She might as well have shot him again, because it would have hurt less and probably ended his suffering faster. Caroline pulled away when he tried to help her, like she was afraid of him. Afraid of him.
It echoed in his ears as he stared at her and then Doc came out and started giving gentle but very authoritative orders. Hannah helped Caro out of the truck and Doc took her other arm as they trudged through the knee-deep snow up to the front porch.
Jen, still blinking and shaking her head, wobbled across the front seat and slid out right in front of him. She squeezed his shoulder and kept her voice quiet. “It’ll be okay. She just needs to process what’s going on. This would be a hell of a day for anyone, and she’s still trying to catch up. Just breathe, be patient, and we’ll make sure you get to explain.”
He shook his head and would have stayed outside to suffer in the cold, not wanting to make Caro more uncomfortable than she already was, except Doc’s wife, Susan, tossed him a pair of sweatpants and a T-shirt and gestured for them both to get their asses inside.
He grudgingly went, though he held on to Jen to make sure she didn’t stagger into a post, and made sure to tell Doc that Jen hit her head. Max paused on the porch to watch Cody, still in his polar bear form, throw himself down into a pile of snow, rolling over and scooting through the icy chunks to scratch his back.
Max cleared his throat and gestured for his friend to get up. “Thanks for the help, man. You should come inside. Doc Susan has some cherry pie and ice cream.”
But the polar bear just groaned and rolled around more, tossing snowy chunks into the air to catch with his paws, and ignored the invitation. Max held his breath; he really worried about Cody. He seemed to spend more and more time as a bear. It took longer for him to come back around to being fully human than Max liked, and he knew at some point he’d have to tell Wade. The alpha bear couldn’t allow anyone to endanger their sanctuary up there in Crook’s Hollow, and the biggest threat was a rogue shifter terrorizing the town.
Max shuffled inside and tensed as soon as the door closed behind him. Mrs. Warner – Doc Susan to everyone – had a flashlight and flicked it in Jen’s eyes; she was the town vet and occasionally saw human patients when Doc had his hands full. Max figured he’d save the teasing for Jen later, when Doc confirmed everyone was okay and no permanent harm was done.
His attention immediately snapped to where Caro lay on the hastily cleared dining room table, two gangly teenagers still carrying armloads of dishes and a tablecloth away to the kitchen. Doc frowned as he pressed against her belly, a stethoscope indenting her skin, and Caro’s face twisted in pain or panic or both.
Max held his breath, unable to even see that Hannah got a cell phone from one of the teenagers to call the house and let everyone know where they were. He heard everything through an eerie distortion as he saw his entire world—everything he wanted and cared about—teeter on the edge of complete and total destruction. He couldn’t lose Caro or the baby. He couldn’t.
One of the teenagers, a tall girl with striking blonde hair and Doc’s unfortunate nose, hustled out of one of the back rooms with a tangle of cords and tubes and a monitor. Doc smiled at Caro and his voice finally cut through the fog of Max’s thoughts. “Now, let’s listen to that little one’s heart, shall we? All your vitals look good, Ms. Caroline, so just take nice deep breaths and try to relax.”
“What if something’s wrong?” Her eyes remained wide and fixed on the doctor, as if she couldn’t look away.
He put a strap around her belly and secured a piece of equipment to it, then started to adjust it as he listened and fiddled with the rest of the straps and cords. Max held his breath. What was he doing? Why didn’t Doc answer her already?
Doc hummed under his breath and offered another bright smile. “There we go. Can you hear that?”
Max heard nothing but the thundering of his own heart and the panic that threatened to tear him in two. But Caro’s expression relaxed and her head thumped against the table as she finally leaned back and exhaled.
And then he heard it—a soft whirring with a steady beat. Thump thump thump. Fast, very fast, but strong. So strong.
Thump thump thump.
The room tilted as he stared at Caro and her belly and felt the magnitude of that tiny, impossible sound filling the room. Doc glanced back at him and his smile widened just a hair. “I’m guessing this is a happy Thanksgiving, Papa?”
Max’s muscles turned to water and he went to his knees, unable to breathe or look away. His baby. His baby’s heartbeat, strong and sure. His vision blurred and he didn’t care if he cried like a child in front of all Crook’s Hollow.