Winter's Touch
Page 35

“Curt Dawkins and Loker James?”
The nurse turned toward him then Curt as he approached.
“I’m Loker James,” Viper spoke first, trying to read the woman’s impassive face.
“Curt Dawkins.” Curt was holding a soda can, as if he had been enjoying a snack.
“Mr. James, I need you to follow the blue line and go to Consulting Room 1. Mr. Dawkins, I need you to follow the blue line to Consulting Room 2. The doctors will be with you momentarily.”
Viper saw the four colored lines that wound through the hospital, stepping on the blue one.
“You want me to come with you?” Shade offered.
“No. Stay here. I’ll be back to talk to everyone after I talk to the doctor.”
Viper walked the line around a corner. If the news was bad, he would have time to compose himself before talking to them. He had been in the hospital many times during life and death situations and had never been asked to go to a private area to talk.
The room was the size of a small closet. Viper remained standing, seeing Curt go into the room across from him and take a seat, seeming impatient at the doctor’s delay.
The time had been an agony of waiting, and now he was dreading the doctor coming in. Each moment that passed was another minute he could convince himself Winter and his child were still living, safe in the doctor and staff’s hands.
Viper saw Dr. Price and Dr. Matthews giving each other a look before each of them went inside their respective door.
“Sit down. This isn’t going to be easy to hear.” Dr. Price’s face was as impassive as it had always been.
Viper sat.
“Winter is unconscious. She will be for a couple of days. I want to keep her sedated until she can handle the pain. Even then, she will be in immense pain when she wakes. I’ll make sure everything is done to help her deal with it.”
Viper nodded. “I don’t want her in pain.”
“She’ll have to have another surgery on her hip. The orthopedic surgeon will come to see you tomorrow. How soon she can have surgery will be up to him.” The doctor sighed, sitting down across from him at a small, round table. “That was the good news. I had to perform a hysterectomy on Winter. She was bleeding so badly I had no choice. In these situations, the tissue is examined for any abnormalities. It came back positive for ovarian cancer.”
Viper almost crumpled, holding back the tears he refused to spill in front of another man.
“It was in the very early stages. Her becoming pregnant probably saved her life. I already have some of the best doctors in their field on standby for her, so you can decide which one you want to oversee her treatment. They’ll want to make sure it hasn’t metastasized and set Winter up with a treatment plan.”
“Thank you,” he said huskily.
“I know you; you’ll want the best.” The doctor almost lost his professional calm. “Winter is a strong woman, possibly the strongest woman I’ve ever met. She was in pain the last couple of weeks, yet she came into my office with a smile. She refused to take the pain medication, because she was afraid it would affect the baby.”
“She is stubborn. I knew she was hurting, but she told me it was a three on a scale of one to ten.” His wife’s stubbornness made Viper shake his head.
“More like a twelve,” Dr. Price said. “She’s a fighter like her husband. I’m very confident she will face her challenges and come out on top.”
Viper waited expectantly for Dr. Price to discuss his child. When the doctor’s eyes went to his hands on the table, Viper could barely get the words out of his mouth. He squared his jaw so his voice wouldn’t tremble, preparing himself for the hit he knew was coming.
“What about my daughter?”
 
Viper was exhausted. He needed sleep, but time wasn’t on his side. He wanted to spend the last days with his child before he lost her. He had been sitting by her side in the neonatal unit, watching the respirator breathe for her. Winter was still sedated, and until she came to, he knew she would want him at their daughter’s side.
He opened the door to her room, seeing Beth still sitting in the chair by her bed.
“You need to go home and get some sleep.”
Wearily, she straightened in the chair. “I’m not leaving her again.”
“Beth, you did what Sex Piston told you to do when she heard the shots. You helped Holly get Logan and Star over the fence and away from Raul. He would have killed you all if he had the chance.”
“Sex Piston didn’t leave.” Beth’s guilty conscious had her refusing to leave her bedside.
“That’s because she’s crazy.”
Beth gave a small laugh. “Yes, she is.”
“Winter will be furious if she thinks you’re blaming yourself, so stop it.”
“I’ll try.”
“Good. Now, I want you to go home to bed. You can come back tomorrow morning. Rachel is going to watch Winter when I go back to the nursery. I want to spend a few minutes alone with her before I go back.”
“All right. I’ll bring you something to eat when I come back in the morning.”
“Thank you, I appreciate it.”
Tiredly, he sat down after Beth left, reaching through the bedrails to hold Winter’s hand.
“Sleep, pretty girl. You’re going to need all your strength when you wake up. And when you do, I want you to remember your promise to me.” Viper’s voice broke. “That we will get through this together. You’re not going to be alone. All the Last Riders will help us get through this, one step at a time.”
“Yes, we will,” Rachel said from his side.
Viper jerked back. “I didn’t hear you come in.”
Rachel and Cash stared down at him sympathetically. “We didn’t want to disturb you. We stopped by the nursery. She’s beautiful, Viper.”
“She’s so small.” Viper released her hand, getting to his feet.
“I wish I could help… I want to—”
“No, Rachel. I don’t want you risking your life to save the baby. You already said you think she’s too far gone.”
Rachel nodded, and Cash placed his arm around her shoulders. Viper understood his worry. Rachel had almost died twice when she had saved Cash’s life and his grandmother’s. He had sworn never to let her use the power she had been gifted with from her Indian heritage again. Regardless, Viper didn’t know if he believed in the miracles Shade had said she was capable of.
“I need to get back to the nursery.” The machines were keeping his child alive until Winter could be there and they could say their goodbyes together.
He was moving around them, going toward the door, when Rachel said, “Viper, wait. Can I talk—”
“Security, Code Red,” a voice over the speakers sounded in the room. “Code Red. Second Floor.”
“Cash, stay here.” Viper slammed the door open, running. Winter and the nursery were both on the second floor.
His heart began pounding when he saw a group of nurses outside the nursery, where his daughter was.
“What’s going on?” he asked one of the nurses, his eyes going to the glass window, seeing Megan rocking his child.
“Move!” Viper yelled, flinging two of the nurses out of his way. He began slamming his fist on the glass.