“Your throat?”
I nodded my head.
“Okay, do you have any chest pain?”
I shook my head.
“Good, that’s really good.”
The nurse looked at Kane then and said, “Just to be safe, we’re going to do a round of hyperbaric oxygen therapy. She will be placed inside a pressurised oxygen chamber here in the hospital. It will speed the replacement of carbon monoxide with oxygen in her blood.”
“Is that safe?” Kane questioned. “She is pregnant.”
The nurse nodded her head. “It’s highly recommended for pregnant women who’re exposed to carbon monoxide poisoning. Unborn babies are more susceptible to damage so this will be good for both mother and baby.”
I wanted to do it. If it would eliminate any damage to the baby, I was completely on board.
I nodded my head.
Kane focused on me. “You want to do it?”
Again, I nodded my head.
“She wants to do it.”
The nurse looked at me. “Okay, Aideen, we’ll get the chamber prepared. We’ll come get you in twenty to thirty minutes if you’re able. Is that okay?”
I nodded my head.
The nurse pressed a button then and it caused the top half of my bed to rise. She raised it enough until I was still lying, but in a more upright position. She leaned into me then and adjusted the oxygen mask on my face.
“Keep this on your face, sweetie,” she said and fluffed the pillow under my head. “It’ll make breathin’ easier.”
I nodded my head then looked at the door when it opened and in piled person after person. I gave a closed mouthed smile to my family when they gathered around the bed. My little brother was the first person who quickly leaned in and hugged me.
“Are you okay?” he whispered into my ear.
I leaned my head against his and nodded my head.
Gavin squeezed me tightly, kissed my cheek, and pulled back. He quickly wiped his eyes, and it only heightened the need for me to console him.
“I’m... fine,” I rasped.
“No talking,” the nurse chastised.
I ignored her and focused on Gavin, giving him a knowing look. He nodded his head to me and moved aside so my other brothers could hug and kiss me.
My father, along with James, stepped outside to ask the nurse some questions. I smiled when Keela shoved her way through Alec and Nico and almost climbed onto the bed to grab hold of me.
“I was so scared,” Keela cried into my neck. “I thought you were gone when Kane called and told us what happened.”
I tiredly lifted my good arm and put it around Keela. “I’m okay,” I rasped.
“If you don’t stop talking, I’ll telling your dad,” Kane warned me.
Keela laughed through her tears and I smiled.
She kissed me a bunch of times on the cheek, and then climbed off the bed. I hugged Kane’s brothers and the girls. Alannah was shaken up pretty bad. She was worried about the baby, but Kane assured her that everything was okay.
“I’m so glad you’re okay,” she whispered to me when she gave me a cuddle.
I smiled at her when she pulled back. I looked at Nico when he murmured to Kane, “No sign of him.”
Kane’s body tensed. “Keep looking.”
I focused on Kane. “Need... to... talk to... you.”
“We’ll have words, babydoll. Just rest your voice for a bit.” I needed to have a real talk with him about Philip. The man tried to kill me and my baby. I wanted to know what was happening.
Nico nodded his head once to Kane then looked at me and winked. “The kid that helped you is doing good. He is here in the hospital for another twenty-four hours as a precaution.”
Thank God.
The news that Caleb was okay relieved me greatly. He was a little soldier, and without him, I think I would have died in that classroom. Images of Philip’s flashing grin and flames entered my mind.
I squeezed my eyes shut.
“What’s wrong?” my brother, Harley, asked me.
I swallowed and winced in pain. “I see his face,” I rasped.
Harley leaned into me and said, “Kane told us what went down, and we’re goin’ to get the bastard. Do you hear me?”
I nodded my head.
Harley smiled at me and wiped the tears from under my eyes with his thumbs. Everyone in the room sat down—the girls on the lads’ laps or on the windowsill. I leaned my head back and looked up at the ceiling.
I gasped when I felt movement inside me.
Once again, I burst into tears as I placed my hands on my stomach. I looked at Kane when he placed his hand on my belly and felt her move, too. I knew he was trying to keep my spirits up by telling me that she was okay, but I saw the relief that crossed his face when he felt her move under his palms.