and the sort of strong, rugged face you saw in outdoor-adventure magazines. His sleeveless T-shirt showed off impressive muscles in his arms, but it was his smile that held her attention. His broad, gentle smile had the power to calm and excite her at the same time. Her pulse did a happy jig when he grinned, while a peace filled her, despite her scary circumstances. Hunter’s presence made her feel safe.
Impossible as it seemed, considering she didn’t know him, didn’t know anyone or anything at the moment, Hunter kept her from flying apart. He reassured her and soothed her. His eyes, his smile, spoke softly to her soul. As if—
Another blinding pain ripped through her torso, obliterating the crazy poetic thoughts. “Oooh!”
Again Hunter stroked her hair, patted her hand, coached her through the contraction. “That’s it, Brianna. You’re a champion. Keep breathing.”
She gobbled up the inane words as if they were manna from heaven. Hunter and his encouragement were all she had at that moment, and she clung to his hand, clung to the support he gave her like a lifeline.
“You don’t appear to have any bleeding that would indicate a placental abruption, and the baby’s heart rate is within range.” The EMT beside her started pelting her with questions as he worked. “We need to get some medical history and personal information. Are you allergic to any medications? Latex or iodine?”
“I...” She swallowed hard. The panic swelled again. “I don’t know.”
“She hit her head,” Hunter explained. “She can’t remember anything. Not even her name.”
“Okay,” the EMT said, turning his attention to Hunter. “Do you know if she has allergies?”
Brianna knitted her brow. Why would Hunter know that about her?
“I, uh...don’t...” he stammered. “I’m not sure.”
“Does she have a Do Not Resuscitate order or living will on file?”
Hunter’s gaze flicked to her as if she could answer. Brianna could only stare back at him in confusion.
“Don’t know.”
“Her blood type?”
Hunter shook his head.
“Name of her ob-gyn?”
“Uh...”
The EMT arched an eyebrow. “Kinda important stuff to know about your wife. Your pregnant wife.”
Brianna gasped. Wife? What—
Another pain tightened her belly, and both Hunter and the EMT turned to her. She gripped Hunter’s hand, squeezing hard as the wave of pain racked her. “Hunter!”
“I’m here, hon. You’re okay.” He turned to the EMT, his face stern. “Can’t you give her anything for the pain?”
“Not without knowing her history or allergies. And we have to be careful not to send the baby into distress.”
“I’m...okay,” she lied. “Don’t put the...baby at risk.”
Hunter gave her a worried look and stroked her hair gently.
After finishing his physical checks, the EMT pulled out a clipboard and shot a narrow-eyed glance at Hunter.
“I’m gonna guess here and say you don’t have any of her personal info, either. Address, phone number, insurance or Social Security number?” The EMT flipped up a palm, giving Hunter the opportunity to deny his assertion.
A guilty look crossed Hunter’s face. He licked his lips and blew out a sigh. “No.”
The EMT grunted, tossed the clipboard aside and busied himself taking her blood pressure, checking the progress of the delivery.
Clearly Hunter had lied about his relationship to her in order to stay with her. Knowing that stirred a mix of feelings in her. While she hated that she’d led him to fib, she was grateful for his willingness to stay with her and allay her fears. Brianna tugged on Hunter’s hand, and when he met her eyes, she flashed him a brief grin of appreciation for his efforts. In response, he trapped her hand between his two larger ones and rode in silence, until the ambulance bumped over the curb of the hospital driveway.
The EMT rallied, pushing Hunter aside as the ambulance jerked to a stop and the back doors flew open. Brianna was jostled as her stretcher was rolled out and the legs unfolded for the ride into the hospital. As she was whisked away, Hunter disappeared from her field of vision. A clawing sense of agitation raked through her. “Hunter!”
“Don’t be scared!” she heard him call as the orderlies rolled her into a back hall, taking her away from her anchor, her protector. But she was frightened. Without Hunter, the eerie sense of danger crowded her again. Someone had tried to hurt her. She was sure of it.
And now she was in labor. Her memory gone. A deep sense of loneliness and foreboding closed around her like a smothering cloak.
* * *
Hunter tried to bat away the hands that blocked him from following Brianna into the E.R. “I want to go with her. That’s my wife!” he said, sticking to the lie he’d already committed to. “Come on. She’s scared, and I promised I’d stay with her.”
“You can be with her in a minute,” a woman in scrubs told him, leading him by the arm to an office. “We just need a little information for billing purposes.”
He raked his hair with his fingers and exhaled a frustrated sigh. “Fine. What do you need?”
“Take a seat over there. I just have a form for you to fill out.”
The fear in Brianna’s voice as they took her away echoed in his mind. Poor thing. She had to be terrified. He thought of the EMT’s questions as they rode in from the accident scene. He had no idea what to tell them about Brianna’s medical history or family or billing information.
Crud. He glanced over the form, and his gut rolled. Well, he’d come this far. Might as well lean into it.
Name—Brianna Mansfield. Marital status—married. He gave them his address as hers, his phone number...his name as her spouse and emergency contact. He plowed on, filling out the form, giving the hospital the information they’d expect if he were in fact Brianna’s husband. For just an instant, he imagined that scenario. Coming home at the end of a long day to her warm embrace. Waking up to her pretty face. Having a child with her...
His heart thumped. The medical staff would assume he was the father of Brianna’s baby. He’d told the EMT as much. Though he’d savored his role as uncle to his brother’s kids, had been a father figure to his niece Savannah for the first four years of her life, the thought of being a father still gave him pause.
Of course, he wasn’t the baby’s father. He shook off the tangential thoughts and focused on the papers in front of him. This was all a ruse for Brianna’s sake...until her real family could be found and brought to the hospital. At the bottom of the sheet, he signed and dated the form, then handed the clipboard back to the admissions clerk. “Can I see Brianna now?”
“Sure.
