“The backseat. I need to lie down. See if you can find a blanket…”
Chase already had her in his arms. The pain in his injured hand forgotten, he quickly carried her to the car and opened the rear door. “We’re in luck,” he said, laying her down. “There’s a blanket.”
“For the baby,” she said.
“Okay.” Standing at the door, Chase glanced back at the road, wondering where the ambulance was.
“Will you be all right for a moment while I check on Ben?” he asked.
“I’m between contractions.” She smiled when he squeezed her hand. “Go.”
Chase sprinted toward the downed agent, praying the other man was going to be all right. “Ben?”
The FBI agent raised his head. “What the hell are you doing over here? Get back to that woman, Vickers. She needs you more than I do.”
Still, Chase was torn. The man was ghastly pale. His breathing was shallow and rapid. “Hang tight, man. Ambulance should be here any moment.”
Ben waved him off, then let his hand fall back to his side. Praying the other man survived his wounds, Chase sprinted back toward Lily.
PAIN SCREAMED through her with the ferocity of a wild beast raging through her body. Lily braced against the onslaught and pushed with all of her might. Just as the contraction ended, Chase appeared at the car door.
“The baby is coming,” she said as she panted.
“What do I do?”
Another contraction tore through her before she could answer. Lily squeezed her eyes shut and rode the wave of agony. At the crest, she used its momentum and pushed until her breath ran out.
When the pain passed, she propped herself up on her elbows and made eye contact with Chase. “Get the blanket ready.”
She could feel another contraction approaching and spoke quickly. “When I push next time, the baby’s head may appear. Support her head. Don’t pull. I’ll do the rest.”
Pain knifed through her with such power that Lily felt her eyes roll back. A scream hovered in her throat, but she swallowed it. Instead, she used every last bit of her energy to push her baby into the world.
She tried panting, the way she’d learned in her childbirth classes. But nothing could have prepared her for this. A keening sound tore from her lips, till the pain took her breath away.
“I see her!”
Grinding her teeth, Lily accepted the pain, used it to tell her what to do next, and she pushed harder. The contractions came now one on top of the other. No time to rest in between. All she could think about was holding her daughter in her arms for the first time.
“Keep pushing,” Chase cooed. “You’re doing great, honey. She’s coming.”
An elongated moan escaped her. The pain rolled lower, wrapping around her lower back and pelvis like a red-hot chain growing ever tighter.
In the next instant, a faint cry sounded. Lily raised her head and looked down to see Chase holding her squirming, supremely unhappy little girl.
She looked at Chase and, for the first time since she’d known him, she saw tears his eyes. He cradled the baby with the reverence of a man holding the most precious thing in the world. In this case, he was.
“She’s perfect,” he whispered.
A sob broke from Lily’s lips. But it was the sound of a mother’s joy. As Chase laid the child at her breast, emotion overwhelmed her.
“She’s beautiful,” she whispered through her tears.
The world shifted on its axis as Lily put her arms around her baby girl and cradled her gently. “Hi there,” she whispered. “Welcome to the world, little girl.”
“Is she all right?” Chase asked.
“She’s got good color and a strong cry.” Lily couldn’t stop looking at her child. “She seems to be just fine.”
Chase wiped his eyes. “She’s definitely got a healthy set of lungs.”
Lily choked out a laugh. As a nurse, she knew a baby’s lungs were the last organs to fully develop. Even though her baby had come early, she appeared to be entirely healthy.
“She’s cranky,” she said to Chase, then looked back at the child in her arms. “I can’t blame you, baby girl.”
Chase leaned close, and Lily realized she wasn’t the only one who couldn’t take her eyes off the baby. Neither could he. “How are you feeling?” he asked.
“Better than I’ve been in a long time,” she said.
He took her hand and squeezed. “We have a daughter.”
Lily looked down at the wrinkle-faced little girl. “She looks like you.”
Chase made a face and she laughed. “She’s got a few more wrinkles.”
For a moment the sound of their laughter filled the car.
“Have you thought of a name?” he asked.
“I was thinking of Chassidy.”
“Chassidy,” he repeated. “I like it.”