Page 35 of Just Breathe

I shook my head, grabbing my phone and checking again just to make sure she didn’t text me. “You think I should text her?” I’ve never been this shy with a woman, but as of last night, I decided I wanted her. If she wanted this relationship, then I would do everything to show her it was great. That all of us were great together.

“Yeah. Do it.” Callum didn’t hesitate. Callum trusted his gut feelings and most of the time he wasn’t wrong. Nathan nodded his head at me.

I shot a quick text to her.Just making sure you are doing ok.

“Okdone.” I laid my phone on the counter and I swear we would all wait there till she responded, but we did not know how long it would take since she could be at work. The coffee beeped, signaling it was done. I poured us all coffee in silence, getting the cream and sugar out for the guys.

“Maybe we can swing by and see if her car is at those condos she’s staying at,” Callum suggested.

“We could always go to the coffee shop as our cover,” Nathan agreed.

I took a sip of my coffee, wincing when it was too fucking hot. “Yeah, let’s do that. Maybe Darcy has seen her. We can get breakfast on the way to work, anyway.”

“We should go now.” Callum stopped making his coffee. He was like a bloodhound when something bothered him or needed to be done. He looked ready to bolt but still waited for me to say it was ok. I think it was a habit from the military.

“Let’s go,” I said, and Nathan was already pouring his coffee down the drain and took our cups too.

I grabbed my phone. We all walked out of the kitchen and went straight to the truck. We climbed in and took off straight to the coffee shop. The urgency in me grew as the tension grew in the car. I’m sure they were getting more anxious, too. We turned down the street the coffee shop was on.

“Last time, I saw her car parked over there, on the street.” Callum pointed across the street. I looked around and didn’t see her car, feeling a little disappointed. I knew it was a long shot, but I still was hopeful.

“I see her car.” Nathan pointed a little further down than we looked.

I parked as close as I could to her car, and we all noticed she was still in her car with her head hunched over.

I jumped quickly from the car, hearing the guys do the same. I walked up to her car hearing sobbing, seeing her body shaking, and I knew this wasn’t good.

“Fuck,” Nathan whispered, stopping a little further away from the car as Callum and I continued.

“Should we tap on her window? I don’t want to scare the shit out of her,” Callum whispered.

She didn’t give us an option as she looked straight up at us like she knew we were there. Her expression made my heart hurt. She’d clearly been crying for a while, and she looked fucking wrecked. She put her head in her hands and continued to cry as I made my way to the driver's side, opening the door.

As soon as I opened the door, she turned and jumped at me, still sobbing. I caught her and wrapped my arms around her, lifting her off the ground. I wasn’t familiar with consoling women and I felt completely out of place, but I knew just holding her would help her.

Callum looked at me with worry, but he asked, “Are you hurt, Jane?”

I don’t think she heard with her sobbing so loud. “Jane, let’s get you inside your place. Where are your keys?” I asked close to her ear so she would hear me.

She tightened her grip on me. “I don’t want to be alone. Please don’t leave me. I’m already alone. I’m alone.” She sobbed, not making any sense.

“Let’s take her home.” Nathan appeared uncomfortable. He didn’t do well with women in pain, but it looked like he was trying to work through his own issues, for Jane’s sake.

“I agree,” Callum said, getting closer to me like he wanted to hold her.

Jane was inconsolable. I didn’t feel comfortable leaving her alone, and I didn’t want to leave her alone. Something big must have happened at the hospital for her to lose it like this.

“Jane, we are going to take you back to our house. We don’t want to leave you alone.” I tried to get the keys to the truck, but I didn’t want to let go of her.

Callum came up to me, taking Jane so that I could drive. He picked her up, and she wrapped her arms around his neck and her legs around his waist. I got a quick glance at her scrubs, noticing blood on them and wondering if someone died or what could have triggered this. I grabbed her purse, closing her door and locking up the car. We walked back to the truck, Nathan opening his door so Callum could climb in with her, and I jumped into the driver’s side to take her home with us.

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