“No!” he yelled. He dove in, not caring about his shoes or phone. Grabbing her, he flipped her over and searched frantically for a pulse.
No, no, no. This couldn’t be happening.
There! She had a pulse, but she wasn’t breathing. He quickly got her to the side of the pool and heaved them both up. Then he started breathing into her mouth.
“Come on, baby.” Breathe.
“Don’t leave me.” Breathe.
“I fucking love you.” Breathe.
Suddenly, she started coughing. He rolled her onto her side into the recovery position. The coughing continued until she began to vomit.
Fuck. Poor baby.
Relief flooded him as he heard her gasping for breath. But she wasn’t out of the woods yet. He felt for his phone, pulling it out of his pocket. Fuck, it was soaked and not working. Picking her up, he headed into the house. He grabbed a blanket off the sofa, then set her on the floor and quickly stripped her down to her underwear.
Where was Knight? Had he left her here on her own?
He wrapped the blanket around her and searched for a phone. He didn’t see one. Fuck. Most people didn’t have landlines these days and he could waste precious time searching for one. It would probably be quicker to drive her to the emergency room himself.
Picking her back up, he took note of how blue her lips were.
Fuck. Fuck.
“Do not die, Maeve. If you die, I will fucking follow you. I will find you and I will spank your ass until you can’t sit again without a memory of how much I fucking need you.”
He raced through the house.
Security here was shit. No way was his girl staying here any longer. She’d be coming home with him once she was well. Where he could make sure she was kept healthy and happy.
He wouldn’t be trusting her care to anyone else.
And he didn’t much give a shit what she thought.
He raced down the street with her in his arms and past the security guard.
“Where are you going? Who have you got? Hey!”
He ignored the asshole, pulling the key out for his rental car as he grew close.
Opening the back door, he laid her down, then put a seatbelt over her.
Then he jumped in and turned the heat on high, uncaring that he was roasting.
All that mattered was Maeve.
Please, let her be all right. Please.
He didn’t care about himself. He’d give up everything he had, if only his girl was all right.
* * *
Her throat hurt.
She wasn’t getting sick, was she? There was something itching her nose. She tried to reach up to swipe at it, grumbling when her fingers got caught up in something.
“Careful, baby, don’t do that.” Someone tugged her hand away from her nose.