the first fifteen minutes of the trip, neither of them spoke. Tension was a living, breathing beast riding with them.
Nic sat with a small spiral notebook and a pencil in hand. When he noticed her writing something, he glanced at the dashboard, where the clock’s red numerals read 3:42. “Another contraction?”
“Yes.”
Damn. His natural inclination was to punch the gas pedal, but the storm, the terrain, and his own horrific history behind the wheel kept him driving at a safe speed.
“It’s probably nothing,” Nic said. “This whole thing is probably just a case of a first-time mom who doesn’t know what she’s doing. Dr. Marshall said checking me was just a precaution.”
“Uh-huh.”
They rode in silence for another twenty minutes before Gabe said in a grim tone. “Eternity Springs doesn’t need a healing center. It needs a hospital, or at the very least a full-service medical clinic with a real staff of real doctors. If you’d had a heart attack, you’d be dead.”
“No, actually we’re well-equipped to deal with heart attacks. The town paid for EMT training for six people. The system usually works. It’s just our bad luck that I’m having this trouble while another serious medical situation is taking place under horrible weather conditions.”
Gabe wanted to argue back, but he decided to keep his mouth shut for the time being. The last thing she needed now was more stress. Besides, if this did prove to be a false alarm and she and the babies were okay, he intended to see that the situation changed. Forget Eternity Springs. For the remainder of the pregnancy, they could move to somewhere civilized, near a hospital with a neonatal unit and a perinatologist on staff.
Beside him, Nic made another mark in her notebook. Gabe felt his tension level rise from orange to red. What would he do if she started to hemorrhage? If her water broke? If she passed out?
“Do you mind if I put on a CD?” she said.
“Huh? What?” Did she say she was bleeding?
“I’d like music. I want to play a CD.”
“Oh. Okay. Sure.”
“What would you like to listen to?”
“Your choice.” He bit out the words. “I really don’t care.”
Rain fell in sheets as Norah Jones’ smoky voice drifted from the stereo. He kept his windshield wipers set at full speed, the headlights on high, and his teeth clenched tight. Despite his need for focus, his mind drifted back to another middle-of-the-night, I’m-having-contractions trip to a hospital. That night he’d been tense, too, only that tension had been fueled with anticipation rather than dread. Jen had been five days past her due date, excited and relieved that the big moment was finally under way.
He’d held her hand that night as they made the fifteen-minute trip to the hospital. Tonight, though, he needed both hands on the wheel. He and Jen had laughed and joked during the drive that night—another contrast with current events.
What a magical night that had been. Jen had awakened him with a big kiss on his mouth. Gabe had pulled on suit pants and a Jimmy Buffett T-shirt. Jen had taken one look at him and made him go back and change.
He would never forget the joy that had filled him the moment Matt slid into the doctor’s hands, took his first breath, and let out his first angry cry. He’d been full. So full. When he held his son for the first time, he had truly believed that the bad times were all behind him.
Nic interrupted his reverie when she said, “Maybe I didn’t hydrate well enough. Do you still keep bottled water in the back?”
“I think I have a soft cooler right behind my seat. If you can’t reach it, I’ll pull off and get it for you.”
Nic leaned toward him and stretched her left arm behind his seat. “Almost.”
He remembered how Jen used to lean over like that and lay her head against his shoulder as she reached to pick up a toy that Matty had thrown down.
Nic stretched again, then used her right arm to loosen the catch on her seat belt.
“Don’t do that!” Gabe snapped when he realized what she’d done. He all but expected a car to come careening out of the darkness toward them. In their lane. “Put your seat belt back on. I’ll stop and get the water myself.”
“I’ve got it.” When Nic withdrew her arm from behind him, she held a bottle of water. She buckled her belt, settled back in her seat, and calmly twisted the bottle cap,