Page 121 of The Wrong Side Of Us

My eyes finally filled with tears. “I-I fell…on my stomach,” I choked out, taking hold of his arms. “The baby…I haven’t felt the baby move.”

“Okay.” He nodded, his trembling fingers caressing my cheek. “You’re going to be okay.”

He held me to his chest, and my arms surrounded him, the shock of it all not allowing me to fully cry yet. “I love you, Carter.”

“Oh, me too, my dear girl. I love you too.”

My eyelids grew heavy, whether from exhaustion or the injuries I didn’t know. I vaguely heard Carter speaking, his voice growing desperate with the attempt to keep me awake, but I couldn’t, not for much longer.

“I’m so tired,” I whispered, pulling away from Carter with a small smile. He blinked away the tears in his blue eyes. “Stop it,” I scolded softly. “I’m just tired.”

“Nathan is almost here,” he replied, hoping his words would wake me up, energize me. It didn’t. The adrenaline had faded, and my body was drained. My back hurt, and my belly felt unusually hard. I was in pain.

“I know.” I smiled. “Tell him I—”

“No.” He shook his head. We heard sirens; I knew help was on the way. I allowed my body to relax, decided to stop fighting.

I’d loved.

Nathan loved me.

I’d fought.

But you don’t win all wars.

When my eyes opened again, paramedics wheeled me out of the condo building, the bright light from the sun invading my line of vision. I panicked, not seeing Carter anymore, but soon his hand gripped my own. My gaze met his, and he swallowed, understanding my silent plead.

Let me rest.

He studied me and finally gave me a single nod, letting me know it was okay to go to sleep.

So I did.

Chapter 47

Nathan

My mother’s cancer diagnosis turned my life completely upside down. My heart shattered into a million pieces because the woman that had given me life could very soon lose her own.

But nothing could have prepared me for today.

Nothing could have ever prepared me for the different ways my gut twisted when I arrived to the building were Evie and I had started our life as a couple, as a family. The police closed the building off, a sure sign something bad happened.

I jumped out of the car without thinking while Damian still drove, running the distance that remained to the building, my heart thudding in my chest not because of exertion but because of the pure dread that filled my body. In my mind, I didn’t run fast enough; I didn’t do anything fast enough. An ambulance took off just as I arrived, the sirens blaring, indicating that it was an emergency, and deep down, I knew…I just knew.

Someone shoved me back abruptly. “Sir, you have to step back. This is a crime scene—”

“I live in this building,” I interrupted, not recognizing the fear in my voice. It was foreign to me, this feeling, this ache. I’d never felt it before. I’d felt pain with my mother’s diagnosis, I’d felt pain at losing Anne…felt pain when I saw Evelyn emotionally hurting, but this ache took my breath away. “Third floor, room 324 with my fiancé, she’s pregnant—”

I didn’t realize it, but I was holding on to the officer’s arm, waiting for the blow. His expression transformed from serious to solemn, and he nodded, waving over another officer, one that I recognized from the day they detained me, the same one that had been a complete dick.

“Evelyn,” I breathed out, my chest tightening. “She’s my fiancé. Is she okay? Is she—”

“She’s been rushed to the hospital,” the officer next to me replied, a hand on my shoulder. Much different than the way he’d behaved a few days before.

The air left my lungs with the blow, even though I’d tried to be ready for it. I didn’t need to know more details. I knew it was bad.

Agonizing pain.

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