Forever Too Far

the car although I could see the reluctance on her face. She didn’t want to mess up her new car. I pressed a kiss to her forehead. “I swear I’ll have it completely detailed inside before you get out of the hospital,” I assured her before closing the door.
         I ran around the front of the car and Grant was standing there with a nervous expression. “She okay?”
         “She’s in labor,” I stated the obvious and jerked the driver’s door open.
         “I called Abe. What else can I do?”
         “Call Dean. He’ll want to know,” I told him before closing the car door. I didn’t let myself think about the fact I wouldn’t be calling my mom or sister. There was no point. I couldn’t trust them around Blaire.
         “Do you think maybe you should call your mom? Or do you think she would rather not know?”
         I glanced over at her as I pulled out onto the road and sped to Destin where the nearest hospital was located. “I don’t want them being a part of this. They don’t deserve it,” I replied, then reached over and squeezed her hand. “This is our family now. Mine and yours. We decide who we let in it.”
         Blaire nodded and laid her head back on the headrest. I could tell she was having some pain from the scrunched look on her face even though she was keeping quiet about it.
         “How can I help?” I asked, anxious to do something to make this stop.
         “Drive,” she replied with a tight smile.
         She squeezed my hand and let out a deep sigh of relief. “That one’s over. They aren’t very long or close together so we are good on time,” she sounded breathless.
         She squeezed down on my hand again. “Rush!”
         I almost swerved off the road. “What baby? Are you okay?” My heart was slamming against my chest.
         “I forgot about Della. You have to call Woods. He needs to know that the cops came and got Della.”
         Who the fuck was Della? Was she hallucinating? “Baby, I don’t know a Della,” I replied carefully in case this hallucinating thing could make her crazy. I hadn’t read about this in any of those books she’d kept by the bed.
         “Della is who Woods is dating. Jimmy thinks they’re boinking. She was really sweet and I liked her. She looked so scared. Woods needs to help her.”
         She had been at the club to visit Jimmy. That’s why she was there. Not because she had been in labor. This was making sense now. “Grant has my phone. Where’s yours?” If this didn’t mean so much to her I wouldn’t be worried about Woods ’ love life and his so-called girlfriend being hauled in by the cops. Because that shit didn’t sound promising and I didn’t want Blaire around someone dangerous. But she didn’t need anymore stress so I’d do whatever I could to make her feel better.
         “He isn’t answering his phone. It goes straight to voicemail. Who else can we call?” she asked.
         I reached for her phone and dialed Grant.
         “I called Dean and he’s grabbing the next flight out,” was Grant’s greeting.
         “Thanks. Listen , Woods isn’t answering his phone. Call his dad. Tell him that Della,” I paused and looked at Blaire who nodded that I’d gotten the name right, “Della was arrested and she needs help.”
       “FUCK! When was Della arrested? What the hell happened?” Grant roared in my ear. Guess he knew who Della was.
         “I don’t know. My wife is in labor. Just call his dad. He can find him. I gotta go.”
         “I’ll tell him,” Grant replied and I hung up.
         “Woods’ Dad will know how to reach him,” I assured Blaire. She was frowning.
         “I don’t know about that but maybe I misunderstood.” She stopped talking and squeezed my hand again. Another contraction.

 
    BLAIRE
     
         I was scared of needles. I’d decided months ago that I wouldn’t be getting a long needle stuck down my back. At the moment, I was thinking that might have been a bad decision. Because I felt like my insides were being sliced open.
        It didn’t help that every time I needed to scream Rush completely freaked out. He needed to calm the fuck down.  I had to scream to deal with this. Never again would I moan over menstrual cramps. Those were a walk in the park compared to this.
         Another wave hit me and I grabbed handfuls of the sheets and let out another cry of pain.