Ranger's Baby Surprise (Special Forces Elite 2)

“Tonight? She just got out of surgery. Dr. Mills wants her to rest.”

I fought the urge to let my heart rip open again. Abi should never have had surgery. She shouldn’t be here. There was an attack on her life and Ralph had no idea how to handle it. She needed me now more than ever. I had to stay focused and get her out of here.

“I’ll take care of her from here on out.” I turned for the door, making it clear he wasn’t stepping foot back inside until I had what I wanted. My agents flanked the entrance behind me.

Ralph twisted his lips together. “Fine. But don’t upset her. Just stay quiet. She needs calm right now. Don’t even talk to her. Ok?”

I nodded and walked inside room 321.

I took the chair in the corner and watched Abi sleep. Her auburn hair was pulled to the side in a braid.

I should have been here. I could have stopped this from happening. I could have kept her safe.

Two years ago I walked away. Turned my back on her.

Watching her sleep like this, I couldn’t remember why. I couldn’t come up with a single reason why I wasn’t spending my life with her. What happened to us?

My elbows dug into my knees as I bowed forward.

The machine beside her beeped.

I did something I never did—I prayed.

I swore then and there, that I would never leave Abi unprotected again.

4

Abi

I didn’t want to wake up. This bed was deliciously comfortable. But my head was pounding and I was thirsty. I could get up, grab some aspirin, and crawl back into this perfect bed. I could stay here all day and relax. Wouldn’t that be a luxury? I could do something people thought movie stars did all the time.

I let one eye open and then another.

I shrieked when I saw the stern woman sitting next to me.

“Who are you?” I croaked. My voice was hoarse.

“Look who’s awake.” She patted my wrist. “I’m your nurse.” Her hair was pulled back and she had deep lines on her forehead.

“Nurse?”

The headache pounded at the base of my skull. I looked around. I didn’t recognize this room. I wasn’t in my Malibu beach house. I looked over her shoulder at the towering trees outside. Nothing looked familiar, yet I felt a strange connection to the room.

She rose, placing the back of her hand on my forehead. “Yes, Mr. Taylor hired me.”

“Mr. Taylor?” I eyed her. “You don’t mean Reid Taylor?”

I tried to sit up. Everything was wrong. As I pushed into the bed with my elbows a stinging pain shot through my arm. I looked down at the bandage wrapped against my left bicep.

“Yes. He has personally seen to everything. He’s been worried,” she whispered. “But I knew you’d be fine. Just a scratch on the arm and a bump on the head. Just a few stitches here and there.” She smiled. “But he wanted everything a certain way. His instructions.” She smiled. “Don’t know that I’ve met a man like him before.”

I think she was trying to comfort me, but I still hadn’t processed I was here, wherever here was, because of Reid.

“No fever,” she reported.

I smiled weakly. “That’s great.”

I had a thousand questions for the nurse. How had I ended up here? What did Reid have to do with it? Where did this raging headache come from? And could I please just get up and go pee?