Page 34 of The Chance

“Ronnie, can you hear me? I need you to open your eyes and look at me.” Aubrey kept her voice calm and steady. Ronnie’s eyes opened slightly, dazed and glassy, and she nodded weakly, her face tight with pain. Gray-blue eyes just stared at Aubrey.

“Bab—”

“Let me check.” Guthrie had told her Ronnie had already had complications. Thirty-four weeks, blood pressure issues… she tried to remember what Guthrie had said.

Aubrey grabbed a cloth from the first aid kit and pressed it to the cut on Ronnie’s head to slow the bleeding.

“Hold this here,” she instructed, guiding Ronnie’s hand. “Just breathe slowly for me, okay? In and out.”

Ronnie’s grip was weak, her skin clammy.

“The… bab—my babies need me…” she whispered, barely able to get the words out.

“I know. We’re getting you out of here. Focus on breathing, nice and slow. Genny’s here too. You’re not alone, George and Greer are already out. They’re going to be okay; we had to get them out of the way, that’s all. Now we’re going to focus on you for the moment.”

Genny was leaning through Ronnie’s window, checking Ronnie’s pulse. “She’s racing, Aub. Far too fast.”

Genny gave the rough numbers. They were more than just from adrenaline. Aubrey looked down when Ronnie cried out. Her pants were soaked.

They hadn’t been wet when Aubrey had climbed in the truck.

Ronnie’s water had just broken. And that was blood staining the front of her pale cream slacks. Possible placental abruption, internal bleeding… Aubrey’s mind ran over every possibility.

They had to get her to the hospital. As quickly as they could.

They were only four minutes away.

Ronnie’s breaths were coming faster. Then… a contraction. Aubrey squeezed her hand. “Okay, Ronnie. We’re going to get you to the hospital, all right? Guthrie is already there. He was called in early to assist with a C-section, I think. Just keep breathing.”

The sound of sirens grew closer. Paramedics arrived. Aubrey didn’t wait—she gave them what she knew. The paramedics nodded, told her they would take it from there.

A second ambulance and cop cars pulled in.

The EMTs worked fast, getting Ronnie out of the truck, then moving her onto a stretcher. They pulled out quickly. Burt helped George up, guiding him carefully to the second ambulance. Aubrey checked the mayor over as quickly as she could—she didn’t think he had too many injuries, possibleconcussion and definitely a broken arm. Greer was already inside an ambulance.

Aubrey and Genny almost ran to Aubrey’s SUV. The TSP could question them later. Aubrey was going to be there with Ronnie. She had promised she was going to be there. No matter what.

She pulled into the hospital parking lot behind the ambulances and parked. The paramedics were already unloading Ronnie. And there was a team waiting by the doors. The ED ran efficiently; no matter the crisis. Aubrey had worked hard to make sure of it.

Aubrey stayed close as Ronnie was taken straight to obstetrics. In the bright hospital lights, Ronnie’s face looked even paler, and her breathing was labored. An obstetrics nurse quickly checked her vitals, and Aubrey caught sight of the BP reading.

It wasn’t good.

But thirty-four weeks—that was doable.

Guthrie was there, too. There was shock on his beautiful face as he realized it was his family. She would never forget his face when he looked at his brother’s wife like that. The fear…

Aubrey knew what was going to happen next.

Aubrey stayed beside Ronnie, talking to her softly as nurses wheeled her toward the OR. Guthrie couldn’t be right next to his sister-in-law now. But Aubrey could.

Ronnie’s hand tightened around Aubrey’s, her eyes full of fear, but she nodded. George was there. Calling Ronnie’s name. Aubrey would never forget the pain in his voice then.

George loved his wife so much.

“I want to be with her. I need to be. I need to be. I promised her I always would.” George was fighting. Trying to get to her.

Guthrie blocked him. And held his injured brother back. “You can’t go in with her yet, Georgie. You just can’t. You haveto stop the bleeding, get the arm taken care of first. You’re a contamination hazard. Let’s get you cleaned up first, then you can be with her. I promise. I’ll get you in with her as fast as I can.”

---