Page 165 of Fought and Freed

“Have we heard anything?” she asked when they rejoined the others.

“No, not really. They’re still in surgery,” Lucca said. “Ryder coded in the ambulance, but they got his heart going again.”

Skylar pointed to the photo in her hand. “Is that what I think it is?”

Maddy nodded and handed Skylar the photo. “I’m twelve weeks pregnant. I guess when you take an antibiotic, it can negates your birth control.”

Tears filled Maddy’s eyes again. “If I had realized, I never would have gone to the warehouse.”

He rose and hugged her tightly. “I love you, Maddy. I can’t tell you how excited I am that E.J. will have a brother or sister.”

Giselle came over and hugged her. “I had a suspicion you were pregnant when you got sick from the smell of coffee.”

“I’m not sure if I’m supposed to ask who the father is?” Lucca asked.

“It’s Ryder’s. The timing lines up.” She glanced from Skylar to Jace. “We haven’t talked about how we’ll raise our kids.”

“We’re all the fathers,” Skylar said. “That’s the way it should be in a polyamorous relationship.”

“That’s what I was thinking, too,” Jace said.

They sat for what felt like hours in silence, waiting for any word of how Cody and Ryder were doing.

At last, a doctor came into the room and looked around. “Cody Anderson’s family?”

Giselle stood. “That’s us.”

The doctor joined them. “He’s going to recover. A broken rib punctured his lung, so we placed a hollow drainage tube in his chest. One of the knife wounds in his leg nicked the main artery. Whoever applied the tourniquet to his leg probably saved his life. He’s going to be in here for a while as he recovers. Someone will come and bring you back so you can see him.”

“Um, Doc, can I talk to you for a moment?” Lucca rose to his feet.

“Sure.” The doctor led him out of the waiting room.

What could Lucca want to talk to the doctor about?

When Lucca returned alone, he smiled at Maddy and shook his head.

“Now, we have to wait for Ryder,” Maddy breathed out.

Jace gripped her leg.

When a nurse came out to take them back to the ICU, only two of them could go at a time.

“Go by yourself, dear,” Giselle told Maddy. “We’ll take turns after that.”

Maddy gave her a grateful nod and followed the nurse back to Cody’s room.

He lay in a hospital bed with a tube sticking out of his left side and an oxygen tube under his nose. He looked much better than when she saw him at the warehouse.

As soon as she walked in, he asked, “Ryder?”

“Nothing yet. I’m glad you’re alive, Cody.” She bent down and kissed his head.

“I was scared there for a bit.” He caught her hand. “I wasn’t sure if I was going to make it.”

“I’m so glad you did.” She sat on the side of the bed. “I have some shocking news. The doctors ran some tests on me, and I’m pregnant.”

Cody’s eyes widened. “What?”

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