The steady thump of footsteps towards her stilled her advance—a tremor of panic shot down her back—and she waited to see what was coming her way. The footsteps came closer and her heavy breathing filled her ears.
Breaking through the bright, foggy light were two figures—one tall and one small like a child. As they approached her, Mia took a step back and shook her head. No.
“Hi, baby girl.”
No. It couldn’t be. She studied the figure who now stood in front of her. That hair, that face …
“Tom?” she asked unbelievingly. This place was so bright it was playing with her eyes. Where the hell was she and who was that little girl next to Tom with curly hair the same color as his and eyes dark as mud?
“Yeah … it’s me and you’re in a place you’re not ready to be in.”
She hadn’t asked that question out loud, had she?
“No, you didn’t,” Tom said with a smirk. “Wish I had this ability when I first met you …”
No. That would have been embarrassing.
“No, it would have been awesome.”
“Tom! Get out of my mind,” she shouted, gripping the top of her head, panic beginning to attack her and making her feel uncomfortable in her own body.
“Calm down, Mia.”
“Tom, where am I?” she asked out loud this time, her eyes fixated on the beautiful little girl by his side.
“Where do you think, baby girl? Where am I?”
Her head shook back and forth repeatedly, not wanting to say it. She couldn’t be here with him. This wasn’t real.
“Where am I, Mia?” he repeated.
“Heaven …” she whispered, tears rushing to her eyes and falling when the strangled sob escaped her throat.
Letting go of the little girl’s hand, Tom stepped forward until he was right in front of her. His eyes so sad when he replied. “Yeah.”
“Tom—” she cried out and then his arms were around her, holding her to him, comforting her and it felt like the real thing. She clutched him, fighting the truths that were trying to get her to see. “Why am I here? I don’t understand …”
Smoothing back her hair, he peered at her again with those sad eyes. “Something went wrong during the delivery of your boys—”
“Are they okay?” she asked, fear gripping her heart.
“Yes, they are. You, on the other hand …”
With a sigh of relief that her babies were okay, she stepped out of his embrace slightly and looked up at him. “Are you real?”
“As real as I can get …”
“I miss you,” she said on a long sigh.
A sad smile broke out on his face. “I miss you too.”
They stood like that, staring into each other’s eyes, silent meanings passing back and forth, until Tom cleared his throat. “Very handsome boys you made there, and they have a great birthday.”
She smiled up at him. Tom’s birthday … as well as the day he died.
Her smile faltered and she looked at him—he knew what she had just thought. “Yeah, that too. And I’m still not going to let you join me on that day either. You need to go back, Mia. It’s not time for you to be here.”
“I don’t want to leave you alone.”
“I’m not alone. I’m always with you guys—you, Marc, and Lizzie. I know how you’re doing. I hear those thoughts.”
Her tears fell then. “Oh, God! This is so fucking unfair!”
“Go back, baby girl. I’m just fine here,” he said, looking back at the little girl watching them with her big, dark eyes. “Be a mother to those two little boys. Don’t give up. Fight. Fight for everything you want. Don’t ever stop. Keep living your life. Okay?”
She couldn’t speak through the tears, so she nodded.
“Promise me!” he yelled with a tinge of panic in his voice.
“I promise,” she told him on an exhale of breath.
“I need you to go now,” he said, pushing her towards the darkness and chaotic noise.
She stumbled and called out to him. “Tom!”
“Mia! Go now or it will be too late! Please!” he begged.
She took a step back towards him and his eyes went wide in fear. “Tom! Who is she? Who’s the little girl?”
He stalked towards her, determination lining his face, and with his hands on her arms, he walked her backwards so quickly, her feet slipped. That didn’t stop him and when she reached the edge of the light, he pushed her back to the darkness at the same time he spoke. “Our baby girl.”
With a jolt, the noise level assaulted her ears. Her instinct was to cover them from the painful noise but she couldn’t. Her arms seemed pinned down. She couldn’t move them, nor could she open her eyes to see where she was.
“There!” a man shouted as the blaring beeping calmed down. “I think we’ve got it!”
A loud cheer erupted around her. “Her pressure is stabilizing,” said a woman to her right.
“Thank God!” came the voice of her husband, thick with emotion.
“Mr. Christopher, why don’t you go with the nurses and they’ll take you to the nursery to see your sons? Your wife is going to be okay.”
Oh shit, Mia thought. She was in the hospital. What the hell happened? Why couldn’t she see him? Why couldn’t she talk?
“I love you, suga,” Ethan said, his lips lightly pressed against that spot where her ear and cheek met. “Thank you for staying with me.”
Allie
When the tall figure of Ethan walking with his hand on top of the cart carrying his two sons entered the hallway, Allie smiled and stood up, in the process kicking Luke’s leg to alert him. A small laugh fell from his lips before he took in a deep breath.
“Come on,” Luke said, putting his large, comforting hand at the small of her back. They walked quickly towards Ethan and she knew something was wrong. Ethan’s expression wasn’t one of joy. No, it was haunted. Allie hesitated and latched onto Luke’s hand. He looked at her with questioning eyes. She knew he was confused by her action—she was too, but it just felt right. Jerking her head towards Ethan, she said, “His face.” As they got closer, Allie saw his bloodshot eyes. Something was definitely wrong. Her gaze fell on the cart and she counted … one, two little boys. That’s when it hit her—Mia. “Oh fuck,” she said softly. Allie looked to Luke. On the outside, he appeared calm, but the tightening of his grip on her hand told her otherwise.
Luke went to Ethan and grasped his shoulder. “Man, you look like hell. You all right?”
Ethan grabbed his forehead, rubbing hard at it, before running his hand over his scalp, pulling off the hairnet. “No, I’m not all right. I just witnessed my wife have a seizure, bleed out, and almost die. I’m not okay,” he said, his words choking on the flood of emotions rushing through him.
Instinct had Allie reaching out for his hand. Luke pulled Ethan into his arms, where he basically collapsed. She let go of Luke and wrapped her other arm around Ethan and held his head to hers. The two of them held Ethan up as he cried in their arms. The big, tough quarterback sobbing because his wife almost died had tears of her own streaming out of her eyes.
“She’s okay?” Luke croaked. Allie’s eyes darted to Luke and saw the pain on his face. His best friend, one of the most important people in his life was in trouble.
“I think so,” Ethan said, breaking free of the embrace. He quickly dried off his face, doing what he could to erase the evidence of his tears. Nodding at the staff, they continued to the nursery. His sons were wheeled into the room, but Ethan stayed out, watching them through the big window. Allie could tell he needed to let it out. He was barely holding it together right now.
“What the fuck?” he cursed loudly, spinning around and sliding down the wall to the floor. Allie followed him to the ground, throwing an arm around his shoulders and pulling him to her. Luke stood above them, doing what he could to give them some privacy.
“This is supposed to be a happy time—I’ve got two sons, but my wife …”
“What happened?” Luke asked.
Taking a deep breath, Ethan told the story and Allie listened with her heart in her throat as he recounted what happened. “God, I don’t even know. My mind wasn’t working. I just … I just was staring at her still form on the table. She was so pale, so frail. I thought I had lost her. I have never been so scared in my entire life. I—” He stopped and ran his hand through his hair. “She wasn’t awake when I left. I knew she’d want me with our boys, but …”
Luke lowered himself to their level, grabbing Ethan’s leg, then looked at her. “Allie, can you stay here with him? I’m going to see if I can find out any information about Mia.” She nodded quickly. He then focused on their friend. “Ethan, stay with your babies. I’ll be back. Okay?”
Ethan nodded and closed his eyes. Luke bolted up and walked away, back the way they had come. Then Luke stopped, his hand going to his face and his shoulders were slightly shaking. Her eyes started to water as she realized he was sobbing. After a few moments, he stood taller, composing himself more than likely. He wiped his eyes and continued on. She watched after him until he was out of sight, then she turned her focus back on Ethan.
“Come on. Let’s get up and look at those boys of yours. Are they identical? Who do they look like? Hopefully they don’t have your ugly mug,” she joked, hoping to get him to laugh.
When he did, she released him from her embrace and stood up, extending her hand to him.
“Thanks, Allie,” he said, giving her a kiss on her cheek.
“Anytime, Ethan.”
And she meant it. She’d do anything for them.
Luke
The woman at the nurse’s station was quite helpful and easy with Mia’s room number. He found the room but it was still empty. Standing in the hallway, he waited for them to bring Mia back from the operating room. Luke needed to see her, needed to make sure she was in one piece with his own eyes.
God, he couldn’t imagine his life without her. She was family—his person.
Leaning against the wall, his eyes were all over the place as he waited for Mia. Finally, he saw her being wheeled back, and thankfully, she seemed to be awake. The damn tears came again. He brushed them back and put a smile on his face.
Get it together, man.
“Luke!” she said quietly but excitedly. Hurrying to the gurney, he smiled down on her.
“Hey there! Nice of you not to leave us.”
“Yeah … sorry about that,” she said sheepishly. He couldn’t help the chuckle that escaped his lips. He leaned down and kissed her forehead.
“Please don’t ever do that again.”
“I promise,” she said, trying to grab his hand with her shaky one but failing. To spare her from trying again, he took her hand in his. “What the fuck? Why am I shaking like this?”
“One of the side effects of the anesthesia,” said the nurse. “It’ll wear off.”
Luke let go of her hands so they could transfer her from the gurney to the more comfortable bed in her room.
“Ooh, I’m hooked up,” she said, noticing the IV in her hand. “What’s in this IV? Anything good?”
Dr. Kendall laughed as he came into the room. “Right now, you’re still getting a blood transfusion.”
Mia’s eyes bulged open at that. “Really?”
“Miss Mia, you are one lucky lady,” he said, checking her machines.
“That bad, huh?”
“Yeah, I was scared, and a doctor shouldn’t be. I thought we were going to lose you.”
Luke watched her briefly close her eyes before pasting a smile on her face. “But I’m here and I’m going to be fine, right?”
The doctor sat down beside her. “Yes … these medicines,” he said, pointing at the bags hanging from the IV stand, “are helping to control the bleeding and the seizures.”
“What happened? Why? I need to know—step by step,” Mia asked soberly. “All I remember is feeling like something was not right after the first baby was born. I heard my son cry, but nothing after that …”
“I’m not surprised that you don’t remember,” he said and proceeded to tell Mia, step by step, what happened, as she’d asked.
“I seized?” she asked, confusion wrinkling her face.
“Yes, and you are on a medicine to help prevent that from happening again. Lots of good stuff being pumped into you right now.”
“Uh, how long was the seizure?”
“A little over a minute. You lost consciousness and stopped breathing.”
She’d stopped breathing? Luke wasn’t an expert by any means, but he knew that meant a lack of oxygen to her brain. What kind of effect would that have on her? He’d have to look this up later or ask when he was away from Mia.
“You had what we call an eclamptic seizure,” the doctor continued, “that caused the placenta to tear away from your uterus too soon causing all the blood loss.”
“Wait! That’s because of high blood pressure. Mine had gone back to normal … I don’t understand,” she told him.
“It came back—big time. Expect a lot of attention from my staff, and not because you’re a celebrity.”
“Blah, I rather sign autographs,” she complained, letting her head fall back against the pillows.
“I know,” Luke and the doctor said in unison. Mia laughed but sobered up, her eyes darting all over the room.
“When can I see my babies?” she asked Dr. Kendall.
“They’re getting cleaned up and having their first checkup. When that’s done, you’ll get to meet them, okay?”
She nodded and then looked around the room. “Where’s Ethan? I’m the worst wife ever. I didn’t even notice he wasn’t here until now.”
Luke took her hand, waiting until her wandering eyes focused on him. “He’s with your boys. Allie’s with him …”
He didn’t want to tell her what shape Ethan had been in when he’d left him, but she sensed his hesitation and attacked. “And?”
“I’d give him a bit to pull himself together. He saw all that happen, Mia,” Luke admitted and kind of cursed himself when he saw the dread cross her face. A mistake had been made.
Mia
“I want my husband. Now!” she demanded, her voice rising. She needed to see Ethan. Oh God, he saw all that … she could only imagine what he’d thought.
“Mia,” Luke started.
“Now, Luke!” she yelled. “Bring my husband to me. Please!”
“Mia, calm down,” her doctor said. She noticed him watching the monitors and knew she was making him nervous, but she needed—
“Is that my wife throwing a fit?” Ethan said, walking through the door. She saw his strained smile and immediately started to cry.
“Ethan,” she cried. Luke made a hasty exit from the bed as Ethan came to her, his hands cupping her face and capturing her mouth in an intense kiss. She felt all his emotion flowing through him as his lips moved upon hers.
“Please … I can’t handle that again. Okay? Please?”
“I’m sorry,” she said, kissing him again. “I’m so sorry, baby.”
The emotion coming from him scared her. Things must have been really bad to have him and Luke both with bloodshot eyes. Her two precious men.
“So, Doc, can I have a word?” Ethan said, standing up and gesturing towards the door.
“Sure thing, Ethan,” he said before looking at Mia. “Rest, please. I’d like you to see your boys today.”
“Yes, sir.”
After the two men left, Luke returned to her side, letting her cuddle up against him. He kissed her forehead and spoke words she already knew. “You know, you made me cry today.”
“I know.”
“You do?”
“You can wipe away the tears, but the eyes will forever tell the truth.”
“I love you. You can’t ever leave me, okay?”
“You can’t get rid of me, sweets,” she said, using his term of endearment against him.
“Good,” he said, holdi
ng her tight in his comforting embrace.
“So, Ethan’s asking the doctor to tell him what happened, huh?”
“Yeah.”
“I scared him pretty bad, hmm?”
“Yes, you did.”
“I hate making him cry.”
“Then stop.”
She laughed, feeling the pain in her abdomen. “It’s not like I intended for all this to happen, you know.”
“I know. I was kidding … well, not really.”
A few minutes later, Ethan returned sans doctor. Luke left them alone, saying he was going to keep Allie company. Her husband stood at the foot of the bed, staring at her.
“Come here, Ethan,” she said, holding her hand out to him. “Lie with me.”
She scooted to the edge as best she could but it was harder than she thought. The pain from her incision made it slow going. He worked with the space he had and she turned her body towards him, resting her head on his chest. She lay snuggled against the strength of her husband and listened to his strong heartbeat, letting that beautiful sound calm her. Sleep was threatening and she may have dozed off.
Her head lifted slightly off of Ethan’s chest when she heard the mingled voices of Luke and Allie outside of the room. Luke burst through the door with a smile and his phone in hand. “Get ready, Momma. Your boys are coming.”
That got her up. Ethan too.
“What?” she asked, grimacing as she tried to push herself into a seated position.
“Yeah, they were rolling them out. You should be meeting your boys any second now.”
Mia was so anxious to meet those two little people that had occupied her stomach all these months.
The door opened and two nurses came in with the rolling crib holding her sons—the life she’d created with the love of her life.
“Our babies,” she said softly yet loud enough that Ethan heard her and kissed her forehead.
“Yes. Our beautiful babies. Ready to meet them?”
She beamed up at him and nodded her head. “So ready!”
She knew Luke and Allie were going crazy taking pictures but Mia was focused on her boys in the crib. All snuggled up in the hospital blanket. The nurse quietly left them as Ethan went to the bassinet and lifted one of the babies. He returned to her and placed the baby in her arms. “This is the oldest boy.”
Never Over You Page 10
