Page 86 of First Comes Marriage

Don’t give up on us. Sebastian, please.

It was real to me.

He scrubbed his hand over his face. Jesus Christ, he was an asshole. Fuck forgivingher, he needed to beg for her forgiveness. And he didn’t have any idea how to do that. Baz had never asked anyone for absolution before—aside from a priest during confession—and he wasn’t exactly known for being forthcoming with his own forgiveness. Baz was the guy who held a grudge against his friend for ten years because of one sentence in a text message and a handful of things he’d heard out of context. But he didn’t want to be that guy anymore. That guy didn’t deserve to breathe the same air as Sabrina, let alone to call her his wife.

He would make himself worthy of her. He’d do whatever it took, every day, for as long as they both lived, to prove his love to her.

But first, he had to apologize.

And get flowers. Flowers probably wouldn’t hurt. The biggest bouquet of flowers you can find.

Baz turned at the sound of a car approaching, only moderately surprised when he recognized Gavin’s hatchback pulling up beside his BMW. The car was hardly in park when Gavin threw open the door and stormed across the beach towards Baz.

“Where the hell have you been?” Gavin demanded.

“I know. I’m an asshole. I’ll apologize,” Baz said, reaching for his jacket.

“What are you talking about?”

“What areyoutalking about?”

“Tessa’s water broke. She and Jamie are at the hospital now. And Sabrina—” He paused, scanning Baz’s face, his eyes softening in a way that was probably meant to be comforting but sent fear spiking through Baz’s heart.

“What about Sabrina?”

“We have to go,” Gavin said.

“Gav, tell me.”

“She collapsed. In the yard. The paramedics think it might be appendicitis. She’s—”

Baz was already pushing past Gavin, back towards his car, his heart pounding in an endless chant that sounded a lot like his wife’s name.

Hold on, wildflower. I’m coming.

“Baz, you can’t drive.” Gavin had to run to catch up to him, meeting him at his car door. “Come on. I’ll take you.”

***

It had been hours. Or maybe onlyanhour? Time had no meaning in the pale seafoam green hospital waiting room where Baz had been pacing since he and Gavin arrived.

Gavin sat in one of the identical chairs, flipping througheach of the magazines on the little side table until he’d been reduced to doing the hidden picture searches in theHighlights.He didn’t say a word. He hardly even looked at Baz. And somehow it helped. Knowing Gavin was there, waiting for when Baz needed him, but pretending he was too engrossed in finding the green teacup hidden in the tree leaves to pay attention to Baz’s breakdown.

“It’s been too long,” Baz said, mostly to himself, as he passed Gavin and began another lap around the mostly deserted waiting room.

Gavin glanced up at him, his face a neutral mask. “It takes as long as it takes.”

Baz scoffed, scraping his hand along his jaw, and came to a stop in front of his friend. “They have to know something by now.”

Gavin set down the magazine. “She’s going to be okay. The nurse said she was awake in the ambulance and during her scans, talking to the doctors before they took her in for surgery. Someone will come get you when they know something.”

When they’d arrived at the hospital, the astringent scent of ammonia cleaners and the hum of the fluorescent lights had snapped into stark reality. Sabrina—hisSabrina—was here, somewhere behind those double doors, in surgery, in pain, scared and alone. He’d left heralone.

He dug his hands into his pockets, fingering the rings they’d given him when he’d arrived. Her wedding rings, removed before she went into surgery. He should have been there.

Baz sank into a seat next to Gavin.

She doesn’t even know I love her.

---