Untouchable (Unstoppable 1)

“Fuck!” That was Liss. “We need to take her to the nurse right fucking now!” She shouted, her voice frantic and wobbly.

Firm hands gripped me. “What's wrong with her?” Reno demanded, fear and confusion evident in his tone.

“She's fucking bleeding!”

Bleeding? Shark week! I was bleeding? Bleeding enough that people could see it. Fear crawled up my throat, icy tendrils choking me.

The baby.

“No!” I cried weakly, clutching my stomach. I knew why I couldn’t make that appointment. I didn’t want to. I’d known all along. I just hadn’t been able to admit it. I would now. I promise I would.

Please don’t undo it.

“Bleeding? What the fuck do you...?” Reno’s bewildered voice trailed off as he twisted to peer around me. When he spoke again, there was a quiet desperation about his tone that broke me. “Like period bleeding?”

I could almost see Liss’ dilemma, see her biting at her nails and clutching at straws that just kept evading her grasp.

“No, like she's losing your baby bleeding, Reno.”

My heart crashed to the floor at the same time as my body.

Forty

Reno

“Like she's losing your baby bleeding, Reno.”

Liss' words slammed into me like an axe to the head. Every thought suspended—except that one. Riley's body sagged in my loosened grip, hitting the deck before I could react. My brain felt like it fucking short circuited as I dropped to my knees and wrapped my arms under her, hauling her small body up against my chest. I took off running. A terror I hadn't known existed gripped every part of me as that one sentence echoed in my head.

Losing your baby. What the fuck?

Losing your baby...

It just kept going around and around.

Losing your baby.

Baby. What fucking baby?

With Riley's body crushed against mine, I sped like a bullet through the halls. I could hear Liss a few paces behind, struggling to keep up.

“I've called nine-one-one,” she huffed over my shoulder.

I nodded, gritting my teeth. So many fucking questions. But I couldn't find any words. I glanced down, my eyes drawn to the patch of red coloring Riley's shorts. My gut heaved.

Fuck.

Fuck!

Jaw straining, I tightened my arms around her. Words finally came. “She's pregnant?”

“Yes.”

My lids slid closed, body suddenly feeling like it weighed a thousand pounds.

Pregnant.

Riley was pregnant. Shaking my head clear of the thousand thoughts screaming for attention, I had to tamper down the urge to slam a fist into the wall. My hands were full, otherwise I’d have my arm buried through the drywall up to my bicep. I couldn't fucking make sense of it. This was my fucking fault, though, my responsibility; I’d caused this.