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Looking down, I realize I’m gonna have to wait for her to wake up in order to find out.
CHAPTERTWO
Chance
“Dowe have next of kin available?” the ER doctor asks as I bring in the stretcher.
This is a first for my twenty-eight-years. “Yeah, she’s my wife.”
He gives me a once over, nods, and then speaks. “I’ll be out there to talk to you in a few minutes then, when I know more. What about the child?”
I swallow roughly. “I think he’s mine, but I’m not sure.”
“Get a paternity test and fast-track it,” he hitches his chin at the nurse. “If we need medical decisions made, we need next-of-kin for him, too.”
“Right this way.” She ushers me into an empty room, and before I know it, she’s taken a swab of my cheek. “I’ll be out with the results as soon as they become available, and the doctor will be out with news on your wife soon.”
It’s a dismissal; one she gives every day of her shift, but this one kicks me right in the gut. I’ve watched others receive it and never thought about how it must feel. Today I know exactly how it does.
There’s nothing else for me to do except go sit in one of the uncomfortable seats in the waiting area. Crossing my arms over my chest, I lean back, stretching my long legs in front of me. This is going to be a long fucking night, and as I wait, my mind wanders.
“This is it,” my wife, Delia inhales deeply. “This is where we’re going to set down roots and have our babies,” she smiles up at me.
This house is totally at the top-end of our budget, and I have no idea how we’ll make it work. All I know is I’ll do whatever it takes to see the smile on her face every day. “Alright, let’s make an offer.”
And with that, I know the entire rest of my life is sorted.
Only it wasn’t. She’d left, not telling me she was pregnant, and I still have no fuckin’ idea why. Rolling my head around on my neck, I check my watch.
What the hell is taking this doctor so long? Rubbing my sweaty palms along my thighs, I glance up. LT is standing there, and while I wish it didn’t make me feel better, it does. “LT, what are you doing here?”
He has a seat next to me, still wearing his turnout pants, held up by suspenders. The t-shirt covering his torso is the same one as mine, proclaiming we work for Bradford Station. “Figured you might want some company. Nobody likes sitting at hospitals by themselves. Didn’t think I’d leave you here, did you?”
Running my fingers through my hair, I shake my head. “Honestly it hasn’t crossed my mind. I’m too worried about seeing if I’m a dad, or if my wife will make it out of that hospital room in there. This is a lot to handle,” I blow a breath out.
Cam puts a hand on my shoulder. “You don’t have to handle it on your own. We’re all here for you, I hope you realize that.”
In reality I’ve never felt more alone or more betrayed than I do in this moment. How could I have a son and not know it? How could she have kept such a life-altering event a secret from me? This is what we’d talked about, prayed for, and wanted more than anything.
Why did she conceal it?
“I know,” I sigh. “My mind is reeling.”
“You had no idea she was pregnant?” Cam questions, turning so he can half-way face me.
“Not a fucking clue. We’d been trying off and on. We hadn’t exactly been preventing, but we’d not been careful for a while, and we honestly weren’t sure if something was wrong with one of us.” I scoff as I shake my head. “She was supposed to be making an appointment with a fertility doctor. I mean what the fuck happened here?”
“I wish I could help you,” Cam’s voice is soft and understanding.
I’d rather he scream and rail so I don’t feel like I’m alone in my irritation and anger. “I wish you could too,” I whisper, leaning forward, putting my elbows on my knees and clasping my hands together. “I want answers, but until she wakes up, there aren’t going to be any.”
“I caution you at the same time to realize you may be facing some hard days, depending on what’s wrong with her.”
“You don’t think I know that?” I snap.
He holds up his hands, palms forward, as if he can press my anger away. “I know you’re not stupid and you understand more than the rest of us. You have so much more training than we do when it comes to the medical side of things. I’m not trying to offend you.”
Taking a deep breath, I try to calm the bubbling of my stomach and the pounding of my heart. I’m gonna need an antacid before I head home tonight, or at least an anti-anxiety pill.
