Page 104 of Secret Baby for My Brother's Best Friends

My heart squeezes so tightly in my chest that I forget to breathe.

Jake.

Before a thought forms in my mind, I’m running. My heart pounds, my legs shaking, but somehow I don't trip and fall, despite my foot hitting a pretty large rock. I barely register the pain swelling in my toes as I tear through the group of men that have already surrounded the pile of debris that was once the scaffolding that held Jake just inside.

“No!” I scream. “Jake!”

My body rushes forward, but someone catches me. I fight them instinctively because I want to get to Jake. Need to get to him and know that he’s okay.

My brain should tell me that it's impossible to lift all that metal and wood on my own, but right now, my brain is doused in the same acid burning my throat. Desperation leaks out of me in garbled cries as I scream his name again and again. "Jake! Oh my God, Jake!"

“You can't go there, ma'am. It's not safe,” the man holding me says, but I shove and fight to get him off of me.

The rest of his words are drowned out in the background. It's probably some sensible explanation I'm not ready to hear right now. Jake is still under there. I have to save him.

I don’t even really know what I’m going to do if they let me go. It's not exactly like I can lift the scaffolding myself, but something in my mind tells me I can. Like a mother with a baby trapped in the car, and I'll be filled with the superhuman strength to get that off of him so that I can–

“Chelsea.”

The familiar voice has me whipping my head back. All the other hands that were holding me melt away as I stare at Adam’s horrified expression. My strength melts away, and I fall against him, pointing a shaking hand at the collapsed compartment. “Jake…he…:

Adam catches me against his body and holds me tight, then he releases me after only a few seconds. He grabs my cheeks and says, “Stay put, alright? I’ll go get him.”

I want to hold onto Adam’s strength for longer, but I want Jake back even more, so I just nod.

Adam runs to the encampment and orders some other men to grab certain parts of the roof while moving the piles at the edges. It looks heavy. His muscles bulge as they lift the bulk of the debris together, enabling me to see a hand in the middle of the collapsed wood.

Jake's hand.

I almost run forward again, then remember Adam's order. I don't want to distract him, so I squeeze my hands into fists and wait while they work.

While still holding the edge of the roof, he orders someone to pull Jake out from under it. The men grasp his hand and start to pull.

"Be careful," I scream because none of them seem to be taking the time to remove obstacles out of the way. But on second thought, I understand that time is of the essence, and they probably can't afford to be too gentle.

The second Jake is free and clear of the scaffolding, I run to him, as Adam lets it fall with a thunderous thud.

Adam gives more orders, or maybe he's scolding them for standing around as they were before. The noise becomes a mere drone in my head. I don’t know what they’re saying, and frankly, I’m not sure I care. All I know is that Jake has to be okay. He just has to be.

"Jake." I cup his face with my hands, eyeing the trail of blood running down his temple. He’s not moving. Why is he notmoving? My mind jumps from one horrible possibility to the next, my senses haywire because why the fuck isn't he moving?

He can’t be dead. He can’t be. He needs to be alive.

Hands attempt to draw me back, and I tear away from them. I press my ears against Jake's chest. A steady heartbeat greets me, and I’m flooded with relief, but it’s not done. I’m not yet convinced.

He has to wake up.

“Jakey.” I run my hand over his hair. “Please wake up. Please, please. Please.”

I don’t know if it’s the strength of my fervent pleas that does it, my appeal to the universe. I don’t know if it’s simply the sunlight blaring on his face, or the multiple people yelling at us, or the sound of sirens blaring in the distance.

Or Adam coming to kneel beside me, saying, "Open your eyes, you crazy bastard."

Whatever it is, Jake finally groans, and he painstakingly peels his eyes open. He looks up at us, blinking slowly, and he says, “Damn. You look ugly upside down, Adam.”

A laughing sob rips out of my chest. A tear leaks down my cheeks, pressure builds down my face as I whisper, “Jake?

“Hi, princess." His smile takes over his face as his hand twitches. He weakly tries to cup my cheek, but just that slight movement makes him strain and renders him a little breathless. "Were you worried about me, sweetheart? It takes a little more than that to bring me down."