“I’m home. What’s up?”
“I can’t get a hold of Josh.”
“Yeah, he probably won’t have service until he gets back to the hotel. The convention center is on the top of a damn mountain.”
“I know, he told me.” He heard what sounded like a shaky gasp. “I just… I’m having some pain and I think maybe I need to go to the hospital, and I really need to talk to him.”
A cold chill slithered down Dylan’s spine. Cat wasn’t one to overreact. He’d deny it if anyone ever quoted him, but Cat might be the toughest chick he knew. If she said she was in pain, it was probably pretty bad. “Are you in labor?” he asked, praying she said no. This was way too early.
“I don’t know.”
Shit. Shit. Shit. He could tell it was an effort for her to answer him. This wasn’t good. Josh would—
He didn’t want to think about it. He needed to handle it.
“I’ll be there in five minutes, okay?”
“Okay. Thank you.”
He threw on a coat and boots and grabbed his car keys from the counter where he’d tossed them. Josh and Cat’s house was right around the corner, but he still burned rubber the whole way there, skidding to an icy stop in their driveway.
The door was unlocked, but when he let himself in he didn’t see her. “Cat?”
“I’m in here.”
Dylan followed her voice toward the master bedroom and found her bent over the mattress, the duvet clutched in two tight fists. Her hair fell around her face, her brow damp. She was breathing heavily. The sight made his blood stop. Shit. He wasn’t qualified for this. Maybe he should call Shawn and Minnie, Sonya, or even Dani. But by the looks of things, he should probably just get her to the hospital.
Cat breathed out through her teeth and relaxed back onto her heels, the pain seemingly subsiding. “Thank you for coming.”
“Can you make it to my car?”
She nodded, and a few tears slid down her cheek. Dylan’s pulse quickened, his mind going to the worst place.
“It’s gonna be okay, Kit Cat.” He put his arm out and she took it. “It’s snowing. Where’s your coat?”
“In the closet by the door.”
Dylan got her things and kneeled to help her put on her boots, then he carefully led her down the snowy steps and into the passenger seat of his car.
“How long do you think it will be until Josh is back at his hotel?” she asked once he was on the road. She gripped the arm rest, her breathing coming in little spurts. Dylan stepped on the gas a little harder. Please don’t have a baby in the car, Cat. And please, whatever saint is in charge of these things, please don’t let anything go wrong while Josh isn’t here.
“Let me make a couple calls,” he said. “I know some other guys that are there. Maybe one of them can find him, get him on the phone.”
That seemed to soothe her. She bobbed her head in agreement, then went back to closing her eyes and breathing weird.
“It’s going to be okay, Kit Cat.”
It had to be.
The OB ward was waiting for Cat when they arrived. The nurses checked her in and got her changed into a gown. One of them talked her through the pain she was experiencing, typing everything she said into a computer. Dylan stepped just outside of the exam room to stare at his phone, close enough that he could hear her if she needed him, but alone so he could answer it the second Josh called.
The whole way there, Cat’s face had wavered between terrified and the kind of exhaustion that comes from real pain. He was almost thankful Josh wasn’t there. He didn’t know how Josh would cope with seeing Cat like that. He wasn’t coping so well himself.
“Dylan!”
He looked up from his phone to see Dani jogging down the hospital corridor in a red pea coat and boots, snow in her hair. His heart jumped to his throat. “Dani.”
“Is she okay?” She stopped to catch her breath, her cheeks pink from the cold.
Dylan gestured over his shoulder to the exam room door. “She’s in there.”
“I was in a meeting. I just got her voicemail. Did you bring her here?”
“Yeah.”
Dani nodded, then pushed through the door. He followed.
When Cat saw Dani, she burst into tears.
“Oh my God, Kit Cat. I’m so sorry I missed your call. Are you okay? Is Josh on his way?”
“I can’t get a hold of him.”
Dani reached around the spider web of wires hooked to Cat’s belly and gathered her in a hug. Then she turned to Dylan. Both of their pleading eyes on him sent heat surging up his neck.
“I’ve got people on it,” he said. He scraped a hand over his jaw, finding his skin clammy. He would handle it. He wouldn’t let them down. He’d already let Dani down enough and Cat was the most important thing in the world to his best friend. He would take care of her.
“Dylan will get Josh on the phone,” Dani said, the confidence in her tone pricking some dormant need for validation.
The doctor cleared her throat, and Dani tore her eyes away from Cat to listen. “So, I was explaining to Cat that she’s experiencing preterm labor. She’s thirty-one weeks which is too early for comfort in my opinion. We’re going to try to stop your labor, but if we’re unsuccessful, there’s going to have to be some quick decisions made.”
“I need to talk to Josh,” Cat said again.
“It’s okay, Cat,” Dani said, smoothing her hair.
Dani shot Dylan a glance that was no hate and all commiseration, and the knots in his muscles loosened. He shouldn’t take pleasure in the way it felt to meet her eyes again, to have her express confidence in him he wasn’t sure he deserved. Given the circumstances, he shouldn’t be happy about a forced moment with Dani, but after weeks of not speaking, he’d take what he could get.
The doctor was listing off some medications and their uses when Dylan’s phone buzzed in his hand.
Finally. He held a finger up to Dani and stepped into the hallway to answer.
“Is she okay?” Josh asked as soon as Dylan connected the call.
“The doctor said she’s in preterm labor. They’re going to try to stop it. How soon can you get here?”
“I’m pulling out of the hotel now. Two hours max.” He sounded like he was out of breath.
Dylan’s heart was racing. He could not give Josh bad news over the phone if it came to that. He prayed to every saint his mother taught him that it wouldn’t, but Josh needed to get here and he also needed to stay calm. “Okay. Listen, Josh, drive carefully. Everything is under control right now. Just trust me and get here safe.”