Page 21 of Finding Hope

They waited and waited and still no Shannon. Her family all huddled together while he stood alone. Where the hell was she? He needed to see that she was okay.

Another ten minutes passed before he stepped into the hall and moved toward the nurses’ station. “Excuse me,” he said. “You took my girlfriend for a CT scan a while ago and we haven’t heard anything. Can you please tell me something, anything?”

“I’ll see what I can find out for you.” He turned to head back to the room when he heard his name being called and saw Hunter moving quickly toward him.

“How is she?”

“I don’t know. They took her back for a CT scan a while ago and we haven’t heard anything yet. I’m freaking the fuck out. I can’t lose her or our son.” A throat clearing interrupted them and Jonathon turned to see that it was Shannon’s father. “The nurse went to check on Shannon,” he told him.

“Stay positive. She’s going to be fine.” He grabbed Jonathon’s shoulder and gave it a squeeze. They went back into the room and a few minutes later, a man in scrubs came walking in.

The man stopped right in front of Jonathon. “You came in with Ms. O’Tool? I’m Dr. Reese.”

“Yes, sir, we’re together. That’s my baby she’s carrying. This is her family. Where is she? Why haven’t you brought her back in yet?”

Jonathon watched the man look at the chart in his hand and then at back at him. “We took Ms. O’Tool back for her CT. We’re worried because she has yet to regain consciousness. They noticed right away on her CT scan that she’s got a cerebral contusion. Now, that happens after head trauma. We’re going to need to monitor her very closely. They’re going to admit her to the ICU for now.”

Shannon’s mom spoke up from behind him. “What about the baby?”

“They’re monitoring the baby very closely. Shannon is contracting, but they’re very irregular. She’s dilated to one centimeter, but they’ll check her again if her contractions begin to form a pattern.”

“Can we see her?” Jonathon asked. His voice sounded strange in his own ears.

“I’ll take you down to the ICU waiting room. Unfortunately, only two of you will be able to go in at a time for now.”

Everyone was silent as they moved through the halls until they reached the ICU waiting room. “She’s in bed four. Good luck.” They all thanked him and then started deciding who would go in first.

Of course there was no question that her parents would go first. Jonathon watched them step through the sliding glass doors. Hunter stood beside him, grabbing his shoulder. “Do you want me to stay with you?”

“No, man. Go home to Brooke and the kids. Thanks for being here.” After promising to update Hunter later on, Jonathon called his sister and asked her to keep Josie overnight. Tessa was sending Cash up with a change of clothes and tennis shoes. His sister was going to tell Josie that he had to work. Jonathon didn’t want Josie to worry, especially since she was still having trouble because of Tessa’s assault.

In the waiting room, Jonathon sat on one side of the room while Michael, Mary, and Kelsey sat on the other. For once, Kelsey wasn’t giving him the stink eye. He leaned his head back against the wall and closed his eyes tightly.

“Jonathon?” His eyes jerked open and Shannon’s mom sat down next to him.

“How is she?” He scrubbed his face with his hands while his stomach began to turn again. It was fear of the unknown that was killing him. With Alex, they knew the battle they were losing, but now he had no clue.

She surprised him again and grabbed his hand between hers. “She looks like she’s sleeping. The baby’s heartbeat sounded real strong. From the monitor, it looks like she’s still contracting, so they’ve started steroid shots to help mature his lungs. They’ve also started a medication to try to stop her contractions, but it may take some time before we know if it worked.”

“Thank you, Mrs. O’Tool. I haven’t told Josie yet. I don’t want her worrying about Shannon and Henry yet.”

“Honey, call me Margaret. So Henry, huh?”

“Josie was the one who suggested it. It’s from a book that my mom used to read to my sister and me when we were little. Tessa read it to Josie and I guess it stayed with her. Shannon never said for sure that’s what she wanted to name him, but when Josie called her to tell her, my baby girl was excited that Shannon seemed to love it.” Jonathon knew he was babbling, but he was worried and nervous and just wanted to see Shannon.

She squeezed his hand. “I love the name.”

After that, Cash showed up with clothes and after Jonathon changed, he went back to the waiting room. Luckily, Hunter had taken his service revolver back to the station for him earlier.

When it was finally his turn to go see Shannon he walked silently side by side with Shannon’s sister, Mary. He’d met her a few times, but didn’t really know her. When they reached her room, he took a deep breath and followed Mary inside.

Sure enough, Shannon looked like she was sleeping. He watched Mary move toward the bed, grabbing her hand. “Okay, brat. Time to stop this and wake up.” She laughed, but it sounded painful. “Of course, you can’t even hear me. Please wake up.”

Jonathon put a hand on Mary’s shoulder.

He gave her a squeeze and then let go. His hands shook as he reached out, placing one hand on Shannon’s belly and gripping her fingers with the other, letting her know he was there.

“Henry?” Jonathon whispered toward Shannon’s belly. “Henry, it’s your daddy. I need you to stay in your mommy for just a little…a little bit longer. We want you big and strong when you come. I love you, bud.” His voice cracked at the end. The burning in his eyes began, but he clenched them shut tightly to stop any tears from falling.

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