Page 12 of Grid Search

“Hi, Ryker, what’s up?” my mother answers.

“Call an ambulance to the cottage Lyn is in. She collapsed.” I hang up without saying more. I can call them myself, but I can’t think straight right now. My only focus is getting to Lyn.

I kick in the door, and it bursts open. I rush inside, moving quickly to the mudroom. She must have been distraught when she got home because she left this door open.

I rush to the front of the house and drop to my knees when I reach her. Gently, I roll her over and check for a pulse and respiration. I catalog that she’s still slight in my arms, but I can feel the subtle changes in her body. She’s developing more curves, and I notice her breasts are bigger.

“Come on, little vixen, open your eyes and let me know you are both okay.” I pull her onto my lap and hold her close.

She doesn’t wake up, and I worry I’ve caused this stress. Her eyes are swollen, her cheeks splotching from crying. She’s still in what she was wearing, even the little tennis shoes on her feet.

I gently rock her, monitoring her vitals for a few moments, until I hear a knock on the door. My mother is there, and I scoot back, allowing her to unlock the door and let the EMTs inside. I recognize them from the station, but there’s no time for chitchat. I have only one thing I want them to do. Care for my family.

They are mine, and I promise myself I’m going to take care of her and the baby. Her words of only having had sex twice still ring in my ear. She was married, and they only had sex once. It shocked me too, but not as much as her saying she would keep my child from me.

“Ryker?”

My mother breaks me from my thoughts. I look up at her, taking in her mid-length light brown hair with streaks of blond. I remember my father saying that the moment he met her, he knew. She was his, and he would have walked away from everything for her. That’s how I feel about Lynae.

“She’s mine.” I slide my hand to her gently rounded stomach. “They both are.”

The ambulance crew takes over, but I don’t let them take Lynae off my lap. I keep her close. When it’s time to move her to the gurney, I lift her up and help them load her.

“Follow us, Mom.” I toss her my truck keys. “Oh, and we need to repair the back door.”

“Okay. I’ll get your dad, and we’ll take care of it.” She doesn’t question me. She knows how my father was with her. She’s told us that she knew he was meant to be hers too.

Once we’re finally settled into a hospital room, Lynae starts to stir.

“Wh-What happened?” she asks as she glances around.

“We don’t know yet, but we are going to find out. You fainted.”

“Ryker?”

I take her hand in mine as she looks between it and my face. “Yeah, baby. I’m here.”

Her eyes flare wide as she looks up at me. Nurses move around us, getting her situated. One nurse starts an IV, while another attaches monitors to her abdomen.

“Ms. Amberly, do you have a doctor?” a third nurse asks, and Lyn turns from me to look at her.

“I do. In Flagstaff.” She gives them the name, and I sit there, watching the monitors. The baby’s heart rate is good, and Lyn’s vitals are starting to normalize. But her blood pressure is fairly low.

“Ms. Amberly.” A doctor walks in. “I understand you fainted today.”

“Yes.” She bites her lip as she looks from me to the doctor. “I might not have eaten as much as I should have.”

“That could be one of the reasons, but I noticed that your blood pressure is pretty low too.”

“I jumped up quickly after lying down,” she explains.

“She was under a lot of stress, and I know she was crying,” I add. “We had a disagreement.” I hold up my hand to stop her when she starts to argue. “It was all my fault, a misunderstanding. We’ll be fine from now on. I’m here to make sure that baby and Mama are taken care of.”

“Mr. Murphy, what is your relationship to Ms. Amberly?”

Sometimes, I hate that everyone in this town knows me.

“He’s the baby’s father,” Lyn answers for me.

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