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"The car. The brakes," I cry, the clog in my throat from so much pain trying to come out at once making it hard to speak. "I didn't— I should have. Oh, god. Someone has to call the ambulance. They need to save him. I need him. I need to tell him."
Rhys grasps my face, forcing me to look at him. "Was Riggs in a car accident?" At my nod, he pushes for more. "Do you know where? Can you give me a location?"
"The bend on the back roads to the house. The brakes wouldn't work." The numbness seeps back in for a brief, fleeting moment before the sobs and unbearable pain come back. "I didn't tell him I loved him. I need to tell him. He needs to know that I love him and I forgive him. It doesn't matter anymore. I just need him to be okay. Please let him be okay.I need him to be okay!"
Adam is on the phone, giving the 911 operator the information I gave them. Rhys tries to calm me, but the agony is too much. It's all too fucking much.
This isn’t how any of this should be happening. I was supposed to have time to forgive him and then we would all move into our new house, raise the twins, and live happily ever after! This was our happy fucking ending.
The sound of metal crunching and Hudson’s voice cutting off play over and over in my mind. I can picture the road, I can hear the sounds, and then nothing. I don’t know anything else and it’s fucking destroying me.
“Lay, baby. You need to breathe slowly. If you keep sucking in short, sharp gasps like that you’ll pass out.” Adam presses his hands against my knees, now sitting where Rhys was. I’m losing track of time with each replay of the phone call.
“Is he— Oh, god. He can’t be,” I cry out, lying my head back on the pillows in the hospital bed. “Please, please, please.”
“Lay. Baby,” Adam calls out, standing up over my face with tears in his eyes. “Baby. The ambulance and police are on scene. We don’t have any information just yet but Dot and Hayley are headed to the hospital so we should know more once they’re here. You are still recovering from giving birth to the twins, we need you to breathe and rest until there’s more information.”
“I DON’T GIVE A FUCK ABOUT ME!” I scream, the sobs wracking my body making it hard to see. “He needs to be okay, Adam! He needs to come home with us. I can’t— I need him to come home.”
“I know, baby. I know,” Adam whispers between sniffles. “He’ll come home, Lay. Riggs is too tough to let this take him out.”
The door to my room opens and a nurse walks in followed by Rhys with a heartbroken expression. My heart races, waiting for the inevitable bad news that I’m sure is coming.
“No, no, no, no,” I repeat over and over again, shaking my head back and forth with every no that falls from my lips.
Rhys rushes over to my side, his eyes red and glassy as he brushes the hair out of my face. “It’s okay, love. The nurse is just here to check your vitals. I spoke with her about what’s going on so she could make a note in your chart. It’s okay, Lay.”
All I can do is cry, closing my eyes and letting the nurse do whatever she needs to do. I don’t care about how I’m doing. None of this fucking matters. Not when Hudson is out there, fighting for his life or possibly even fucking dead.
“I don’t matter,” I mumble, pulling away from the nurse with a sob. “I need to know if Hudson is okay. I don’t care if I am. It doesn’t matter. Only he matters.”
“Alayna,” the nurse says softly, taking the blood pressure cuff off of my arm. “You do matter. Your healing matters. When someone has more information about the accident, we’ll worry about that. For now, you need to rest and heal. Do you want to go to the NICU and see the twins?”
“No,” I respond, shaking my head. “No, I can’t. What if something happens? I need to be here with my phone so I can know. Not knowing hurts the most.”
“I understand, Alayna. If you change your mind, hit the call button we showed you earlier.”
The nurse walks out, smiling sadly at Rhys and Adam standing by the door as she does. They move back over to my side, Rhys holding my right hand and Adam kissing my forehead.
“Hayley and Dot are here, they’re down in the ER trying to get some information from the doctors and nurses. Poppy was with them when we called, so she’s headed up here to be with you and Rhys while I head down to the ER to help there,” Adam explains, brushing the dampness from my cheeks.
All the crying has me so exhausted that I simply nod my head in response. Rhys squeezes my hand tightly, sitting on the edge of the bed.
“Keep us updated,” he murmurs to Adam. “We’ll both keep our phones at the ready in case you find out anything.”
“I will. Take care of our girl,” Adam says, his eyes watching me sadly. “I’ll be back, baby.”
Rhys and I watch the door for a while after Adam leaves, the silence a much needed break from the sobbing and screaming since the line went dead.
“I was so mad,” I whisper into the silence, my eyes never leaving the door. “I was so mad at him when he walked out of this room. I told him over the phone that I didn’t know if I could forgive him. If I had known—”
“No, Lay. You couldn’t have known what was going to happen. None of us did.” Rhys moves up the bed, his breathing shaky with unshed tears. “We don’t know what happened yet, but it was unpredictable.”
“I should have told him I loved him back. He told me to remember how much he loves me,” I cry, leaning my head against Rhys’ shoulder. “I should have known then and told him I forgave him and I loved him. What if I never get the chance to tell him?”
“You will, Lay. I have faith that you will,” Rhys laments, his hot tears falling onto my bare shoulder. “He’s going to be okay and come home with us.”
Rhys’ phone rings and he quickly grabs it, stepping to the other side of the room to talk. My legs bounce together anxiously as I wait for the update that Rhys is currently getting. My phone rings a moment later, and I answer, hoping it’s someone else with more updates.
