Love in the Light (Hearts in Darkness, #2)(53)

“Baby?” he asked, his brain scrambling to catch up with the man’s words.

“Shit, you didn’t know?” Bryson asked.

Makenna’s pregnant? Caden’s head was spinning.

But he wasn’t what mattered.

Caden crouched down to the narrow opening of the crushed passenger seat immediately. “Makenna?” Jesus, it was tight. And that was as much thought as he gave that before crawling in beside her because f*ck his claustrophobia. Nothing was keeping him away from her.

He couldn’t quite get his whole body into the space, but he was close enough to see that she was hanging upside down by her seat belt, her body curled by the way the loss of roof height forced her to bend.

Christ, she was bleeding and cut up and shaking. White powder from the airbag deployments dusted her hair, face, and clothing.

Every one of her injuries lashed at his soul. “Makenna, talk to me.”

“Oh, God, it r-really is y-you. Caden, I’m-I’m s-scared,” she said, looking up at him, her face wet with tears and blood from a wound that had been bandaged on the side of her forehead.

He reached for her hand, but found it wrapped in gauze and splints. “It’s me. I’m here.”

“The baby,” she whispered, her tears coming harder. “I don’t w-want to lose your baby.”

The words reached into his chest and squeezed so hard he could barely breathe. He had so many questions, but now wasn’t the time. “Everything’s gonna be okay,” he said, willing it with everything inside him. Life owed him this, goddammit. This one thing. Her and his child coming out of this okay. The f*cking bullshit in his head had robbed him of so much already. Not this. Not this, too. He crawled closer so that he could rub her hair. “You’re pregnant, Red?” The wonder of those words raced through him.

“I’m s-sorry,” she cried. “I should’ve t-told you sooner, but I…I…” Her face crumpled.

“No, no,” he said, stroking her hair. “Don’t worry. I won’t let anything happen to you or the baby, okay? I promise.” Jesus, she was pregnant. Pregnant. With his baby. He’d be f*cking ecstatic about that if he knew they were both okay.

With a loud crunch, the driver’s side door abruptly wrenched open. Makenna flinched on a moan.

“Hey, Red, look at me. They’re going to get you out of here. Just hold on for another minute,” Caden said, looking into her beautiful eyes. It killed him to see so much pain and fear there. “Take a nice deep breath for me.” She did. “Another,” Caden said, breathing with her, calming her down.

“Okay, Makenna,” Bryson said, leaning in the doorway. “We’re gonna cut your seatbelt free and ease you out of there. Caden? You think you can support her legs from in there so I can get her out by the head and shoulders?”

“Yes,” Caden said without hesitation. Although it was going to force him to squeeze all of himself into the tight space so he’d have leverage to hold her. They didn’t want her to fall to the roof of the car when they cut her free. He got into position, his shoulder bracing her thighs. His head was crammed against the jagged roof.

Which was the first moment it occurred to him that he and Makenna were stuck together in a crashed upside-down car. Déjà f*cking vu.

The moment Bryson cut the belt, Caden was all that was holding her. Makenna gasped as her weight shifted. “I’ve got you, Red. I’ve got you.”

Judging by the way her legs turned, Bryson was slowly moving her upper body toward the opening. She groaned and her hands flew to her belly. “Please, please, please, please,” she whispered over and over again.

And Caden was right there with her. Please let them both be okay.

As Bryson started to move her out of the car, Caden slowly lowered her legs into his arms, and then another guy outside grasped her legs until she was free.

Getting himself back out of the car took longer than he had patience for, but he essentially had to soldier crawl under what was left of the caved-in passenger door opening. And then he scrambled around to the far side and went to his knees by Makenna’s head.

As he leaned over her, words spilled out of his mouth in a desperate rush. He couldn’t let another second pass without her knowing. “I love you, Makenna. I’ve loved you from the very beginning, since you laughed in that elevator and eased my fears, since you shared your first-time story with me and made me laugh, since you accepted me even when I couldn’t accept myself. I’m so f*cking sorry,” he said.

“Caden?” she said, her voice slurring. Her eyelids fluttered and sagged.

“Yeah, Red, it’s me,” he said.

Her head lolled to the side.

“Loss of consciousness,” one of the medics said. “Let’s get her moving.”

Caden rose as the men lifted the stretcher. “I’m going with you,” he said to Bryson, daring the man with his gaze to challenge him. He didn’t. Jogging along with the stretcher, they made for Station Four’s paramedic unit. Caden glanced around for his team, and saw Bear in the distance. The guy looked his way and gave him a wave and a nod. It was all the okay he needed, and if there was hell to pay for leaving, Caden was more than willing to pay it.

Because everything he loved lay broken and bleeding at his side. Here he’d thought he had time…time to get himself right so he could be the man Makenna deserved. Now, all he could do was hope he wasn’t too late.