She tried to respond but couldn’t.

He jiggled the handle. “Unlock the door.”

She began to reach for it, but another cramp hit. She whimpered and wrapped her arms around her thighs to hold them together.

He rapped again, harder this time. “Hit the lock! Just hit it!”

Somehow she managed to do as he asked.

A wave of bitterly cold air struck her as he jerked open the door, and his breath made a frosty cloud in the air. “What’s wrong?”

Fear clogged her throat. All she could do was bite her lip and squeeze her thighs more tightly.

“Is it the baby?”

She managed a jerky nod.

“Do you think you’re having a miscarriage?”

“No!” She fought the pain and tried to speak more calmly. “No, it’s not a miscarriage. Just—just some cramps.”

She could see that he didn’t believe her, and she hated him for it.

“Let’s get you to a hospital.”

He ran to the other side of the car, opened the door, and reached through to shift her into the passenger seat, but she couldn’t let him do that. If she moved … “No! Don’t … don’t move me!”

“I have to. I won’t hurt you. I promise.”

He didn’t understand. It wasn’t she who’d be hurt. “No …”

But he didn’t listen. She gripped her thighs tighter as he reached beneath her and awkwardly shifted her into the other seat. The effort left her gasping.

He raced back to his car and returned moments later with his cell phone and a wool stadium blanket that he tossed over her. Before he slid behind the wheel, he threw a jacket on the seat. Covering up her blood.

As he pulled back onto the highway, she willed her arms to keep their strength as she clamped her legs together. He was talking to someone on the phone … locating a hospital. The tires on her tiny Bug squealed as they hurtled down the highway and around a bend. Reckless, daredevil driving. Please, God …

She had no idea how long it took to reach the hospital. She knew only that he was opening the door next to her and getting ready to pick her up again.

She tried to blink away her tears as she gazed up at him. “Please … I know you hate me, but …” She gasped against another cramp. “My legs … I have to keep my legs together.”

He studied her for a moment, then slowly nodded.

She felt as though she weighed nothing as he slipped his arms beneath the skirt of her wedding dress and lifted her so effortlessly. He pressed her thighs tightly against his body and carried her through the door.

Someone came forward with a wheelchair, and he hurried toward it.

“No …” She tried to grip his arm, but she was too weak. “My legs … If you set me down …”

“Right here, sir,” the attendant called out.

“Just show me where to take her,” Kevin said.