Saving You (Love Wanted In Texas Book 2) (31 page)

I SAT WITH
my knees pulled up to my chest as I rocked back and forth. Luke was drifting in and out of consciousness. My throat was hoarse from calling out and I was so cold.

Looking up I began crying. “Please, please don’t do this. I beg of you. Please.”

“Libby, darling. It’s so cold out here.”

Turning, I looked to see Mr. and Mrs. Lambert standing there. Jumping up, I went over to them. “W—what are you two doing out here? It’s dark and so cold?”

Mrs. Lambert placed her hand on my cheek. “Are you giving up, Libby?”

I jerked my head back. “No? I just don’t know what to do. I can’t leave him. He keeps trying to sleep and—” I began crying. “I can’t leave him. Please … can you … will you please go get help? Please!”

Mrs. Lambert nodded her head. “Of course, darling.”

Mr. Lambert rested his hand on my shoulder. “Libby, you have to give him hope. He’s giving up.”

“I—I don’t know how to!”

Smiling he looked over at Luke and then back at me. “You do, darling. You do. Tell him your news.”

Luke let out a moan I turned and looked at him. “I need y’all to go and find—” I spun back to talk to Mr. and Mrs. Lambert and they were gone. “Hello? Mr. Lambert? Mrs. Lambert. Wait! Please get help!”

“Libby,” Luke called out in a weak voice. I made my way back over to him. My knee was killing me. I dropped down next to him. He smiled as I put his head in my lap.

“I saw Mr. and Mrs. Lambert. They’re going to get help, baby. Please hold on.”

Luke closed his eyes and opened them. A single tear rolled down his face. “I wanted to get married, have a baby. I had so … many plans.”

I thrashed my head back and forth. “No, don’t you give up, Luke Johnson.”

“I dreamed of us walking along with a little girl. We … we were swinging her as we walked.”

Tears flowed from my face as Mr. Lambert’s words came back to me.
“You have to give him hope. Tell him your news.”

“We’re going to, Luke. We’re going to have that little girl.”

He slowly nodded his head. “Libby, no one is going to find us until tomorrow. I can’t wait … that long. I’m so sorry, baby.”

“No, no, no. Luke I need you to listen to me. I had my own surprise for you. I was waiting to tell you at the falls, but then you surprised me when you asked me to marry you.”

Luke eyes opened and looked into my eyes. “Luke, you can’t leave me. You can’t because we’re going to have a baby.”

Luke smiled weakly. “God, I wanted that so bad with you, Libby.”

Placing my hands on his face I looked into his eyes. “Luke, listen to me. Look into my eyes and hear what I’m saying. We’re having a baby. I’m pregnant, Luke. I found out the day before we left for the camping trip. We’re having a baby in about eight months. So you can’t leave me alone. You can’t do this to me. I need you!
We
need you. The baby and I, we both need you.”

Luke’s face lit up. “A baby? We’re having a baby? How?”

I giggled as my teeth began to chatter. “Well, if you really need me to explain.”

He smiled bigger. “No, I mean I thought you were on the pill?”

I shrugged my shoulders. “I am. I never miss a pill and I take them every day at the same time. I guess your swimmers were bound and determined.”

The color in Luke’s face instantly looked better. He sat up a little more. “I can’t believe we’re having a baby. Your dad is going to break my other leg.”

I laughed as I pressed my lips against Luke’s.
He’s back. Thank you, God. Thank you!

I heard voices. Pulling my lips from Luke’s I turned my head to listen. “Over here! I see them, Luke! Help’s coming!”

Carefully moving Luke’s head from my lap, I jumped up. I started yelling out, “Here! Please help us! Over here!”

Two men came running up. They were both dressed in state park uniforms. I couldn’t really see what they looked like since it was so dark out. They stopped and looked at me, but I pointed to Luke. “Please, he broke his leg and hit his head. He’s lost a lot of blood. We need to get him out right away.”

The one guy was carrying a medical case and looked back at the other guy. “Tell them we need StarFlight, stat!”

MY HEAD WAS
resting on Luke’s bed. I had only left his side twice—when the nurses forced me to get my knee cleaned up and when they had brought him into surgery for his leg. My knee had been cut but not enough for stitches. It was for sure banged up pretty good, but thankfully nothing was broken.

The sound of Luke breathing calmed me. They had brought him back from the recovery room about an hour ago. His surgery on his leg went well, but the doctor said he would be weak from all the blood he lost.

A chill ran through my entire body. One of the nurses had let me borrow her sweatshirt. I felt like I couldn’t get warm. Because I had been hurt as well, I rode in the helicopter with Luke. The hospital hadn’t been able to get a hold of my parents or Luke’s until about two hours ago. They were driving up from the coast and should be here soon.

Lifting my head, I looked at my engagement ring. Smiling, I leaned back in the chair. The door opened and a young lady walked in.

“Ms. Hayes?”

I nodded my head. She walked up to me and extended her hand. She sat down and faced me. “I’m Doctor Colin. We got some results back from one of your tests.”

I looked at her badge. She was an OB doctor. Smiling I nodded my head. “I’m about four weeks pregnant.”

Her face relaxed. “Okay, I wasn’t sure if you knew. You hadn’t mentioned being pregnant when they were checking you all out.”

Looking down, I felt guilty for forgetting. I felt her hand on my knee. “You had to have just found out. Don’t feel guilty. You had other things on your mind.”

Chewing on my lip, I sniffed. “What kind of mother forgets she’s pregnant?”

“The kind who just went through a very terrifying situation.”

Nodding my head, I looked at Luke. “I guess so.” Looking back to the doctor, I had a moment of panic. “I don’t want anyone in our family knowing yet. I’m not that far along.”

She nodded. “Of course not. There would be no reason for anyone to tell them.” Her eyes were kind. I took a good look at her. She had blonde, short hair. It was cut just below her chin. Her light-brown eyes were beautiful and you could tell she had a kind heart.

Standing, she shook her head slightly. “Please get some rest, Libby. You’re taking care of a little one now. Eat something and get some sleep.”

Nodding my head, I replied, “I promise I will as soon as our parents get here. I don’t want to leave him alone.”

She smiled sweetly at me.

“Thank you, Doctor Colin. Have a good day.”

“You’re welcome. Please remember, eat and sleep. Soon.”

Smiling weakly, I agreed.

Watching the doctor leave the room I let out a sigh as I shook my head. I felt the tears building in my eyes. Closing my eyes, I felt a tear roll down my face. Wiping it away I whispered, “Some mother I’m going to be.”

Leaning forward, I placed my elbows on Luke’s bed and buried my face in my hands. I was so tired. My body hurt and I was so scared.

I started to doze off again when I heard something. Lifting my head, I looked around and then looked at Luke. He was staring at me.

I jumped, practically knocking the chair over. “Luke! You’re okay, you’re in the hospital. Everything is going to be okay, baby.”

Leaning down, I placed my lips to his as he moved his hand to the back of my neck and deepened the kiss. The warmth of his kiss warmed my body immediately. It was as if his kiss made me realize everything was going to be okay.

“I love you, Luke. I love you so much.”

A smile slowly spread across Luke’s face. “Please tell me I wasn’t dreaming when you said you were pregnant.”

I half laughed, half cried as I nodded my head and placed my hand on the side of his face. “You weren’t dreaming.”

His smile turned into a full-blown grin as his eyes filled with tears. “Libby, your daddy’s gonna kill me.”

Giggling, I said, “Me too! I think I’m more afraid of my mother than I am my father.” I slowly looked back into Luke’s green eyes. “I was so scared I was going to lose you, Luke. I can’t live this life without you in it. I just can’t. You’re my entire world.”

Luke reached up and wiped a tear off my face. “You didn’t lose me, I’m fine, Lib. A little broken and bruised, but I’m going to be fine. It’s gonna be you, me, and baby makes three.”

I chuckled and shook my head. It wasn’t going to be as easy as Luke was making it seem. He still had a little more than a year of college and I had two years. Looking down I took a deep breath.

“What about school?” I asked as Luke narrowed his eyes together.

“We’ll finish this semester and take summer classes. We can find an apartment in College Station for us while I finish out my last year. If you want to keep going, we’ll work something out. Maybe we can hire someone to help you, but you’ll fall at least a semester behind.” He smiled. “When are you due?”

“November sixth.”

Luke’s eyes searched my face. “Libby, I’ll support you and this baby and if that means I stay in College Station and work at a damn gas station while you finish school, I will.”

I let out a chuckle as I rolled my eyes. “We still have some time to think about it. I don’t want to make too many plans, just in case.”

“Don’t say that. She’s gonna be a beautiful and healthy baby girl.”

Raising my eyebrows I tilted my head. “She, huh?”

Luke shrugged his shoulders. “Or he. I’m not going to be picky.” Winking he tried to adjust himself in the bed.

“Oh shit! I was supposed to let them know when you woke up.” Reaching up, I hit the call button.

A woman’s voice came over the speaker that was built into the side of the bed. “May I help you?”

“Yes, um, Luke’s awake.”

“Okay, thank you for letting me know. I’ll let his nurse know.”

“Thank you,” I said as I watched Luke’s face. He seemed really happy about the baby. I was betting we were going to be the only two who were happy. I needed to brace myself for the lectures I was going to get from my parents.

“Libby, look at me,” Luke whispered. Turning, I looked into his love filled eyes. “It’s going to be okay. I promise you. It’s all going to be okay. I love you and I already love this baby because it is a part of you and me. We’re going to be okay.”

Chewing on my lower lip, I felt like I was on an emotional roller coaster. “I don’t want my parents to be disappointed in me. I swear I didn’t miss a pill, Luke. I swear.”

Luke patted the side of his bed. “I need you in my arms, Lib.”

I crawled up as Luke attempted to move. I knew he was in pain. I snuggled up the best I could as he draped his arm around me. “Libby, we decided together when we made the decision to trust just using the pill. What happened is a miracle and I don’t really give a shit what my parents or your parents think. To me, our child saved my life.”

I lifted my head and gave him a knowing look. He rolled his eyes. “Okay, I do care. I’m not going to feel bad though. Everything happens for a reason and I really honestly believe that you got pregnant and it saved my life. I was ready to give up, Lib. I was weak and tired. I wanted to make it all go away. Then when you told me you were pregnant, this feeling rushed through my body. I was ready to stand up and hobble the hell out of the place.” Luke placed his hand on my stomach. “This baby is our saving grace.”

Tears fell from my eyes as I let Luke’s word sink in. It was true. In this moment, I believed that our baby was a miracle from God because he knew we were going to need her to pull through last night.

I lifted my head and let out a gasp. “The Lamberts.”

Luke pulled back and looked at me. “What about them?”

“They were on the trail last night and I was ready to give up. I was cold and in pain and you were slowly slipping further away. Mr. Lambert was the one who reminded me about the baby. Not in a direct way, but, it was as if he knew I was pregnant.” Shaking my head, I thought back to last night. “Come to think of it. They weren’t able to find them and the park rangers said someone called and just told them to check the falls trail. Someone was hurt.”

Luke made a face. “Huh. Maybe they called.”

“From where? We know they didn’t have cell phones.” I went to say something else when the door to Luke’s room opened. An older gentleman walked in and smiled when he saw me in bed with Luke. I quickly scurried my way off of the bed. Smiling I said above a whisper, “Sorry.”

Holding up his hands, he smiled. “No worries.” Turning to Luke he reached out his hand as Luke shook it. “Well, Mr. Johnson you’re looking better than you were last night when they brought you in. I’m Doctor Grambs. I performed the surgery on your leg earlier this morning. You had a pretty good break in your right leg.”

Luke chuckled. “I’d say so.”

The doctor glanced to me and smiled. Looking back at Luke he continued to talk. “You suffered an open fracture, or some call it a compound fracture, of your right tibia. We needed to go in and place a plate and screws to help with the bones healing. Typical healing time for this type of fracture is about four months, although it can take as long as six months or longer. I’ll want you to do some physical therapy as soon as possible.”