Carter Read online

  I’ve been here for at least two hours when a familiar voice sounds at the top of the hallway. “What the fuck are you guys doing here?” Sean demands. “I said I’d call when it’s time to come.”

  “Like that was ever going to happen,” Cassie scoffs with her eyes closed. She goes about pushing herself up into her seat as Sean makes his way down the hallway to us.

  “I should have known,” he says, shaking his head in exasperation.

  “What’s going on?” I ask. “How’s Sara doing?”

  “So far, so good,” he says, bringing his hand up to cover is mouth as an almighty yawn comes ripping out of him. “She’s about halfway through, so it’ll still be a little while.”

  “So, what are you doing out here then?” Logan asks. “Shouldn’t you be in there catering to her every need?”

  “Yes,” he says. “But I’m hungry and my hand needs a break,” he adds as he holds his hand up to show us the nail marks carved into his skin. “She likes to squeeze it every time she gets a contraction.”

  “That’s fair enough,” Elle smiles. “She must be going through so much pain.”

  “How far apart are her contractions?” Cass asks.

  “Every few minutes,” he says.

  “Shit, Sean. You don’t have time to go and find something to eat. You need to be there for her next contraction,” she scolds.

  “I know, so I better go,” he says.

  “Don’t be ridiculous,” Cassie says as she goes about getting to her feet. “I’ll find you some food. You go back to Sara.” Cassie goes to step forward, but her tied shoelaces make that very hard and she tumbles forward. “Fuck,” she curses as Sean reaches out to catch her.

  A grin takes over my face and I try my hardest to smother it, but it’s too hard. Once Cassie rights herself on her feet she turns on me with fire in her eyes. “You’re going to regret that,” she says.

  “Bring it on,” I challenge.

  She steps out of her shoes and before I know it, she’s flying at me and launching herself through the air. She comes crashing into me and I do my best not to drop her while she attempts to beat on me and get her sweet revenge, but she’s like five foot nothing and has no chance in hell.

  I grab her hands and hold them behind her back, rendering her useless. “Jax, can you help me out here?” she requests to her husband.

  “Nah,” he smiles as he sits back in his chair and gets comfortable.

  She lets out a groan before turning her eyes on me. “Let me go, you big twat,” she demands.

  “Only if you admit that I’m your favorite,” I tell her.

  “No way, we all know Logan’s my favorite.”

  “Wrong answer,” I grin.

  “Quit fucking around,” Sean scolds as he reaches forward and pulls Cassie out of my grasp, realizing this could go on for hours. “I need to get back to Sara,” he says before turning on his heel and disappearing.

  Cassie pulls her shoes back on and grabs Jax to go and find Sean something to eat while the rest of us get comfortable once again.

  Another few hours pass and my ass is getting very uncomfortable. I look at the clock for the millionth time tonight and see it’s nearing five in the morning. It’s been a long ass night.

  Commotion down the hallway has us all jumping to our feet. We look down the hall to find Sean being pushed out of the birthing unit followed by Sara on a bed and a shit load of midwives and doctors.

  What the fuck?

  They start rushing up the hallway and we instantly fall in with them. “What’s going on?” me and Logan demand at the same time.

  Sean latches onto his wife’s hand as they rush down the hallway. “She has to have an emergency C-section. Her blood pressure is too high and the baby’s going into distress.”

  “Fuck,” I curse. That couldn’t be good.

  “Sean,” Sara says looking up at him with fear in her eyes.

  He kisses her hand as they continue rushing. “It’ll be ok,” he soothes her. “The doctors know what they’re doing. The baby is going to be fine.”

  She nods her head but the worry hasn’t disappeared from her eyes.

  Jesus. Reason number one why I shouldn’t be having kids. I can’t handle this shit.

  They go through large double doors and we’re all stopped from following. Sean disappears with his wife and I want nothing more than to be in there with them, but I realize that’s kind of overstepping my role as a brother-in-law and to-be uncle.

  We stand outside, not wanting to go back down the hallway to the waiting area. They’re nearly at the finish line. Any minute they could have a baby. The first Waters baby. Fuck. I’m excited.

  An eerie silence comes over us as we wait. It feels odd to be waiting right outside the doors like this, but I couldn’t care less. Sean is going to come out of those doors any minute and let us know that he’s had a baby. He’s going to be proud as fuck and I couldn’t be happier.

  Five minutes turn into ten and I become fidgety again.

  Then finally, Sean appears at the door with the greatest smile on his beaming face, decked out in his scrubs. “It’s a girl,” he announces.

  “Fuck, yeah,” I cheer as Cassie throws herself forward and hugs Sean like he’s never been hugged before.

  We all join in as the excitement overwhelms us. “When can I see her?” Cassie demands from the center of the massive group hug.

  “Give Sara a bit to get stitched up and meet her daughter and then she’s all yours,” Sean says as he breaks away from us. “I better get back in there,” he says.

  We let him go but as the door closes behind him, the sound of an alarm echoes throughout the hallway and we suddenly have a shit load of nurses and doctors flying around the ward before rushing into Sara’s room.

  What the fuck’s going on? We all look around in panic. Logan calls out to a nurse who ignores him and goes about her duties.

  The doors are opened and closed and a baby is rushed out of the room right before Sean is pushed out by a nurse with the door closing in his face.

  Panic is written all over him as he tries to fight his way back in.

  Logan and I grab him. Obviously, whatever is happening on the other side of that door, he can’t be in there. “What’s going on?” I demand.

  “She’s hemorrhaging,” he says through clenched teeth and he tries to push us off to get to Sara.

  “Fuck,” Logan says as a gasp comes tearing out of Cassie.

  Tears spring to Sean’s eyes. “She was losing too much blood,” he tells us. “Something must have gone wrong.”

  “Hey,” I say, trying to break him out of the panic, but I know it’s useless until he can get back in that room and physically see that she’s alright. “She’s going to be ok. The doctors know what they’re doing,” I tell him, repeating the very words he had used to soothe Sara earlier.

  With my words, Sean loses the fight and gives in. He stops trying to push us away and breaks down. He falls into the wall and slides down to the ground with his head in his hands. Cass sits next to him and takes his hand.

  Jax leans against the wall. I pace up and down the hallway and Logan holds Elle, who has fear etched into her eyes.

  We wait ten minutes before a doctor, covered in blood comes out of the room with a haunted look on his face.

  My stomach instantly sinks as Sean flies to his feet. His eyes are wide and questioning as the doctor steps up to him. He raises a hand and places it on Sean’s shoulder with regret and devastation written all over him. “I’m sorry,” he says with pain in his eyes. “She didn’t make it.”

  No.

  No, this isn’t happening. He has to be wrong.

  Beautiful Sara.

  She couldn’t be gone.

  Sean shakes his head in disbelief. Tears are in his eyes and he looks like the definition of a broken man. He pushes past the doctor, blocking out whatever it is he’s saying while the rest of us follow on auto pilot.

  The sight before me tears
me to shreds. Sara lays on the operating table with pools of blood on the floor and bed while a white sheet is draped over her motionless body. Her eyes are closed and I find myself imagining that she’s just sleeping, but I know that’s not right.

  There’s no movement in her chest, no sign of her breathing. No fingers twitching. No heartbeat on the monitor… just a flat line.

  Sean stands before me, holding his wife as he screams out in agony. “No,” he cries with a broken voice. “Come back to me, Sara.”

  I step back, not wanting to intrude on this painful, private moment.

  A voice sounds at the door. “Excuse me,” a woman says. We turn around to find a young nurse pushing a bassinet with the most beautiful baby inside. “I am incredibly sorry for your loss, but I need a family member to remain with the baby.”

  I step up to the bassinet and look down at my niece. A beautiful innocent creature who’s going to grow up without her Mummy. I reach into the bassinet and run my finger over the soft skin of the baby’s hand.

  Cassie comes up beside me with tears heavy in her eyes. “I’ll stay with her,” she tells the nurse while giving my hand a squeeze.

  The nurse nods and leads Cassie out of the room. Jax goes with her and they head towards the nursery where they’ll clean her up, weigh and measure her.

  The rest of us leave the room, allowing Sean these last moments with his wife.

  The second I step out of the room. I fall to my knees.

  How could she be taken away like that? How could that little baby be left without a mother to love and care for her?

  It’s not fair.

  Chapter 9

  Brianna

  A banging at the door startles me awake.

  What the hell is going on?

  I groan as I sit up in bed and check my phone. Shit, it’s 6:30 in the morning on a Saturday. I don’t have time to even be pissed about the wake up call as the banging on the door increases. I stand up from my bed which is when I notice there’s another body in it.

  What the fuck? Xavier lays in my bed, fast asleep, under my fucking covers.

  Did something happen last night?

  The knocking gets louder and more determined. I’ll have to deal with this Xavier shit later, but this is definitely crossing a line, one I won’t be so easily forgiving about. I groan as I grab my dressing gown off the back of my door. What a fucking bad morning. “Chill the fuck out, I’m coming,” I call at the door as the person on the other side attempts to practically knock it down.

  I swear if this is Bobby carrying on like this I’m going to whoop his ass.

  I finally make it to the door and I tear it open. “Who the fuck do…?” Crap. It’s Carter.

  My jaw practically drops as I look at the man standing before me. “What are you…?” Wait. Something’s wrong. He looks at me with red rimmed eyes that don’t hold any of the liveliness that I love, instead, they look empty.

  I start wracking my brain for what could possibly be going on but come up blank. All I know is that for him to be busting down my door at this time of the morning on a Saturday, it must be bad.

  “What is it? What happened?” I ask as I search his face.

  “It’s…” he starts but is cut off when his eyes raise from mine and look behind me which is when I feel an arm snake around my waist.

  I flinch away from his touch and glare up at the intrusive dickhead, but he doesn’t notice as Carter’s glare holds him captive. “What’s going on, babe?” Xavier asks.

  “Get the fuck out,” Carter demands.

  “Excuse me?” Xavier scoffs. “Who do you think you are?”

  Fuck. I’ve never seen Carter like this. Whatever is bothering him must really be bad. So why the hell is Xavier still standing in my doorway?

  Xavier looks down at me with a question in his eyes. “Yeah,” I tell him. “It’s time for you to go.”

  “What?” he scoffs before waving his hand between us. “I thought we had something going here.”

  “No way in hell, dude. You invited yourself into my bed when I fell asleep on the fucking couch. That shit doesn’t fly with me.”

  Carter comes flying into my apartment and slams Xavier up against the wall. “What the fuck?” Xavier grunts as he tries to push Carter off him.

  Rage shines strong through Carter’s eyes and I realize Xavier is in a shit load of trouble right now. I grab Carter’s arm and try to pull him back, ignoring the way the feel of his skin on mine lights me up for the first time in five months.

  Unable to pull him off, I squeeze in between the two men. I reach up and grab Carter’s face, forcing him to look down at me. “Carter,” I demand, trying to gain his attention. His eyes finally come down to me. “Let go,” I demand.

  He looks torn but finally does as I ask. I feel Xavier stepping away from us. “I didn’t sign up for this bullshit,” he says before grabbing his keys off the table and disappearing.

  Thank fuck.

  “What do you think you’re doing?” I ask as I step back from Carter, realizing for the first time in a very long time, we’re finally alone. “You can’t come in here and start shit.”

  “You don’t like him anyway,” he grunts, clearly very pissed off.

  “So?” I scoff. “That doesn’t give you the right to kick him out of my apartment.”

  “The fucker got into bed with you without your fucking consent. What was I supposed to do?”

  “I don’t know. How about not showing up on my door step at 6:30 in the fucking morning and breaking down my door?”

  “Brianna, please,” he sighs as he leans back against the door and rubs at his face. “I’m not here to start a fight.”

  “It’s a bit late for that,” I say under my breath.

  “Can I come in?” he asks. “I have something to tell you.”

  I look at him, like really look at him and see he’s a tortured soul. I hate having him here. It’s making my heart hurt, but clearly, he’s here for a reason. I nod my head and he slowly walks into my apartment and sits down on the couch.

  Nerves take over me as a million things start rushing through my mind. What could be so bad that he has to come here to tell me? Is he with someone else already? Did he knock some chick up and is going to give her the life I wanted? Fuck, I could be sick thinking about this shit.

  It feels weird having him here and I stand by the kitchen, unsure of what to do. “Can I get you a coffee or something?”

  “No,” he says with a slight shake of his head. He pats the spot beside him on the couch. “Please, just come and sit down.”

  Great. He wants to rip it off like a band-aid.

  I walk across the room and take a seat as far from him as possible, but maybe I should have taken the seat closet to the door in case I need to make a quick escape. The need to reach out and touch him runs through me, but I hold back. I can’t go down that road.

  After seeing him last week, I’ve barely gotten him out of my mind. I had only just gotten past the shock of seeing him and yet, here he is again, sending those shockwaves right through my body once again, only this time it’s worse. So much worse.

  “What’s going on Carter?” I finally ask.

  His eyes close as if he’s in an incredible about of pain. He takes a deep breath and I notice his hand clenching into a fist by his side. “Sa… Sara went into labor last night,” he starts.

  Oh no. If this was happy news, he wouldn’t be acting this way. Something’s happened. I search out his eyes, trying to work out what’s happened. “The baby?” I question in fear.

  He lets out another breath and gives me a sad smile. “The baby is fine. They had a little girl.”

  Thank God. I let out a breath I didn’t realize I was holding. Wait. If the baby is fine… then what’s the matter?

  “So…?” I question, knowing there’s still so much more left to this story.

  “Sara had to have an emergency C-Section. During the procedure, an organ was nicked which caused her to hemor
rhage. They couldn’t stop the bleeding,” he tells me.

  No, no, no. He isn’t saying this.

  “So… she’s?”

  “She’s gone, Bri,” he says softly.

  Words escape me as my heart shatters. I look up at Carter and the pain in his eyes finally makes sense. How did this happen? She was just here and now she’s not.

  A million questions swirl through my mind as the grief over takes me. That baby isn’t going to have a mummy. Did she get to hold her baby before she…

  Oh, Sean. Poor Sean.

  My head drops into my hand as the tears start. My beautiful Sara. I’ll never see her again. The realization is devastating and my chest gets heavy. I struggle to breathe as the sobs take over.

  I find myself wrapped in Carter’s arms and I soak up every single bit of comfort those arms bring.

  We sit for what could be minutes or hours, but when I come up for air, my eyes hurt and my body feels weak. “What’s going to happen with the baby?” I ask, knowing Sean wouldn’t be in any state to look after a newborn so soon after his wife passed.

  “Cassie is going to watch her for now and I guess Sara’s parents will help out too, but I’m sure they’ll be busy with funeral arrangements. I can’t picture Sean being up for that,” he explains.

  I nod my head, taking it all in. “Let them know, I’m here if it gets too hard.”

  “They know,” he tells me.

  We sit for a little while longer before he gets up. “I should probably get back to Sean,” he says.

  “Yeah,” I murmur as I get up. “I might go see Cassie. She probably needs a friend right now.”

  “Ok, did you want me to give you a lift?”

  “No,” I say. “That’s probably not such a great idea.”

  He nods his head in agreement and I feel an awkward goodbye coming along. He rubs the back of his neck as he looks down. “Well, thanks,” he says. “I just… I didn’t want you finding out through someone else and I guess… I just needed to see you.”