Page 108 of Deathtoll
The mood around them changed. People congratulated her. Her news managed to dispel the darkness and fear from the room.
“And how are things with Murph?” Kate’s mother asked over her shoulder as she began cleaning up another patient.
“We’re fine.” Kate picked up a pile of soiled bandages and other discarded medical supplies. “I might have been a tad overemotional.”
“You can be as emotional as you need to be. You’re going through massive hormonal changes Murph doesn’t have to deal with.” Then her mother looked behind Kate, and her eyes snapped wide, worry washing over her face. “Oh my God. Is that blood on your overalls?”
Murph stepped up next to Kate and took her hand. “Brief encounter with a homicidal maniac.” He smiled, and it was even brighter than when Zak had received the glass eye. “Hi, Ellie. Did Kate tell you I’m going to be a dad?”
Chapter Thirty-Three
Murph
Much, much later, when the last of the injured had either gone home or were taken to West Chester in an ambulance, Murph scanned the living and dining rooms of the bed-and-breakfast that looked like it had seen war, the furniture all over the place, empty bandage boxes littering the floor, along with empty water bottles.
“You all right?” Shannon came from the kitchen. “What a day. Let’s not do this again anytime soon. Or ever.” She leaned against the broom she carried. “Kate just ran up to take a shower. Room 202. The people who had it checked out and went home. I suppose that’s understandable.” She sighed. “What’s the final tally?”
“About a hundred people injured. Nobody dead. There were multiple devices, but only one blew, the float that Kate and Emma had escaped. It helped that they yelled ‘bomb’ as they ran. People got out of there.”
The rest of the devices had been found and disarmed in time, thanks to SEAL demo expert Dan Washington from Hope Hill. The mayor had better give the man a medal. In fact, Murph was going to make sure that happened.
“Nobody dead.” Shannon repeated the words, as if she needed to hear them again. “Nobody dead.”
Murph had been holding on to that thought for the past few hours since he’d last checked on Kate. Along with the thought that he was going to be a father.
“Let me help,” he offered.
Shannon shook her head. “You see to Kate. I’m going to take my time down here. I need it to calm down. But you can help me with the furniture in the morning. You should stay.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
Shannon smiled. Clearly, he’d given her the right answer.
Murph ran upstairs and knocked on the door of room 202. “It’s Murph.”
The door opened. “I was just calling around trying to find you.”
“My phone battery went dead.” He stepped inside, closed the door behind him, and pulled Kate into his arms. “I love you. I can’t tell you how nice it is to be able to say that and not have you argue. I’m going to be saying it a lot.”
“I’m going to be saying it a lot back.”
He held her and held her. She was the perfect fit for him, the perfect partner, the perfect woman.
When he could finally let go, he still didn’t let go all the way. He kept her hands. “Tell me again that you’re pregnant.”
“I’m pregnant.”
“And you’re feeling all right?”
“I’m feeling all right.”
“Are you sure I don’t need to take you to the hospital?”
“I’m not worried about me,” she told him. “I’m worried about you.”
He shook his head. “I walked some people over to Dr. Cameron’s office. He took a look at me. Stitched me up. Drugged me up. I’m good to go. I’ll call my dentist tomorrow.” He smiled at her. “Right now, I feel no pain.”
“One of the EMTs checked me out,” she told him in return. “He said I looked all right. And I just called my ob-gyn. She asked a bunch of questions. She also doesn’t think that the baby is in imminent danger at this stage, but she wants to see me first thing tomorrow morning.”
