Chapter Five
Tina wasn't sure what woke her. The room was
dark, and her watch ticked by her ear.
An arm wrapped protectively around her middle, pulling her closer to the wall
of heat behind her. Dark eyes flew open, then she relaxed, remembering...
After Amanda had followed AJ out, Tina had turned her back on Howie completely,
totally incensed with his interference. To Kat, she just gave a weary smile,
and a hug, and promised to call the other woman tomorrow. Nick had seen how
tired and worn out she was, and ordered her to go to bed. She told him the only
way he'd get her there was to join her. So he'd climbed into bed with her,
holding her until she'd fallen asleep.
Tina groaned as she rolled to her back. The muscles in her lower back felt like
they were in a vise. The sound woke Nick as his arm tightened around her.
"Tas? What's wrong?"
"Back hurts," she managed through gritted teeth as the pain slowly
built. This wasn't just a backache, it couldn't be. Her hand went to her belly,
and she fought down another groan. The muscles were stretched tight.
There was no denying it. The baby was coming.
"It's too early," she whispered, able to draw breath as the pain
slowly eased.
"It's the middle of the night," Nick agreed sleepily.
Did I really say he wasn't a dumb blond? Tina asked herself. "The baby's
coming."
"That's nice," Nick yawned, snuggling into the pillow.
Tina opened her mouth, but the words came out as a groan as another pain came
on.
It took a moment more for Nick to bolt upright. "The baby's
coming!?!?!" he exclaimed.
If she wasn't trying to breathe through the pain, she would have laughed outright
at the look on his face. She managed a nod.
"The hospital," he said, climbing out of bed, trying to drag her with
him.
"In a minute," she bit out, breathing a bit easier as the pain slowly
eased.
"In a minute?" Nick asked, incredulous. "The baby's coming!"
Smiling wryly, she replied, "Yes, Nicky, I realize that."
They made it to the hospital. As they had flown down the quiet streets, Tina
had remembered a joke she'd read once, about not driving faster than your
guardian angel can fly. Hopefully her angel was capable of warp speed,
considering how fast Nick had gotten them here.
Her door opened, and she kept her eyes snapped shut. "Another
contraction?" Nick wanted to know.
"No," she replied, "I'm just trying to make sure I'm still in
one piece." She glared at him. "You drive like a lunatic."
He grinned at her. "I learned from the best."
Her heart melted at that boyish grin. "I only went driving with you that
one time."
"Yes, and I learned fast, didn't I?" He helped her out of the car.
"I'd say warp speed."
Tina waddled behind Nick into the emergency room. The on-duty nurse took one
look at her, and groaned, "Not another one."
Dr. Terry was summoned, and Tina was duly poked and prodded. When Dr. Terry
stood, her face was grave. "What's wrong?" Terry pulled off her
gloves, but not before Tina saw the blood on them. Her heart leapt into her
throat. "C'mon, Doc," she joked, trying not to sound as panicked as
she felt, "What's wrong?"
Terry tossed the gloves in the hazardous waste receptacle, then turned to Tina
with a smile. "Everything will be fine," she assured, then turned to
the nurse. In an undertone, Tina made out the words, "we have to get her
to delivery, stat!"
Nick came in as the nurse bustled out of the room. "What's wrong?" he
asked the doctor, coming to Tina's side and taking her hand. She gripped him
tightly.
"There's some hemorrhaging...not much," she amended, seeing the panic
clearly on Tina's face, "but we'd better get the wee ones out of you as
soon as possible."
Tina relaxed slightly, then caught Terry's words..."Wee 'ones'?" she
asked.
"Twins, I should think," Terry said. "A bit of a surprise,
but..."
"A bit?!? You think?" Tina asked, stunned. Twins...by God, she'd kill
him. There weren't any twins in her family. She glanced at Nick. "AJ's a
dead man." She shook her head. "Twins," she muttered.
Nick kissed her cheek and followed Dr. Terry out of the room. "Doc?"
"Are you the father?" she asked him bluntly.
Nick shook his head. "No, but...I love her. Please, what's wrong?"
Terry sighed. "She's hemorrhaging, and it's getting worse. If we don't
stop the bleeding..." her words trailed off, and she lightly grasped his
arm. "She'll be fine."
Twenty minutes later, knees to her chest, sweat pouring down her face, Tina
felt anything but fine. She could see the spreading red stain between her legs,
but didn't give much of a damn at the moment. "God, this hurts!"
Nick was beside her, clad head to foot in surgical garb. He rubbed her
shoulders. "You're doing great," he encouraged.
"I'm going to kill him," she panted between pains. "I'm going to
cut his heart out with a spoon and feed it to him while it's still
beating."
"Transition," Nick heard one nurse chuckle.
"A dead man," she groaned, then her groan ended on a scream. She went
limp in his arms.
Blood poured from her, and Nick heard Dr. Terry cursing fluently. One glance
showed him that one of the babies was making it's appearance. He closed his
eyes, praying. There was so much blood. He swallowed hard, still holding tight to
the woman he loved.
When Tina woke again, she blinked at the bright lights. A hand held hers, and
she followed the arm up to find Nick smiling down at her. "Nicky,"
she croaked, then licked her dry lips. "The babies..."
For a second, some unnamed emotion flitted across his handsome features. Then
he smiled down at her. "Everything's going to be fine," he said,
kissing her cheek. "Just fine."
She clutched at his arm. "Nick...the babies..."
Dr. Terry strode into the room. "Awake, I see."
Tina turned to her. "Terry...the babies..."
"We have them in ICU, just to keep an eye on them." She sat on the
edge of the bed. "A boy and a girl...two months early, but they're going
to be fine."
Tina fought a yawn and lost. "So tired."
Terry rose slowly. "You need some sleep." She gave Nick a level look.
"Young man..."
"He stays," Tina said, clutching tight to his hand.
The door to the room opened. Tina glanced at the doorway, and groaned.
Nick followed her gaze, and cursed silently. "Hello, AJ."