Page 19 of Guarded

Briar released the breath she’d been holding and all but collapsed back onto the table. The baby’s heartbeat sounded strong and regular. Thank God.

“That’s good to hear,” the nurse said with a smile, then cleaned Briar up and picked up a syringe from the instrument tray. “This is a steroid shot,” she said, urging Briar onto her side to pull up the gown and insert the needle into her hip. “Will help with the baby’s lung development just in case it’s born early.”

Holy hell, she couldn’t imagine the baby being born this early. “I’m not even thirty-four weeks yet. Would the baby make it?”

The nurse smiled at her. “Let’s not get ahead of ourselves. For now everything seems to be settling down. I’m sure it will be fine.” She tugged Briar’s gown back down and helped her onto her back again. “We’ll be taking you down for an ultrasound soon. Hopefully in a few minutes.”

The non-answers didn’t ease the anxiety. “Can you go tell my husband that the baby’s heartbeat sounds good?” She hated to think of him sitting out there wondering whether the baby was still alive or not.

“Of course.” She squeezed Briar’s shoulder. “Hang in there, mama.”

Her doctor finally arrived as the nurse swept out. “Briar. How are you? The baby’s heartbeat is strong?”

“Yes. I’m not miscarrying, right?”

“Not, it’s likely a placenta previa bleed.”

It seemed so unreal. “This happened because my placenta is too low?”

“Right. When you stood up, the pressure caused it to tear, which results in the bleeding.” She turned, examined the pad between Briar’s legs and the contents of the bedpan one of the nurses had set next to the bed. “You’re clotting already, which is a good sign. They’re fairly large, though. We’ll keep a close eye on you and baby. They’re taking you down for an ultrasound soon?”

“Yes.”

“We’ll know more after that. But for now, baby is hanging tough. As of now you’re on strict bed rest until further notice. Limited movement, no sitting up, and you’ll have to keep using a bedpan until you’re no longer bleeding.”

“All right.” It was gross and humiliating, but what did any of that matter when her baby’s life might still be in jeopardy. She fidgeted with the edge of the blanket at her hip, unable to shake one particular thought that kept circling through her brain. “Is it because I flew yesterday? You told me before this trip that it was a risk because of the position of my placenta.”

The doctor had reluctantly cleared her to take the trip, and only after Briar had promised to stay off her feet most of the time. “It was my last flight until after the baby is born. Do you think it caused the bleeding?” The guilt was killing her. Had Matt been right?

The doctor gave her a sympathetic smile. “It’s impossible to say, so my advice is not to blame yourself for it.”

So it might have.Oh, Jesus…Briar exhaled and dragged a hand down her face, suddenly feeling sick to her stomach. What if this was all her fault?

“Briar, it doesn’t matter what caused it, and it may have happened whether you had flown or not. Right now we need to focus on stopping this bleeding completely.”

Briar glanced down at the hospital gown where spots of blood stained the material at the apex of her thighs.God. Matt had been right. He had been so upset with her, had tried to stop her from taking this last trip. She’d gone because it was part of her job, but also, she’d gone because a tiny part of her had bristled at him telling her what to do.

Another shot of guilt made her throat tighten. What the fuck was wrong with her? He only had her and the baby’s best interests at heart. Why did she feel the need to fight him on it? She’d been selfish, and now their baby might pay the price for it.

Another nurse came to take her down for the ultrasound. The technician was quiet and thorough during the procedure, and wouldn’t tell Briar a thing. “The radiologist will have a look at the results,” she told Briar afterward, “then your doctor. She’ll discuss them with you.”

God, she hated waiting to find out what was happening at a time like this. The baby was alive, but was it all right? Or had something else gone wrong that she didn’t about yet?

****

“All right. Keep me informed.” Matt ended the call from the Critical Incident Response Group and immediately dialed Tuck. He wouldn’t have answered his phone at all except a call from HQ meant it was important, and because he had nothing to do at the moment but drive himself insane with worry while Briar was having tests done.

“Hey, there’s a situation escalating down in N.C. Former cop has taken his wife and two little girls hostage,” he said when Tuck answered. “Negotiations have failed and the perp’s gone silent. He’s apparently got a psych history. Let the boys know they’re on alert.”

“Will do. You heading to HQ now?”

“No.” He exhaled. “I’m at the hospital. Briar hemorrhaged a few hours ago.”

“What?” Tuck said, shocked.

“I’m still waiting to hear what’s going on. She’s having tests done right now. Baby seems to be hanging in there so far, but we’re not sure what’s going to happen yet.”

“Jesus. I’m sorry, is there anything I can do?”

---