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“No. She’s healthy. There haven’t been any issues with the pregnancy,” I tell her and she quickly turns, leaving me standing alone once again. “What’s going on, is she going to be okay?” I ask. No one answers; everyone is too busy working on Jen.
I push my way through the crowd to get near Jen, and grab her hand once again. “Please, what’s going on? Is she going to be okay?” I yell to the crowd, my voice breaking with the strain of the tears I’m holding back.
“Her blood pressure is crashing again!” a nurse yells and pushes me out of the way.
As nurses pass by me, I try to get their attention to get information, but no one notices me as they stay focused on feverishly working on Jen.
“Someone please tell me what’s happening!” I shout as loudly as possible. Everyone stops working for a moment to look at me. “Get him out of here,” the doctor says, drawing my attention to the space in which she’s working. Blood is covering the floor, more blood than I’ve ever seen. I can read the concern on the doctor’s face, and I know in that moment, I could lose her.
More beeping grabs everyone’s attention. “Get the crash cart!” the doctor yells as two nurses attempt to escort me from the room.
“Please. Please, let me stay. I can’t let her be alone. I need to be with her.” I fight to get back in the room as the crash cart is wheeled in.
“Sir, we are doing the best we can to help her. You need to stay out and let us do that. If we get her stabilized, we will let you know,” she says before rushing back into the room.
Moments later a team of nurses and the doctor wheel Jen’s bed out of the room and run down the hallway toward the operating room. I watch stu
“If,” I whisper, sliding down the wall and letting my suppressed emotions of the moment pour out of me.
Vivian
I hear the car honk and I kiss Brooks one last time good-bye. “I’ll call you when I know more,” I tell him. He nods and continues to rock our baby daughter, Joslyn, back to sleep.
Hustling down the stairs and out the entryway, I find two of my best friends in the car waiting for me.
“Hustle, Viv, we have to get all the way across town,” Carly says from the passenger seat as I climb into the back.
“Don’t worry, I’ll get us there,” Campbell interjects after I close my car door. Gravel kicks up from under our wheels as she peels out of the driveway. Surprisingly there is a lack of conversation in the car as we make the thirty minute trek across town to the hospital. There’s a nervous tension in the car with hope, concern, and anxiety all mixed together in a thick ball of emotion a person could choke on.
“Has anyone heard from Casen?” I ask.
Campbell’s eyes meet mine in the rearview mirror. “Not since I called you,” she says, before directing her attention back to the road. I settle into the leather seats and watch the street lamps and lonely cars pass by as we race across the city. There are towns, which never sleep, but looking at the streets of Denver, we are a people who apparently need their rest; it’s desolate outside. Right now, though, I wouldn’t complain about that, it helps us to get to the hospital faster.
Piling out of the car, we follow the signs to the labor and delivery section of the hospital. Once the door is unlocked for us and we’re allowed through security, the three of us rush through the double doors. We only make it a few steps into the main hallway before we see Casen sitting on the ground outside a delivery room.
We all halt and my heart sinks…we’re too late.
“Casen?” Campbell says apprehensively, trying to get his attention. He looks up, his eyes bloodshot and streaks of dried tears scattered down his cheeks. “Where are they?” she asks.
His face scrunches in pain before he looks back down at the ground. He takes a deep breath before looking at us once again to respond. He then says the two words I never thought I would hear, and will never forget.
“They’re gone.”
Casen
“I wish your momma could be here, little guy,” I tell Ryker before kissing his head. He giggles and wiggles in my arms, and I’m grateful he’s been quiet during the ceremony and he hasn’t thrown up on my suit.
“Um, Dad?” A word I haven’t quite haven’t gotten used to, but I don’t get tired of hearing.
“Yes, sweetheart, what’s up?” I ask Abby.
“Blake and the girls are over there by the snacks, can I go hang out with them?” her voice meek and unsure. We’re still maneuvering through our new relationship, but we’re doing well. It’s an adjustment for everyone, but I’m glad Abby has decided to live with us full-time.
“Absolutely. Stay with the group and don’t leave the building. Deal?”
“Deal.” She leans down and lands a kiss on Ryker’s cheek and takes off toward the kids. It still amazes me how much she looks like her mother. She’s a petite little thing with the same wavy blonde hair, which she insists on having up off her neck. She prefers jeans and T-shirts to dresses and ribbons which makes life super easy on me.
Vivian’s kids have completely accepted her and included her in their world, which I’m thankful for. These people have become more than friends, they are my family…the family I’ve always wanted.
Vivian bounces down the aisle, her eyes sca
“They’re over at the snack table,” I tell her while standing to give her a hug, her usual greeting.
“Thank you. I should have guessed. They wandered away from their seat after my speech,” she says, directing her line of sight to the snacks and waving at the kids. “How are you guys?” she asks, taking Ryker’s hand and playing with his fingers.
“Things are good. You know Jen would have liked to have been here,” I offer.
“Oh, Casen, I know,” she smiles. “It means a lot that you and the kids are here. We’ve been working on opening this at-risk youth foundation for almost a year; I’m happy to see it finally come to fruition. I think this was the perfect way to honor my dad’s memory.”
I look around the room, the main banquet room for the foundation, which will be used for events to raise more money to keep the foundation going. It’s decorated elegantly; the whole building was put together well. I would expect nothing less from Brooks and Vivian. “Everything looks fantastic, Viv. You guys should be proud of what you’re accomplishing here. I wish something like this was available when I was a kid.”
“Thank you, Casen that means a lot.” Her eyes look past me and a huge grin breaks across her face. “I can’t believe she made it.”
I turn around toward the entrance to look at who’s caught Vivian’s attention. The second I see her, I find a smile, which matches Vivian’s. When Jen sees us, she rushes down the rows and throws her arms around Ryker and me. “Everything is done,” she whispers. “We’re legally a family now.”
She then turns to Vivian and bear hugs her as well. “I am so proud of you, Viv. I wouldn’t have missed this for the world,” she says, her voice breaking with emotion.
“Thank you, Jen. How are you even here? I didn’t think you would make it,” Vivian asks, breaking away from the embrace.
“Preston didn’t protest anything, he signed over all rights. My aunt was there to sign all the necessary paperwork. It’s done, Abby is legally ours,” she sighs with a smile.
This has been a long road, one that led both her and Abby to counseling to come to grips with the past and their current relationship. After paternity tests were completed and it was established that Preston was in fact Abby’s father, we petitioned to have his paternity rights revoked. Thankfully, it didn’t require a legal fight, since he willingly signed whatever was needed to silence what he had done to Jen. The statute of limitations on the rape expired, but the courtroom of public opinion can be just as brutal; Preston is smart enough to know that.