Page 44 of Stalked at Rescue Ridge

The two whispered. The orderly stepped out. The doctor returned.

“There’s a man by the name of Kade Sturgess demanding to see you.”

“Yes,” Bree said, wondering where he’d been. “Did someone stop him?”

The doctor nodded. “We’re under orders to restrict all visitors except law enforcement while you’re on the floor unless they have your express permission.”

Travis must have arranged it. She appreciated the idea in a broader sense, just not when it came to excluding Kade from the birth of his daughter. He must not have admitted to being the father of her baby, or he should have gotten a free pass to enter.

Everyone believed Zeke was the father. She hadn’t corrected the rumor because she’d been so unsure telling Kade was the right thing to do.

“Please, let Kade in,” Bree said.

Dr. Perez nodded before disappearing into the hallway along with the NICU teamandher baby. Bree had to fight every instinct inside her not to force herself out of the bed to follow her daughter.

A second later, Kade came rushing in. His forehead creased with concern. Worry lines bracketed his mouth—a mouth that had imprinted her.

“Are you okay?” he immediately asked.

“Yes.”

When he took her hand to comfort her, warmth spread through her.

“They took her to NICU,” she said.

“Her?” He glanced around. Was he checking to see if anyone was in earshot? Was he embarrassed to admit to being the father?

Bree took her hand back. For a split second, Kade looked devastated. He seemed to mentally shake it off.

“We have a daughter,” she supplied.

“Why did they take her?” he asked, his voice laced with emotion.

“She’s having trouble breathing on her own,” she said, folding her arms over her chest to create a barrier between Kade and her heart. It was a little too easy to let her emotions run wild when he was this close and looking this concerned.

“She’ll be okay,” he reassured in a voice that said he was trying to convince himself just as much as he was trying to persuade her. And then came, “She has to be.” Those whispered words were spoken with a rare vulnerability.

“Hold onto the belief,” he said.

“What about Rinty?” she asked.

“He’s safe and I’m here now.”

Bree shouldn’t let herself find comfort in those words, in him. Comfort was a slippery slope when it came to Kade. Comfort made her want to believe their situation wasn’t complicated.

But it was.

“I’msorry that I let you down,” Kade said to Bree as more of that guilt tried to consume him. “I should’ve been in this room with you.”

“It wasn’t your fault,” she said. He wasn’t so willing to let himself off the hook for abandoning her in a time of need. “The hospital had instructions not to let anyone near me.”

The image of the man in scrubs hovering around her door while Kade was forced to wait in the hall stamped his thoughts. Was the man a hospital employee? Or had the Reaper slipped in by stealing scrubs? If the man had been inside Bree’s home like she believed, would he have been able to enter someone else’s in order to take work clothes?

Bree wasn’t getting out of Kade’s sight. The baby was safe as long as she was away from her mother. Could he convince Bree to leave the hospital without their daughter?Daughter.He tried to let that word sink in.

Before he could find the words to begin the other conversation, the orderly from earlier entered the room.

“I’m here to take you to your recovery room,” he said.

---