Undone by Her Tender Touch (Pregnancy & Passion #4)(46)

Numbly she lay there, trying to process what had just happened. Darkness grew around the edges of her sight and then one of the medics leaned down close, shouting at her to stay awake and with them.

“There’s nothing wrong with me,” she tried to say, but she couldn’t get her mouth to work.

She blinked twice and then the world went black around her.

Twenty-one

As soon as Cam turned onto Pippa’s street, his stomach dropped and his mouth went dry. He gripped the steering wheel with white knuckles as he accelerated.

The entire world was ablaze with flashing lights. Police cars, ambulances, fire trucks. The smell of smoke was heavy, and the sky was colored orange with the glow of flames.

He screeched to a halt in front of a police barricade and he was out of his SUV like a shot, running toward Pippa’s apartment. The entire row of buildings was ablaze and firemen directed a steady stream of water from multiple directions.

“Hey! You can’t go in there!”

He ignored the shout, his only thought to get to Pippa. Oh, God. Not again. Anything but this. He couldn’t lose her! A sob tore from his throat.

He’d just reached the front line of fire trucks and ambulances when he was hit by a flying tackle. He hit the ground hard and came up swinging. A police officer hovered over him, shouting something Cam couldn’t hear or understand.

Another officer joined in, helping wrestle Cam to the ground.

“Get off me!” he yelled hoarsely. “I have to get to her. Pippa! She’s pregnant! I have to save her.”

“You aren’t going anywhere,” the officer growled as he exerted more pressure over Cam’s neck. “Get it together, son. The entire block is on fire. You’ll just get yourself killed.”

“Don’t make us arrest you,” the other officer threatened. “I get that you’re worried, but they’re doing everything they can to make sure everyone gets out. Let them do their job. The last thing they need is to have to go in to save your stupid ass.”

“Let me up,” Cam demanded. “I have to know if she’s okay. Did they get her out?”

Slowly the first officer eased up on the arm across Cam’s throat. He glanced warily at Cam as he and the other officer hauled Cam to his feet.

“Don’t make any sudden moves,” the officer warned.

Cam put his hands up, his heart pounding with dread as he eyed the carnage around him. This was his worst nightmare playing out in real time.

Fate was dealing him yet another blow, one he may never recover from. But no, this wasn’t fate. He could have prevented this. If only he’d reached out as she had done. If he’d only been willing to take the chance that she had taken by coming to him.

He alone was at fault. If something happened to Pippa and their child, his life was over.

“Pippa,” he said hoarsely. “Pippa Laingley. She lived there.” He pointed at her apartment, his hand shaking, his voice cracking under the weight of his terror. “She would have just gotten home not so long ago. She was tired and upset. Please, can you just tell me if they found her?”

The officer pointed at Cam, his expression stern. “You stay here. I’ll go see what I can find out.” He gestured for the other officer to stay with Cam.

He watched the officer wade through the firefighters and other EMS workers. It was all he could do to stand there while his heart was dying with each breath. The officer standing beside him eyed him with sympathy.

“They got several out already,” he said in a low voice. “Many have already been taken to the hospital. I’m sure if she was in there that they got her.”

A few moments later, the first officer returned, a grim expression on his face. Cam lunged forward, getting so close he was almost pressing up against the policeman’s chest.

“They took her away in an ambulance maybe a half hour ago. She was one of the first they got out. I don’t have any further details. It’s crazy right now, but they said she was conscious and appeared to be unharmed.”

Cam’s knees buckled and he nearly went down. All his breath rushed out in a violent explosion of relief.

“Whoa, steady there. Maybe you should take a seat.”

Cam shook his head. “No. I have to go. Where did they take her?”

He was already turning to run to his SUV when the officer called after him with the name of the hospital. Cam sprinted from the scene, got into his truck and pulled away from the chaos.

He had to force himself not to drive recklessly when all he could think was to get to Pippa as fast as he could. He had to see her. Had to know she was all right. Had to hold her again and tell her everything that was in his heart. Everything he’d been too stubborn and too stupid to tell her before.

He only hoped to hell she would listen.

* * *

Pippa lay on the uncomfortable bed in the small cubicle in the emergency room as nurses came and went. Her horrific panic had settled somewhat with the news from the doctor that the baby was okay. She hadn’t been subjected to the smoke long enough to do any lasting damage to her or the baby.

But she kept imagining what could have happened.

What if she hadn’t awakened when she had? What if she hadn’t gotten out as soon as she did?

The images wouldn’t go away.

She rubbed her belly in a soothing circle, reassured by the baby’s movements. The past hour had been a blur as she’d been poked, prodded, stuck, checked over. A sonogram had been ordered and she’d gotten to see for herself that her baby was still there, still alive and didn’t seem in any distress.