Page 31 of Waiting for Her

“Not that it’s any of your business, but she did say no, and I agree with her. It was too soon and I get that now, but that doesn’t diminish how much I love her and want to be with her until my last breath.”

The rage is boiling as I stand, pushing out of my chair and pacing the room. One half of me wants to punch a wall and the other half wants to burst into tears.

“She honestly said no?” Drew repeats, his eyes as wide as mine when she told me no.

I nod, a slight smile creeping into his features as he laughs softly.

“Thatta girl,” he jokes, making me laugh.

“I still can’t get over that you proposed,” Mark whispers, causing Drew to burst into laughter.

“Just because you’re incapable of finding someone to tolerate your personality, doesn’t mean your brother is the same,” Drew says as Mark throws daggers his way.

And just when I open my mouth to say something else, the doctor opens the door and walks in.

“Are you the family of Addison Moore?”

We all nod, standing and bracing for the worst.

“Are you the father?” he asks, looking directly at me and I nod, knowing that’s exactly what I am even without the paperwork. “Congratulations, you have a very healthy baby girl.”

My knees give out just as Mark wraps his arms around me, holding me upright. The relief is palpable as my brain tries to wrap itself around the fact that I’m a father now. A girl? Oh fuck, I’m a dead man if that little one looks anything like her mother.

“How is Addison?” I ask, needing this last piece of the puzzle to let the weight that’s holding down my shoulders lift.

But when I expect him to smile, I see a flicker of darkness and my heart sinks to the floor as I brace for the worst.

“I’m not going to lie to you. She was touch and go there for a minute. She lost a lot of blood and we had to give her a transfusion, but she’s come out the other side and is stable. She’s on her way to the ICU for observation as we speak.”

My body is frozen, my mind reeling as I take in the fact that I was minutes away from losing the love of my life. How can he tell me something so monumental with such ease? How can he stand there and look me dead in the eyes and not realize that he just rocked me to my core with just a few sentences?

“She’s going to be okay?” Drew asks for me, his voice in his throat as the doctor’s eyes meet his and fill with understanding and an ounce of pity.

“From what I saw, she’s going to be just fine. But we are watching her closely to make sure she wakes up.”

Those words slice me open as my limbs go numb.

“Wake up?”

“With procedures like this, the sedation can take a toll on the body and sometimes patients take a little bit longer than normal to come out of it.”

My heart starts to stutter at the idea of Addison never waking up.

“When can we see her?” Mark asks for me, his hand resting on my shoulder, grounding me back to this reality, the one where she’s alive and still breathing.

“I’ll have the nurse find you when she’s ready. In the meantime, would you like to meet your daughter?”

All the air leaves my lungs as my eyes widen.

“I can see her?”

The doctor smiles, nodding as he motions for us to follow him. He weaves in and out of hallways until we are stopped in front of a glass wall. I honestly thought this room was only something they used on television shows, but right now, standing in front of this glass wall and knowing that my daughter is somewhere in there is causing a rush of tears to fill my eyes.

Just as I’m about to tap on the glass and ask which one is mine, a woman in pink scrubs walks over, a small bundle cradled in her arms.

“Holy shit,” I whisper, Mark and Drew beside me as I meet my daughter for the first time.

At that moment I fall completely and irrevocably in love with this little girl and vow to always protect her, no matter what comes our way.

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