Page 125 of Finding Fate

“No, Jenna. It’s fine. He can wait until Izzy’s out of surgery,” Chuck replied and then looked at his son, “But you’re getting looked at before we leave.”

“Okay,” he agreed grudgingly and went to sit back down. He wanted to argue but knew from his father’s tone it would only be a waste of time.

Barely a minute passed before the door to the waiting room opened. They all looked up expectantly, and Tucker’s stomach started flip-flopping violently around when he saw the doctor step into the room.

“Bridgette,” the doctor greeted. She swallowed nervously, staring at her coworker. “Everyone here is for Isabel?” the older man asked.

“Yes,” she replied firmly, moving shakily to her feet as Jenna squeezed her hand in support.

They all stood, taking her cue for the doctor’s update. Tucker felt unsteady on his feet. It was suddenly much harder to breathe. He felt as though the very meaning for his life hung on what the doctor had to say. Jet and his father each gripped one of his shoulders. Annie was back by her mother’s side. They waited.

Compassion well in place, the doctor started. “As you know, she had quite a few injuries, but overall, the surgery went well. We casted her broken ankle and arm and managed to stop the internal bleeding. Still, we’ll need to monitor her head injury for the next few days to watch for swelling so she’ll need to be sedated for a while, but we have every reason to believe Isabel will make a full recovery.”

Relief flooded throughout the room, and the women hugged as the majority of their fears were set aside.

Tucker’s sense of relief was very brief. He hadn’t missed what the doctor failed to mention. The one thing he knew Izzy would care about when she woke.

“What about the baby?” he managed to croak.

The tension in the room grew so heavy it felt like a weight was pushing him to the ground. His knees started shaking under the pressure of what he might hear.

The doctor’s face was suddenly grave. “I’m sorry,” was all he said before Tucker sank to the floor.

The weight of his grief overtook him, the pressure too strong for his body to support. He felt as though his heart had just been ripped from his chest. His lungs burned from lack of oxygen, but he couldn’t breathe.

“It could be worse,”he tried to tell himself. “You could have lost Izzy, too.”

But it was a poor comfort. The loss of their unborn child was crippling to him, and he knew Izzy would take it worse. He’d only been attached to their baby for a matter of weeks. Destiny had been Izzy’s life for months. The news would kill her inside, and that would be just as bad, if not worse, as if he’d lost them both in the first place.

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