He lowered the phone then searched out Thunder with teary eyes.
“Lee, what’s wrong?” When Lee’s mouth opened and closed without sound, Thunder grabbed his shoulders and shook. “Lee! What the fuck is wrong? Is it Mak?”
He shook his head. “No. K-kara. That was the hospital. She had a seizure, and they can’t get a hold of Mak.”
“Fuck!” He pulled up Mak’s number as fast as his fingers would fly. “Straight to voicemail. Dammit.”
“I have to—I have to go to the hospital.” Lee’s hand shook, and he breathed as though he’d run a mile. “Oh, God, I don’t think I can drive. I’m dizzy.”
“Gimme your keys. I’ll take you.” Together they jogged toward Lee’s car.
Thunder’s bike would be safe in the gym lot for a few more hours. If need be, he’d text a prospect to get it to the clubhouse.
He rang Tex.
“What’s up, brother?” the prospect answered.
“You with Mak?”
“I’m outside. She’s in with the kids. Kristy just lef—”
“She’s not answering her damn phone. I need you to go inside and tell her Kara is in the hospital. She had a seizure. I don’t have any details. Just that she needs to get to the hospital. I’ll be there with Lee.” He steered out of the parking lot as he spoke.
“Fuck,” Tex said.
Thunder heard Tex’s truck door slam, then the pounding of his boots as he ran to the house. “Have her call me, and I’ll tell her where to find us.”
“Got it, brother.”
The line went dead.
Thunder drove like a fucking Indy racer, his heart pounding with absolute terror. He could only imagine what Mak would feel when she heard the news. He’d do anything to spare her unnecessary moments of fear. The faster he got to the hospital, the faster they could get answers and set Mak’s mind at ease.
Of course, they’d have to set his mind at ease too. Because he just realized that he not only loved Makenna, he loved those kids too.
And he wanted to be a part of their family more than he wanted his next breath.
CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT
MAKENNA POURED HERSELF a hearty glass of wine—hey, she’d broken up with her boyfriend, and it was five o’clock somewhere in the world—grabbed an unopened bag of tortilla chips, then padded into the den.
Kara wasn’t due home for an hour or so. Thankfully, her friend’s parents would be giving her a ride home, which meant Mak could down as many glasses of wine as necessary to block out the day.
Toni had picked Rissa up a few moments ago so she could hang out with Lindsey. Emmie was back in Amy’s room watching her sister with rapt attention while she tried some new makeup technique that was “fire.” Whatever that meant.
Teenagers.
Regardless, watching her big sister slap goop on her face would keep Emmie fascinated for hours and gift Mak some time to herself. On a normal day, she’d soak up any free time, even it if was five minutes. Today, well…today, she needed to self-medicate in order to tolerate her own thoughts.
Sitting through the adorable animated princess movie at the theater had been torture. Of course, that damn perky princess with her perfect hair and ever-present toothpaste-ad-smile overcame all her mountain of troubles and found true love in the span of ninety-two minutes.
As if.
Mak had been stewing for days over what to do about Thunder, and now that she’d followed through on breaking up with him, she felt wrecked. Ending things hadn’t come as a result of a problem with their relationship. Thunder was…everything.
And she was the genius who destroyed their relationship out of fear.
Already, mere hours after he’d walked out of her house, a Thunder-sized hole remained in her heart and her home. At least five times, she’d pulled out her phone to shoot off a quick and flirty text before remembering she no longer had the right.
Emmie had asked when he’d be over no less than ten times.
And Mak found a T-shirt of his balled up on her bed.
She pressed a hand to the left side of her chest.
The pain surpassed what she’d mentally prepared herself for. How long would this last? Would the emptiness ever be filled again?
With a sigh, she shoved the glass of wine across the coffee table. Getting drunk had seemed like a stellar idea until she’d taken her first sip, and her stomach protested. Great, now she had no way to dull the suffering.
A loud knock at the door had her groaning. Who the hell was it? To say she wasn’t in the mood to deal with people would be the understatement of the year. “Coming,” she called out, not bothering to hide her enthusiasm.
“Kristy,” she said as she pulled the door open. “Come in! If you needed something, you should have called instead of coming all the way over here.” She ushered her friend into the house. “What—”