Zeller blinked, the rhythmic pings of the machine bringing him back to consciousness. Pulling him out of a dream. He’d been walking through a garden. It was hazy. Bits and pieces of a whole picture. Valentin was there. He was talking to a little boy. Their son. Perched on Valentin’s shoulders. Pointing at the flowers. Zinnias.
Zeller smiled. Fighting to stay in the scene even as it faded away.
Beep…beep…beep…beep…
A few more blinks, and he cleared his throat. It was dry. He tried to move his arms, but they wouldn’t budge.
“Oh, good, you’re awake.”
Zeller forced his eyes open wider and took stock of his surroundings. He lay in a bed in a room with stark white walls. There were needles in his arms. Hooked to IVs. The beeping never ceased.
He was in a hospital room.
A beta nurse smiled at him. “Hello there.”
Zeller coughed again.
“Don’t try to speak. I’ll grab you some water.”
The nurse put a straw to Zeller’s lips, and he managed a sip.
“I’m sure your arms and legs feel very heavy,” the nurse chattered away. “That’s because you’ve been out for a while. It’s normal. All that feeling should come back soon.”
Zeller dipped his chin. As the fog cleared, images flooded his mind.
The dark road. Asher. Antoni. His fathers and the men dressed in black.
He looked down at his body.
At his flat stomach.
“What…” he croaked.
“Like I said, you really shouldn’t try to speak yet. There will be time for all that as you recover.”
“No,” Zeller rasped. “Where…baby?”
The nurse’s forehead scrunched up. “Baby?”
“My baby?” he choked out the words.
“I’m not sure what you mean,” the nurse said gently. “Sounds like you might be confused. That’s normal. Let me see if any of your family members are here.” He left the room.
Zeller fought a rising swell of panic.
The door opened and Daddy shuffled in.
“Oh, thank goodness,” he said, sitting down next to the bed. “We were getting worried. The doctors told us you should have woken up hours ago.”
The staccato noise of the machine sped up.Beep beep beep beep beep beep.
Zeller narrowed his eyes. “Baby?” he whispered.
Daddy chewed his lip and looked nervously toward the door. “Hmm?”
Zeller’s gut tightened. His voice shook with effort. “My baby. Where?”
“I, uh, don’t know what you’re—”
