Learning to Breathe Again by Kelli Heneghan

sooner than him. She
cradled the cup of coffee in her hands. She glanced over at him and
gave him a mischievous smile.
    “ So, you’re not big on
needles, I take it?”
    “ Good God, did you see the
size of that thing? It was at least as long as my arm!” he
shuddered as he glanced down at his arm, causing Bayleigh to
laugh.
    “ It wasn’t that long! It was
a normal needle. You missed the one they used in her back.
Now that one was at
least as long as your arm,” she told him with a straight
face.
    “ Getting woozy here,” Jack
warned with a glare in her direction. “All I’m going to say is that
men do not need to be in the delivery room when a baby is born.
It’s unnatural,” he shot back, finishing his coffee and standing
up. Bayleigh laughed again and stood up with him, walking with him
back to the elevators.
    “ By the way” he stopped at
the elevator and stood there, looking at her.
    “ Yes?” Bayleigh reached over
and hit the button, then met his gaze, waiting for him to finish
his thought.
    “ Thanks for staying with
Carly through the delivery,” he leaned over and kissed her soft
lips. “I owe you one.”
    Bayleigh stared at him, surprised by the
action. As far as kisses went, it had to rank right up there as the
most unromantic one she’d ever had. So why were her lips
tingling?
    Jack stepped forward as the elevator arrived,
the doors opening with a “swoosh”. Jack took her hand and pulled
her into the elevator with him, hitting the button for the
maternity floor. As soon as the elevator arrived on their floor and
the doors opened up, Bayleigh led the way down to Carly’s room.
    “ There you are! I was
beginning to wonder where you two had wandered off to,” Carly
greeted them as they stepped back into her room. Bayleigh tensed as
she realized Carly was no longer alone. An older woman and another
man, who looked to be close to Jack’s age, were sitting on the
couch in the room.
    Jack paused when he realized she’d stopped
just inside the door before realizing why. “Bayleigh, this is
Cindy, Carly’s mom. And this big doofus is her cousin, Paul. He’s
the chief of police here.”
    “ Bayleigh! Thank you so much
for staying with Carly all night. She tells me you are an excellent
labor coach.” Cindy stood up and walked over to Bayleigh, giving
her a hug.
    “ She did the hard part. I
just stood there and held her hand.” Bayleigh looked over at Jack.
He could still see the wariness there, but it wasn’t as apparent as
it had been when they’d first walked into the room.
    “ You kept me from panicking
a few times.” Carly told her. “I don’t know what I would have done
if you hadn’t been here.”
    “ What am I, chopped liver?
I’m the one who got you here, in the middle of an ice storm, after
all.” Jack reminded her, giving Bayleigh a wink.
    “ And promptly hit the floor
when they started putting needles in me!” Carly shot
back.
    “ Yes, we heard all about how
you braved the icy roads and got Carly all tucked in safe and sound
in labor and delivery, and then checked yourself into the ER.” Paul
stood up and moved over next to Jack, clapping him on the
shoulder.
    “ Who’d you hear that from?”
Jack glanced over at Bayleigh, noticing for the first time she’d
moved back over to stand by the door, almost as if she was planning
to duck out it at first opportunity. He held his hand out to her
and with a slight hesitation, she took it, allowing him to draw her
into the group.
    “ Janine. She couldn’t wait
to tell me about the big bad war hero who passed out when the
nurses approached the pregnant lady with a needle.” Paul laughed,
moving to sit back down. “Janine’s my sister. She’s a nurse down in
the ER and she couldn’t wait to tell me about it,” he supplied for
Bayleigh.
    “ Doesn’t HIPPA apply
here?”
    “ She was calling to inform
Aunt Cindy that Carly was in labor. And also to see if we knew who
to call since you’d knocked yourself out. She