Page 53 of Waiting For A Girl Like You (Haven House #4)
“ Y ou’re not bringing a gun into an operating room.”
Samuel’s jaw ticked. Standing in the hallway outside Evie’s hospital room, he glared down at the small woman in navy blue scrubs. When they arrived, Rowan thought it had been lucky that the nurse who stitched up Liam was the head labor and delivery nurse on duty.
Turns out he was so very wrong.
“My wife has to be under constant protection.”
Hands on her hips, Nurse Holly shook her head. “I know who you are, and I know what happened. Hell, everyone in this county knows what happened, but I can assure you that it won’t happen here.”
“Samuel!” Evie shouted from inside the laboring suite. “Where are you?”
“Go in there with her,” Rowan whispered to Annabeth, who was already turning to head into the room. “She’s probably scared.”
Annabeth was scared, too. As they hiked up the stairs because she was too terrified to take the elevator to the second floor, he could tell the rush and excitement were getting to her.
She had been to the hospital before and was comfortable with the maternity wing since Evie had given birth to both Harper and Theo there.
Still, that hint of the unknown lingered, and he was hoping they could find a quiet spot for her if she needed it.
“We’re here. ”
Hustling down the hall with Josie behind her, Simone sailed past them and into the birthing suite, but Josie hung back when she caught sight of Samuel’s expression. “What’s wrong?”
“They need to do a C-section,” Ben explained. Leaning on the wall behind Holly, he frowned at the nurse, mirroring Samuel’s expression. “But they won’t allow guards in the room.”
Holly held her ground, unflinching against the Fairweathers. “We need to move her quick—”
“Holly! How are you? Are you Evie’s nurse?” Liam swept around the corner with the new guy, Samuel’s girls, and Jamison, still in a wedding dress, at his side. “If so, that’s fantastic. I’ll feel better knowing she’s in your capable hands.”
“I… uh… Mr. Cohen, how are you?” Holly cleared her throat. “I was just explaining that we can’t have armed guards here.”
“But you can help us out, right?” All smiles for the nurse, the rest stared in disbelief as Liam proceeded to charm the woman. “Mrs. Fairweather needs a guard.”
Holly fidgeted in place. “Well, we have rules.”
Liam's smile widened, and he stepped closer, holding Holly’s gaze. “Yeah, but sometimes we have to bend the rules.”
“What in the hell is this?” Abe whispered to Rowan. They had taken up a spot in the hallway to stay out of the way. “Is he… flirting?”
Rowan adjusted the laptop bag hanging from his shoulder, equally confused. “I have no idea.”
Overhearing their conversation, Izzy smirked. Flanking the entrance to Evie’s room, she and Holden were decked out in tactical gear with various weapons strapped to their bodies. “This is Liam in the wild.”
“Or at least, the Liam we knew back in the day.” Holden struggled to keep a straight face. “The man was notorious.”
Throwing her hands up, Holly growled. “There’s no time for this. We need to get her to the OR.”
“Wait, did you say OR?” Jamison nearly shouted. “Is she having a c-section?”
“The baby isn’t in position,” Samuel said, the explanation sending his sister and Josie straight into the room.
“And she can’t have this many visitors.” Holly released an annoyed sigh. “I’m about to kick every last one of you out. ”
“Okay, so no armed guards,” Liam said, drawing Holly’s attention back to him. “How many entry points does the OR have?”
“Two.”
“And can we have a guard stationed at each entry point?”
The nurse hesitated, but Liam added a "please," which finally did the trick. “Outside the doors,” Holly agreed. “And they have to stay out of the way.”
“Your staff has had background checks?”
Holly’s eyes narrowed. “My people would never associate with that insanity.”
“I bet the ultrasound tech’s office thought the same thing about her, so please forgive my lack of trust. We just finished navigating a threat less than an hour ago, and we’re all on edge,” Liam replied smoothly, careful to keep his smile in place.
“One guard at each entry point, Samuel in the OR, and us in the hall.”
Holly pointed to the glass-encased room at the end of the corridor. “I’ll accept the guards and the husband, but the rest of you can wait in the OR waiting room.”
“Feds and cops in the hall,” Liam countered. “The family will stay in the waiting room.”
“Fine, but get those visitors out of the birthing suite so we can transport her.” Holly walked off in a huff. “You have less than two minutes.”
“Holden, you’re at one door, and Izzy, you’re at the other. Follow Holly and find out where you need to go. Text me if there’s an issue,” Liam ordered. “Samuel, get everyone out of there so you can focus on Evie. And where the hell are my parents?”
“They’re coordinating with the men Klausen and Anderson sent,” Ben replied. “Will wants to know exactly where everyone is going to be positioned.”
Holden and Izzy ran after Holly while Samuel went into Evie’s hospital room. Seconds later, everyone—including Simone—exited.
“Rude!” Jamison huffed, marching out into the hall. “Those nurses need to give Samuel a sedative or something.”
“Ben, can you take Theo?” Perched on Liam’s hip, Theo held her hands out so her grandfather could grab her. “Rowan, keep Jamison close while I see if I can do a quick sweep of that OR. ”
The new guy, Carter, glanced between the group and those coming and going down the hall, maintaining a firm grip on Harper. “You need me with you or them?”
“Them.” Liam snatched Jamison and gave her a quick kiss. “Behave.”
Jamison pretended to be offended. “I always behave.”
Liam jogged away, and Rowan took Annabeth’s hand as she exited Evie’s room. “Okay, everyone. Let’s try to be good boys and girls and go to the waiting room.”
“I don’t see why we can’t wait outside the OR with Izzy and Holden,” Josie mumbled, her arm hooked into the crook of Simone’s arm. “We wouldn’t be in the way.”
“She needs us. Samuel needs us. This is serious.” Simone turned to Ben. “Can’t you do something?”
“Yeah, I can corral you two into the damn waiting room,” Ben replied dryly, which made Theo giggle. “So, let’s go.”
“Swear jar, Papa.” Theo laid her head on his shoulder. “I tired.”
“We’re all tired, Theo.” Abe rolled his wheelchair down to the waiting room and pointed inside. “Hey, at least it’ll be just us in here.”
They all started to turn and leave when Evie’s bed emerged from her room, pushed by two nurses, with Samuel right beside her.
“Wait!” Simone and Josie nearly fell all over themselves to get to her. “Evie!”
Annabeth and Jamison ran off, too, as did Ben with Theo. Harper tugged on Carter’s hand until he scooped her up. “Come on,” he muttered. “But don’t touch my gun.”
Rowan hung back with Abe, giving space while the women hugged Evie, and Ben spoke quietly to Samuel.
“Sammy is barely holding it together,” Abe said. They were far enough away that no one could hear him. “Everyone always thinks he’s the strong one between him and Evie, but they’re wrong.”
Samuel did look ready to pass out, and Rowan imagined he'd feel the same in that situation. “I get it.”
And he truly did. If Annabeth didn’t want to marry him, it would suck, and it would hurt, but in the end, it didn’t matter.
He needed her. If something horrible happened between them or to one of them, she would be the strong one who could continue on with life.
But him? Not a chance. His life would be nothing if she weren’t in it, and if that made him weak, so be it.
The nurses shooed the group away, and Annabeth returned to his side as they headed toward the waiting room. “Doing okay?”
She shrugged lightly. “Just nervous, like everyone else.”
They reached the waiting room, and the group spread out.
Ben guided Josie and Simone to the rear corner so the three of them could entertain the girls with Abe.
Carter positioned himself at the door, nearly filling the frame.
His presence relaxed Rowan enough that he thought he might be able to focus on hacking into the hospital’s security cameras.
Grabbing seats near the door, he pulled out his laptop. “Let’s keep an eye on them,” he said as Annabeth sat beside him. “And here they are.”
On the screen, Evie was being wheeled into the OR with Samuel at her side, holding her hand tightly.
“My mom had a c-section with Cait, and it didn’t take long.” Rowan clicked through to check the OR entry points. Holden guarded one, Izzy the other. “Let’s find Liam.”
“What about Liam?” Jamison came and sat on the other side of him to peek at the laptop. “Hacked into the security system already?”
“Yeah, just snooping around.”
He clicked through each section under surveillance until he found Liam talking with some federal agents. Bernie appeared to be heading to the waiting room while Will stayed with Liam.
“Nothing looks out of sorts. Maybe we’re okay.” Annabeth placed a hand on his thigh, the spot instantly warming under her touch. “That phone call was awful.”
It had been more than awful, and Rowan was doing his best to remain calm when, really, he wanted to be back at the house with Anderson and Klausen as they coordinated efforts to track down Sinclair.
And there was something about that call. Sinclair had left himself wide open as if to say, come and find me. It had been easy to track his origins in Arkansas and even easier to zero in on the state's northern section.
Yet, there hadn’t been enough time for him to pinpoint exact coordinates before the call was disconnected.
The data would be there when they returned to the house, and maybe one of the various federal teams would utilize the information and make some progress while they were at the hospital.
Maybe by the time they returned, there would be a fresh lead established.
A lead Liam would want to personally chase.