The Rockers' Babies (The Rocker... Series) (15 page)

like I had turned something off inside of myself so I didn’t have to feel. There was no panic, no fear now.

Just nothing. Layla was moaning and crying and I was doing nothing!

“I’ll help you through this, Jesse,” Emmie told me calmly. “I’ll help you. But you have to help Layla,

okay? She’s not calm. Her heart rate is off the charts and the contractions are coming quick and hard. She

needs you. Hold her hand. Kiss her. Tell her everything is going to be okay.”

“Is it?” I whispered.

Before she could say anything I saw the answer in her eyes. Emmie didn’t know. She couldn’t promise

me anything because she didn’t know if Layla or the twins were going to be okay. Blinking back the sudden

tears burning my eyes, I moved to take Layla’s hand.

Immediately her heart rate slowed marginally. I bent my head and brushed my lips over her brow,

unable to kiss her lips because there was an oxygen mask over her face. She was shaking in both fear and

pain and I buried my face in her hair. “It’s okay, baby. Everything is going to be okay,” I lied.

From there everything moved as if on fast forward. The ambulance came to a screeching halt and the

back doors were thrown open. A team of people in scrubs stood there and quickly grabbed the gurney

Layla was on, pulling it out. I chased after them as they raced into the hospital and toward the elevator.

But when I started to get on the elevator with them a stern-looking woman pushed me back. “Sir, I’m

sorry but your wife needs an emergency C-section. Your wife’s heart rate is too fast while the babies’ are

dropping. There’s no time to spare. Someone will show you to the waiting room.” The doors started closing

before she finished speaking and I just stood there, watching the doors shut, taking my life with it.

--

A nurse showed me and Emmie to the OR waiting room. We didn’t speak once we were left alone. Em

pushed me down into the closest seat and left for a moment, returning with the foulest smelling coffee

known to man. It was sickly sweet and bitter. She forced me to drink two cups of it before sitting down and holding my hand.

I put my head in my free hand, silently praying. Tears were rolling down my cheeks and I didn’t bother

to brush them away. A week ago my life had been pretty damn close to perfect. Now it was falling apart

and I was helpless to stop it. If I lost Layla that was it. Game over. I wouldn’t be able to go on.

Lana and Drake arrived with Harper and Shane right behind them. Lana threw her arms around my

neck, hugging me tight. I couldn’t move to hug her back. Was unable to offer her any comfort. How could I

when I was slowly dying inside?

Time seemed to slow down until even the tick tocks of the clock on the wall were delayed.

The doors opened again and Nik walked in with Mia in one arm and Lucy holding his hand. Seeing my

daughter broke something open inside of me and I stood without thinking. She seemed to see the truth in

my eyes and then she was in my arms, sobbing just as brokenly as I suddenly was. “Is Mom going to be

okay?” she whispered, the infrequently used ‘Mom’ slipping out without either of us noticing.

“I hope so, Lu. I hope so.”

Chapter 12

Emmie

If you think my life is great and exciting, please think again.

In the moment I heard the ambulance I knew something was wrong. The second I saw Jesse carrying

Layla toward the noisy thing, my life felt like it actually stopped for a minute. None of the other shit that was going on in my life mattered except that I could possibly be losing my best friend.

Oh sure, women have babies every day of the week. Every hour. Every minute. I’ve had one and

another was growing inside of me. But Layla was in serious trouble. I wasn’t sure how much of the

conversation I’d had with the EMT Jesse had comprehended—he was nearly catatonic by that time—but

things weren’t good.

During the last few doctor’s visits Layla’s blood pressure had been on the high side. Traces of protein in

her urine had also been a slight cause for worry. The doctor had said it was all normal, after all she was

seven months pregnant with twins. Twins that were growing at the speed of light and to the point that the

doctor had already been talking about setting the date for her C-section. Sure, the chick had the hips to push those little giants out, but the twins hadn’t gotten into the right positions to have a vaginal birth.

As we rode in the ambulance toward the closest hospital with a maternity ward, Layla’s blood pressure

was off the charts. Her heart rate heading toward two hundred and the dark skinned EMT kept shooting me

glances that told me all I needed to know. After I was able to snap Jesse out of his shocked stupor he was

able to calm his wife, but only marginally.

By the time we got to the hospital, Layla’s breathing was becoming more labored. A team of doctors

and nurses was waiting on us, ready to take her straight up to deliver the babies. Jesse withdrew into

himself again as the waiting room filled with our family and he didn’t even move until Nik walked in with

Lucy.

Of course the world didn’t stand still while ours was going to hell. The press had gotten wind of what

was going on. The first photographer caught me off guard and was actually in the waiting room with us

long enough to snap a few of everyone looking scared and helpless.

Shane was the closest and lunged for the man with a smirk on his face, causing Mia to scream. The

photographer was quick and was out the door before Shane could reach him. When Shane started to follow

after him, his need to take out his pent up emotions on something and that douchebags face the most likely

source, Harper caught him around the waist and pulled him down into a chair as far away from the door as

possible. I heard her tell him to calm down and whispered something that had him snapping out of it and

looking toward Mia to see just how frightened she was.

My gaze went to Mia who was clinging to Nik’s neck, hiding her face in his chest. We had kept her

away from all of this nonsense, had tried to shelter her and Lucy from the picture hungry paparazzi. “Fuck

this shit!” I muttered under my breath so as not to scare Mia and Lucy any more than they already were.

I didn’t want to leave Jesse. At the moment he needed me more than anyone else, but there was no way

around it. I glanced at Lana, her face drenched in tears. But when she caught my eye she nodded and

moved to sit beside her brother-in-law, taking his hand to replace my own.

Before I reached the door, Nik caught my hand and gave it a squeeze. “I love you,” he whispered.

I could see in his eyes that he was reliving the day we had brought Mia into the world. As crazy and

scary as that day had been this was on a whole new level. I stroked a finger down Mia’s cheek, making her

peek over at me and I forced a smile for her sake.
See
, I was silently saying with that smile,
Momma isn’t
scared.
We had no idea what the outcome was going to be for Layla and the twins. Twins that were going to be dangerously premature.

“I love you,” I whispered back, holding onto his hand even as I was walking away, until we had no

choice but to let go.

I had to talk to security, the administrator, and everyone in between. While they hustled to get the

hospital shut down to ensure the safety of not only my family but every other patient in residence, I called

the security team that had taken care of Shane’s wedding the day before. Damn, had it really only been the day before? It felt like a lifetime had passed since then.

While I was setting up round the clock security on the hospital, my phone was getting blown-up with

incoming calls. Some I recognized, others I didn’t. The ones I didn’t recognize were journalists, or so they claimed, wanting the details on Layla and Jesse. I would have to set up a press conference or something in

the next few days to let them know how Layla was doing, but not yet. They could all go fuck themselves

for now.

With everything I had to take care of I didn’t even notice when a doctor slipped by and went into the

waiting room. It wasn’t until Nik stuck his head out of the door that I had tried to keep an eye on that I

knew there was something wrong… Well, more wrong.

My heart was in my throat and I ended the call I was on while the guy on the other end was in

midsentence. I walked toward the open door, toward my husband and family knowing that I might never

see my best friend again. Might never get to hold her two precious babies in my arms as she had done my

own child.

Nik caught me around the waist as soon as I was close enough and pulled me into the room. The doctor

was standing in front of Jesse who still had Lucy on his lap and Lana sitting beside him. Drake who had

Mia in his arms and Shane were flanking the doctor who was speaking in clear precise tones, but seeming

to make no sense to anyone in the room.

I cleared my throat, catching the doctor’s attention. His eyes darkened when he recognized me and he

turned my way. “Mrs. Armstrong.”

“Doctor.” I inclined my head, swallowing hard. I noticed that his scrubs were soaked with sweat and his

hair was a mess as if he had been raking his fingers through it. “How is she?”

“We had to give her general anesthesia to put her under. There wasn’t time for an epidural as her heart

rate and blood pressure were off the charts. On top of which both babies’ heart rates were falling at such an alarming rate…” He broke off when I kept nodding. I already knew all of that. “Once we got the twins out,

they were instantly taken to the NICU and placed on ventilators because they were having some difficulty

breathing on their own. That isn’t unheard of at thirty-one weeks. However, they are both at an incredible

weight considering. Both at four pounds, twelve ounces.”

“Okay,” I nodded again. “That sounds promising. But you haven’t answered my question. How is

Layla?”

“She’s in recovery at the moment.” He seemed hesitant and my heart was racing nearly as fast as Layla’s

had been on the ambulance ride. “It’s been over an hour since the twins were delivered, and normally we

see a response to a patient coming around from general anesthesia by now. However, Layla isn’t showing

any signs of waking. We think that she is having an abnormal reaction to it.”

My eyes narrowed. “Explain.”

“We can’t be sure, of course. She might just need some more time. But she could fall into a coma… Or

worst case scenario…” I bit my lip and held onto Nik’s waist a little tighter, waiting on the next words to leave the doctor’s mouth, “…never wake at all. But if that happens it’s most likely another problem

unrelated to the anesthesia itself. A blood gas has shown that she is getting enough oxygen and there aren’t any signs of stroke.”

“But you aren’t sure? She could wake up in the next five minutes or not at all?” Harper asked, stepping

forward.

The doctor shrugged. “The next twenty-four hours will tell their own story.” His eyes were kind as he

glanced over at Jesse again. “I’m sorry… And congratulations on your sons.”

The door closed silently behind the man as we all remained where we were. The news that the twins

were boys didn’t seem to register or matter for a moment in the mayhem that was washing over us from the

news that Layla might be lost to us forever. I closed my eyes, silently praying that my friend came back to us.

“Boys…”

My eyes popped open at Lucy’s voice. “What?” Jesse asked in a voice hoarse with emotion.

“Boys, Dad. I have brothers.” She buried her face in his chest. “That’s what I wanted.”

My phone buzzed and I glanced down to find Brad Horton’s name flash across the screen. I swallowed

a curse and put the phone to my ear. “Now isn’t the best time.”

“I just heard about your sister-in-law,” he commented quickly. “Actually the entire world just heard

about your sister-in-law. I hope I can take some of the stress off of you. The lab at the hospital you are at can take the DNA sample. I can be there within the hour to witness it. Will that work?”

“Yes. Let’s get this over with,” I assured him. The quicker I had the results back the sooner I could get

Vince Grady out of Jesse, Layla, and Lucy’s lives.

Jesse

I was being torn in three different directions.

At the same time the lawyer showed up to do Lucy’s DNA test, two nurses appeared in the doorway.

One to take me to see my twin sons for the first time, the other to take me to see Layla in ICU. I couldn’t do all three at the same time, yet all three needed me now.

Drake touched my shoulder. “Lana and I can take her for the test,” he offered.

I shook my head. “Layla would want me to be there.” I stood and moved toward the two nurses. “I’ll

only be a few minutes.”

“Sure.” The nurse that had come from Layla’s room nodded. “She’s still sleeping.”

That didn’t bring me any comfort. Layla was still sleeping. She could possibly never wake up. That was

terrifying. There was no way I could go on without that woman. I had three kids that depended on me, so I

had to focus on that for the moment.

The NICU nurse gave me a small smile. “Of course, Mr. Thorton. The boys will be waiting on you. I

thought you would like to know that the pediatrician has given them both a full examination and their

hearts are in great shape. We would like to keep them on the ventilator until at least tomorrow before trying to see if they can breathe on their own.”

Tears burnt my eyes but I just nodded. My boys would be okay for a little while longer. Swallowing