Page 85 of Desert Thorns
At some point, Keaton showed up, then Tatum with Coco—had they worked after hours?—and eventually Bella and Noa Rose. I gave them a brief rundown of what’d happened, then we prayed together.
“Does this mean the baby is okay?” Bella finally asked.
In my peripheral vision, I saw how Tatum’s brows shot up. He was the oldest Grady and just as handsome as the rest of them.
Keaton coughed. “Baby?”
“Yes and yes.”
“Holy Hades, champ,” he muttered.
I snickered. “A champ, that he is.”
“So, is he gonna marry you or what?” Coco asked.
“If he survives, I sure hope so.” Despite joking, a part of me was still scared that something could go wrong. I just needed to know that he was okay.
Father, I give him into Your loving care. Be with him.
As we waited for another hour, I watched Coco and Tatum interact with each other. She’d been right, the man was a grump. But the way he looked at her when she didn’t notice? Whew. Something was brewing.
Finally, a doctor in her fifties approached us with a bouncing gait. She wore a lab coat, her black hair in a pixie cut. “Grady?”
Keaton and Tatum both rose. I stood with them.
“That’s us,” Keaton said.
Doc pursed her lips. “You Gradys are making it a habit to show up here.”
“You offer amazing food.” Keaton gave her a smirk that would’ve had me swooning had I not been on edge.
Apparently not Doc, because her expression remained stony. She dove into a monolog about how Kingsley was doing. All I heard was no damage done to the spine or major organs, and while severe scarring was inevitable, they were optimistic about his recovery. A collective sigh of relief rippled through the waiting area.
“The family may see him now,” Doc concluded.
“What about me?” I blurted. “I need to see him.”
“Are you family?” Doc asked sternly.
“He knocked her up, so technically speaking she’s his wife.”
I wanted to swat at Keaton for that, but he stood too far away.
Doc eyed me, then nodded. “Fine. He’s been asking for you anyway.”
Warmth spread through me. Out of all the amazing people in his life he wanted to see me first?
Doc led us through a length of disinfectant-smelling hallway to his room. I let Keaton and Tatum enter first, then, holding mybreath, followed. Kingsley lay in the only bed in the room, to my surprise on his back. A monitor beeped next to him, displaying his heart rate. His gaze instantly homed in on me.
His mouth stretched into a tired smile. “Sweetheart.”
“Did you hit your head? Why are you calling me that?” Grinning, Keaton ambled up to Kingsley’s bed and patted his chest. “Glad you’re okay, champ.”
Tatum stopped at the foot of the bed, so I eased up on the vacant side and took Kingsley's hand into mine. His calloused palm brought back a flood of memories. “The baby is okay.”
His gaze dropped to my belly, then came up again. “Praise the Lord,” he rasped. His eyes glazed over. “I was so scared for both of you.”
“And I was scared for you.” I squeezed his hand. “Craig tried to flee, but Wentworth’s team caught him. Not sure what they did with him. Either way, we’re safe now.”
