We’ll have to wait just a few minutes for that,” she said. “We need to move you up to OB right away because we have a lot of patients coming in from a big explosion downtown. They’ll get you cleaned up and into a nursing gown, and it’s a lot quieter up there, too.”
She used her foot to switch off the brake on my hospital bed. We were still on the Emergency floor. I’d been too far along in my labor to be taken up to the Obstetrics floor when I arrived. I turned to look at her, my heart racing.
“An explosion downtown?” I asked. “Where was it?”
“The Shapiro Center. Where the Coyotes play. Apparently, there’s supposed to be a home game there tonight and there were a lot of people there.”
I held on to Charlie, tears streaming down my cheeks as she wheeled me out of the room.
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
Beau
When I coughed, my chest hurt and my mouth felt gritty. All I could taste was…dust? Where the hell was I? Everything felt foggy and when I tried to move, my body felt like it was stuck in quicksand.
Water. I needed water. I blinked, the air around me clouded by debris that seemed to be everywhere.
I coughed some more, unable to stop myself even though it made my body ache. Somewhere in the middle of my coughing fit, I finally remembered where I was.
I was at the arena, and I’d been on my way from the locker room to my car, because I’d just gotten a message that Shelby was in labor. Out of nowhere, something terrible had obviously happened, and I felt a deep, desperate need to get out of here.
My best guess was that the building had partially collapsed. There were chunks of concrete piled around me. I had to fight through the pain and was barely able to maneuver my body into a standing position. By the time I made it to my knees, I was gassed. I bent over and coughed more, then spit the collective dust from inside my mouth.
I was okay. Sore all over, but able to get up. What about everyone else, though? It was dark and I couldn’t see through the wreckage in front of me, so I reached out my hands and moved over the piles of debris until I found a wall.
“Hello?” I called out, the single word sending me into another coughing fit. “Can anyone hear me?”
Nothing. I slowly moved in the direction I thought was the locker room. I had nothing but instinct to go on and I wasn’t sure what direction I was going.
“Hey!” I yelled as loudly as I could. “Is anyone there?”
My pulse pounded as I made my way through the rubble, the wall I had my hand on ending with broken pieces of what felt like brick. Whatever had happened, there were a lot of people in here when it went down. My teammates and coaches, a lot of arena staff, the team we were playing tonight…hundreds of people were here. Fuck. It was naïve to hope everyone was okay.
At this point, I wasn’t even sure I was going to get out of here. The whole building could come down at any moment. Shelby was at the hospital delivering our baby, and I was missing it. I might never see her again and I might never meet our child.