Free EXPECTING HIS CHILD by Leanne Banks Page B

bring him home in the morning. The doctor would've let him go except for the punctured lung and the concussion. They wake him every so often and ask his name. I was in there one of the times they woke him, and he muttered something about needing to call you right before be fell asleep again."
    "Thank you for telling me," Martina said, her mind whirling.
    "You're welcome," Jonathan said. " G'night ."
    He hung up and Martina listened to the dial tone for a full minute before she returned the phone to the cradle. What if Noah had been hurt worse? A chill ran through her. What if he had died? For a moment, the darkness felt as if it had closed in around her, suffocating her.
    Throwing back the covers, she rose from the bed and flipped on one light, then another and another. She walked to the hall and turned on that light, followed the steps downstairs and turned on nearly every light until the house was bright enough for Christmas.
    "It's not as if I'll be going back to sleep anytime soon," she murmured to herself, and tried to deal with the terrible fear and pain she felt at the thought of Noah being hurt or dying.
    Pacing into the kitchen, she poured herself some orange juice and gulped it. Lately, it seemed as if she was always thirsty. She kept picturing Noah in his truck and the crashing, grinding sound of metal. In her mind, she saw him against white sheets in the hospital. Another more insidious image flashed of Noah dead.
    Her heart raced double time and panic coursed through her. She didn't want her baby growing up without Noah. For all her uncertainties about him, she believed he would be a wonderful father, a far different father than the one she had experienced. Noah would not ignore his child. Although Martina tried not to focus on it, when her mother died she might as well have been orphaned. If not for her brothers, she wouldn't have experienced any love as a child.
    The thought tore at her, tugging fiercely at her sense of loyalty, as it always did. Martina closed her eyes and shook her head. She couldn't deal with that right now. Right now, she had the edgy, overpowering need to see that Noah was all right.
     
    Noah awoke to the sound of loud voices outside his hospital room and winced at the pain in his chest. At the moment, it hurt to breathe. The only thing he wanted was blessed sleep. If that nurse poked him and asked his name one more time, he was going to tell her he was an alien. Or the president. Or, he thought with a pained grin, a woman. Maybe that one from the Zorro movie. Martina looked a lot like her.
    "If you're not related to Mr. Coltrane, I can't allow you in," the nurse said firmly.
    Noah opened his eyes at the mention of his name. His gaze encountered Jonathan and Gideon.
    "What?" Gideon rose and cracked the door.
    "This is ridiculous. All I want to do is see Noah. I have no interest in even talking to him." Martina's voice carried into Noah's room.
    Gideon turned an accusing gaze on Jonathan. "There is one very pregnant, very upset woman out there. Why in hell did you call her? Adam said we shouldn't."
    Jonathan shrugged. "Adam left."
    "He's gonna fry your butt."
    "Not if he doesn't find out," Jonathan returned. "Not unless the baby of the family snitches on me."
    Gideon scowled. "You son of a—"
    "Would you two shut up so I can hear Martina?" Noah demanded. "I want to hear this."
    "What is so—" Gideon began.
    " Shut up ," Jonathan and Noah said in unison.
    "You haven't given me an acceptable reason to allow you into Mr. Coltrane's room. This patient has experienced head trauma and shouldn't be disturbed."
    "This is not the first tine Mr. Coltrane has acted as if he has experienced head trauma, but that's another matter," Martina said. "Mr. Coltrane is…"
    "She's not going to be able to say it." Noah shook his head, then winced at the pain.
    "Say what?" Gideon asked in exasperation.
    "You'll hear."
    "He contributed genetic material," Martina said.
    "Pardon?" the nurse said.
    "He supplied