I could see in his eyes that he was reliving the day we had brought Mia into the world. As crazy and scary as that day had been this was on a whole new level. I stroked a finger down Mia’s cheek, making her peek over at me and I forced a smile for her sake. See, I was silently saying with that smile, Momma isn’t scared. We had no idea what the outcome was going to be for Layla and the twins. Twins that were going to be dangerously premature.

“I love you,” I whispered back, holding onto his hand even as I was walking away, until we had no choice but to let go.

I had to talk to security, the administrator, and everyone in between. While they hustled to get the hospital shut down to ensure the safety of not only my family but every other patient in residence, I called the security team that had taken care of Shane’s wedding the day before. Damn, had it really only been the day before? It felt like a lifetime had passed since then.

While I was setting up round the clock security on the hospital, my phone was getting blown-up with incoming calls. Some I recognized, others I didn’t. The ones I didn’t recognize were journalists, or so they claimed, wanting the details on Layla and Jesse. I would have to set up a press conference or something in the next few days to let them know how Layla was doing, but not yet. They could all go fuck themselves for now.

With everything I had to take care of I didn’t even notice when a doctor slipped by and went into the waiting room. It wasn’t until Nik stuck his head out of the door that I had tried to keep an eye on that I knew there was something wrong… Well, more wrong.

My heart was in my throat and I ended the call I was on while the guy on the other end was in midsentence. I walked toward the open door, toward my husband and family knowing that I might never see my best friend again. Might never get to hold her two precious babies in my arms as she had done my own child.

Nik caught me around the waist as soon as I was close enough and pulled me into the room. The doctor was standing in front of Jesse who still had Lucy on his lap and Lana sitting beside him. Drake who had Mia in his arms and Shane were flanking the doctor who was speaking in clear precise tones, but seeming to make no sense to anyone in the room.

I cleared my throat, catching the doctor’s attention. His eyes darkened when he recognized me and he turned my way. “Mrs. Armstrong.”

“Doctor.” I inclined my head, swallowing hard. I noticed that his scrubs were soaked with sweat and his hair was a mess as if he had been raking his fingers through it. “How is she?”

“We had to give her general anesthesia to put her under. There wasn’t time for an epidural as her heart rate and blood pressure were off the charts. On top of which both babies’ heart rates were falling at such an alarming rate…” He broke off when I kept nodding. I already knew all of that. “Once we got the twins out, they were instantly taken to the NICU and placed on ventilators because they were having some difficulty breathing on their own. That isn’t unheard of at thirty-one weeks. However, they are both at an incredible weight considering. Both at four pounds, twelve ounces.”

“Okay,” I nodded again. “That sounds promising. But you haven’t answered my question. How is Layla?”

“She’s in recovery at the moment.” He seemed hesitant and my heart was racing nearly as fast as Layla’s had been on the ambulance ride. “It’s been over an hour since the twins were delivered, and normally we see a response to a patient coming around from general anesthesia by now. However, Layla isn’t showing any signs of waking. We think that she is having an abnormal reaction to it.”

My eyes narrowed. “Explain.”

“We can’t be sure, of course. She might just need some more time. But she could fall into a coma… Or worst case scenario…” I bit my lip and held onto Nik’s waist a little tighter, waiting on the next words to leave the doctor’s mouth, “…never wake at all. But if that happens it’s most likely another problem unrelated to the anesthesia itself. A blood gas has shown that she is getting enough oxygen and there aren’t any signs of stroke.”

“But you aren’t sure? She could wake up in the next five minutes or not at all?” Harper asked, stepping forward.

The doctor shrugged. “The next twenty-four hours will tell their own story.” His eyes were kind as he glanced over at Jesse again. “I’m sorry… And congratulations on your sons.”

The door closed silently behind the man as we all remained where we were. The news that the twins were boys didn’t seem to register or matter for a moment in the mayhem that was washing over us from the news that Layla might be lost to us forever. I closed my eyes, silently praying that my friend came back to us.

“Boys…”

My eyes popped open at Lucy’s voice. “What?” Jesse asked in a voice hoarse with emotion.

“Boys, Dad. I have brothers.” She buried her face in his chest. “That’s what I wanted.”

My phone buzzed and I glanced down to find Brad Horton’s name flash across the screen. I swallowed a curse and put the phone to my ear. “Now isn’t the best time.”

“I just heard about your sister-in-law,” he commented quickly. “Actually the entire world just heard about your sister-in-law. I hope I can take some of the stress off of you. The lab at the hospital you are at can take the DNA sample. I can be there within the hour to witness it. Will that work?”

“Yes. Let’s get this over with,” I assured him. The quicker I had the results back the sooner I could get Vince Grady out of Jesse, Layla, and Lucy’s lives.

Jesse

I was being torn in three different directions.

At the same time the lawyer showed up to do Lucy’s DNA test, two nurses appeared in the doorway. One to take me to see my twin sons for the first time, the other to take me to see Layla in ICU. I couldn’t do all three at the same time, yet all three needed me now.

Drake touched my shoulder. “Lana and I can take her for the test,” he offered.

I shook my head. “Layla would want me to be there.” I stood and moved toward the two nurses. “I’ll only be a few minutes.”

“Sure.” The nurse that had come from Layla’s room nodded. “She’s still sleeping.”

That didn’t bring me any comfort. Layla was still sleeping. She could possibly never wake up. That was terrifying. There was no way I could go on without that woman. I had three kids that depended on me, so I had to focus on that for the moment.