Learning to Breathe Again (13 page)

“
Meaning what?” her gaze
narrowed on him.

“
What you’re feeling right
now—panicky, closed in, super sensitive to every sound and smell in
this place, is the same way I’m feeling,” he gave her a grin. “You
can kiss me, take my mind off of it.”

“
Oh, whatever,” she stepped
away from him but returned his grin. “Let’s go see what your cousin
needs.” Together they walked into the room where Carly had been
taken.

“
All I know is, Mitch owes
me big time for this one,” he told her under his breath, earning a
chuckle. “Big,” he repeated, as Carly clutched her stomach and
screamed.

“
HEY, BIG GUY. HOW’S THE
head?” Bayleigh moved over to stand beside his hospital bed when
she noticed his eyes were open. Jack groaned as he pushed himself
upright.

“
You’re enjoying this,
aren’t you?” he asked with a glare in her direction.

“
Hey, it’s not every day you
get to see a big, strong man faint,” Bayleigh told him with a
laugh. “Carly fell asleep about an hour ago and they took the baby
back to the nursery for a little bit and I figured it was time to
check on you. I thought you might like to head down to the
cafeteria and see what they have to offer?”

“
What time is it?” Jack
asked, trying to focus on his watch.

“
Five fifteen,” Bayleigh
stepped back as Jack stood up. “I’ve talked to your cousin Mitch
and he’s trying to figure out how to get back here. The news is
reporting that most of the interstate between here and Waco is shut
down due to the ice. I also talked to Jason and Nicole. They’re
going to come back on an earlier flight tomorrow, or rather today,
if they can arrange it.”

“
What about Ma and
Pop?”

“
Carly was awake when they
called back, so I didn’t talk to them,” she explained as she led
the way down the hallway to the elevator. It had been a long night
and she was still riding high on adrenaline. “She also got in touch
with her mother. I think she’s trying to figure out how to drive on
the icy roads as we speak.”

“
Thanks for staying with
Carly,” he told her, grimacing as his fingers probed at the knot on
the back of his head.

“
No problem.”

He followed her out of the elevator and down
the hallway to the cafeteria. “I take it you’ve been out exploring
while I was incapacitated?”

“
Only to find coffee.”
Bayleigh handed him a tray and headed for the serving line. “The
nurses assured me they have a great breakfast here. Which is a good
thing, that little storm last night created a nice little covering
of ice at least an inch thick. The news guys say it’ll get above
freezing once the sun comes out, though.”

Jack grabbed a tray and moved over to the
grill line, ordering enough food to feed a small army. Bayleigh
added the two large cups of coffee she’d grabbed and they headed
for the cashier. Jack paid and then they moved to corner table in
the near-empty dining room.

“
Did you get any sleep?”
Jack asked after they’d sat down and started eating. He’d filled
his plate with eggs, bacon and toast and she helped herself to a
small serving of the eggs and bacon.

“
Are you kidding me? I was
too busy enjoying holding the baby.” Bayleigh didn’t want as much
to eat as he did, so she finished her meal sooner than him. She
cradled the cup of coffee in her hands. She glanced over at him and
gave him a mischievous smile.

“
So, you’re not big on
needles, I take it?”

“
Good God, did you see the
size of that thing? It was at least as long as my arm!” he
shuddered as he glanced down at his arm, causing Bayleigh to
laugh.

“
It wasn’t that long! It was
a normal needle. You missed the one they used in her back.
Now
that
one was at
least as long as your arm,” she told him with a straight
face.

“
Getting woozy here,” Jack
warned with a glare in her direction. “All I’m going to say is that
men do not need to be in the delivery room when a baby is born.
It’s unnatural,” he shot back, finishing his coffee and standing
up. Bayleigh laughed again and stood up with him, walking with him
back to the elevators.

“
By the way” he stopped at
the elevator and stood there, looking at her.

“
Yes?” Bayleigh reached over
and hit the button, then met his gaze, waiting for him to finish
his thought.

“
Thanks for staying with
Carly through the delivery,” he leaned over and kissed her soft
lips. “I owe you one.”

Bayleigh stared at him, surprised by the
action. As far as kisses went, it had to rank right up there as the
most unromantic one she’d ever had. So why were her lips
tingling?

Jack stepped forward as the elevator arrived,
the doors opening with a “swoosh”. Jack took her hand and pulled
her into the elevator with him, hitting the button for the
maternity floor. As soon as the elevator arrived on their floor and
the doors opened up, Bayleigh led the way down to Carly’s room.

“
There you are! I was
beginning to wonder where you two had wandered off to,” Carly
greeted them as they stepped back into her room. Bayleigh tensed as
she realized Carly was no longer alone. An older woman and another
man, who looked to be close to Jack’s age, were sitting on the
couch in the room.

Jack paused when he realized she’d stopped
just inside the door before realizing why. “Bayleigh, this is
Cindy, Carly’s mom. And this big doofus is her cousin, Paul. He’s
the chief of police here.”

“
Bayleigh! Thank you so much
for staying with Carly all night. She tells me you are an excellent
labor coach.” Cindy stood up and walked over to Bayleigh, giving
her a hug.

“
She did the hard part. I
just stood there and held her hand.” Bayleigh looked over at Jack.
He could still see the wariness there, but it wasn’t as apparent as
it had been when they’d first walked into the room.

“
You kept me from panicking
a few times.” Carly told her. “I don’t know what I would have done
if you hadn’t been here.”

“
What am I, chopped liver?
I’m the one who got you here, in the middle of an ice storm, after
all.” Jack reminded her, giving Bayleigh a wink.

“
And promptly hit the floor
when they started putting needles in me!” Carly shot
back.

“
Yes, we heard all about how
you braved the icy roads and got Carly all tucked in safe and sound
in labor and delivery, and then checked yourself into the ER.” Paul
stood up and moved over next to Jack, clapping him on the
shoulder.

“
Who’d you hear that from?”
Jack glanced over at Bayleigh, noticing for the first time she’d
moved back over to stand by the door, almost as if she was planning
to duck out it at first opportunity. He held his hand out to her
and with a slight hesitation, she took it, allowing him to draw her
into the group.

“
Janine. She couldn’t wait
to tell me about the big bad war hero who passed out when the
nurses approached the pregnant lady with a needle.” Paul laughed,
moving to sit back down. “Janine’s my sister. She’s a nurse down in
the ER and she couldn’t wait to tell me about it,” he supplied for
Bayleigh.

“
Doesn’t HIPPA apply
here?”

“
She was calling to inform
Aunt Cindy that Carly was in labor. And also to see if we knew who
to call since you’d knocked yourself out. She told me as an officer
of the court and a concerned family member,” Paul informed
him.

“
Right. You might want to
come up with a better story. That one won’t stand up in court,”
Jack advised, as the nurse walked in pushing the
bassinet.

The nurse gave Carly some instructions on
when to feed him and how to contact her if she needed any help and
then excused herself, allowing the family members to crowd around
Carly and the baby to admire him.

Bayleigh waited a few minutes and then nudged
Jack’s arm with her elbow. “I’m guessing Carly would like to
breastfeed in private,” she whispered to him.

“
Paul, how about I buy you
and Bayleigh a cup of coffee and we can go check out the driving
conditions?” he suggested to his friend. Carly gave Bayleigh a
smile of gratitude and then turned her attention back to her
son.

“
How is it you know so much
about childbirth and babies?” Paul asked as they moved towards the
elevator.

“
I had a friend whose
boyfriend didn’t want to be a daddy. I agreed to be the coach when
the time came,” Bayleigh explained. “It was before the band went to
Europe, right after I graduated from college.”

“
Lucky us,” Jack murmured as
they exited the elevator and made their way to the coffee stand.
Paul excused himself when his cell phone rang, moving off to the
side to answer it. Jack ordered the three cups of coffee and Paul
joined them as they sat down at a table.

“
Good news and bad news.”
Paul announced, sitting down across from Bayleigh. “The state
highway patrol has shut down most of the roads leading out of town;
the bridges are iced over and presenting too much of a risk, unless
it’s an emergency.” He paused to take a sip of his
coffee.

“
So we’re stuck here?”
Bayleigh glanced around the cafeteria. She’d managed to avoid the
panic attack last night, but she wasn’t sure how much longer she
could hold herself together. The euphoria from watching a baby
being born was fading fast.

Paul gave a slight shake of his head. “Not
necessarily.” He looked over at Jack. “With your truck, you should
be able to make it out to your place, or your uncle’s. I just
wouldn’t try to make it back into town once you’re out there.”

Jack nodded in understanding and turned to
Bayleigh. “It’s up to you. I’ve got plenty of food and supplies
back at the house,” he told her.

“
I think I’d prefer to head
back to your place, if you don’t mind driving us there,” Bayleigh
told him. “I’ve kind of had enough of hospitals to last me a
lifetime, to tell the truth.”

Jack reached under the table and gave her
hand a quick squeeze. “Then that is where we will go,” he promised
her, his eyes full of understanding.

“
Give me a call when you get
out there, then, so I know you made it.” Paul instructed as he
stood back up and stretched. “I’m heading over to the office but my
cell will be on.”

“
Will do.” Jack promised,
watching his friend walk to the elevator before turning back to
Bayleigh. He reached over with a finger and pushed a lock of hair
back away from her face. He could see the exhaustion that was
creeping into her eyes. “We just need to head back upstairs, tell
Carly where we’re going. Then I’ll take you home,” he told her.
Bayleigh gave him a brief smile, but he could see the appreciation
in her eyes.

“
I almost forgot about
Carly. We can stay here if you want to be near her,” Bayleigh
offered but Jack cut her off.

“
Her mother is here, as well
as a whole hospital full of doctors and nurses. She’ll be ok.” He
stood up and held his hand out to Bayleigh. “Besides, my head is
killing me. I just want to go home to my own bed.” With a grateful
smile, Bayleigh took his offered hand. They stopped in Carly’s room
to check on her and let her know what the plan was, and Jack
promised to call her later. Within minutes, they were headed out to
the parking lot.

“
Maybe we should just stay
here,” Bayleigh suggested as Jack managed to chip the ice away from
the passenger side door and open it.

“
Nah, we’ll be fine. Let me
climb in and slide over so I can start the engine. That way the
defrosters can do most of the work.” He stepped up into the cab of
the truck and then reached a hand down to help her up. Sliding over
under the wheel, he got the engine started and waited for the air
coming out of the vents to warm up before he turned the windshield
defroster on.

“
I’ll wait a few minutes,
let it get the ice melting, and then I’ll go out and chip it
off.”

“
Do you want
help?”

“
Nope, you stay in here
where it’s warm,” he grinned at her. He reached behind the seat and
found his ice scraper. “I’ll be back.”

Bayleigh watched him from the warmth of the
truck as he scraped the ice off the windshields. Once the heat
kicked in and started the melting process, he only had to get a
small area cleared before he could get the edge of the scraper
under it and get huge chunks cleared out of the way. It took him a
few minutes to get the windows cleared off before he was back
inside the cab with her.