Chapter Thirty-Five
RILEY
I wake with a start, my heart hammering in my chest. It takes me a few moments to realize where I am, that I’m no longer chained up and being held hostage by Sean but back at home, with Kieran.
I run my hands over the sheets and take a couple of steadying breaths as I remember that the nightmare is finally over.
But when I reach across the bed, I find it cold and empty.
Kieran must have left at some point in the night, but I was too deeply asleep to notice.
Flicking on the light, I glance around the room, and a hollow ache starts to creep back in.
I’m about to snatch up my phone from where it is charging on the nightstand to call him when I notice a note tucked beneath it.
My hands shake as I open it and read Kieran’s messy handwriting.
Something important came up. I’ll be back as soon as I can. x
A pang of anxiety hits me as I read the note a few more times.
What could be so important that he had to leave, considering the fact that Sean is dead?
I reach for my phone, my fingers fumbling, as I dial his number. It rings once before going straight to voicemail, which only makes me feel worse.
I know I’m meant to be resting, but the last thing my mind needs is the opportunity to spiral. So, I throw on a sweater, wincing as the skin around the cut on my arms stretches, as well as some leggings, and slip quietly out of the bedroom.
The house is still dark, so I pad softly on the carpet as I head down the hallway, hoping that Ronan might be up and can tell me where the hell Kieran has gone.
After spending all of those hours chained up and terrified, I think it’s going to take me a while to not panic every time I wake up alone.
Light spills from under Ciara and Ronan’s door, so I pause outside. I’m about to knock when I catch a low, guttural groan.
“Ciara?” I call out.
Ronan throws open the door, and I stumble back a step at the tense look on his face. He runs a hand through his hair, clearly flustered.
I frown. “Are you okay?”
“I’m fine.” The tight line of his jaw and the worry in his eyes tell a different story.
My gaze shifts beyond him to where Ciara is doubled over in the bed, gripping her stomach as she groans.
Her face is pale and sweat glistens on her forehead as she clenches her teeth so hard I’m worried she’s going to break them.
“I take it those aren’t Braxton Hicks?” I glance nervously at Ronan.
“They sure as hell don’t feel like it!” Ciara cries out as another contraction rips through her.
“Where’s the doctor?” Panic claws at my chest as I push past him to get to Ciara.
“He got called away on an emergency.” Ronan looks completely devastated as he watches his wife fight through the pain.
“This is an emergency.”
“I was fine,” Ciara says through clenched teeth.
“You’re not now.”
Ronan groans. “I never should have let you convince me to let him go. I knew this would happen.”
“Oh, yeah? I didn’t realize you had a crystal ball,” Ciara snaps.
I sigh. “Let’s all take a breath.”
“Easy for you to sayyy—” Ciara’s hit by another contraction.
I don’t know much about labor, but from how close together her contractions seem, I don’t think we have a lot of time before she’s going to want to start pushing.
“Have you tried calling him?” I ask Ronan as calmly as I can manage.
I don’t want to panic Ciara and risk her blood pressure skyrocketing when she’s already high risk as it is.
“I’ve been trying to get him on the phone for the last hour, but he’s not answering.”
“He’s not going to get here in time…” I think out loud.
“What?” Ciara looks panicked.
“Don’t worry, everything is going to be fine,” I assure her, even though I don’t know the first thing about labor or the birth of a child.
But unless I want to end up delivering these babies myself, I need to get Ciara to the hospital. “Ronan, start timing the contractions. I’m going to call an ambulance and alert the guards to expect it.”
He nods, relief washing briefly over his face, but the tension is still there.
“Thanks, Riley.”
“Don’t thank me yet.” I turn to Ciara. “Keep those babies inside for a bit longer, okay?”
“You’re kidding, right?”
I give her hand a quick squeeze before darting toward the door. But before I pass Ronan, he grips my elbow, halting me in place.
“Are you okay?” he asks under his breath. “You know, after…”
“Right now, Ciara and the twins are the priority.” I pat him on the arm. “Now, don’t let her push even if she tells you she’s ready, okay?”
“Have you ever tried saying no to Ciara?”
“What was that?” Ciara demands.
“Good luck,” I mutter under my breath before sprinting down the hall to my room to grab my phone.
I take it downstairs to avoid the sound of Ciara wailing in the background and find Elena in the kitchen dressed in her pajamas, boiling water and folding towels fresh from the laundry. Her hair is a mess and her eyes too wide.
“How is she?”
“Progressing quickly. I’m calling the ambulance now.”
“Good. And is Ronan okay?”
“Other than going out of his mind, he’s fine.” I dial 911.
Elena bundles the towels into her arms and grabs the bowl of hot water before hurrying out of the kitchen, leaving me to deal with the paramedics.
I do my best to give them the precise details of Ciara’s condition as well as the quickest way for them to enter the property. After I hang up the call, I rush outside to fill in the new guards so they can guide the ambulance through without any delay.
Once they are all briefed, I race back upstairs to Ciara’s side.
Ronan is kneeling beside the bed, clutching his wife’s hand as she groans through the pain, looking as if he’s being ripped apart himself.
“Where’s Elena?” I ask.
“Getting the hospital bag from the nursery,” Ciara pants.
Ronan’s eyes are bugging out of his face. “Is the ambulance on the way?”
“Yeah, it should be here any minute.”
He bows his head as he breathes a sigh of relief.
I don’t think I’ve ever seen Ronan Sullivan look so helpless. It’s unnerving.
Ciara groans. “Can someone please talk about something to distract me?”
I think of the note Kieran left me. “Is Kieran okay?”
“What?” Ciara blurts. “What do you mean, is Kieran okay? Is he hurt? If he is, I’m going to kill—”
Ronan shoots me a look that has me cringing. “Ciara, Tine Bhaeg, you need to stay calm.”
“Sorry,” I mouth.
“Kieran is fine. He and Brennan went to go and get Cormac.”
“They found Cormac?” Ciara pants. “Is he okay? If he’s not—”
“You’ll kill him too?” I finish for Ciara.
“You bet I will. I swear this entire family will be the death of me.”
“Cormac is alive.” Ronan brushes the hair out of Ciara’s face, though I don’t miss the strained look in his eyes.
I don’t have a chance to ask for more details before the ambulance arrives, and Ciara is being loaded onto a trolley and into the back of the rig.
Her face twists, but I keep up the encouragement as she breathes through the contractions.
“Stay with her, Riley,” Ronan orders.
“Why? Where are you going?”
“I’m going to follow behind in the car. We’re not allowed to take the twins home without car seats.”
Among all of Ciara’s groans of pain, I had almost forgotten that the next time she will be home, there will be two babies with her.
My stomach flutters with nervous excitement at the thought.
“Drive carefully!” I call out before the doors are slammed shut.
“Riley… It hurts so much.”
I squeeze her hand. “I know. But you’re strong. You can do this.”
“I can’t… It’s too much.” Panic flashes in her eyes.
“You are stronger than you think.”
She huffs a laugh through gritted teeth. “You have no idea how fucking painful this is.”
“I don’t, but from the look on your face, I have a pretty good idea. And when it’s my turn, I give you full permission to laugh at all the ugly faces I pull when I’m pushing out a giant Sullivan baby of my own.”
“Reverse psychology won’t work on me.” She rolls her eyes, and I squeeze her hand again.
“Maybe not, but I’ll take my chances.”
“Is now a bad time to tell you that hospitals make me nervous?” I say to Ciara once she’s set up in her delivery room.
“A little.” Ciara tries to make herself comfortable on the bed.
“Shall I go and find Ronan?” I hover anxiously beside the bed.
I don’t have a good track record with hospitals, considering the last time I was in one was right after my mother and sister were killed.
Hospitals mean death, and I never thought I would ever have so many people that I was terrified of losing, but right now I’m looking at one of them.
“Hopefully, he’s bribing the nurses to put me at the top of the epidural list.”
“I think we might be past the point of an epidural.”
“Don’t even joke with me, Riley. This shit hurts.”
Ciara snatches my hand and squeezes it so hard I have to bite down on my lip to stop myself from making a sound because I know she wouldn’t let me live it down.
After all, what's a broken finger or two when she’s about to push two babies?
The door opens, and Ronan appears, looking surprisingly calm, probably due to the fact that we’re now surrounded by medical professionals, though his slightly messed-up hair gives away his nerves.
“You’re doing great, Tine Bhaeg.” He rushes to Ciara’s side and brushes back her hair. “I’m so proud of you.”
“Don’t lie to me,” Ciara hisses through her teeth.
“Never.” Ronan brushes a kiss against her temple.
It feels wrong to witness such a tender moment, so I go to try and extract my hand from Ciara’s iron grip, but it only makes her tighten her hold.
“Riley,” she warns.
“I’m going to be right outside.”
She shoots me a scowl. “You’re not going anywhere. I need you here for the birth.”
“What? But you don’t need me. You have Ronan—”
“Ronan will be useless, no offense.”
Ronan nods.
“Seriously? You’re a Sullivan. You’re meant to be immune to blood and pain.”
“We are, but not when it comes to the women we love.” He gives me a knowing look that has me thinking of how on edge Kieran was when I was being looked over by Dr. Rogers only a few hours earlier.
“That’s not the point—”
“Riley, you’re like a sister to me. I need you here.”
“I am?”
Her words have my eyes welling with tears.
For Ciara to think of me in that way and to share that sort of bond with someone means more than I could ever put into words, considering I lost my own sister so many years ago.
Ciara groans. “You better not start crying, or I’m going to end up with Brennan as my birth partner.”
“I wouldn’t miss it for the world.”