“Oh my God, is she okay?” he asked, his voice filled with the same fear that coursed through my veins.
“She…she hit her head,” I managed to say as I heard Lori on the phone with 911.
“I…I think she hit her head. She’s unconscious,” Lori cried out. “Is she breathing?”
“Yes!” Michael said.
It felt like an eternity before an ambulance finally came. Merit was still unconscious, and Michael held his shirt to the large cut on her head.
“Sir, I need you to let her go,” one of the paramedics said to me.
I shook my head, momentarily scared to death at the thought.
“Sir, please.”
Michael tugged on my shoulder, prompting me to let Merit go. I watched as they took care of the cut and strapped her onto a stretcher.
As they started to take her to the ambulance, I quickly walked alongside them. “She’s almost ten-weeks’ pregnant.”
I could feel Michael’s eyes on me, but I didn’t bother to look at him. I had no idea if Lori heard me, and at that point, I didn’t care. The medic asked me if I wanted to ride in the back of the ambulance with her.
I nodded and climbed up. Turning, I looked at Michael. “I suggest you tell your father to leave. If anything happens to her or our baby, I swear to God, I will hunt him down and kill him!”
Michael swallowed hard. “You won’t have the pleasure of killing him, not if I get to him first.”
The door to Merit’s room opened, and I jerked my head up to look at the doctor who entered. They had decided Merit would stay the night in the hospital and had given her a room while she got a CT scan.
“She’s done with the CT scan, and I’m happy to say she woke as we were taking her up. No internal bleeding, and there doesn’t seem to be any damage other than a concussion.”
I let out a breath. “And the baby?”
“Is fine.”
I scrubbed my hands down my face and held them there as a sob of relief came bursting out of me. I felt the doctor place his hand on my shoulder and give it a light squeeze.
“This early on, they’re so well protected in the womb. The head wound was more a concern than anything else. But, needless to say, the trauma of the accident could always have an adverse effect. The main thing we want to do is make sure Miss Eden isn’t under any stress. I’d like to keep her in the hospital overnight, especially since she lost consciousness. But honestly, everything is fine besides the nasty cut on her head and the concussion. It could have been a lot worse.”
I nodded. “Thank you.”
“Her mother and brother are in the waiting room. I’ll let them know the news.”
“Doctor, can you not mention the baby? Merit hasn’t told her mother yet.” I had to assume that Michael hadn’t said anything to Lori.
He smiled. “Of course.”
Then, he walked out the door, and I sat in the hospital room alone. A sudden rush of emotion came over me, and I leaned my head down and let it all out. I wasn’t sure if it was relief, fear, happiness, or simply being downright scared to fucking death. My body shook as I cried like I had never cried before. Not even after my father died did I cry like this.
If I had lost Merit, I wouldn’t even know what to do. The thought of not having her in my life was something I wasn’t willing to even consider. And then the baby. My God, was it even possible for me to be in love with a child I only found out about a few days ago?
Yes. It was. It was like the moment I opened my heart and admitted my feelings for Merit, everything became so freaking crystal clear.
My mind raced as I remembered what it felt like to watch Merit fall. To see her head hit the ground, and then that rock, and how scared I’d been. Then the thought of anything happening to the baby had filled me with dread.
I squeezed my eyes shut and willed myself to stop replaying it in my mind. They would be bringing Merit back soon, and she was awake. She didn’t need to see me falling apart like this.
I pulled in a deep breath and stood. I walked over to the window and stared out over the town I had grown up in and loved. Everything made so much more sense to me now. Why I hated coming back home. The fear of admitting why I had run off to bull ride in the first place. Running from a past that I had fucked up so royally.
The phone in my pocket buzzed, and I pulled it out to see Brock’s name.