Free Love Slave for Two: Family Matters by Tymber Dalton Page A

darlin’,” she whispered, rocking him. “He’ll be okay.” She cried, praying it would prove true.
    She allowed herself five minutes to be upset before gathering enough things to take care of the baby for the day. Nevvie would need her to be strong, and so would Thomas. She located the folder in the file drawer and found a sweater in Nevvie’s closet to take to her. She might need it in the hospital waiting room. With a final check of the kitchen to turn off the coffee pot and make sure the stove was off, she pulled out of the driveway in Nevvie’s car fifteen minutes after the ambulance had left.
    Please let him live , she prayed. Please don’t take that boy from us.
     

Chapter Six
    Nevvie tried to stay out of the way, tried not to cry. Peggy’s words echoed in her ears. She had to be strong.
    At Tampa Community, the ambulance pulled into the ER entrance. When they opened the back doors, Nevvie climbed out and stood to the side. She tried to follow Tyler’s gurney into the bowels of the ER when a nurse intercepted her.
    “Please, let me go with my husband.”
    “Ma’am, you can’t go back there with him. The doctors have to get a look at him. We need you to fill out paperwork. They’ll probably take him to the cath lab.”
    “What’s that?”
    “Well, they’ll check him to see what’s wrong with his heart, to see if he needs surgery—”
    “Surgery?” Nevvie gasped. That’s when she lost it. Her knees buckled. Sobbing, she sank to the floor as the nurse tried to get her to her feet and into a chair.
    She couldn’t even tell him she loved him.
    Another nurse and an orderly came over to help. They steered Nevvie into the admitting cubicle. Through her tears she fumbled with Tyler’s wallet, trying to choke back her sobs as she struggled to get the requested items out. She finally handed it to the nurse to pull out his driver’s license and insurance cards.
    “You’re his wife, ma’am?”
    “Yes. My mother-in-law is bringing all our other paperwork with her, and our son…” Nevvie sobbed again. The nurse, obviously used to dealing with upset family, handed Nevvie a box of tissues and let her cry for a few minutes. They finished the admissions paperwork and Nevvie had almost composed herself again when another nurse poked her head around the corner.
    “Mrs. Paulson?”
    Nevvie nodded, her soul chilled, certain the nurse would break the worst news possible.
    “We’re taking your husband to the heart cath lab. You can see him for just a minute if we go back right now, but he’s not conscious.”
    Nevvie leaped from her seat, clutching the admissions paperwork she’d been given, and followed the nurse. She caught sight of a clock—she’d already been there a half-hour. That long? Time seemed to fold and twist. It felt like five minutes ago she’d been standing in the shower with him, and yet hours since Peggy jumped on him to perform CPR.
    The nurse spoke to her on the way and Nevvie didn’t understand a word of it. EKG. Echocardiogram. Blood work. Cath lab. Stents. She might as well have been speaking Latin. Inside the room, several nurses and doctors worked on Tyler. He was hooked up to monitors and on a ventilator.
    Her tears ran unabated as she leaned over him and kissed his forehead.
    “I love you, Ty. Baby, please, you’ve got to pull through for Tommy and me and Adam. You can’t leave us, you stubborn evil genius.” She softly whispered in his ear, “Please, come back to me, come back to your angel. I love you.”
    One of the doctors spoke. “I’m sorry, we need to move him.”
    “Hold on,” one of the nurses said. She removed Tyler’s wedding band and watch. “Here, ma’am, hold onto these for him. You can give them back to him once he’s in recovery.” She said it kindly, apparently hoping to calm Nevvie’s nerves. It didn’t help.
    Nevvie took them, nodding, noting the warmth in the gold band. She slipped it on her left hand and had to put it on her middle finger