Chapter Forty Ryan
Everything is going to change today.
We’re going to tell Andrew and Ethan the truth. About everything.
It’s not like we have much of a choice. They’ll find out that Emma is pregnant, and they’ll automatically ask who the dad is.
None of us know, so we’ll have to be honest about us all sleeping with their little sister.
Then, we’ll have to break the news that she’s with all of us and that we’re all going to raise the baby.
Fuck. They’re going to hate us.
But they’re our brothers too and deserve to know the truth.
“I should’ve gone to the store,” Emma sighs as she paces around her kitchen, checking the fridge and cabinets. “I meant to go yesterday, but I wasn’t feeling well.”
“If you’re ever not feeling well and need something done, you have three guys who are willing to do whatever you want,” I remind her as I walk into the kitchen, watching her get wound up when she doesn’t find whatever she’s looking for.
Emma shakes her head and shuts the fridge door. “All I have is water to drink. Maybe I should’ve gotten alcohol for them. Do you think they’ll take the news better if they’re a little buzzed?”
“I don’t think that’ll change how they take the news,” I tell her honestly. “They’re not going to be in the mood to eat or drink anything, Em. Don’t worry about it.”
Emma rakes her fingers through her hair. “It could help them relax. If they’re hungry, they’ll get more pissed off because then they’ll also be hangry.”
She’s losing her mind. She has been since I stopped by to help her prepare for our talk with her brothers.
“It’ll be okay,” I assure her as I walk over to her. I reach out to pull her into my arms, but she dodges past me to fluff up the throw pillows on the couch. With a sigh, I follow her into the living room as she nitpicks and cleans.
It’s like seeing Max on crack.
“Maybe I should light a candle. That’s calming, right?” Emma asks me.
“Unless they decide to throw hot wax in our faces,” I mutter.
Emma shoots me a death glare. “You’re not helping!”
Oh, shit. That was the wrong thing to say.
“Let’s sit down for a second,” I tell her as I try to take her hand to get her to stop moving around so much. She’s making my damn head spin.
“They’re going to be here in an hour! Andrew has forty minutes left in his shift, and he’s heading straight over. Ethan is finishing up brunch with a friend. We don’t have time to sit down,” Emma scolds me.
I frown as I watch her dodge past me again. I don’t like seeing her like this, especially when she should be taking it easy for herself and for the baby. All of this stress isn’t good for her.
“Em, please,” I say. “You’re worrying me.”
“I just need things to go well, Ryan. I was up all night thinking about today and what I’m even going to say to them,” Emma tells me, her voice wavering.
My eyes widen. “All night? You didn’t sleep?”
Emma reaches out and grabs the back of the couch as she walks behind it, swaying a little. She presses her other hand against her face as she hangs her head. “I don’t feel good.”
Panic pierces my chest like a blade as I realize just how pale she suddenly looks. “Come sit down.”
Emma blinks slowly as I start to head toward her. She opens her mouth to speak, but her words slur just as she slumps forward.
“Emma!” I shout as I lunge toward her, catching her in my arms before she hits the ground. I slowly lower her down before cupping her face, my heart pounding wildly. “Emma? Emma!”
I lean down next to her slightly parted lips and listen, trying to hear through the rapid thumping of my heart. Eventually, I hear a slight exhale. She’s still breathing. She’s alive.
For a second, I freeze, my scrambled brain unable to think of a next step. What the hell do I do? What the hell just happened?
I’m supposed to protect her. Not let her break under the weight of this. What if I’m too late? What if I lose her and the baby because I pushed too hard? “Fuck. Think,” I tell myself as I stare down at her.
The hospital. It’s not that far away from her apartment at all. I can get her there faster than it would take to wait for an ambulance.
I pull her into my arms and stand, quickly carrying her out of her apartment and down to my car parked on the side of the street. “I’ve got you. Just hang in there.”
As carefully as I can, I put her into the passenger’s seat and buckle her up, my hands shaking. My chest is so full of anxiety that it feels like it’s about to burst, but I keep moving. I keep acting because something is wrong with her.
I hurry to the driver’s side and get in, forcing my brain to remember how to even turn on the car. As soon as the engine is cranked, I pull onto the road and speed to the hospital, fear pulsing in my veins.
What if something is wrong with the baby too? What if they’re both in danger?
What if I lose them?
My knuckles turn white as I get us to the hospital as quickly as I can without endangering her even more. I don’t even bother trying to hunt for a parking space. I pull up to the emergency room exit and shut off my car, leaving the keys in the ignition. Someone will move it.
I run over to the passenger’s side and throw open the door to see her still out cold. I unbuckle her and pull her into my arms, distress written all over my face as I charge into the emergency room.
“Someone help!” I shout.
All of the people in the emergency room freeze as they stare at me. A nurse nearby jumps into action and hurries over to me. “What happened?”
“I don’t know. She passed out,” I tell her, unable to keep my voice steady. “She said she wasn’t feeling well.”
“Has she taken anything?” the nurse asks as she motions at someone nearby. “Get Dr. Blake!”
“No, I don’t think so,” I say as a gurney is rolled toward us. I tighten my grip on Emma at first, not wanting to release her. She feels safer in my arms, but I’m not a medical professional.
I don’t even know what the hell is going on!
Andrew suddenly bursts through the double doors leading into the ER, his eyes wide with shock. He hurries over to me with another nurse behind him. “What in the world, Ryan? What happened to her?”
I let him take Emma from my arms and place her on the gurney. “She passed out. She wasn’t feeling well.”
“Emma, can you hear me? Emma,” Andrew says as he gently lifts Emma’s eyelids and shines a light in them. “Pupils are dilating. Let’s move her to a room. Ryan, follow me.”
I nod as I trail them out of the ER and down a hallway, my pulse racing.
“Did she hit the floor when she passed out? Did she hit her head?” Andrew questions me as he holds one side of the gurney, wheeling it along quickly.
“No, I caught her,” I tell him, speeding up to keep pace with him. “She told me that she wasn’t feeling good and that she didn’t sleep much last night.”
“Did she eat anything today?” Andrew asks.
“I don’t know. I wasn’t with her all day,” I say.
Andrew flashes me a confused look over his shoulder. “Why were you with her at all?”
Fuck. I can’t even think of what to say, so I don’t speak a single word.
Luckily, we rush into a room, and Andrew and the nurses jump into action to check her vitals and get her hooked up to machines. I stand off to the side, forcing myself not to get too close and get in their way. I just wish that I could hold her hand.
“Her blood pressure is up,” one of the nurses tells Andrew. “Any medical conditions that we need to know about?”
Andrew shakes his head. “Not that I know of. She’s healthy. I don’t know what would’ve pushed her this far for her to pass out. She hasn’t ever done that before.”
“There must be something,” the nurse says as she places a pulse oximeter on Emma’s finger.
“I don’t know! She’s in good health as far as I know,” Andrew replies, his concern making him frustrated.
Finally, I find my voice.
“She’s pregnant, Andrew.”
Andrew whips around to face me, shock filling his eyes. “What did you say?”
I swallow hard as tension grips my throat, cutting off my air as he stares at me. “She’s pregnant.”
Slowly, a look of realization fills his face, followed by narrowed eyes of fury. He doesn’t even know the full picture, but just this little snapshot is enough to clue him in to part of the truth.
He’s really not going to like the rest.