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“Come on now, sweetheart,” he said quietly. “When Luke comes out, you’re not going to want him to see you breaking down.”
“You’re right.” She took a deep breath and held it. Her exhale was slow and shaky, but she inhaled again, fusing some strength into her expression. She wiped her face, and Ted looked at her.
“You’re wonderful,” he said. “I love you so much, and I admire so much about you.”
“She’s back,” Slate said, and Ted turned around to find Gina walking toward them. Her strawberry blonde hair flapped as she strode toward them, and she looked as fierce and as determined as ever.
She paused a few feet from them, taking in the group of them. “She’s undergoing a Cesarian-section right now. Luke is with her, and he’s going to stay back there with her and the baby.”
“She’s alive?” Nate asked.
“She is alive,” Gina said. “They have the bleeding under control, and they’re working to get everything back to normal.”
“The baby?” Emma asked, her voice turning tinny again.
“We don’t know yet.” Gina gave her a kind smile and nodded. “I’ve asked Luke to come update you when he can.”
“Thank you,” Ted said as Gina turned to walk away. “Let’s sit down, everyone. It sounds like we might be here for a while.”
Thankfully, everyone listened, and they’d no sooner sat down when Dallas and Jess arrived with little Jonas. Emma and Ginger engulfed Jess in a hug, and Dallas migrated over to Ted and Nate to get an update.
After Nate had explained everything, Ted looked around at the group of them. They were his family, and he didn’t care if he didn’t look like any of them. These men and women meant a great deal to him, and he’d do anything and everything for them.
“Hey,” Ted said quietly. “Will you—do you guys think we could pray together?”
“Good idea,” Slate said quietly, and he reached up to remove his cowboy hat. All the other men did too, and then they looked at Ted again.
He cleared his throat and closed his eyes, waiting for the right words to come into his mind. “Dear Lord,” he finally said. “We thank Thee for our bounteous blessings, and we call on Thee for one more. Maybe two. Okay, three. One for our brother and friend, Luke Holt. If he is scared, help him to be strong. If he is worried, send him comfort. If he is sad, bless us with a way to cheer him up. We need a miracle for Hannah, our friend and Luke’s wife.” His voice broke, and Ted struggled to keep his sob contained.
He lost the battle, and the noise that came from his mouth sounded painful and anguished. Emma’s hand in his tightened, and Ted drew from her strength.
Nate said, “I can finish,” and Ted shook his head.
“Bless her with the best doctors,” Ted said, his voice still a bit shaky but plenty loud. “Bless her body that it will be strong, and that she’ll be able to deliver a healthy baby, and then recover fully.”
He paused again, thinking of his perfect Frannie. “One last blessing for the baby boy being born right now. He is a gift from Thee, and we ask Thee to protect him and bless him with perfect health and both parents to raise him into adulthood.”
His words ran out, and Ted simply added, “Amen,” to his prayer.
“Amen,” several others whispered, and Ted opened his eyes.
“Thank you, Ted,” Nate said. “That was beautiful.”
Ted nodded and wiped his hand down his face. He didn’t cry very often, but everything in his head felt so hot right now. He sat back and looked at the door, praying silently that Luke would walk through it.
* * *
Nate was goingto go crazy in that waiting room. After twenty minutes, he got up and said, “I’m going outside for a minute.”
“Nate,” Ginger said.
“I’m fine, sweetheart,” he said. “I just can’t…breathe.” He tried to encourage her with a single look before he walked away. Outside, the late November air went down crisply, and he leaned his back against the side of the building, trying to get more air on the next breath. Then more, and more, and more.
“Are you okay?” someone asked, and Nate opened his eyes. He hadn’t even realized he’d closed them.
An elderly woman stood there, her concern for him plain. “Yes,” he managed to say. “I’m okay.”
She gave him a knowing smile and continued inside. Nate sighed and looked out over the parking lot. There were so many cars here, and he couldn’t imagine having to come to this hospital for more than the couple of days it had taken for Ginger to deliver their son.
