Page 97 of I Can't Even

“Hey,” I croaked.

“Hey.” He looked as tired as he sounded.

“A boy?” I whispered.

“A boy,” he repeated.

I smiled. Or tried to.

The left side of my face didn’t work quite right.

“No smiling,” he said as he touched the corner of my mouth with a light finger. “Your face is messed up.”

I sighed. “I’m so sorry, Quaid.”

“You didn’t do anything wrong.” He moved my hair out of my face, voice intense. “You only did what you should’ve been able to do. You trusted a doctor, for Christ’s sake.”

“You want to tell us what happened?” Tobin called out.

Quaid whipped his head around, then narrowed his eyes. “Auden. Get him out of here.”

There was a struggle, and then Tobin was gone.

“Who all is in here with us?” I questioned.

“Everyone!” Ande chirped.

I tilted my head slightly so that Quaid wasn’t all I could see since he was so close, and sure enough, the entire room was filled.

The only one missing was now Auden.

“Mom?” I rasped.

My mom was in the corner, silently crying.

“She’s overwhelmed, because the last week you’ve done nothing but sleep, and she hasn’t been able to hear your voice,” Auden said as he came back into the room.

“Where’s Dad?” I asked.

“Dad came. He was here for like two days, but Quaid told him to go home.” Mom sniffled as she came closer. “We’re right in the middle of the biggest harvest of the year, and we couldn’t find enough help. He left me, though. I don’t have to drive a grain truck this year, baby.”

I snorted, and immediately regretted it.

Movement at all on my belly was a no-go, duly noted.

Upon seeing my grimace, Quaid moved back into my line of sight and pulled my blanket down.

Then my restraints were gone, and the gown was lifted up, revealing my belly.

I turned my head to look and groaned at the scar. “Whoa.”

“Whoa is right,” he nodded. “Hip to hip.”

He pointed at the jagged line. It wasn’t straight. In fact, it was so sideways that there would be no hiding it underneath shorts or anything.

“I think he was trying to cut the baby out of me,” I said without thought.

The room around me froze.

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