Lightning Strikes Part 2 (36 Hours) (2 page)

A
nnie Moore curled into a fetal position on the couch. She didn’t want to listen to her boyfriend holler at her, but what choice did she have? None.

“Please,” she said, peering up at him out of green eyes that at one time would’ve been considered beautiful, but not now. They were dull and sunk too far back in her head. “I’m tired. I wanna go to sleep.”

“And I want you to get rid of that kid.”

“It’s your kid, too,” Annie lashed back.

Todd Stover laughed an ugly laugh. “Can you prove it?”

“I don’t have to.” Annie sat up, feeling the baby move inside her. “Anyway, you know it’s yours.”

“Yeah, I guess I do at that. First virgin I ever had.”

Annie’s face turned red, then she glared at Todd, wondering how she ever got hooked up with him. He wasn’t handsome, not in the least. He had a long, thin face that was covered in a beard and mustache, making it seem overcrowded. His body was the same—long and thin. Gaunt, actually, but that was because instead of eating he spent his money on drugs.

Thank goodness he’d been unable to talk her into joining him. Hell, even at sixteen, she was smart enough to know that would get her nowhere. But she’d been with Todd since she’d sneaked out of the orphanage and run away.

He’d picked her up at a hangout one evening after she’d had a few drinks. They had been together ever since, shacking in first one hovel, then the next. Todd had never held a steady job. She didn’t suspect he ever would. He felt the world owed him something—what, she had never figured out. When she asked him, he couldn’t tell her, either, except that it was the government’s responsibility to take care of people like him.

“I’m hungry,” Annie said at last, refocusing her thoughts, eyeing the jar of peanut butter and crackers on the rickety table and feeling her stomach revolt. God, she’d like some chicken nuggets from McDonald’s. But she knew better than to mention that. There was no money for such a luxury. Anyway, Todd would just laugh and maybe even hit her. He’d been prone to that lately, the closer she came to having the baby.

“Whatcha see is whatcha get,” Todd said, a scowl deepening the lines on his face, lines that would be more suitable on someone who was forty-one rather than twenty-one.

He reached for a cigarette. After lighting it, he held one out to her. Annie shook her head, flinching as another round of lightning and thunder actually shook the old apartment building they were in.

“Come on,” Todd coaxed. “It’ll do you good.”

“It’s not good for the baby.” The minute she said that, Annie wished she could take back the words.

“Who the hell cares?” He inhaled deeply, then slowly blew out the smoke. “It’s just a matter of time till that kid’s history, anyhow.”

Annie straightened and pushed one side of her long, stringy hair behind her ears. “I told you—”

Todd lifted his hand. She cringed back against the smelly, tattered sofa, just missing the blow. But she wasn’t about to get off so easily. He leaned over and grabbed a handful of her hair.

“Ouch!” she whimpered, her eyes filling with tears.

“You’re gonna think ‘ouch’ if you don’t do like I tell you.”

“I’m too far along.” Annie scrambled to her feet, so that he couldn’t miss her protruding stomach, not that he wasn’t aware of it. Every day, he cursed what he called that useless hump.

“How the hell would you know?” he countered, running his hands through his dirty hair. “You don’t know a damn thing about having a baby.”

“I know from some of the girls at the home.” Her tone was sullen. “One of `em died.”

“Ah, ain’tnothin’ gonna happen to you.”

“You don’t know that.”

A harsh glint appeared in his eyes. “What I do know is that I ain’t having no brat.” He paused and took another long drag. “Besides, I’ve made arrangements.”

Annie’s heart plummeted to her feet. “Arrangements? What kind of arrangements?” She knew the answer to the question, but she thought if she acted ignorant, it might buy her time to think. She never claimed to be smart, but she wasn’t dumb, either. There had to be a way out of this mess without that drastic measure.

“A friend of mine’sgonna, uh, you know, take care of things.”

“Since when do you have a friend?”

He raised his hand again. “You’re just itching to git smacked, ain’t you?”

“No,” she whispered, trying to control the tears. He hated for her to cry.

“Then shut up whining.”

“But I’m scared,” Annie wailed, her eyes darting to the window. Surely he didn’t expect her to go out on a night like this? Even though this place was perhaps the worst they had stayed in, at least it was a roof over their heads, keeping them dry. At this point that was all she could hope for.

“I’ll be with you, holding your hand.”

Liar. He’d dump her, then come back for her after some hacker had messed her up or killed her.

“What about your mother?”

“What about her?” Todd’s tone was nasty.

Annie knew she was playing with fire by pushing this subject, but she had to do something. “Would she take the baby?”

Todd pitched his head back and laughed. “You gotta be kiddin’? Hell, she didn’t want me. What makes you think she’d want someone else’s brat?”

“It’s her grandchild.”

“So?”

“So, I don’t want to do this. Please don’t make me.”

“You haveta. I told you, I already set it up.”

“For…when?” Annie couldn’t control the tremor in her voice.

“Thirty minutes.”

Annie cried out, then placed her arms over her stomach and once again felt the infant kick.

Annie’s tremors worsened. While she didn’t particularly want the child herself, having no clue as to how she was going to take care of it, she didn’t want to die, either. She had dreams of one day getting free of Todd, meeting some nice man, or even going back to school and getting educated.

“Ready?”

She backed against the wall. “I…I can’t.”

“‘Course, you can.”

“The weather’s so bad. What if we get struck by lightning?”

“Ah, hell, that ain’tgonna happen. Now, let’s go. I’m fast losing what little patience I got left.”

“Please, don’t make me do this.”

Two steps and he was in front of her, his twisted face so close she could smell his foul breath. She turned aside. He grasped her chin and jerked her back around. “You either do what I say or get out and stay out.”

“You…mean—”

“I mean you’re outta here. I told you before, I ain’t having no brat. Now, what’s it gonna be? Me or that brat?”

“I can’t,” she whispered.

She should’ve seen it coming, only she didn’t. Only after he backhanded her across the right cheek did she respond, running toward the door and opening it.

He laughed when she paused on the threshold, watching as the rain came down in torrents. “Go on, hit the road. We’re through.”

Annie whipped around. “You’re a bad person, Todd Stover. God’s gonna get you.”

He stalked toward her, his entire demeanor menacing. “I’m gonna get
you
if you don’t get out of my sight.”

Rather than take the chance of getting punched in the belly this time, Annie stumbled out the door onto the sidewalk, wincing as the rain dented her thin, unprotected skin.

What to do? She had nowhere to go, no friends she could turn to. Then something clinked in the back of her mind. A homeless shelter was nearby, she remembered, though she wasn’t sure in which direction.

Hot tears mingled with the cold rain as she began walking down the sidewalk, her teeth banging against each other. Maybe she’d get lucky and find it. Ducking her head, she forced herself to put one foot in front of the other. By the time she reached the end of the block, it dawned on her that she was the only living soul on the street. No cars were in sight.

Another flash of lightning crashed across the sky. She cried out, but no one heard her. Turning, she began to walk again, though she had no idea where, the rain crippling her both mentally and physically.

It was in the middle of the next block when the pain hit her. “Oh!” she cried, doubling over and clutching her stomach. What was happening? It wasn’t time for the baby. She had more than two months to go—at least, that was what the doctor at the free clinic had told her just yesterday.

Yet another pain more severe than the last one took her breath. Her first thought was to crumple onto the concrete and say to hell with it. She couldn’t fight anymore.

But again, she didn’t want to die, not here, not like this. She couldn’t move, though. The pain wouldn’t let her. Finally, she bent over and forced herself to move, taking tiny steps.

Help!

She had to get help. Fighting off the panic building inside her, she looked to the right, then to the left, while the thunder and lightning danced around her. She had to find a house with someone home.

A light.

Still holding her stomach, she made her way toward that ray of hope. As she drew closer, she realized it was the hospital. Slowly she moved toward the large neon emergency sign.

“Please…help me,” Annie cried around her chattering teeth as she pushed through the double doors. “I…think my baby’s coming.”

* * *

The man turned green.

“Get the pan!” Amanda beckoned Liz Roberts, then stood aside.

Liz barely made it before the patient emptied the contents of his stomach yet again. Thank God, this time it was in the container and not on her. Amanda winced. Although she had shed her soiled garments and was now wearing a clean coat, blouse and skirt, the stench lingered. What she needed was a long, hot shower. That wasn’t going to happen. She hadn’t stopped once since Olivia Stuart’s death.

She wasn’t alone. Noah was in surgery now, removing a woman’s perforated appendix, though she suspected he was about through and would be returning to the ER, something she wished she could prevent.

Not now, Amanda, she told herself, giving her head a savage shake. Now was certainly not the time to think about
him.
Yet she couldn’t control her deranged thoughts.

Married! That just couldn’t be.
But if it were the truth, then it was best she knew. Sooner or later, she would have found out. Right now, she had to remove Noah and his latest betrayal from her mental agenda. Her job must come first. This man needed her undivided attention, and he was damn well going to get it.

“Mr. Boon, are you feeling better?”

“I think I’m going to die. I…I can’t get my breath.”

“Trust me, you’re not going to die, at least not right this minute.”

The big, burly man’s eyes said he didn’t believe her. “What the hell’s wrong with me, Doc?”

“Acute anxiety disorder.”

“What the hell—”

“In plain English, Mr. Boon, you’ve had a panic attack.”

He cursed, then looked at her like she’d lost all her faculties. Amanda suppressed a smile and didn’t dare look at her nurse, who she knew would be rolling her eyes.

“You sure I’m not having a heart attack?”

“I’m sure. But we’re going to keep you here until your heart rate settles, then I’ll give you some medicine to take with you. However, as soon as you can, I suggest you see your own physician.”

“It’s that damn job. I kept telling my boss I was going to crash and burn.”

“Well, you just did, but you’re going to be all right.”

“Thanks, Doc,” he said, lying back down on the stretcher.

“Keep an eye on him, Liz,” Amanda said, walking out of the trauma room into the hall, where she barely missed butting heads with Doris.

“Wow! That was close,” her friend said with a frown. “You smell awful.”

“Don’t I know it.”

“What happened?”

Amanda arched an eyebrow. “Guess?”

“Someone puked on you?”

“You win the prize.”

“Some prize,” Doris mumbled, then added, “You got a free minute?”

“You gotta be kidding.”

“Sorry, that was a stupid question.”

“For you, I’ll make a minute. What’s up?”

Doris looked around, then back at Amanda. “I was just…uh, worried about you, that’s all.”

“Don’t be.”

“I should’ve kept my big mouth shut and not told you about Nick getting married so quickly after breaking off your engagement.”

Amanda sighed. “Let yourself off the hook, okay? I have. Besides, it doesn’t matter. Noah’s out of my life. You do believe that, don’t you?”

Doris hesitated. “If you say so.”

“I say so. Now—”

Amanda never finished the sentence. Screams stopped her words cold. She swung around and watched as a pregnant young girl pushed through the emergency room doors and started to double over in pain.

“Oops!” Doris said. “I’ll see you later.”

Amanda barely acknowledged her friend’s quick departure. “Call Dr. Petrocelli!” she shouted, racing toward the girl.

“I’m here, if you need me.”

Amanda didn’t have to turn around to know who had just joined her. Noah. She steeled herself not to react.

“S
h, calm down,” Amanda said, joining Nurse Beth Kent as she wheeled the patient into an examining room. Amanda saw right off that this was no woman, but rather a teenager. The girl couldn’t be more than sixteen, if she was that.

Amanda sighed, thinking again how the moral fiber of the country was slowly going down the drain. But who was she to set herself up as judge and jury? For all she knew this girl could be happily married. She needed to get a grip on herself.

She blamed her lack of focus on Noah’s presence. Since his return, she wasn’t sure she’d had one rational thought. Somehow, he managed to put kinks into everything.

And here he was breathing down her neck.

“Has her water broken?” Noah asked.

“I think so, but I’m about to examine her if Petrocelli doesn’t show up stat.” Amanda hated that every nerve in her body reacted to Noah. It was that damn cologne. Smelling it added another dimension to her anger.

“Am I going to die?” the girl asked. Her eyes were wide in her too-thin face as she grabbed Amanda’s hand and dug her nails into it.

“No, you’re not going to die,” Amanda soothed, thinking that she was the second person within an hour who feared they were dying. A creepy night like this seemed to bring out the insecurities in people, herself notwithstanding.

“What you’re going to do is have a healthy baby,” Amanda said with a confidence that she was far from feeling.

“What’s your name?” Beth Kent asked from beside her.

“Annie.”

“All right, Annie,” Amanda said, “we’re—”

“Oh!” the girl screamed again.

Amanda wiped her brow. “It’s all right. We’re going to take care of you. I promise.”

Annie continued to cling to Amanda’s hand. “Don’t leave me!”

“I won’t. Where’s Petrocelli?” Amanda’s voice was low and calm, but the feeling that something was wrong persisted, especially when the girl’s water actually did break.

“What’s happening?” Annie cried.

“It’s your water. It broke.”

Amanda didn’t know what made her turn toward Noah, but she did. Perhaps he’d made some kind of guttural noise? She didn’t know. What she did know was that he had a strange look on his face. Although she couldn’t readily identify that look, it nonetheless took her breath. What was going on?

“Petrocelli’s on his way,” one of the aides said after sticking his head around the door.

“I’m here, actually.”

“About time,” Noah mumbled as the gynecologist breezed into the room.

Amanda turned and faced Dr. Tony Petrocelli, whose day-old beard was testimony to the fact that he’d been there for twenty-four hours, at least, despite the fact that he had on a clean scrub suit.

However, she knew he was up to the task at hand. His brown eyes were sharp as they rested on the patient.

“Hello, young lady,” he said in a firm but soft voice. “Looks like you’re about to become a mother.”

“Am I going to die?” Annie whispered.

Petrocelli glanced at Amanda, who raised her eyebrows. She didn’t have the slightest idea what was going through this girl’s head, but whatever it was, it wasn’t good.

Not only was Annie malnourished, she was actually dirty—smelled, in fact. Maybe it was the stale odor of cigarettes in her clothes the rain hadn’t washed away that was the most offensive. Cigarettes and pregnancy were a dangerous combination.

She was a street kid, Amanda would bet anything on it. She had all the earmarks. Where was the baby’s father? Amanda smiled, but with sad humor. Perhaps Annie had no idea herself.

“How are things?” Noah asked, his gaze switching from Annie to Petrocelli.

Petrocelli didn’t answer Noah right off. Instead, he perched on the stool at the foot of the gurney and began his examination, talking softly to his patient as he did so. A few minutes later, he got up, then motioned for Amanda and Noah to follow him outside the trauma room.

Uh-oh, something was terribly wrong. Amanda voiced that thought. “It’s not good, is it?”

“Afraid not,” Petrocelli said, rubbing his forehead. “She’s gone into premature labor, and she’s small-boned, which will add to the problem.”

“Are you going to have to take the baby?” Noah asked.

“More than likely.”

“Dr. Petrocelli!”

All eyes whipped toward Beth, who was standing at the foot of the bed, her back to them. “The baby’s coming!”

“Let’s get her up to Ob,” Amanda said.

Petrocelli shook his head. “No time.”

“But—”

Petrocelli rushed back to the patient. Amanda followed him.

“We’re going to make this as easy as possible.” The obstetrician smiled at Annie as Bethany mopped the girl’s brow.

“Please—” Annie pleaded.

Petrocelli smiled again. “Trust us, okay?”

Amanda looked up and noted that Noah remained just inside the door, seemingly content to watch the birth from afar, which she thought was odd. But then, delivering babies was not his area of expertise.

Still, something was not quite right. It was that look again, the same one that had been on his face moments ago. What was he thinking about?

Amanda kept her gaze on him as he raked lean fingers through his already mussed-up hair while his eyes were intent and assessing. And
wary,
as he listened to Petrocelli talk to Annie, trying to get her to do her part.

“The pain will soon be over,” Amanda said, smiling down at Annie.

“Push!”Petrocelli encouraged.

Though she screamed, Annie did as she was told.

“Atta girl.”

Just as the baby’s head crowned, Amanda’s gaze swung back to Noah in time to see him wince, followed by that same strange expression. She was clearly puzzled by his odd behavior, not having seen this side of him before.

During their relationship, they both had had reservations about having children, especially Noah. Even at that, his attitude had never seemed negative. He’d said he wanted to make sure their careers were well established before they planned a family.

So what was so different or special about this birth?

“It’s coming!”

Dr. Petrocelli’s calm but excited voice drew Amanda’s attention back to the task at hand, and she watched him lift the child for all to see. The baby was a tiny but healthy boy who, like his mother, had a strong set of lungs.

Petrocelli handed the child to Beth, whose face was one big smile. Curious as to Noah’s final reaction to the birth, Amanda turned toward him.

Her breath faltered. Noah looked ill. His face had a green cast.

“I’m outta here,” he muttered unexpectedly, then pivoted on one heel and walked off.

“Wonder what set him off?” Petrocelli asked, frowning.

“Who knows?” Amanda replied, her lips stretched into a straight line. Good thing they hadn’t needed Noah’s help, she thought, fighting the urge to follow him and demand to know what was going on. The fire in her belly suddenly cooled, reminding her again that how he felt about anything was no longer her business.

“Dr. Jennings, Dr. Sloane needs you in trauma three.”

Amanda turned to Liz Roberts. “Coming.”

Tony Petrocelli nodded. “Go ahead. All’s well here. Mother and baby are headed upstairs.”

“Good.” Amanda faced the nurse again, her eyes questioning.

“It’s a biker. He’s taken a nasty fall. I think Dr. Howell should come, as well.”

“Call him.”

“I did, only he hasn’t answered.”

“He couldn’t have gone far. He just left.”

Liz shrugged. “All I know is that he hasn’t responded.”

Curbing her outward show of impatience, Amanda followed the nurse into trauma three where she pulled up short. To say the biker was a mess was an understatement. Blood covered him, or at least what she could see of his body. He was curled into a fetal position, moaning.

“Let’s get to work,” Amanda said.

Fifteen minutes later, after having cleaned him up and examined him thoroughly, Amanda found that he didn’t appear to be as seriously hurt as she had first thought. Still, he had to be X-rayed, and she wanted Noah to check him, which presented a problem. He still hadn’t returned to ER.

After giving Dr. Sloane and Liz more orders for the man, she headed for Noah’s office. She knocked once, then pushed open the door.

Later, she wondered at her nerve. At the time, she didn’t care-she went with her gut instinct. How dare he not answer his cell phone on a night like this.

“What—” Noah began, only to break off when he saw who it was. His gaze narrowed on her.

That was when she noticed the color of his skin hadn’t changed. Unfortunately, that wasn’t all she noticed. Her gaze locked onto the tufts of chest hair that showed above the V in his greens, hair that she once had buried her moist lips into….

She pressed her knees together to stop them from trembling. “Why is your phone off?” she asked, her voice sounding unnatural to her own ears.

“Didn’t realize it was.”

Liar. “Well, it is,” she said flatly.

“Sorry.”

“Has something bad happened to Randi?”

He seemed taken aback by her question. “No, at least not that I know of, though I haven’t heard anything.”

The lights suddenly flickered. They both flinched.

“Dammit, that generator’s going to crash,” Noah said. “I just know it is.”

“Let’s hope not.”

Silence.

“What made you ask about Randi?” Noah’s eyes followed her nervous fingers before she jammed them into the pocket of her coat.

“Because you’re acting weird, that’s why.” When he didn’t say anything, she went on, “Was there something special about that baby who was just born?”

“You’re imagining things,” he snapped, not looking at her.

“Am I?”

“Yep.”

“I don’t think so.”

His skin changed color, then. It darkened.

Was it possible that not only had he gotten married, but he’d had a child, as well? Amanda rebelled at such a thought, yet her mind wouldn’t let go of it. Suddenly, she was tempted to confront him with her suspicions, to demand he spill his dirty secrets.

“I—”

“Whoa,” he said, cutting her off. “I’m not in the mood to be questioned. Besides, it’s none of your—”

This time she cut in. “You’re right. It isn’t any of my business.”

“God, Amanda, I didn’t mean—”

“Yes, you did, and it’s okay.”

“Dammit, don’t make this harder than it is.”

“You’re whining again,” she said, confident her choice of words would make him angry and give her back the upper hand.

She was wrong. Noah’s lips turned into a lazy slant as he peered at her from his position on the couch, choosing that moment to cross one knee over the other. “That’s because I’m not getting what I want.”

She nibbled on one corner of her mouth, but refused to respond to that loaded statement. Besides, her mind was on something else—the lean muscles of his legs that seemed longer and more powerful than she remembered. It was when her gaze strayed to the impressive swell visible under those greens that panic kicked in.

She groaned inwardly, especially when she felt his eyes appraise her in much the same manner. Things were
not
going according to plan. Would he always have the ability to heat up her blood?

Thank heavens she was wearing her lab coat as she felt her nipples push against the fabric of her blouse underneath. Even at that, she sensed she hadn’t fooled him, that his seemingly X-ray vision could see what was happening.

Color blistered her face. He swallowed convulsively. For a moment, the tension in the room heightened. Then Noah rose, shattering the moment.

Amanda mustered as much control as possible. Her sexual reaction to him had to stop. She’d made a fool of herself over him once. She wasn’t about to do so again.

“I need you to examine a patient,” she said coldly.

He stared at her a long moment, then said in a thick voice, “Let’s get out of here.”

She didn’t argue.