Chapter 22
Daisy woke from a sound sleep, startled by a crashing sound outside and a sharp pain in her side. What the heck was that?
She knew she shouldn’t have eaten the pizza David had ordered from Mario’s. It always gave her heartburn, even more so since she’d been pregnant.
Another pain slashed through her, making her gasp. Shit, that hurt.
“What’s the matter?” David asked sleepily.
“I’m not sure. I think I have heartburn.”
“Does something hurt?” he asked, sitting up.
“A weird pain.”
“Where?”
She pointed to her abdomen.
“For how long?”
“About half an hour, I guess.”
“Let’s go to one of the exam rooms so we can make sure everything is okay with the baby.”
“It’s not the baby.” It couldn’t be that. “It’s heartburn from the pizza.”
“That would hurt up here.” David pointed to her chest. “Not down there.”
“It’s gas. It must be.”
“Let’s make sure, okay?”
She didn’t want to go with him and find out that anything was wrong with their baby, so she resisted when he tried to help her up from the bed.
“Daisy, please.”
“It can’t be the baby,” she said, wincing as another pain sliced through her.
He gave her hand a gentle tug.
Reluctantly, she let him help her up and followed him across the hall to an empty exam room.
“Have a seat. I’ll get Vic.”
“Do you have to disturb her? Can’t you check me?”
“You don’t want me doing a pelvic exam.”
“Why do I need that?”
“Just hang on, sweetheart. I’ll be right back.”
In the two minutes he was gone, the pain got much worse. So bad, she was bent in half when he returned with Vic.
“Daisy!” David reached for her and held her as the pain got progressively worse.
“I can’t lose this baby,” she whispered. “Please…”
They moved quickly to help her out of the T-shirt and pajama pants and into a gown.
David practically lifted her onto the exam table, and Victoria had a heart monitor for the baby on her in a matter of seconds. The sound of the baby’s heartbeat was one of the best things Daisy had ever heard.
“Whatever this is,” Vic said, “it’s not the baby.”
“As long as he or she is fine, I don’t care what it is,” she said, gripping David’s hand.
“I want to do a quick exam and see if we can figure out what’s going on,” Vic said.
Daisy wanted to object, to tell her there was nothing wrong, but the pain said otherwise.
As always, Vic was quick but thorough while Daisy gritted her teeth and prayed for a simple explanation that had nothing to do with the baby.
David stood by her side, holding her hand as he watched everything Vic was doing, his cheek pulsing with tension that indicated he was as nervous as she was.
Knowing that didn’t help her stress level.
While Vic poked and prodded, Daisy tried to stay focused on the steady beat of her baby’s heart, which, other than the noise from the storm, was the only sound in the room. It was the only sound that mattered.
“I want to do a vaginal ultrasound,” Vic said.
“What do you think it is?” David asked.
“I’m not sure yet. I’ll be right back.”
While she got the equipment needed, Daisy glanced up at David. “What’s happening?”
“I don’t know, love, but Vic will figure it out. She’s the best.”
“Are you scared?”
“I’m sure it’s nothing serious. Let’s try not to worry too much.”
Victoria returned, rolling the ultrasound machine into the exam room. “This won’t hurt at all, but I’ll need you to stay still so we get good images, okay?”
Daisy was trembling so hard, she wondered how she’d ever manage to stay still. “I’ll try.”
After Victoria inserted the wand, David leaned in for a closer look at the screen. “Look, Daisy. There’s our baby.”
“Do you want to know the sex?” Victoria asked.
Daisy looked up at David, who shrugged. “That’s up to you,” he said.
“I want to know.”
“You’re having a girl,” Victoria said.
“Hello, Helen,” Daisy said.
David cracked the first smile she’d seen since the pain started.
“Oh, I love that name!” Vic said. “It’s gorgeous. Helen Lawrence sounds like a movie star.”
Daisy gave David an I-told-you-so look.
“Everything looks perfectly normal,” Victoria said. “I think what you might be feeling is ligament pain, which happens as your body stretches to accommodate the baby as she grows. You’re so petite, Daisy, that you’re apt to feel that pain more acutely.”
“Well, that’s a huge relief,” David said.
“What can I do about the pain?” Daisy said.
“You can take some Tylenol, but only if it’s completely unbearable.”
“I can stand it as long as I know it’s nothing terrible.”
“Just growing pains.”
Daisy gripped David’s hand. “We’re having a baby girl.”
“Yes, we are,” he said, bending to kiss her.
“I’ll leave you guys to celebrate.”
“Thanks for getting up for us in the middle of the night, Vic,” Daisy said.
“Anything for you guys. I’m so glad everything is all right.”
“We are, too,” David said. “Thanks again.”
“You got it.”
He helped Daisy to sit up and change back into her PJs, and then lifted her off the table, surprising her.
“Put me down before you throw your back out!”
“You heard what Vic said. My baby mama is very petite and easy to carry.”
Since there was nowhere else she’d rather be than in his arms, she wrapped herself around him for the ride back to bed.
“How’s the pain?”
“A little better than it was.”
“I’m sorry you have to deal with that.”
“Whatever it takes to have a healthy baby.”
David put her down on the bed and tucked her in. When he got in next to her, she reached for him. “It’s a girl. A baby girl!”
“I think her middle name ought to be Myron.”
Daisy swatted him. “That’s not happening.”
“Oh, come on. I compromised on Helen.”
“When you can give birth to the babies, you can name one of them Helen Myron. Until such time, the answer is a big, fat no.”
“It’s not fair. You couldn’t birth the babies without my contributions.”
“Nice try. The answer is still no.”
“I love you, Daisy Lawrence, even when you’re mean to me.”
“I love you, too, David Lawrence, even when you’re delusional.”
“Helen Myron Lawrence has a nice ring to it.”
“Go to sleep, David.”
The slow-moving storm hammered the island relentlessly, flooding roads as the wind downed trees and power lines, sometimes both at the same time. Power was out to the entire island, according to the early news.
Big Mac was standing at the door to the deck at six o’clock Friday morning when he received a call from a neighbor.
“Mac, your barn next to the hotel collapsed in the storm.”
His first thought was for Kelsey, their current tenant and Mac and Maddie’s nanny. He couldn’t see that building from his vantage point. “Thanks for letting me know.”
“You got people living there?”
“I do.”
“I’ll be out to help.”
“Thanks, Bud. Appreciate it.”
Big Mac hung up and called the fire department to report that the building had fallen with a tenant inside and then ran upstairs to get dressed.
“What’s wrong?” Linda asked.
“The barn collapsed.”
“Oh my God! Kelsey…”
“I’m on my way, and so’s the fire department.”
“Call Mac, too. He’d want to help.”
“I’ll call him from the truck.” Mac gave his wife a quick kiss. “Try to get a little more rest before the babies are up.”
“I won’t rest until I know Kelsey is okay.”
“I’ll keep you posted.”
“Be careful. Leave the heroics to the younger men.”
He scowled at her. “Love you, even when you’re being insulting.”
“Love you, too, even when you think you’re younger than you are.”
“I’ll remember this,” he said over his shoulder as he headed out the door, praying that Kelsey was all right.
Big Mac moved a large tree branch that had fallen across his driveway and got in the truck to call his son.
“What’s up?” Mac asked, sounding sleepy.
“The barn collapsed.”
“Kelsey…”
“I’m on my way, and I called the fire department.”
“I’ll be right there.”
Big Mac drove down the hill toward the hotel and marina, fighting wind and rain and puddles so deep, he feared ruining his truck. A huge tree was down, blocking the road. He pulled over and put the flashers on and grabbed the work gloves he kept in the truck.
With both hands on the door, he opened it slowly against the wind that could’ve ripped off the door and stepped out into shin-deep water.
The hood on his foul-weather jacket was no match for Ethel, and he was soaked in seconds as he ran toward the pile of rubble where the barn used to be.
Kelsey’s car was parked outside, as was a pickup truck Big Mac didn’t recognize.
“Kelsey!”
He couldn’t hear much over the storm as he started pulling at pieces of wood. “Kelsey!”
In the lingering darkness, it was hard to see much beyond the pile of debris.
Mac arrived a few minutes later, running across the yard behind the hotel. “Anything?” he asked Big Mac, who shook his head.
“I doubt the fire department will be able to get here,” Mac said. “The roads are nearly impassable.”
Big Mac’s heart sank at realizing he and Mac were probably Kelsey’s only hope.
His neighbor Bud materialized out of the gloom. “What can I do to help?”
“Start pulling debris away, but be careful you don’t get hurt yourself,” Big Mac said.
“No worries. I’ve got it.”
As the three men worked, they continued to call for Kelsey, but didn’t hear anything from inside.
“That’s Jeff Lawry’s truck,” Mac told his father.
“Aw, God, are they both in there?”
“Probably,” Mac said, his expression grim.
“I wish she’d come to stay at the house,” Big Mac said as he helped Mac move a huge piece of splintered wood.
“Maddie tried to get her to stay with us, too.”
Mason Johns and his firefighters came running toward them. “Couldn’t get the trucks here, so we came on foot.”
“Thanks for coming,” Big Mac said. “We believe there’re two people inside.”
“Let’s get them out,” Mason said.
Kelsey thought she heard voices but couldn’t be sure.
The storm was so loud, and the ringing in her ears was even louder.
They’d had about two seconds’ warning that the building was coming down, and Jeff had dived on top of her, taking the full brunt of the collapse on top of him. He was unconscious and bleeding.
She could feel his blood dripping onto her. “Jeff, please… Wake up.”
Her right arm was pinned, so she used her left arm to caress his hair, hoping to get a reaction from him. The only thing she could tell for certain was that he was still breathing, but slowly. Very, very slowly.
Tears leaked from the corners of her eyes. “Jeff… You can’t leave me right after you asked me to marry you. Wake up!” She gave his hair a pull, but even that did nothing to help.
“Kelsey!”
She turned her head toward Mac’s voice. “Here! We’re over here! Mac! Help!”
“We’re coming. Just stay strong.”
Hearing his voice had her sobbing with relief and fear and so much love for the man who’d saved her life.
If that act cost his life… She couldn’t let her mind go there, or she’d lose what was left of her sanity.
“You can’t die on me, Jeff Lawry. I need you too much. I love you. Please don’t leave me.”
She could hear her rescuers getting closer, but as they disturbed the rubble pile, things shifted and fell.
“Keep your eyes closed Kelsey,” Mac called to her.
“Okay.”
“Is Jeff with you?”
“Yes, he’s hurt bad. Hurry.”
“We’re hurrying. Are you hurt?”
“I don’t know. My right arm is pinned by something, and there’s all kinds of stuff on top of us.”
“Try not to move too much, just in case,” Mac called back to her.
Kelsey wanted to ask in case of what, but she didn’t want to know. Her right arm and hand had lost feeling a while ago, and the weight of Jeff’s body on top of her made it difficult to breathe.
As her rescuers got closer, she started to see flashes of daylight and felt rain leaking in.
“Please hurry,” she whispered, noting that Jeff’s breathing had gotten even slower.
She lost track of time while she waited and hoped and prayed for herself and Jeff, but mostly for him. They’d had such a beautiful night together, the most beautiful night of her life, and it was just the start for them.
It couldn’t be the end.
It just couldn’t.
“I’m not sure if you can hear me,” she said with tears rolling down her face, “but if you can, I want you to remember that I love you. We’re getting married. We’re going to do everything together. But you have to stay with me. I need you to stay with me. I love you. I love you. I love you.”
If, God forbid, he died, she wanted those to be the last words he heard.
She kept saying it until the light came flooding in, along with rain that quickly soaked them.
“I’m here, Kels,” Mac said. “We’re going to get you guys out of there.”
She’d never been so happy to see him. “Jeff is hurt bad, Mac.”
“We’ll get him out.” A cut on Mac’s face was bleeding, but he didn’t seem to care. “We’ll get you both out.”
He continued to toss aside the wreckage of the building as he made his way closer to them.
“I’ve got them right here,” Mac called to others. “There’s a beam on top of them. I need more people over here! Hurry!”
Things began to move more quickly then, with people suddenly crawling over the pile of wreckage that had once been her home.
Kelsey curled her left arm around Jeff’s head, wanting to protect him in any way she could, not that it would make much difference.
Their rescuers pushed through the rubble until people were on both sides of them, the rain pouring down on them, the wind whipping and howling like it had all night.
She could hear them discussing the best way to remove the beam that had landed on them.
At some point, she must’ve lost consciousness or fallen asleep, because she startled when a weight was lifted from around them.
“We’ve got the beam off you,” Mac said. “The paramedics are coming in now.”
It took what felt like forever for them to get Jeff strapped onto a backboard—upside down. They mobilized his neck and then carefully lifted him off Kelsey and then rotated the board, so he was face up. Thankfully, they’d put on clothes after they had sex because she’d been cold.
“Is he going to be okay?” she asked as two men worked on freeing her arm from whatever was holding it down.
“We’ll do everything we can for him,” one of the firefighters said.
By the time they lifted her out of the building on a backboard, sensation was returning painfully to her arm. She’d heard one of them say it was broken.
Mac ran with the paramedics through the storm toward an ambulance. “I’m here, Kelsey.”
“Jeff.”
“The paramedics have him, and they’ll take care of him.”
“Is there a truck?” one of the men asked. “The ambulance is gone with him.”
“We’ll take mine,” she heard Big Mac McCarthy say.
She was placed in the back of Big Mac’s pickup truck and covered with a blanket because she was suddenly shivering uncontrollably, and her arm hurt bad.
Mac and two of the paramedics got in the back with her, using their coats to shield her face from the rain. He knocked on the back window, and the truck lurched forward, did a U-turn and headed for town.
“I’m so sorry this happened, Kelsey,” Mac said.
“It’s not your fault.” Her teeth chattered. “Blame Ethel.”
“She’s a nasty bitch.”
Kelsey grunted out a laugh that was followed by more tears. “Is Jeff going to die?”
“I really hope not.”