Chapter 16

Luci's POV

Once the men outside had been freed, Ranger and Stephanie took off, as well as most of my father's men. Vinny stayed, as he was to be my dad's driver. There was a truce…sort of. But that didn't stop Lester and Daddy from bickering back and forth. Seemed my dad wasn't willing to give Lester an inch and vice versa.

I tried several times to stand. Both men were too involved with sniping at each other that they didn't seem to be aware, but Vinny came over to where I was sitting and held out a hand as he shook his head. "I think we could have a massive earthquake and they wouldn't even notice."

Laughing, I looked at the two men who meant the world to me and said, "Boys will be boys. I'm going to lie downfor a bit." I put a hand to my abdomen as I turned away and then frowned as the cramping that had been plaguing me seemed to get a bit worse. I was hoping that by lying down I'd get some relief.

How long I'd been sleeping I wasn't sure, butsuddenly I felt something warm on my legs and threw back the covers to see what was going on. My eyes widened in alarm as I found myself lying in a pool of blood and there was more still coming out. I screamed, "Lester!"

Loud voices from the other room reached me, and I knew the argument I'd left sometime before was still going on. I threw a pillow at the lamp, trying to knock it over. I was hoping that the sound would reach them, but no luck. Reaching over, I grabbed my phone off the nightstand and hit the speed dial for Lester, butthe thing went to voice mail. What the fuck? Les's phone never went to voice mail.

I placed my hand on my rounded stomach and felt a strong kick. I startled awake. Thank God! It was just a nightmare. Tears were streaming down my face, and I looked around to see the pillows were exactly where I threw them in the dream. Then I noticed that my phone was in my hands. Cold chills raced down my spine. Dear, Lord, don't let there be any blood. I pulled back the covers, and nothing. I let out the breath I hadn't been aware I was holding and sat up on the side of the bed.

The cramping was a bit stronger than when I'd came in to lie down, so I moved carefully to the bathroom to wash my face.I was just finishing up when I felt somethingrun down my legs, and I looked downto see blood pooling on the floor. I moved as fast as I was ableback toward where I'd left my dad and Les. I tried calling out, but my voice seemed frozen, and nothing came out. I finally reached the doorway, and some sound must have escaped, because suddenly all eyes were fastened on me and all three of the men in the room looked white as ghosts.

Lester was the first one to move as he rushed over to me and lifted me into his arms. He was barking out orders, and my dad and Vinny were following him out of the house. In seconds he had me lying on the back seat of the limo and was sitting beside me. His voice was tense as he said, "Hold on, Luci! I can't lose you now that I've just gotten you back in my life."

I felt funny all of a sudden and could no longer focus. The last thing I heard was an anguished, "Luci!"

Lester's POV

The cold hand of fear had afirm hold on me, and I felt myself spiraling out of control. I was desperate for something to hold on to and automatically reached for my phone, pressing the speed dial for my cousin.The minute I heard his, "Yo," I felt myself calming down and starting to focus.

In a clipped tone I stated, "Luci's on her way to the hospital. She started bleeding and she's unconscious."

Ranger instantly replied, "We're on our way."

There was a dial tone, and after several seconds, I closed my phone and put it away. I took a deep breath, knowingthat Ranger would be there to have my back. I prayed harder than I'd ever prayed for anything for Luci and the baby to be okay. Now I just needed to wait and see what fate had in store.

It took fifteen precious minutes to get to St. Francis. I knew that was a far shorter time than it should have taken, but I wasn't complaining. As it was, the time seemed to crawl by, and as far as I was concerned it was fifteen minutes too long. The limo stopped at the emergency room doors, and I was out and had Luci in my arms in no time. I ran into the emergency room with her and was relieved to see Ranger there with Bobby, the company medic.

There was also a team waiting with a gurney, and I wasted no time laying Luci on it. The team rushed through the doors to the treatment area with her, and I was right behind them. They tried telling me I couldn't go with her, but I wasn't letting them push me out. The sound of murmured voices registered, but I had no idea what they were saying.

Suddenly, Bobby had hold of my arm, and he firmly said, "Les, you have to stay back here, or they'll get security to throw you out. I told them that you could hold it together, man. Don't let me down."

I didn't take my eyes off where Luci was lying on the table as I nodded.

For twenty minutes, Iwatched them working on her. Suddenly the doors opened and an older man in scrubs entered. The doctor tending to Luci turned to the newcomer and said, "We're losing her. We need to get her into surgery stat. I'm guessing we're dealing with a uterine rupture."

I felt Bobby stiffen beside me, and I turned to him and demanded, "What the hell are they talking about?"

Bobby replied softly, "That means the integrity of the myometrial wall is breached. If it's an incomplete rupture, the peritoneum is still intact, but with a complete rupture, the contents of the uterus may spill into the peritoneal cavity or the broad ligament."

"What the hell does all that mean?"

He turned to me, and I knew from the look on his face that this shit was serious. I felt the cold chills racing down my spine as he said, "A uterine rupture is a life-threatening event for mother and baby."

I went to step forward, and Bobby put a restraining hand on my arm. My jaw was clenched as I turned to him and shook my head, "I need to let them know."

He gave me a searching look for a second but let go of my arm.

I stepped forward. "I know how much Luci loves and wants this baby. She'd kick my ass for telling you this, and she might never forgive me if things don't turn out. But you have to do whatever you have to in order to save her. As much as I love and want my child, I can't live without her in this world."

The older man turned to me, and our gazes met for several tense moments before he nodded and said, "We're going to try to save them both. We need to get her to the OR. If you'll go to the waiting room on the fourth floor, I'll come as soon as there's news."

Within seconds they were gone and I was left standing there with Bobby.

Bobby placed a hand on my back. "Let's go upstairs, Les."

I blindly followed him.

Stephanie's POV

I checked my watch for the tenth time, only to find it was only a few minutes later than the last time I'd checked. I'd been anxious since the moment Ranger had taken the call when we were on our way back to Trenton. Once he'd replaced his phone on his utility belt, he'd told me Luci was on her way to the hospital because she was bleeding.

I'd lost no time in pulling out my own phone and calling Dr. Thomas. Once I'd relayed the information to him, I'd tossed my phone in my purse and started praying. At times like this there was nothing else you could do.

We'd made it to the hospital before anyone else, and the time it took for them to arrive with Luci seemed far too long. A group of men dressed in black SWAT gear strode into the emergency room, and I wondered if we were having an invasion. I looked over to Ranger with a questioning look.

"If things go bad, we need to contain Lester to make sure no one gets hurt."

Suddenly, I knew he was dead serious. I nodded but remained silent. I just prayed there would be noneed for that to happen. Because that would mean that Luci was gone, and I wouldn't think like that. She had to make it. She was my little sister for all intents and purposes. I'd cared for her for the past eight years, andI didn't want to think about losing her.

When they finally walked through the doors of the ER—or, more accurately, rushed inside—I knew things were more serious than we'd thought. Alessandro was white as a ghost, and Lester didn't look much better. I had a feeling I should make some calls of my own, so I moved away and called Alexander. He assured me he'd have all the manpower necessary to handle the situation should it be needed.

Once that was done, I once again tossed my phone into my bag and went to sit in one of the chairs near where Ranger and his men were standing.

It seemed like a lifetime until Dr. Thomas strode into the emergency room.

Alessandro was up in a flash and hurried over to him.

I stood and made my way over to them and was in time to hear Alessandro say, "I want you to promise you'll do everything to save my little girl."

Dr. Thomas hesitated.

Before he could say anything, Alessandro went on to say, "She'll be hopping mad if she makes it and finds out I made this call, but she'll be alive. She's my baby. She's everything to me."

Dr. Thomas looked at me and asked, "Do you have the paperwork I asked Luci to fill out?"

Dread washed over me as I knew exactly what he was asking. If I gave him the paperwork, they'd have no choice but to save the baby. But if I didn't and Luci lived and the baby didn't… It was a no-win situation. I looked to Alessandro.

There were tears in his eyes, and his mouth was trembling. My heart went out to him because I knew something of what he was feeling. After several tense seconds, I shook my head. "I'm not sure where it is."

He nodded. "All right." He placed a hand on Alessandro's shoulder. "I'll do all I can, old friend."

With that, he strode through the treatment doors and vanished.

It was several tense moments later when Lester and the man who'd gone back to the treatment area with him returned. Lester ran his hand through his hair and said, "She's on her way to surgery. We can wait upstairs on the fourth floor."

When we reached the elevators, there were too many of us to fit into the one elevator. Ranger held up a hand. "Lester, Bobby, Alessandro, Tank, Stephanie, and myself will take this elevator. "He pointed to Vinny. "You'll come with us. The rest of you can take the next car."

Vinny nodded. He turned to Giorgio. "Divide up so that half of our group and half of their group are in each car."

Giorgio nodded.

With that we were on our way upstairs.