Josie smiles. “This is insane but like, what on this mountain isn’t?” She shakes her head. “Let me guess, it’s been a few hours and you already know she’s carrying your quadruplets?”
Beau chuckles, and normally, I would too. We’ve all laughed about the magic that happens on this mountain, but right now, I can’t joke around. Not when Faith is so upset. When her father made me leave his house.
Josie speaks up, “Okay, so one: who is this woman, and two: why the long face?”
I exhale. “Do you know Faith? Tanner’s daughter?”
They nod slowly. “You and Faith?” Beau lets out a whistle. “Isn’t she a little—”
Josie rests a hand on her husband's arm. “Beau, don’t.”
“She’s nineteen, not much younger than most the women were when they came to this mountain,” I say. “I understand the concern, I do. But...” I press my fingers to my forehead. “I love her. And I have to be with her.”
“I’m guessing her father doesn’t agree?” Josie asks. “You decided to get married, went to tell her dad and he got upset?”
“How’d you figure all that?”
Josie smirks. “If you remember correctly, my dad was a little upset about Beau and me.”
Beau snorts. “Upset? That’s what we’re calling it?”
Josie sighs. “He was more than upset. He didn’t want me to have anything to do with Beau… and because of it, I spent practically my entire pregnancy with Forrest hidden out in this house. It was awful.”
Beau takes a swig from his beer. “As shitty as it was, now that I’m a father, I can see the dad’s perspective. If one of my girls ran off with a man I didn’t know… hell, it would be hard.”
“Maybe I fucked up. I feel awful for putting Faith in a bind with her dad. But hell, we just got excited. And we know how precious life is. Why wait when you know what you want?”
“Your intentions were pure, Jonah,” Josie says softly. “But sometimes it’s hard for other people to catch up to where our hearts are.”
“Shit,” I groan, pushing away from the table. “You should have seen how pissed Tanner was.”
“He’ll come around,” Beau says. “Every man on this mountain has nothing but respect for you. You saved my ass with Josie. You put your life on the line helping James find Cherish. You go all in for the people you love, so it’s no surprise you did the same thing for Faith.”
Josie’s phone buzzes on the table, and she reaches for it, reading the text. Her face falls and she covers her mouth. “Oh my god,” she whispers.
“What is it?” Beau asks, taking the phone and reading the message for himself. “Oh fuck.”
“What happened?”
“Oh, Jonah,” Josie cries. “I’m so sorry.”
Beau hands me the phone, and the words on the screen pierce my heart; shatter my bones.
It’s a group text from Harper to all the woman on the mountain.
Horrible car crash on the highway.
Tanner’s daughter, Faith en route to EC General.
Prayers needed.
The thread is blowing up already, but I can’t look. My eyes blur and heart pounds and Josie is gathering me up, directing Beau to keep watch over the kids. She kisses him goodbye, but I can only process one thing: Faith is headed to the hospital.
Josie has me in her car and as we’re headed toward Eagle Crest, panic sets in.
“It’s okay, Jonah. She’s going to be okay.”
“What if…”
“Don’t. Just wait.”
“Harper’s text… it’s not good, Josie.” I run my hands through my hair, a fucking mess.
“We don’t know the details, Jonah. Have faith. It’s going to be okay. It has to be.” Her eyes are on the road, but her cheeks are streaked with tears, too.
We don’t speak — can’t speak. The truth of this moment is too bleak. When we get to the hospital, we rush into the emergency room, seeing so many of our friends already there.
Tanner’s speaking with a doctor, Virginia is at his side. Laila, Virginia’s best friend is here with her husband, Colton. Laila’s eyes meet mine and I know she knows something… something about Faith and me. She walks over to us, and Josie takes over.
“What’s going on? Is she…”?
“She’s in surgery. A car crashed right into her,” Laila says, her eyes filled with tears. “The driver died on the scene… but Faith … she’s holding on.”
My hands drop to my knees, I try to breathe. It’s fucking impossible. Josie’s hand is on my back. “It’s okay, Jonah, it’s gonna be okay. You need to be strong,” she tells me, and I know it’s true. But fuck.
Faith has to be alive. Has to be alive. She’s mine. My heart and fucking soul. And yes, even though we just met, but that doesn’t change a goddamn fact. Truth is, I love her, and she loves me.
This can’t be how our story ends.
I walk to Tanner, needing to hear from him what is going on. The doctor has left him, and he stands alone with Virginia.
“Don’t,” he tells me. “Don’t push it, don’t fucking push it.”
“I need to know if she’s—”
“She’s not. She’s not okay, she’s on an operating table,” he says, choking on his words.
Virginia takes my hand. “Jonah, we just have to wait. All of us just need to calm down and be patient for an update.”
“Patient?” The thought rattles me. I need to do something. Take care of her. Why the fuck did I ever leave her? Why did I drive away without her?
Everyone in the waiting room understands how tense this moment is — but it’s not just about Tanner and me, it’s about beautiful, perfect Faith fighting for her life.
Hours pass, and we wait, pacing the floor, desperate for an update.
Finally, in the early hours of the morning, one comes.
The doctor enters the waiting room, and Tanner moves toward him. I am at his heels even though I know he wishes I were gone.
“The good news is the surgery was successful. The bone she broke was her left arm, and she has a skull fracture.”
“Can I see her?” Tanner asks, desperation in his voice. It’s an emotion I understand all too well.
“The other news, and I am so sorry to tell you, is that she is in a coma. It was not medically induced—”
“Coma?” Tanner asks and the blood seems to drain from my body. A collective gasp echoes through the waiting room.
My heart falls to the floor, my need to see Faith paramount.
I told her, when I left tonight, that I would be by her side to kiss her goodnight. Now I don’t know if the woman I love will ever wake up.
Chapter Eight
Jonah
Hours pass, and unless Tanner gives me permission to see his daughter, I won’t be able to see her. He hasn’t spoken to me once.
“Maybe you should go home and get some rest?” Josie says. “You can get your car at my place and—”
“I’m not leaving, Jos. I know you’ve got to get back to your family, but she is my family now. She is my everything.”
Tears fill Josie’s eyes. “Oh Jonah,” she says, wrapping her arms around me. “I always wanted you to find happiness, after everything you’ve been through as a kid, and this is just... it’s too much.”
I squeeze her tightly, thankful for a friend like her in a time like this.
“I knew you wouldn’t leave,” she says. “So, I called James. He’s on his way, okay?”
I wipe my eyes, trying steady myself. “Thanks, Jos. I’ll call if …”
“I know.” She gives me a final squeeze before leaving the hospital. I walk to the coffee stand and grab an americano, needing to stay awake. Needing to be on alert for when the moment comes that I’m allowed inside her room.
Soon, James arrives, and he gives me a tight hug. “Fuck, brother,” he says, shaking his head. “I’m so sorry.”
“I don’t need sorries. I just need to see her, James.”
“I
know.” James’ eyes meet mine. “You really love her?”
“Josie tell you everything?”
“Yeah.” James shakes his head. “Guess the women have been texting all night. You’ve got the wives all worked up.”
“I never meant to fall like this. And I know why Tanner’s pissed but—”
“You don’t have to explain a thing to me. I know you, Jonah. I know what we went through in Florida, trying to scrape a life together after the shit we’d seen. I know what kind of man you are. You are the real fucking thing. And Tanner will know that soon enough.”
“I need to see her, man,” I tell him.
“I know.” James hands me a backpack. “Cherish told me to bring you some clothes, so I stopped at your place and got you some things so you can clean up. You go change, I’ll go talk some sense into Tanner.”
“What kind of man am I that I can’t solve my problems on my own?”
James’ eyebrows lift, and I see they are filled with emotion, with memories. “Fuck that. A real man has friends who will stick up for him. A real man doesn’t go through shit alone. A real man has friends who have his back. I’d never have rescued my wife if it weren’t for you. I always prayed I’d have a way to repay that debt — but hell, I never wished for it to be something so tragic as this.”
I press my fist to my mouth, choking back my emotions. “I have faith that she’ll pull through. She has to.”
“I know, Jonah. I know.”
Down the hall, I find a bathroom and change quickly, wash my face and brush my teeth. Run water through my hair. Try to take long, deep breaths. God, I hope James can talk some sense into Tanner.
I make my way back to the waiting room, I see Virginia walking toward me. “Hey,” I say. “You holding up okay?”
She’s been here all night, and considering she’s pregnant, I’m guessing she’s exhausted.
“Laila is on her way back to come to get me. I need to rest and check on the kids.”
“I’m so sorry, Virginia.”
She twists her lip, fighting tears. “She’s so young, has her whole life ahead of her.”
I can’t talk. If I try, I’ll break the fuck down.
“You truly love her, Jonah?”
“With all my heart.”
“Tanner’s looking for you. James had a few words with him, and you just have to understand. She’s his little girl, Jonah. His baby.”
I nod. “I know. I’m not angry, I’m just heartbroken.”
“He blames himself,” she says. “They fought so bad after you left, and she stormed off, angry with him. If she doesn’t wake up… that will be the last thing…”
I pull Virginia to me, her tear-stained face against my shoulder. “She will pull through, Gin. She will.”
Eventually, Virginia collects herself and tells me she’ll see me soon enough after she gets some rest. I head toward the waiting room, where Tanner and James are waiting for me.
“I don’t like this,” Tanner tells me. “But hell, I don’t know what to do. If you think…”
He’s crying then, falling apart and I do what I must. I pull him into a hug, not knowing what will happen next, where we go from here — but knowing that Tanner is fucking terrified and so am I and at least we have that common ground.
He loves her the way only a father can, and I love her the way only a man who holds her heart can. And I’m not going away anytime soon.
“There is no room for anger here, Tanner. The only fighting this hospital has room for is Faith, fighting for her life. I know you hate me right now, but—”
He cuts me off. “I don’t hate you, I hate myself. I shouldn’t have forced her hand.”
“Tanner,” James says. “It’s gonna be okay. She will come through.”
We stand there, the three of us so different, yet standing here we are of the same mind. Yes, different struggles shaped us into the men we are, different heartbreak taught us the meaning of love, but one thing we all share is our collective love for this mountain, for the people on it. For the community we have built here.
This place was named Miracle Mountain for a reason.
It’s not too late to find ours.
I leave them, and a nurse escorts me to Faith’s room. She is hooked up to IVs and a breathing ventilator, her long wavy hair loose around her shoulders, her eyes closed, the sunlit freckles across the bridge of her nose.
I sit beside her, take her hand in mine. Her skin is cold, but it’s soft, and her fingers are so fine, I kiss them. One by one and my tears fall on her knuckles.
“I love you,” I tell her, knowing I need to buy a ring to slip on her finger.
She is my heart, my life, my forever. And I need to sit here, by her side, until she awakens.
Chapter Nine
Jonah
Three weeks have passed. Three weeks where we keep vigil, day and night, Tanner and me.
We have come to an understanding… we both love Faith, and neither of us will leave her for long.
The first week we trade places, four hours on, four hours off. By week two, he decides to sleep at home, with his wife and children. “You will stay here, though, won’t you?”
I nod, adjusting myself on the small couch in her room, pulling out my phone to read more about comas, about patients who come out of them on their own. Most people wake between two and four weeks. God how I pray she is one of those statistics.
But after another week where she lies silent, unmoving, the doctors run more tests, more assessments, and people begin mentioning decisions.
When Faith’s primary caregiver, Doctor Martin, calls Tanner into his office to update him on results of the latest lab work, I sit by Faith’s side, my chest aching for the information that Tanner is receiving.
“I’m here, Faith, you aren’t alone,” I whisper, kissing her cheek. I brush her hair, rearrange the bouquets of flowers that have been delivered. I read her the letters and notes our friends on this mountain have sent, wishing her well, full of love and hope.
When Tanner enters the hospital room, with Doctor Martin behind him, I’m immediately on alert. “Is everything okay?” I ask, setting down one of the cards she received today.
Tanner’s eyes are rimmed in red, and I see he is near breaking. “Tell him,” he says to Martin.
Clearing his throat, Martin addresses me. “There have been some unexpected developments, Jonah. Ones we think you need to be privy to.”
I brace myself for whatever might come next. The reality of Faith’s fragile condition pressing against my chest. “Tell me, what is it?”
“After a round of tests and blood work over the last twenty-four hours, we’ve come to learn that Faith is pregnant.”
The room spins as I try to grasp his words. Tanner is shaking and Doctor Martin grips my shoulder. “I understand this is a shock, it is for everyone. The reality is that Faith, while in a coma, is carrying a fetus. And from our understanding, you were her only partner.”
Pregnant. Faith is pregnant with my child. Our child.
I move to her. Her delicate condition is the only thing keeping me from cradling her in my arms, holding her close, never letting her go. “Oh, Faith,” I cry. “Your dream, you wanted to be a mother and now… now…” I know I’m holding on by a thread; the news is so shocking and overwhelming that I don’t trust myself to fall apart here and now. How fucking unfair, how wrong, how broken. Faith deserves to be present for this news, this moment where her life changes forever.
“We will need you to go to the lab for blood work to confirm paternity,’ Doctor Martin says. “Once that has been verified, you—”
“I’ll go, now.” I stand, collecting myself, needing something tangible to do. For Faith. For our baby.
Tanner’s shoulder shake. “My little girl, it’s unfair,” he says. “Goddammit.”
Virginia enters the room, and she wraps Tanner in a big hug, the pain visible on everyone’s faces.
I leave them alone, knowing it is too
horrific to talk about right now. Tanner and I have barely come to terms with one another, and now this.
Josie comes to the hospital after I finish the blood work and we head to the cafeteria to get lunch. I couldn’t tell her about the pregnancy over the phone. Now we are sitting with ham sandwiches and colas, and I tell her the news.
“Holy shit, Jonah. You’re going to be a father?”
I nod. “Faith’s condition hasn’t changed except for this. The doctor says there have been cases where women in comas have carried pregnancies to term. Apparently in the UK, a woman was in a car crash when she was only two weeks pregnant, no one knew, but eventually, it became clear. She delivered the baby while unconscious.”
“That’s incredible. I mean, so sad, but…”
“Possible.”
“So, no one is talking about termin—”
I cut her off, the word causing my heart to pound. “Not at all. Our baby is a miracle, Josie.”
“I know, of course, I want this baby to be born as much as anyone. I just don’t know how it affects Faith.”
I nod. “It doesn’t change things, except they will up her calories. That’s the biggest concern, her staying strong and gaining plenty of weight.” I shake my head, not touching my food. I can’t bear to eat at a time like this. “And Tanner won’t look at me. With reason. Fuck, I thought we were making progress and now… shit, Jos. What if she doesn’t wake up?”
Josie’s hand squeezes mine. “One thing at a time. Have courage.”
“I do, but it’s so fucking hard. One day is all we had. And now…”
“Now you are having a baby. Focus on that. On being a father. Faith and your child need you now more than ever. You can do this Jonah. You can be the man they need.”
She’s right of course. I can’t change the facts right now. Faith is in a coma and we don’t know what that might mean long term.
But short term — today — I need to trust that my family will be okay.
“I can do this,” I tell Josie. “I can be a better man than my own father was. I can be strong for my family.”
FAITHFUL: The Mountain Man’s Babies Page 4
