Excerpt
Labor threw her into a frenzy. Torturous pains convinced her she couldn’t
wait for the ambulance any longer. She piled into her car and backed out of the
driveway, determined to drive herself to the hospital. The night was retched.
Clouds blotted up every hint of moonlight as hard winds battered the moving
vehicle. Thunder roared on the heels of lightning as a bolt hit just off the road.
She screamed. Startled, her heart raced as if she wanted to escape her body
and fly far away. She made herself stay calm for the sake of the coming child.
Desperately, she spun the wheel as a great dark shape fell in front of her,
trapping her vehicle with a tangle of branches. Lightning had hit a tree and
tossed it her way. The air bag deployed, saving her from shards as the
windshield shattered.
The next flash brought a downpour that sheeted her side window,
drumming relentlessly on the roof. And strangely, she seemed to catch
snatches of chanting coming out of the night. Thoughts of “what-is-thatabout?”
vanished as returning abdominal pains wrung a frustrated curse from
her that morphed into a wail of anguish.
She white-knuckled the steering wheel as the car door left its hinges with
a screech. A drenched man knelt by her, tearing away the airbag. His eyes
pried with concern. Water trickled down his handsome features onto a
drenched t-shirt. His hand smoothed her hair from her face.
“It will be all right,” he promised. “I’m here.”