Smooth Irish (Book 2 of the Weldon Series) (22 page)

The phone rang. Jackson rolled over
and picked it up, forgetting he was at Nan’s place.

“
Turn off the alarm.” Nan
moaned and buried herself under the blanket. “I don’t have to work
today.”

She’d been completely exhausted after
they’d made love a second time and he’d felt slightly guilty for
being the cause, but not sorry. Bleary eyed, he blinked at the red
numbers staring at him from the digital clock across the room. Two?
Who in the hell was calling her at this time at night?

Trying not to wake her, he whispered,
“Hello.”

“
Who’s this?” a gruff,
tense voice demanded.

“
Who’s this?” Jackson
countered, irritated.

“
Jackson?”

“
Jesse? What’s wrong?”
Jackson recognized his brother’s voice.

“
I must have dialed the
wrong number. I’ve been trying to reach you, too. Alexi woke up
with a really bad headache and I brought her to the Emergency Room.
Call Nan and bring her to the hospital. They won’t let me see Alexi
yet.”

“
Jesse, we’ll be there in
ten minutes. I’m at Nan’s.”

Jackson hung up before hearing Jesse’s replay. He
turned over to Nan. “Nan, honey. Wake up.” She opened her eyes, but
just barely. “Jesse’s taken Alexi to the Emergency Room. He needs
us to come.”

Nan sprung up from the bed. “What’s wrong? The
baby?”

“He said she had a bad headache. I don’t know what
that means yet. Let’s not read anything into the situation until we
get there, okay?”

He saw the worry in her eyes, saw her take a
bolstering breath, and couldn’t stop himself from walking across
the room and pulling her into his arms. Not only was he worried
about Alexi, he was worried about Nan, too. How had he thought he
could share this woman’s bed and not get involved in her life? He
wanted her to write that story. He wanted to see her smile and
laugh. He didn’t want her to feel pain. He was even starting to
find her damn cat amusing. It would be a long time before he’d
forget Shakespeare’s ass-end flip in the air. Somehow she’d staked
a claim inside of him even though he hadn’t believed there was an
“inside” to him left. The hug lasted but a brief moment before they
broke apart and quickly dressed.

They arrived at the hospital seven minutes
later. As they walked in an ambulance came barreling up to the
emergency entrance. The EMT in the driver’s seat popped out and
rushed to the rear. Jackson knew from the man’s intensity that they
had a serious trauma on board. When the man opened the back doors
of the ambulance, Jackson heard a woman crying for help and a cold
sweat broke out over Jackson’s body.

Two nurses ran to help. The EMT in the back
with the woman jumped out and started talking to the nurses as they
unloaded the patient. Car accident was the one word Jackson
discerned. He froze, fighting the memories exploding inside him as
he stared at the blood upon the stark white sheets. He remembered
the blood. So much blood had covered his hands.

“Jack?”

Nan pulled on his arm and Jackson forced his
feet to move, but he could barely see where. They entered the
emergency room waiting area and Jackson saw Jesse. His bother paced
with military precision, his steps snapping upon the polished tile
floor.

Jesse looked up. Seeing the fear in his
brother’s eyes stabbed Jackson right in the gut. He recognized his
brother’s fear, knew intimately the demons that ripped through a
man’s soul at a time like this. It was too much, the woman’s cry,
the blood, the fear. Jackson’s stomach wrenched with pain.

He didn’t hear what Jesse said. All he could
hear was Amy screaming, the horrifying screech of metal, and the
shattering of glass. Jackson clenched his fists, fighting against
the overwhelming need to escape.

Nan grabbed his hand and he remembered she
was there. The reality of his life came crashing back down on his
shoulders. Had he actually thought he could get past the blood on
his hands? Had he really thought he could find solace from his
private hell in a woman’s embrace?

He turned, fighting to focus on Nan. Tried
to hear her words through Amy’s screaming in his brain. Nan was
speaking to Jesse. Then Jesse spoke and from a great distance he
heard bits of words and sentences. “…stabilize…emergency
C-section…”

Then, their voices were drowned out by the
past. “Oh God, my baby, my baby! Jackson, save our baby! Hellpp
Mmee!”

He jerked his hand from Nan’s and grabbed
his head. Pain tore through him.

“I couldn’t! I tried!” He screamed back. He
didn’t realize he’d yelled aloud until he saw the shock on their
faces. He had to get away. “I can’t do this. Just forget I exist.”
He turned and ran out into the night.

Nan watched Jackson leave. A heavy, sinking
feeling worked its way down her gut, and a chilling numbness began
at her toes, spreading throughout her body. Shock. Medically, she
knew it, but never thought she’d be able to diagnose it in herself.
She had sense enough to quickly sit down before she fell down.

The harrowing pain and guilt in Jackson’s
eyes matched the anguish she’d seen destroy her father. In fact,
for a moment when Jackson had said to forget he existed, she’d
thought her father had come back to life.

God, what had happened to Jackson? She
sucked in air, forcing her lungs to work. She had to focus on Alexi
right now. Jackson would have to wait. Jesse still stood, frozen in
the same position he’d stood when they’d heard Jackson scream. Nan
reached out and tugged on his hand. “Alexi. We have to think about
her. Tell me again. What did the doctor say?”

Jesse turned back. His blue eyes were so
like Jackson’s Nan almost cried. Why had Jackson left? Why had he
deserted them in the middle of a crisis? Jesse had tears in his
eyes, and Nan could see he was as anguished as Jackson had been.
But Jesse wasn’t running out. He stood solid amidst the
turmoil.

“
I haven’t seen the doctor
yet, he’s still with Alexi. The nurse just came out and said Alexi
has developed preeclampsia. As soon as they get her blood pressure
down and feel she is stable, they plan to do a
C-Section.”

“
You’re sure they said
preeclampsia and not eclampsia?”

“
Yes.”

Nan exhaled with relief. Had Alexi
gone into full eclampsia, she could have had convulsions, and would
have been so unstable that a c-section wouldn’t have been possible.
A coma or death could have happened then. “I know you don’t realize
this, but this is good news. They’ve caught her condition early.
With the advances medicine has made, she’s probably going to be
okay.”

“
Just exactly what in the
hell is this condition and why didn’t her doctor stop it from
happening?”

“
They don’t know for sure
what causes eclampsia. Symptoms are an increase in blood pressure,
headaches, abnormal swelling in the legs and feet. Generally, what
happens is that being pregnant becomes toxic to the mother. As for
prevention, there isn’t a lot a doctor can do until the patient
starts showing symptoms. Alexi’s condition has been borderline. Her
blood pressure has been a little higher than normal for her, but
not high enough to consider it dangerous. She’s had some swelling,
but not an excessive amount. Promptly getting her to the hospital
was about the best thing you could have done.”

Jesse shuddered. “Jackson was so
right. He must have suspected something.”

Nan bit her lip, trying to stave off
the tears lurking just beneath the surface. Had it just been few
hours ago she and Jackson had been in bed laughing and loving?
“What, what was he right about?”

“
Not leaving Alexi’s side.
He told me that if I tried to take another business trip before the
baby was born, he would beat me to a pulp. Told me that nothing on
this God’s earth could be more important than being there for her
right now. He said I could lose it all in the blink of an eye, just
like he lost Amy. That’s probably why he had to leave. Sometimes
the memories are more than he can bear.”

Nan leaned back in the hard plastic
chair and swallowed the lumps in her throat. “He must have really
loved her to still grieve for her so deeply.”

“
I think that’s part of
it. I also think that maybe we’ve respected his wish to be left
alone too long. I need to call my folks and the twins to let them
know what’s going on.”

“
Okay. I’m going to
shamelessly use my connections to find out more and get you in to
see her ASAP.”

“
I went crazy when we
first arrived. I couldn’t get them to tell me anything. Thanks for
being here.”

“
Don’t ever hesitate to
call me. I’ll never let you, Alexi or the baby down.” She reached
out and squeezed Jesse’s hand.

He squeezed back. “Thanks. I don’t
want to stick my nose where it doesn’t belong, but give Jackson
some time.”

Nan sighed. “Sometimes all the time in
world isn’t enough. I’ve learned a person either has what it takes
to move past a tragedy or they don’t.”

* * *

Eight hours later, Nan stumbled from
the hospital the proud godparent of a six and a half pound,
nineteen inch baby boy named Jake Everett Weldon. Alexi and the
baby were going to be just fine. Nan shook her head in wonder,
still hearing Jake wail up a storm when he was hungry. Alexi
couldn’t unbutton her gown fast enough for him.

Nan went to step from the curb then
stopped. A tow truck pulled out of the emergency parking area with
Jackson’s pickup tethered to it. Was Jackson here?

She hailed the driver and he stuck his
head out the window.

“
This truck
yours?”

“
No, but I know the
owner.”

“
Not my problem, lady.
This truck has been parked in a fifteen minute parking zone since
last night. The hospital says to tow ‘em, I tow ‘em.” He started to
leave.

“
Wait. Where can my friend
pick it up?”

“
Tell him to call Ralph
Butz Wrecker Service. That’s B-U-T-Z. And tell him I don’t take
checks, ya hear?”

Nan nodded her reply. The man hit the
gas and whizzed by her. If Jackson’s truck had been parked all
night at the hospital then where was Jackson? It also dawned on her
that she needed to go back inside and call for a taxi.

“
Nan, is that
you?”

Nan turned to see Brad, perfectly
groomed in an Armani suit. He stood half in and half out of his
Mercedes. She hadn’t noticed, but he’d driven up behind the tow
truck.

“
Hi,” she said, feeling
like a wreck.

“
Hi. I left a message for
you yesterday. You didn’t call me back.”

Nan frowned. “I didn’t get it. What
did you say?”

“
My flight Sunday was
delayed. I got your message about having to work Friday night and
called the nursing supervisor. She was more than glad to change
your schedule.”

“
Oh.” She had to talk to
Brad. It irked her that he’d taken the liberty to call and have her
schedule changed without consulting her. But since he said he was
going to talk to the nursing supervisor at the hospital party, and
she didn’t tell him not to do it, she really couldn’t blame
him.

“
You look awful. Is
something wrong?”

“
Alexi had to have an
emergency C-section. She became preeclamptic.”

“
I’m sorry to hear that.
Everything all right now?”

“
Yes.”

“
Listen, you look too
tired to drive. Why don’t I run you home?” He glanced at his watch.
“I have forty minutes before I have to start rounds.”

Nan blinked. Brad didn’t seem as self
absorbed as he had last week. He came around and opened the
passenger door for her and tucked the seatbelt around her. She was
too tired to insist on a cab, and wanted to get home fast, but she
felt a bit awkward. She’d spent the last few days loving Jackson
just about every physical way possible and until she made it clear
to Brad that she…what?

Her head started to pound. It was all
too complicated to sort out in the short time she and Brad had this
morning. He started the car and drove out from the Hospital
complex. They passed by the construction site and Nan looked for
Jackson amongst the workers milling about the site. She didn’t see
him.

She studied Brad’s serious profile
from beneath lowered lashes. He was a model of efficient
neatness—not a hair out of place, not a piece of lint on his dark
navy suit, and on the seat between them she saw a leather bound
pocket notebook with a neatly written to-do list dated today. There
wasn’t a doubt in her mind that in a middle of a crisis he’d be
right there handling the problem.

She wondered why Brad couldn’t have
been the focus of her fantasies? Why couldn’t he have been the man
who stirred her passions? She had to tell him she wasn’t going to
be able to date him anymore. She had to tell him that even though
he’d arranged for her to be off this weekend, she wasn’t going to
go yachting. And she needed to have more than just the time it
would take to drive her home.

“
Brad, we need to talk.
Can you come to my house for dinner one night this
week?”

“
I’d like to tell you
about the convention. You won’t believe what kind of neurological
breakthroughs are on the horizon. But I’m swamped after having been
gone. How about I call you Thursday and we will see if I can work
something out?”