Page 148 of One Baby Daddy
I read his text.
Racer:CALL ME!
Fumbling with my phone, I hit the call button and he answers immediately.
“Fuck, man. Fuck. Do you know?” His voice is strained, barely audible.
My throat so goddamn tight, I answer, “On the way to the hospital now. Do you know how she is?”
“I know nothing. I was hoping you did. Fuck, Hayden. I was on the phone with her when it happened. It was . . .” His voice breaks and all I can hear is his sobbing. On the other end, Georgiana, his girlfriend comforts him, her whispers soft.
He was on the phone?With Adalyn?
“Why was she talking and driving? You should have known not to talk to her while she’s driving.”
“It was an Uber, man. The guy was texting and driving.”
Fury. My nerves morph into pure rage, the strength inside me building and building to the point that my hand starts to shake.
“What the fuck!”
“She was heading to the game.”
And just like that, my face blanches, the color in my skin drains and a cool chill takes over my body. She was coming to me. She was going to be with me.
And now . . . now she’s in a hospital fighting for her life.For their lives.
“Fuck, Racer.” Once again, the heartache of Adalyn in the hospital overwhelms me. I cry into the phone, neither of us saying anything but the occasional she’s got to be okay. She’s got to be okay.
Chris doesn’t even bother with parking. He lets me out at the entrance, and I sprint up to the intensive care unit where I find Shannon and Logan in the waiting room, sitting closely together, their faces red and blotchy, the weariness in their eyes unsettling.
I pause, looking at their sullen faces, their hunched-over bodies, and the worst consumes me. On shaky legs, I propel myself forward and stand in front of them. When Logan looks up at the shadow above him, he stands, and we face off but instead of male pride getting in the way, there is a mutual understanding for each other.
“Wh-what do you know?” I stumble over my words, barely hanging on by a thread.
“I have no idea. All I could find out is she’s been unresponsive.”
My world comes crashing to a halt from that one fucking word.
Unresponsive.
Trembling, my hands shaking, my legs ready to give out, I ask, “Is she breathing?”
Logan must sense my lack of control and helps me take a seat. “She’s breathing, but if she’s unresponsive, she could possibly have a head injury.”
“And what does that mean for the baby?”
He shrugs, shaking his head. “I don’t know, man. If there’s internal bleeding, they’ll remove the baby, especially if there was a rupture in the placenta. There are so many things that could have happened; I don’t want to guess.”
“No one has come out here to talk to anyone?”
Logan shakes his head, lips firmly pressed together. “No. Nothing.”
After a few minutes, Chris joins us in the waiting room and holds on to Shannon, stroking her arm and occasionally kissing the top of her head. I know she’s close to Adalyn, so getting the call at the game and then leaving to drive here on her own to the hospital must have been terrifying. Thank God Chris checked his phone before he drove all the way home so he was there for me. I wouldn’t have been able to drive here. Other than the hustle and bustle of the hospital around us, the room is pretty silent, all four of us in our own heads.
Slouching in my chair, hands crossed on my stomach, I lean my head against the edge of my chair and close my eyes, praying to whoever wants to listen to please spare my girl and baby.
Please, please let her be okay. Please protect her and wake her up. Please let me see those beautiful brown eyes again, please let me see that smile, please let me feel her lips, taste her one more time. Please . . .
