Blake, Abby - Sweet Captivation [A Bride for Eight Brothers 2] (Siren Publishing LoveXtreme Forever) (7 page)

* * * *

Agony tore through her abdomen every time she moved, so Mikayla held herself as still as possible, trying not to panic. It seemed to take forever for the ambulance officers to arrive, but they’d quickly assessed her, loaded her on the vehicle and sped to the nearest hospital. Even in her pain-dazed state she’d overheard words like
ectopic pregnancy
and
emergency surgery.

“Don’t let them take my baby!” The words were barely there, but Bryce squeezed her hand in silent answer. The ambulance officers had given her something for the pain, but the tearing feeling in her gut seemed to be worse not better. She ground her teeth to stop from crying out. Somebody wiped a cool cloth over her face, and she shook her head angrily. It wasn’t fucking helping. “Get away from me!” Terror gripped her as she tried to remember why she was in so much pain.

“Matt,” she said as she realized he held her hand, “what’s happening?”

* * * *

Bryce swallowed hard. Mikayla was in so much pain she didn’t even know who he was anymore. He needed to help her, and if she needed her husband by her side, then that’s who he’d be.

“I’m here, honey,” he lied smoothly. After all, lying was the one thing he was really good at. “It’s going to be okay.” He stepped to the side as the ambulance officers moved to unload her stretcher at the hospital entrance. He squeezed her hand to let her know he was still there even though she couldn’t see him, and she held onto him like he was her only lifeline. As scared for her as he was, he felt the same way. Somehow, she was his anchor in a world suddenly too terrifying to face alone. The ambulance officers conferred with a woman for a few moments and then left quickly.

Another woman came into the small area around the bed and pushed some sort of medication into the drip in Mikayla’s arm. Almost immediately Bryce felt her grip loosen on his hand. Even though she seemed to no longer be in pain, he refused to let go.

The first woman pushed a chair closer to Mikayla’s stretcher, and even though Bryce didn’t want to admit the weakness, he perched gratefully on the edge. The pain in his leg eased considerably even though it was the first time he’d noticed it.

“Mr. Davidson?” the young female doctor asked.

Bryce nodded in answer.

“When did the pain start?” He glanced around for a clock but realized he didn’t really have any concept of time. She must’ve understood his problem because she rephrased the question. “How long was she in pain before you called the ambulance?”

He glanced down at the face of the woman who had quickly become the center of his world. Mikayla looked awful. Her skin was sallow and drawn, her hair seemed to have lost both its curl and luster, and her eyes were dull with medication and pain. He swallowed, trying to remember the question the doctor had just asked. Unable to tear his gaze away from Mikayla he said, “Only a few minutes, I–I think. She was in bed, but I heard her groan. It was only a few…a few minutes.”

He’d been in terrifying situations before, some life or death, but none had left him feeling this helpless. Again the doctor seemed to read his fear, because she pulled a seat closer and spoke to him in a low voice.

“We’re preparing an operating theatre for emergency surgery. The ultrasound imaging that they did in the ambulance showed a ruptured fallopian tube—that’s the tube that runs from the ovaries to the womb. Basically the embryo has grown in the wrong place and Mrs. Davidson requires immediate surgery to repair the damage and stop the internal bleeding.”

“What about the baby?” Bryce asked. He suspected he already knew the answer.

The doctor shook her head slowly, and he felt every organ in his body squeeze in pain.

“The important thing to remember is that the egg was in the wrong place and would never have grown into a baby. Even with all our medical advancements, there are just some things we cannot change. We’ll try to repair the fallopian tube if we can, but most times it’s damaged too badly and we need to remove it.” The doctor looked at him with sympathy written all over her face. “As long as the other tube is undamaged, she should be able to get pregnant in the future.”

An older man walked into the area, introduced himself and starting asking questions about Mikayla’s medical history. Bryce was unable to answer most of them, and it quickly became apparent that he would need to contact his brothers. He hesitated over yet another one he couldn’t answer when the name of her obstetrician popped into his head. Bryce had seen the appointment card pinned to the wall in the cabin and thankfully was able to provide the doctor’s first and last name. The surgeon said he’d contact Mikayla’s doctor and assured him that she was in good hands.

Bryce stayed in the seat as they wheeled her into surgery a few moments later.

It was probably a coward’s way out, but he convinced himself not to call his brothers until he knew for certain that Mikayla was all right.

* * * *

Mikayla woke to bright lights and strange voices. Memories of the danger that Matt had said she was in hit her full force and feeling panicked, she tried to sit up.

“Whoa,” a deep, familiar voice said as a warm hand eased her back to the bed. “You’ve just had major surgery. You need to stay still.”

“Matt?” she asked as tears filled her eyes. She couldn’t see his face clearly, but he seemed to hesitate.

“How are you feeling?”

“The baby?” she asked ignoring his question completely. He looked like he wanted to not answer her question, but then he took a deep breath and shook his head.

“I’m sorry, honey.”

She bit her lip, hard. A part of her had already known, but the loss of hope hit her hardest. Before the surgery she’d still had something to cling to, a miracle to wish for, but knowing her baby was gone and there was nothing she could do shattered her completely.

Strong arms wrapped around her upper body in an awkward hug. She clung to his strength, grateful to not be facing this alone. He held her through the storm of her grief, through the wracking sobs and retching that came with them. He stayed with her, lending his strength as hers failed, holding her steady as her world fell to pieces. And then he held her as she slipped into restless sleep.

* * * *

Bryce felt her exhaustion. Memories, fuzzy and painful, rose up to remind him of all the reasons he shouldn’t be here. Mikayla wasn’t his to hold, but he held her anyway.

“Mr. Davidson, she should sleep for a while now. Why don’t you go grab something to eat in the cafeteria?” The nurse smiled kindly, checked Mikayla’s chart, and left the room just as quickly as she’d come. Until that very moment Bryce hadn’t even realized he’d come to the hospital without any credits. He leaned back in the chair and felt the gun he’d tucked into his waistband. Great. He’d come to the hospital with a gun and no money. If that didn’t scream criminal, he didn’t know what did.

He shook his head, trying to think rationally, when it hit him that without money, he wouldn’t be able to use a public communicator to contact any of his brothers. It didn’t help that all he felt was relief to be able to put off telling them about Mikayla and the baby for a while longer. Lachlan had trusted him to protect Mikayla, and Bryce couldn’t help but feel he’d let him down.

He closed his eyes as he tried to figure out what the hell to do next.

“Bryce?” He had no memory of dozing off, but he woke to the sound of Mikayla’s soft voice.

“I’m here, honey.”

“I lost the baby.” She said it with such anguish that he wanted to rage at the world for the unfairness. Mikayla was an amazing woman, and she deserved far better than what the universe had dished out.

“I know, honey. It’s okay. It wasn’t your fault.” She didn’t look convinced. “The doctor explained it very clearly to me. The egg was in the wrong place. It wasn’t your fault. Nothing you did or didn’t do would’ve changed the outcome.” She shook her head as tears filled her eyes once more. “It wasn’t your fault,” he repeated.

She cried harder, and he held her hand, wishing he could hold her close, but figuring that with the surgery it wasn’t really comfortable for her. The fact that she was married to his brothers didn’t seem all that important at the moment.

“It is,” she said as she tried to get her crying under control. “It is my fault. I–I blamed Brock’s accident on the baby. If I hadn’t gotten pregnant, he wouldn’t have been working alone, and Lachlan wouldn’t be risking his life trying to rescue Brock. But I didn’t mean it. I wanted my b–baby.” A sob tore from her throat, and he stood up trying to get closer.

“I know you didn’t mean it. Mikayla, look at me.” When she finally raised her red, watery eyes to his gaze, he said, “This isn’t your fault. Even if you thought that way, it didn’t change anything. The doctor said this was always going to happen. Ectopic pregnancies don’t survive.” He wanted to tell her what the doctor had said about how it would never have grown to be a baby, but it probably wasn’t something Mikayla needed to hear. Her baby had been real, losing it had been painful, and recovering from the experience emotionally would take time.

She moved away from him, and his heart squeezed at what seemed to be a rejection. But then she asked him to lie on the bed and just hold her. He could do nothing but comply. He lifted his injured leg onto the edge of the mattress, taking care not to bump her, and then wrapped his arms around her upper body.

Mikayla laid her head on his shoulder.

“I’m sorry,” she whispered. Surprised by her strange words, he wished he could see her expression when he asked why.

“I’m sorry for putting you through this when you’re already dealing with so many problems of your own.”

He tried to keep his voice casual, but a strange knot had formed at the back of his throat and he had trouble forcing the words out. “Don’t worry about me.”

“But I do worry about you,” she said quietly. “You’re not the man they think you are. It’s like you’re pretending to be that man, the one they all hate, but it’s not actually you.”

He hugged her tighter, unable to speak at that moment. Not since the split with his brothers had anyone cared about him or his problems. Yet, this compassionate, caring woman who’d just lost so much could see him, the real person, not the criminal the rest saw, and for that he would be forever grateful. He’d told his brother he’d protect Mikayla with his life, and he’d meant it at the time, but now he knew the devastation his brothers would feel without her and realized he would protect them all. His life was worthless if he couldn’t protect the people he loved, and as soon as Matt got here, Bryce would go face his troubles head on. No way would he bring any more agony to this beautiful woman or the men she loved.

Chapter Six

Matt rushed into the cabin desperate to see his wife. Silence greeted him, and he ran through the small area calling her name. When no one answered, anger boiled in his heart and mind. What the hell had Bryce done?

A quick glance around the room suggested that the occupants had left in a hurry, and a more thorough search turned up Bryce’s meager belongings including his identification and a handful of currency. Matt growled in disgust when he noticed the identification photo was very clearly his brother with shoulder-length, scraggly hair, but the name was someone else’s entirely.

Fear for Mikayla began to pound deep in his mind, and he fought to control it. He needed to think clearly. Methodically he searched the small cabin looking for anything that might give him a clue as to where Bryce might have taken his wife. He hated that his instinct was still telling him to trust the man. After everything he’d seen, there should be no way he could trust his twin, but somehow the part of his brain that obviously believed in fairytales kept telling him he should.

It was wishful thinking, plain and simple.

Realizing that the communicator was probably his best chance, Matt quickly brought up the call register. The last call had been made to the emergency number, and Matt’s heart leapt into his throat. He quickly brought up the listings for local hospitals and began calling the admissions numbers hoping that Bryce had at least had the decency to give Mikayla’s real name.

His second call yielded results, but the operator refused to give him any medical details over the phone. All he knew was that Mikayla Davidson was a patient. He sent a quick communication to his brothers and then grabbed a few things and hurried out the door.

* * * *

“Bryce?”

“Yes, honey.”

“Why does Matt hate you?”

He really didn’t want to get into this. It had been two days since Mikayla’s surgery, and even though she seemed to be in less pain, the sadness in her eyes brought him to his knees. She’d been so lively, so energetic when she’d argued with Lachlan that now she almost seemed to be another person. Bryce would do anything to give her back that happiness.