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ChapterThirteen
~Leo~
Something was wrong.
Something was very wrong.
The second she’d looked at me on the dance floor, I knew.
I had Lexi wrapped in a blanket, tucked tightly against my chest in the backseat of Keith’s car as we drove dangerously fast toward the city of Las Vegas, and a hospital.
We careened around a corner.I looked up to meet Keith’s eyes in the rearview mirror.“You okay back there?”
I nodded and he focused his attention back on the road.
“Lex?How are you doing?”I tipped her chin up so her eyes would meet mine.She was being brave, but I could see it in her face.She was terrified.And rightly so.We’d just allowed ourselves to think this baby would be okay.That everything would be fine.
And it still would.
I had to believe that.
“Everything will be okay, Lexi.”I pulled her tighter against me.“I promise.”
It was a promise both of us knew I might not be able to keep.But I’d make it anyway.Anything to make it better.
We arrived at the hospital in what had to be record time.I hopped out of the car, ran to Lexi’s door and pulled it open.Before she could take a step out the door, I reached in and lifted her into my arms.The blanket slipped off, revealing her dress and the small red spot staining the gauzy, creamy fabric.My heart clenched in my chest and I had to swallow hard to keep my emotions under control.
Keith had run ahead and alerted the nurses in the emergency room that we were coming, so when I walked through the sliding doors with my wife in my arms, there was already a stretcher waiting for her.
I put her down as gently as I could, but wouldn’t let go of her hand as the nurses wheeled her down the hall.My eyes held hers, trying in vain to comfort her in a situation where there was just no comfort to be had.
“We’ll take it from here, sir.”
The stretcher stopped in front of two steel doors marked Authorized Personnel Only but I wasn’t about to let go of her hand.There was no way I was leaving her side.“I’m going with you.”
“I’m sorry, sir,” the nurse, who looked to be barely out of high school, responded.“It’s hospital policy.You’ll have to wait out here.There’s a family—”
“No.I need to be with her.”
“Sir.The sooner you comply, the sooner we can get your wife looked at.I’m sure you—”
“Leo.”Lexi’s voice was thin and strained.A tear slipped down her cheek.“It’s okay.”
“I’m not leaving you.”I bent down so my face hovered over hers.“I can’t leave you.”
She forced a smile so heartbreakingly sad, it shattered me.“Everything will be okay,” she said.“Didn’t you just promise me that?”
I nodded.
“Then it will be.”
I kissed her softly, gently on the lips, and stood, reluctantly releasing my grip on her hand.Her fingers trailed through mine as they wheeled her through the doors, and away from me.
~Lexi~
The room was a flurry of activity as the nurses asked me over and over how far along I was, if I’d had any cramping, any other symptoms of miscarriage.
Miscarriage.
