The Proposal (32 page)

“You have no idea,” she replied, her voice strained.

He froze on the sidewalk. “Em, is there something
wrong?”

“Um, well, don’t freak out—”

“Too late.”

“My water broke, and I just got admitted to the
hospital.”

Aidan’s eyes closed in agony. “You can’t be
serious.”

“Trust me, I wish I was joking.”

“But you’re not due for three more weeks. I would
have never, ever left.”

“Listen, it’s okay. You just need to get to the
airport.”

“Em, there’s not a single flight out of Charlotte
back to Atlanta tonight.”

“I know. That’s why I have Plan B.”

“And just what does that entail?”

“Pesh is on his way up to get you in his plane.”

“You have got to be kidding me.” When she didn’t
respond for a minute, he said, “Em, are you there?”

He heard her draw in a ragged breath.
“Having.a.really.bad.pain.”

He winced. “Oh shit. I’m sorry. I want to be there
so bad to hold your hand...to help you.”

It took her a few seconds to respond. “Good. Then
you’ll meet Pesh at the airport—”

“Em, you know I have a thing about small planes.”

“Aidan,” she growled before huffing and puffing.

When she groaned in agony, he knew he was in
trouble. “Let me guess, at the moment, you don’t give a shit about my fears or
what I want or don’t want to do, right?”

“Exactly!” she snapped.

“Okay, okay. I’ll get to the airport, and I’ll be
there as soon as I can.”

“Good.”

“I love you, Em.”

“I love you, too.”

With fear and trepidation rocketing through him,
Aidan raised a shaky hand to flag down a cab. Screw his bags back at the hotel.
Noah was on the way, and he desperately needed to get to Emma. He had just slid
across the cab’s leather seat when his cell phone rang again. Even though it
was an unknown number, he had an idea who it was.

“Hello, this is Pesh Nadeen,” the familiar voice
echoed on the other line.

“Um, hey.”

“Listen. When you get to the airport, have them
bring you to the small planes hanger, rather than the main gates. I’ll be
waiting for you.”

“Okay. And uh, thanks again for doing this for
Emma…I mean, for me. For us.”

“No problem. It’s my pleasure.”

Aidan rolled his eyes as he hung up the phone. Of
course, it was his pleasure. Pesh was just the kind of standup guy that even
when nothing could be gained romantically with Emma, he would still do the
right thing. Pesh’s kindness shouldn’t have irritated Aidan so much, but for
some reason, he just couldn’t let go of what had almost happened between Emma
and Pesh.

Aidan wrung his hands the entire trip to the
airport. When he got out, he glanced around the hanger. His eyes widened and a
shudder ran over him at the sight of what he imagined was Pesh’s plane already
on the small runway.

He stuck his head in the door, eyeing all the other
death traps contained within. “Um, hello?”

Pesh came out of a side door with a clipboard. “Hey,
Aidan. I was just logging our flight plan with the tower. But we’re good to go
now.”

“Oh, okay.”

As they started out of the hanger and onto the
tarmac, Aidan skidded to a stop. When Pesh realized he was no longer walking
beside him, he turned around. “What’s wrong?”

“Emma didn’t mention what I thought about small
planes?”

“No, but she seemed to be a little preoccupied with
getting you to Atlanta when I talked to her.”

Aidan winced. “It’s just I sorta have this
aversion…or fear about anything smaller than a 747.”

Pesh’s dark brows furrowed. “But this is a Cessna
270—one of the safest small planes around.”

Gesturing at the aircraft, Aidan asked, “That isn’t
the kind that JFK Jr. crashed, is it?”

Pesh shook his head. “That was a Piper Saratoga.” He
opened the side door for Aidan. “Go on, hop in. We need to get on our way.” At
Aidan’s continued hesitation, the corners of Pesh’s lips quirked up. “You’re
really afraid, aren’t you?”

Aidan narrowed his eyes. “Yeah, I am. Call me a
pussy or whatever you want to, but these things are death traps!”

Without another word, Pesh dug into the bag at his
side. He took out a bottle of pills and tossed it at Aidan. “What the hell is
this?” Aidan demanded.

“Valium. It’ll help you relax during the flight.”

Aidan smirked at Pesh. “Isn’t that kinda illegal for
doctors to just have drugs lying around to push off on people?”

“I’m not a pill pusher,” Pesh snapped. Pain washed
over his face. “The pills belonged to my late wife. She always got nervous
flying commercially or in my plane. They’re expired, so they won’t be as
potent, but it should be enough to calm you down.”

Aidan opened his mouth, but Pesh started around the
plane. “Fuck,” he muttered under his breath. He had just been a major dick to a
guy who was just trying to help him get back home to see his child be born.
Popping open the bottle, he threw back two of the pills since they were
expired. He swallowed them down and then shuddered at the remaining taste in
his mouth.

Putting one foot in front of the other, he walked
over to the plane and climbed inside. Pesh already had a head-set on and was
flipping switches. “Hey,” Aidan said. When Pesh didn’t reply, Aidan reached
over and touched his arm. “I’m sorry. That was a real asshole thing for me to
say to you. I mean, you were only trying to help me—in more ways than one.”

Pesh shrugged. “It’s all right. You’re just
stressed.”

“That’s no excuse for me to act like such a dick,
especially about your late wife.” Aidan drew in a ragged breath. “Emma never
told me you were a widower. I’m very sorry for your loss.”

“Thank you,” Pesh replied. He gave Aidan a genuine
smile before turning back to the cockpit and controls. When they lurched
forward to start their descent down the runaway, Aidan gripped the side of his
seat.

Pesh handed him a set of headphones. “Here, this
will help with the cabin noise.”

Aidan reluctantly put them on. He heard a voice
ringing in his ear. “Flight 33, you are now ready for take-off.”

“Roger that,” Pesh replied.

Aidan closed his eyes tight, hoping the expired
Valium would start taking effect. He focused his thoughts on Emma, wondering
how she was doing. He hoped and prayed that Noah would wait to come until he
could be there. Aidan wanted nothing more than to see his first born take his
first breath.

The next time he opened his eyes they were climbing
altitude. Darkness enveloped the plane as they careened through the wispy
strands of clouds. Once they had leveled off, Pesh reached for his phone.

“Dude, what the hell are you doing?”

“I need to make a quick call.”

Aidan shook his head wildly back and forth. “Uh-huh.
Watch the skies or something. You don’t need to be distracted and make us
crash!”

Pesh chuckled. “Calm down. I’ve got this covered.”

Aidan grumbled under his breath. He would have given
anything if he had his rosary with him. Of course, he would probably have to
dig through several of his drawers to find where it was.
God, I will totally
and completely go to Mass every day…well, at least every week, if you will get
me safely out of this death trap and safe and sound to Emma’s side.

Pesh’s voice snapped Aidan out of his thoughts.
“This is Dr. Alpesh Nadeen. I’m requesting to be kept in constant contact on
the condition of Emma Harrison, 4
^th
Floor Maternity. Anything and
everything on delivery status should be called in.” After a beat, Pesh nodded.
“Thank you.” He turned his phone off and handed it to Aidan. “Now you’ll know
everything that’s going on.”

Aidan arched his eyebrows at Pesh. “Wow, thank you.”

“No problem. I can’t imagine how hard this must be
for you.”

With a snort Aidan replied, “Whatever emotional hell
it might be on me, I don’t even want to think about what Emma’s going through.”

“You can rest assured she’s getting the best physical
care.”

Aidan grimaced. “Shit, I don’t even want to think
about the physical part…especially the pain she might be in. I wanted to be
there for her through all that.”

“If there’s one certainty about Emma, she’s as
strong as nails emotionally and physically. She’ll make it through.”

“You think?”

Pesh turned to him and grinned. “After the epidural
takes effect, I’m sure of it.”

They were interrupted by the ringing of Aidan’s cell
phone. He snapped it out of his suit pocket. “Hello? Em?”

“No, it’s Casey. Emma wanted me to call and make
sure you were okay and in flight.”

Aidan’s heart melted at the thought that even in her
condition, Emma was still her usual compassionate self and worrying about him.
“Tell her I’m fine, and to not give one more thought of me.”

Casey started to relay the message and then Aidan
heard a shriek. “Damn, Emmie Lou, lighten up with the squeezing! I’d like to be
able to have feeling in my hand again,” Connor screeched.

“Um, so how are things going?” he asked hesitantly.

“You don’t want to know.”

“Well, Pesh has the hospital keeping us posted on
her condition too.”

“Good because right now she’s giving me the evil eye
for being on the phone.”

“Hey, Em, we could put you and Aidan on Skype if
you’d like?” Connor suggested.

“I do not want my vagina Skyping! I just want Aidan
here, okay?” Emma shouted with a rage that Aidan hadn’t experienced very many
times.

“See what I mean?” Casey asked.

“Shit, that’s intense.”

“Oh thank God. The anesthesiologist just walked in.
Be careful okay?”

“I will. Give Emma my love.”

“Will do.”

Aidan hung up the phone and squirmed in his seat.
“Things are pretty rough at the moment, huh?” Pesh asked.

“Yeah,” he murmured.

“It’s going to be fine, Aidan.”

He turned to see Pesh’s reassuring smile. “She’ll
still love you after this, too. You’ve made all her dreams come true. The
moment she holds Noah in her arms for the first time any of the pain and
suffering she experienced will just evaporate in an instant. And
you
will be the one who gave that to her.”

“Damn, you really are a decent guy, aren’t you?”

Pesh chuckled. “I guess I am.”

The cockpit seemed to start spinning around, and
Aidan had to close his eyes from the dizziness. “Is that you doing that or the
drugs?”

“It’s safe to say that it’s the drugs.”

The next thing Aidan knew he was being shaken awake.
“Come on, sleepy head. We gotta get in the car.”

“It’s over? We didn’t crash?” Aidan asked as he
rubbed his eyes.

“Nope. We’re safe and sound here at McCollum.”

The mention of the airport snapped Aidan into action.
He fumbled out of his seat belt and then fell out the door Pesh had opened for
him. “We’re only ten minutes from the hospital, right?”

“Yep. Last call came through shortly before we
landed. Noah’s still not here, and Emma’s only dilated to seven.”

Aidan’s brows furrowed. All the pregnancy knowledge
seemed to have flown out the window. “Wait, so that means…?”

“No pushing until ten. We’ve got time.”

“Thank God.”

They slid into Pesh’s waiting Jaguar. At Pesh’s lead
foot, Aidan raised his brows. “Not worried about cops?”

“Being a doctor is like having a Get Out of Jail
free pass. All I have to say is there’s an emergency.”

Aidan grinned. “I’m liking you more and more every
minute.”

Pesh laughed. “I knew I would grow on you.”

“I’m not sure about that one.”

They pealed up to the entrance of Labor and
Delivery. Aidan threw open the car door. When he went to close it, he met
Pesh’s gaze. “I can never, ever thank you enough for this. I’m serious.”

“I was happy to do it. For Emma…and for you.” Pesh
smiled. “Now go meet your son.”

“I will. And thanks again!” Aidan sprinted from the
curb and through the mechanized sliding doors. He hopped onto the first
available elevator. Once he got to the floor, he raced down the hallway to
Emma’s room.

He skidded in the door. At the sight of a nurse
between Emma’s legs, he had an odd feeling of Deju vu from when he brought her
to the emergency room. Bending over, he propped his elbows on his knees and
tried to catch his breath.

“Hello there, Big Papa! You’re just in time,” Connor
said, with a grin.

“Really?” he panted.