I lifted my eyes to meet her green gaze. Her brow was furrowed and she looked stressed. I felt numb, like I had turned something off inside of myself so I didn’t have to feel. There was no panic, no fear now. Just nothing. Layla was moaning and crying and I was doing nothing!

“I’ll help you through this, Jesse,” Emmie told me calmly. “I’ll help you. But you have to help Layla, okay? She’s not calm. Her heart rate is off the charts and the contractions are coming quick and hard. She needs you. Hold her hand. Kiss her. Tell her everything is going to be okay.”

“Is it?” I whispered.

Before she could say anything I saw the answer in her eyes. Emmie didn’t know. She couldn’t promise me anything because she didn’t know if Layla or the twins were going to be okay. Blinking back the sudden tears burning my eyes, I moved to take Layla’s hand.

Immediately her heart rate slowed marginally. I bent my head and brushed my lips over her brow, unable to kiss her lips because there was an oxygen mask over her face. She was shaking in both fear and pain and I buried my face in her hair. “It’s okay, baby. Everything is going to be okay,” I lied.

From there everything moved as if on fast forward. The ambulance came to a screeching halt and the back doors were thrown open. A team of people in scrubs stood there and quickly grabbed the gurney Layla was on, pulling it out. I chased after them as they raced into the hospital and toward the elevator.

But when I started to get on the elevator with them a stern-looking woman pushed me back. “Sir, I’m sorry but your wife needs an emergency C-section. Your wife’s heart rate is too fast while the babies’ are dropping. There’s no time to spare. Someone will show you to the waiting room.” The doors started closing before she finished speaking and I just stood there, watching the doors shut, taking my life with it.

--

A nurse showed me and Emmie to the OR waiting room. We didn’t speak once we were left alone. Em pushed me down into the closest seat and left for a moment, returning with the foulest smelling coffee known to man. It was sickly sweet and bitter. She forced me to drink two cups of it before sitting down and holding my hand.

I put my head in my free hand, silently praying. Tears were rolling down my cheeks and I didn’t bother to brush them away. A week ago my life had been pretty damn close to perfect. Now it was falling apart and I was helpless to stop it. If I lost Layla that was it. Game over. I wouldn’t be able to go on.

Lana and Drake arrived with Harper and Shane right behind them. Lana threw her arms around my neck, hugging me tight. I couldn’t move to hug her back. Was unable to offer her any comfort. How could I when I was slowly dying inside?

Time seemed to slow down until even the tick tocks of the clock on the wall were delayed.

The doors opened again and Nik walked in with Mia in one arm and Lucy holding his hand. Seeing my daughter broke something open inside of me and I stood without thinking. She seemed to see the truth in my eyes and then she was in my arms, sobbing just as brokenly as I suddenly was. “Is Mom going to be okay?” she whispered, the infrequently used ‘Mom’ slipping out without either of us noticing.

“I hope so, Lu. I hope so.”

Chapter 12

Emmie

If you think my life is great and exciting, please think again.

In the moment I heard the ambulance I knew something was wrong. The second I saw Jesse carrying Layla toward the noisy thing, my life felt like it actually stopped for a minute. None of the other shit that was going on in my life mattered except that I could possibly be losing my best friend.

Oh sure, women have babies every day of the week. Every hour. Every minute. I’ve had one and another was growing inside of me. But Layla was in serious trouble. I wasn’t sure how much of the conversation I’d had with the EMT Jesse had comprehended—he was nearly catatonic by that time—but things weren’t good.

During the last few doctor’s visits Layla’s blood pressure had been on the high side. Traces of protein in her urine had also been a slight cause for worry. The doctor had said it was all normal, after all she was seven months pregnant with twins. Twins that were growing at the speed of light and to the point that the doctor had already been talking about setting the date for her C-section. Sure, the chick had the hips to push those little giants out, but the twins hadn’t gotten into the right positions to have a vaginal birth.

As we rode in the ambulance toward the closest hospital with a maternity ward, Layla’s blood pressure was off the charts. Her heart rate heading toward two hundred and the dark skinned EMT kept shooting me glances that told me all I needed to know. After I was able to snap Jesse out of his shocked stupor he was able to calm his wife, but only marginally.

By the time we got to the hospital, Layla’s breathing was becoming more labored. A team of doctors and nurses was waiting on us, ready to take her straight up to deliver the babies. Jesse withdrew into himself again as the waiting room filled with our family and he didn’t even move until Nik walked in with Lucy.

Of course the world didn’t stand still while ours was going to hell. The press had gotten wind of what was going on. The first photographer caught me off guard and was actually in the waiting room with us long enough to snap a few of everyone looking scared and helpless.

Shane was the closest and lunged for the man with a smirk on his face, causing Mia to scream. The photographer was quick and was out the door before Shane could reach him. When Shane started to follow after him, his need to take out his pent up emotions on something and that douchebags face the most likely source, Harper caught him around the waist and pulled him down into a chair as far away from the door as possible. I heard her tell him to calm down and whispered something that had him snapping out of it and looking toward Mia to see just how frightened she was.

My gaze went to Mia who was clinging to Nik’s neck, hiding her face in his chest. We had kept her away from all of this nonsense, had tried to shelter her and Lucy from the picture hungry paparazzi. “Fuck this shit!” I muttered under my breath so as not to scare Mia and Lucy any more than they already were.

I didn’t want to leave Jesse. At the moment he needed me more than anyone else, but there was no way around it. I glanced at Lana, her face drenched in tears. But when she caught my eye she nodded and moved to sit beside her brother-in-law, taking his hand to replace my own.

Before I reached the door, Nik caught my hand and gave it a squeeze. “I love you,” he whispered.