Page 97 of Restless
Of course, it could be because Bailey trusted her husband as implicitly as Meggie did Christopher. But Mortician didn’t usually go to the poker games. As far as she knew, he hadn’t been a scheduled participant at the table when Christopher sent in his fee, so it must’ve been a last-minute invite to replace her husband’s vacant seat.
Under ordinary circumstances, Mortician never would’ve gone.
“You can’t think of anything, right, Meggie?”
“Why don’t you test me and find out, Bailey?”
Bailey hung up.
Groaning, Meggie sank deeper into the uncomfortable bed and closed her eyes. She willed sleep to overtake her again, but she knew it wouldn’t, not with so many emotions running through her.
Bailey’s charges against CJ infuriated Meggie, but she was also concerned about Mortician. She wasn’t sure who else was at the poker table, though she knew Digger was supposed to go, too.
She sighed. She also needed Mortician’s advice on Brooks.
It was time for her to check herself out. There was no getting around it.
Since she wouldn’t get back to sleep anytime soon and Christopher wasn’t expected to return to the room for several hours, Meggie dialed Mortician’s number.
Jo had reached a milestone, and Christopher needed a smoke.
His newest girl’s gestational age was 28 weeks old. Since she’d been born a little over two weeks ago, far earlier than her due date, her milestones were measured as if she remained inside her ma.
She was still so tiny, but she was finally over 1000 grams. She was 2.30 pounds and just under fourteen inches.
Axel had been a micro preemie too, born at 25 weeks and Megan had been deathly ill as well. There’d been so much other shit going on that dark day. No, for fucking weeks.
Sometimes, he still thought about Johnnie’s gut-wrenching screams when Roxanne called and told him Kendall overdosed and might not survive. Christopher had been on the way to drive him to the parking lot, then CJ came in and said Megan hadn’t gotten home. A few minutes later, his girl arrived. They’d argued and she’d collapsed.
She hadn’t looked well and it still came as a shock. This time…
Thisfucking time…
Jesus, how could he ever breathe easy again?
Jo moved, drawing Christopher’s attention back to the tiny child. She would be fine. He’d remind CJ to call her Squiggles like he’d intended and Jo would continue to grow stronger.
When Megan recovered completely, she’d be so fucking happy and relieved. He was, too. He just neededonemotherfucking nicotine hit. But he didn’t want to smell like smoke when he came into NICU and held his baby girl. Despite the amount of time he spent in the rocking chair near her incubator, Christopher was only allowed to hold her a few minutes each day. Her temperature or blood pressure destabilizing suspended that privilege. It also frightened the fuck out of him. He only gave Megan good reports. She needed to recover and he’d minimize any threat to that.
“Mr. Caldwell?” Torie’s voice broke into his contemplation. When Jo first arrived, the head nurse was on the day shift. Last week, she’d rotated to night duty. She was a gorgeous woman with caramel skin, brown eyes, and a sharp wit. She smiled at him. “How are you?”
He scrubbed a hand over his face, exhausted. He shrugged. “Waitin’ for Megan to be well enough to leave.”
“I understand.” She scanned her badge, then the tag on Jo’s incubator before sliding the top back and scanning the baby’s foot band. Jo still had so many tubes and wires. “The good news is we are steadily decreasing the amount of humidity and Jo is responding.”
Christopher nodded. Torie checked the baby as she, or whichever nurse was available, did every several hours. They were very proficient at their jobs, especially Torie. He’d see to it she received a substantial raise. Once she finished, she closed the transparent lid and turned to him.
“Would you like a cup of coffee?”
“A smoke would work fuckin’ wonders for my ass, babe.”
Giggling, she lowered her lashes. “If you want to sneak away and have a ciggy, I won’t tell. You deserve it. A devoted dad like you should have a little pleasure in his life.”
He smiled, staring at Jo. The past few days had shattered him, leaving him lost and anchorless. Though he spent time with his children every day and made himself available to them, Megan was always the primary caregiver. The only child he’d named was Axel. Even then, he followed her lead. But with Jo, he spent hours each day with her. He was the first to hold her. The first to talk to her. The first to celebrate her stabilization.
Torie placed a hand on his shoulder, and he glanced up at her. “She’s improving every day.”
He thought she meant Megan, until she elaborated.
