Nobody's Dream (37 page)

“I held Kate. Picked her right up when she was crying.” Adam shuddered. He didn’t want to think about why he’d had to pick her up. “We’ll be taking Rori home soon, so you need to get out of here, too.” Paxton and Kate alone overwhelmed him, especially when both started crying at once, but he wanted to have his family together again for the first time since the babies were born.

Adam had barely been able to breathe since this nightmare started. Being beside her and not feeling her vital spark of life reminded him of the time when Joni slipped away from him.

But Karla’s not going to die. She can’t.

Her eyelids flickered, and she opened them. But her unseeing eyes didn’t focus, and she closed them again. He thought he detected more color in her cheeks in the past few minutes. Every now and then, her eyelids moved as if dreaming.

Adam breathed a little easier when they moved Karla to her room, but wished she would wake up. Sometimes she moaned, and he worried she was in pain, but still she didn’t open her eyes again.

Adam took a break and let Jenny in to visit while he went to the NICU with Cassie. Like Jenny, she had been here all night.

“How is she?”

“Still sleeping.” The nurse assured him she wasn’t in a coma. They kept her heavily sedated to give her body time to heal from this ordeal.

“Savannah called this morning to say that everything is fine at the house and you are not to worry about the babies.”

Hard not to worry with his family spread out so much. As much as he missed Kate and Paxton, he didn’t want them in the hospital with all the germs. Savannah was a mom. She’d take good care of them. Angelina and Marisol were there to help, too, no doubt.

Before they reached the NICU, Cassie placed her hand on his forearm, and he halted. “Do not worry. She is not going to leave you or the babies.”

Adam couldn’t speak for the lump in his throat. “How can you be sure?”
He
certainly wasn’t.

She shrugged. “I know. She chose to come back to you and her babies. She will fight this, but needs time for her body to heal.”

Come back? From where?

“Thanks, Cassie. I hope you’re right.”

He showed his armband, and they went into the NICU to check on Aurora. God, he swore Aurora had gained weight since yesterday morning. Her skin wasn’t yellow anymore, either, and when he reached out to rub his thumb on her forehead, she opened her eyes. Tears burned his eyelids. Karla’s eyes.

He leaned close to the baby to whisper, “Your mommy says hi, too. Keep getting stronger so you two can be together again.”

Anxious to return to Karla, he left Cassie in the NICU and returned to Karla’s bedside. Jenny had her head face down on the mattress, her hand holding Karla’s.

Adam rested his cheek on her forearm, one of the few places he wasn’t afraid to touch her, as he stroked her upper arm.

Come back to me, Kitten.

Adam awoke with a start and looked around the room. Jenny was gone. Karla still slept. He hadn’t intended to join her in sleep. A glance at his watch told him he must have been out for a couple of hours. Time to talk to her again.

“Aurora’s jaundice is gone, Kitten. Betcha she’ll be coming home in no time.” What other news did he have? “Savannah’s taking good care of Kate and Paxton, so don’t you worry about them.”

Doc Palmer came in and did a quick examination. She assured him Karla’s body was on the mend. How could she tell? The doctor expected her to make a full recovery and said there shouldn’t be any problem with her having more kids.

Fuck that shit
. No more kids. Lots of people would kill to have three. He’d get a vasectomy before he’d put Karla through this hell again.

Adam willed Karla to open her eyes and talk to him again. Life without her was a lonely black hole.

Chapter Eleven

P
axton squirmed in her arms and stared up at Savannah. So alert. She’d forgotten about how observant—yet tiny—newborn babies were.

“Seeing you with a baby in your arms turns me on.” Damián’s words made her smile as he joined her.

She hoped they would know soon if her suspicions were correct, but her intuition told her she was carrying his baby. Again. When she returned to the clinic, she’d ask Dr. McKenzie to do the test. She didn’t trust the over-the-counter tests.

If confirmed, that would mean perhaps another child had been conceived in the cave at Thousand Steps Beach, since they hadn’t had sex again until their wedding night—gosh, only two weeks ago. So much had happened since then.

She grinned and turned to plant a kiss on Damián’s cheek. No sense getting his hopes up until she knew for sure. Damián wanted to add to their family—and soon. They certainly had been making love often enough since settling into their new house. So, if not now, then soon.

She turned to Damián. “Sit in the glider chair.”

“I can’t stay long. Heading to the shop. Just wanted to say goodbye and make sure you or the babies didn’t need anything.”

“I. Said. Sit.”

He cocked his head. “What did you say,
Chica
?” When she didn’t back down, he grinned and shrugged as he sat. “I do need to get to the shop soon. Have a new mechanic coming in for an interview.”

When he was seated, Savannah walked over and placed Paxton in his arms.

“Hold Paxton for me.” She placed him in her husband’s arms. Seeing him hold a baby brought tears to her eyes. He was a natural, given how he hadn’t hesitated at all in the hospital. When he met her gaze in Karla’s hospital room, she had seen he’d been affected in the same way.

“I missed so much with Marisol.” She didn’t want to think about that now. Nothing could be done to bring back the past. She hadn’t been ready to be with a man then. So much had changed this year, all because of Damián’s love and patient guidance.

Hoping to lighten the moment, she said, “Mari weighed three pounds more.”

He gazed down again.
“Madre de Dios.”
His words were spoken in a reverent tone. Seeing how profoundly moved he was, she prayed she’d soon give him a newborn of his own to hold and cherish. He was such a good father to Mari.

Fifteen minutes passed while she changed Kate’s diaper and sat on the bed, alternating glances between Kate and the man she loved holding Paxton. How she had ever found him again was a miracle, but to be married to him now and—

Mari scampered into the room, still dressed in her pajamas. “
Maman!
Can I hold one of them?”

“Sit in the middle of the bed, and I’ll put Kate in your arms.” With Mari situated far from the edge, Savannah placed the baby in her arms. She usually played with Barbie dolls rather than babies, but seemed to know just what to do.

“I know what I want for my birthday.”

Savannah smiled. Maybe this year she would ask for a baby doll instead of—

“I want you and Daddy to order us some triplets from Dr. McKenzie.”

“Whoa! Not so fast.” What did Mari know about where babies come from? Probably nothing, if she thought you could just place an order for them.

Savannah met Damián’s gaze, expecting him to be looking on in horror at the thought, but his sappy grin told her he might not object. He mouthed the words, “I’m game.” She shook her head. Of course, multiples were rare. Karla and Adam had to be over the moon with their three, but if given the choice, Savannah preferred having one at a time.

Savannah’s phone buzzed, and she pulled it from her pocket. Cassie. Karla was still unconscious. She sent up a quick prayer for her friend’s recovery. She needed to be here with her babies, well, two of them at least.

“Hey, Pax. Take your fist out of your mouth and say hi to
Tío
Damo.”

Savannah giggled. “It’s a little early for them to speak, Sir.”

Damián’s gaze never left Paxton. “Well, he
is
speaking to me with his eyes.” The two did seem to be locked in some silent communication. She and Damián sometimes communicated that way, too. A shiver coursed down her spine.

And her heart melted.
Please let me be pregnant. If not already, then soon
. How different the experience would be with him beside her than it had been with Mari.

“Do you want me to take him so you can get to work?”

He held Paxton closer as if to ward her off. “Work can wait. Family is more important.”

For Damián, family always came first.

Even so, she was so proud of how Damián was opening his own Harley Davidson customization shop. His work was exquisite, but now that he owned the shop, he could hire others to keep things running so he could be here for family when necessary.

Maman’s
money had been put to good use there, and allowed her to help Dr. McKenzie expand his clinic and buy much-needed equipment. Soon, she’d be working there three days a week as a therapist. Construction of her office had to take place evenings and weekends so as not to disturb the important work happening at the clinic. She’d be holding individual and group sessions helping patients deal with life crises.

Damián’s sister would be working as a receptionist there after she moved to Denver next month. In the fall, Rosa planned to take two classes at the university and begin working on her bachelor’s degree.

The Orlando family was so blessed.

“
Maman
, I want to go downstairs now.
Zía
Angelina promised to show me how to make crepes.” The attention span of the newest Orlando—who had legally taken Damián’s name soon after the wedding—maxed out quickly. Maybe she wouldn’t remember her wish to have triplets or even a single baby after getting her fill of Karla and Adam’s.

“Ask
Zía
Angelina to bring me two bottles first. The little ones are hungry.” She took Kate and held her against her shoulder, patting her on the back. Damián met her gaze, a question in his eyes. “Yes, you get to feed one if you don’t have to run off right away.”

His smile warmed her heart. “I’m not going anywhere.”

Minutes later, Angelina and Mari entered the room, each holding one bottle. “I have a wonderful sous chef today. We’re going to be cooking up a storm and take some food to the hospital for Adam, Cassie, and Jenny.”

“I’m sure they’ll appreciate some real food for a change.”

Angelina nodded, solemn. “Adam has barely left Karla’s side. I’m worried about him as much as her.”

Damián accepted the bottle from Mari. “When I leave here, I’ll swing by the hospital and check on Dad.”

“Let us know if there’s anything we can do to help.” Savannah hated that the couple’s joy had turned to sorrow so quickly. The man had seen so much heartache. Adam was one of the strongest men she knew, but how much more could one person take?

*     *     *

Adam begged for fate to step in and give him his life back. “Kitten, I know you didn’t leave me because you wanted to. But you need to come back. Now.” Nothing he could have done would have kept her from hemorrhaging. Other forces had taken her from him.

But he wasn’t going to sit back and let her drift away.

The sight of Karla lying here so helpless and frail brought an ache to his chest that stole his breath. What would he and the babies do if anything happened to her? How could he raise three babies alone?

He laid his head on the bed, covering her arm and grasping her hand. His extended family would help to make sure the babies were cared for, but they needed their mommy.

He needed her, too.

“Baby, come back to us.”

A hand rested on his head, and Adam jerked his head up, wondering how he had missed hearing someone entering the room. Had he fallen asleep? Before he could search the room, he watched Karla’s right hand fall to her belly. His gaze tore to her face, but her eyes remained closed.

“Kitten, eyes on me.”

She blinked a few times and furrowed her brow before focusing those beautiful blue eyes on him.

“Yes, Sir?”

Ka-thunk!

Thank you, God!

For the first time he understood that feeling Karla referred to all the time when her heart dropped into her stomach. Something like that anyway. He took his first full breath in days. “That’s all. I just needed to see your eyes again.”