Luke turns to say thank you, to say that he couldn’t do this without him, but his brother’s already walking down the hall backwards, his arms outstretched. “Tell Sal I love her. Tell her she owes me. Big-time. Because now I got a goddamn dog to deal with.” His laugh lights up the hallway. “I mean it, man, I’m droppin’ the damn thing off on your doorstep.”
Luke sits beside Sal’s bed, her hand clasped in his.
She stares back at him with heavy-lidded but content eyes. Dark hair fanned across her pillow. Bruise on her temple. Her forearm stitched back together and heavily bandaged. She’s exhausted, but okay. She’s been put through every test under the sun and she came out with a clean bill of health.
Thank Christ.
Luke doesn’t know what he did to get so damn lucky, but he’s ready to repay whoever, whenever possible.
Dr. McKibbon wheels over the ultrasound machine. “We already ran all the tests to make sure there’s no danger to the baby, no premature contractions or abruption, but Sal thought you might want to take a peek for yourself.”
His chest constricts. “Yeah, I would.”
Dr. McKibbon covers Sal with a sheet and pulls up the hospital gown. There’s a squirt of jelly, and then the wand is moving back and forth across Sal’s bare stomach.
“Let’s see ... last time we did this, the little one was down here ...” The wand pauses near Sal’s hip bone. McKibbon presses deeper.
Sal smiles.
A low sound like the thunder of a hundred galloping horses fills the room. Luke leans forward in wonder, his throat bobbing. The heartbeat. He hasn’t heard it since Henry, but the sound’s unmistakable. And so is the image he glimpses on the screen. A head, arms, legs.
A baby. Their baby.
Sal squeezes Luke’s hand.
“Goddamn,” he says softly. He never thought this would happen again. So many nights of tears and doubt, and now here they are, just like that, their road changed.
“We have a healthy, happy, and probably”—Dr. McKibbon gives Sal a wry glance—“very strong baby.”
Sal laughs.
There’s a lump in Luke’s throat. Hard to talk. Hard to do anything but stare at Sal in awe. He’s so damn proud of her. She put herself on the line to help someone else. And she protected herself and their baby to make it back to him. His heart clenches.
She’s gonna be the best mother. She’s also going to give him a heart attack at the rate she’s going.
Sal turns her head, her gaze catching his. Her eyes glitter with unshed tears. Luke brings her hand to his mouth and kisses it.
Dr. McKibbon cleans up Sal and the wand and turns off the machine. She smiles. “I’ll give the two of you some privacy.” She raises an eyebrow. “I take it you’re sleepin’ over, Luke.”
He grins, his joy so big it could burst. “Wild horses, Doctor.”
She chuckles. “I’ll send up a cot.”
And then they’re alone.
“Hi,” Sal whispers.
Luke scoots the chair closer, palming her small hand in his. “Hey, yourself, darlin’.”
Without further words, their eyes search each other’s. They’ve barely had time to talk since he got her back, and yet, there’s no need for words.
Sal’s green eyes, glittering like emeralds, bid him closer.
Letting out a shaky exhale, Luke leans in. His hand slips beneath her dark hair, his lips gently meeting hers. She lets out a little cry but cleaves him closer, her nails digging into his shoulders. She pulls him onto the bed, beside her, and together, they stay like that, tangled in love, in heartbeats. Basking in the wonder of having found each other again, of being together once more.
Finally, Luke breaks the kiss with a tremulous shudder. He touches his forehead to hers. “Christ,” he breathes. “I was so damn scared, Sal. So fuckin’ afraid.”
“I know. I was too.” She reaches up to cup his jaw. “You were so brave, Luke. Coming for me like you did.”