“Can I see her?”

“Not yet,” William said, “they won’t let any of us back yet.”

Feeling defeated, Tate crumbled into the nearest chair, bracing his head in his hands as the tears pooled into his eyes. He needed to see her; he needed to touch her for this to be real. For him to know she was alive and not dead. That her skin was warm and not ice cold like his family’s had been. That she was going to make it. He needed her to make it.

“Tate.”

Hearing his name, he looked up and saw Fallon standing, along with the rest of her family as a man in his early thirties entered the waiting room.

“Hello, I’m Dr. Rivera, I am Ms. Parker’s doctor here in the ICU. As I told you before, her swelling has not gone down. We are waiting for that to happen before they can do the surgery to fix her ankle, and nose. I came out here to tell you all that her test came back, and it appears that she is still pregnant. The OB/GYN on call has not come yet to confirm that the baby-”

“Whoa,” Lucas said interrupting him, “baby?”

“What baby?” William asked before sending a look at Tate.

“Audrey’s pregnant?” Tate gasped.

“Yes, Ms. Parker is six weeks along from what her sister told the ER doctor.”

Everyone looked over at Fallon, who had her eyes glued to the doctor. Tate glanced at Nora and saw nothing but pain and misery in her eyes. William was giving him the death eye as Lucas looked utterly confused. Just as Tate was.

She is pregnant?

I don’t want to talk about it over the phone. But I need you to come home as soon as possible, please.

Tate fell back into his seat, his breathing again out of control as he braced his head on his hands. Was that what she needed to tell him? That they were having a baby? How though?

“She can’t have kids,” Tate whispered, looking down at the floor through his tears. He felt someone sit down beside him on the couch, and when a pair of manicured hands appeared on his bicep, he knew it was Fallon.

“She didn’t think she could. She went to two different doctors today; she even had an ultrasound done. There is a baby in her, your baby, Tate.”

Tate crumbled against her. Fallon wrapped her arms around him, holding him tight as he cried through the pain that was ripping him apart. His beautiful, sweet, amazing Audrey was bruised and broken, in a coma, and there was nothing he could do to help. As if that wasn’t already troubling news, he finds out that she is pregnant with his baby. A baby he might never get to hold because he might lose the woman he loves more than anything in the world. The one who brought light to his darkness, the one who he knew he was going to marry and love for the rest of his life. They should be celebrating the miracle that was their child but instead, he was in an ICU waiting room, finding out that not only he was going to be a dad, but that the swelling in his love’s brain hadn’t changed.

This was not supposed to be happening, he was supposed to come home, ravish the hell out of Audrey and then wake up and do it again.

Why?

What the hell had he done to God to make this happen? Why was he losing everyone he loved? Not only could he lose Audrey but he could lose their unborn child? How the hell was that fair!? Clutching to Fallon, his body shook as he cried. He hated crying in public. There was only one other time he had and that was the day he put his family in the ground back home, the same home he was supposed to visit with Audrey in a couple months.

When he heard someone clear their throat, both he and Fallon looked up to the doctor. He was gripping Audrey’s file and looked nervous as he said, “I understand that this has come as a shock to some of you, but as soon as the OB/GYN comes and I know more, I’ll make sure to relay the message to you. I also wanted to let you know that you all can see her now. Only two at a time and only for a few minutes since visiting hours are coming to a close. One person can stay overnight in the room with her, while everyone else is welcome to stay out here. So whoever is first, please follow me.”

William and Nora popped up without question and followed the doctor to the back. Fallon ran her hand down Tate’s back and when he looked over at her, he saw the tears rolling down her face.

“She was so excited to tell you, Tate. She went grocery shopping to make special cupcakes for you. She couldn’t believe it and she wasn’t even scared. She just wanted her Happily Ever After, with you.”

Tate had a hard time listening to her over the loud roar of his beating heart in his ears. He felt like killing Levi Moss all over again, but he knew he would never get his hands on that man. He was already in custody and wasn’t coming out unless someone posted the seven million dollar bond. Tate wanted to post it just so he could beat the shit out of him but what good would that do? It wouldn’t make Audrey better; it wouldn’t keep his child and her alive.

When Nora and William came back, Fallon kissed Tate’s cheek before she and Lucas went into the room. Nora came over, holding Tate in her arms as she cried against his shoulder.

“Everything is going to be okay, Tate. I just know it, she’s going to pull through, she was always the strongest of us women,” Nora whispered.

Tate swallowed loudly as he watched his tears fall onto the ugly green carpet of the waiting room. His palms were sweaty and itchy, and he felt as if his throat was closing shut. He was beyond worried, scared, or nervous. He was broken, and until Audrey looked into his eyes and told him she was okay, he wouldn’t be able to think straight. He knew that it was wrong of him to always think of the bad, but that was all he knew. He had lost his family, his whole family, and now he finds this amazing person who he wants to spend the rest of his life with, start a family of his own with, and it all could be taken away, before it even started? What would he do if she didn’t recover and died, taking their child with her?