Page 97 of The Light to My Darkness (The Light to My Darkness 1)

Recently, I wasn't sure if she was happy. I saw the frowns when she thought I wasn't looking. The tears that pooled in the corner of her eyes when she got a rejection letter. No one should have been allowed to make her feel like she wasn't good enough. She was perfect. Everything about her was pure perfection. She wanted more out of life. And I didn't blame her. I loved being her husband. I loved being a father. But I loved teaching too. She was allowed to have it all. I could give it all to her.

The plane started to descend. I missed my daughter terribly, but I needed some alone time with Penny. To tell her the good news. To make love to her. Maybe Ellen could take Scarlett to the park and Penny and I could meet up with them later. I pulled out my phone when the wheels touched the ground. As soon as it turned on, it started buzzing. The unread messages icon popped up and started flashing, signaling more and more coming in. Followed by the voicemail icon. Flashing. Flashing. Buzzing.

I was unbuckling my seat belt before we even started moving toward the terminal.

"Mr. Hunter, if you could please remain seated..."

I ignored the flight attendant and clicked on the first voicemail.

"Mr. Hunter, it's Briggs. There's been an incident. Penny is on her way to the hospital. William will drive to the airport as soon as he's dropped her off. You need to come straight to the hospital."

An incident? What kind of incident? "Stop the plane!" I yelled. I tried to call him back, but my phone wasn't working properly yet. Instead, I clicked on another voicemail.

"James, it's Ellen. Scarlett is with me at the house. I didn't know if you'd want me to take her to the hospital. Please call me when you land. If we don't hear from you soon, we're going to head over. She won't stop crying. I don't know what to do."

I started pulling on the handles of the door.

"We can't stop the plane," the flight attendant said.

I clicked on another message as I continued to fumble with the lock.

"James, it's your father. You need to come to the hospital. They just took Penny into surgery. You need to hurry."

No. No, no, no. I slammed my fist against the door.

"I will not ask you again," the flight attendant said. "You need to take your seat."

"My wife is in the hospital. I need to go." It felt like someone was strangling me.

She gave me a sympathetic look. "You can't exit on the landing strip. The sooner you take a seat, the sooner we can pull up to a terminal.

"Fuck!" I slammed my fist against the door again.

"Mr. Hunter!"

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I brushed past her to my seat as I clicked on another message.

"Answer your fucking messages!" Rob yelled. "She needs you. Where the fuck were you, man? Why were you in London? She needed you here."

I buried my face in my hands. Please be okay, baby. Please be okay.

The plane slowly started to roll toward the terminal.

I clicked on another message.

"James, is she okay?" Mrs. Taylor's concerned voice filled my ear. "We're driving up now. I received a voicemail at work." It sounded liked she had started to cry. "Tell me my baby is okay. Please call me back."

It felt like I was choking. "Stop the plane! Stop the fucking plane."

"We're pulling up now," the flight attendant said calmly.

I stood up, grabbed my satchel, and ran back over to the door as I clicked on another message.

"James." It was Rob again. "No one is here to sign off on anything. I don't have any authority to make decisions. They're delivering the baby. That's too soon, right? Seven months is too soon. I tried to tell them that..." Rob cleared his throat. "She's still unconscious. I don't know if she's going to make it. What if she doesn't make it?" The message ended.

Two months was too soon. I was supposed to be there for the birth. I needed to be there. We were going to grow old and gray together. All of this was too soon. I wiped the tears off my cheeks. I couldn't lose her. I couldn't.

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