Broken Survivor (23 page)

“What would you like to know?”

“I don’t know. Did you feel weird when you were about to pop too? I’m feeling a lot of pressure right now. It doesn’t hurt, but it’s not a normal thing, either. Do you know what I mean?” She sighed, wishing she could explain it better.

“Of course I do. I had three kids. What you’re feeling is your body’s way of getting prepared for the baby’s delivery, but just in case, I think we should go upstairs and get you checked out. Be sure to tell them about the pressure and the weird feelings when we get there. It’s important.” His mother looked at her sternly and she rolled her eyes.

“Yes, ma’am.” She held back the salute and carefully got up to follow her potential mother-in-law inside.

***

“What’s the matter?” Skye stood from her seat in the waiting area.

Wide-eyed and knowing she was probably a little pale, Holly shook her head and gestured for her to take a seat again. She had to speak to the receptionist pronto because she needed the doctor ASAP.

“Can I help you?” The older lady asked, looking mildly concerned. “You can just put your urine sample by the sink—”

“But that’s the thing,” she said and with a shaky hand pointed to said sample. “I’ve been feeling really funny all morning. I told you about the pressure and stuff, but now there’s blood, and lots of it. Is everything going to be okay?”

“Okay, I’ll take this off your hands. My name is Ginger. Why don’t you have a seat right there, hon.”

“O-okay.” She bit her lip nervously and watched Ginger put a little white stick inside her pee to test it.

“Oooh yeah, there is quite a bit of it, isn’t there? I’ve got your file already in the doctor’s slot. When did you say your due date is again?” She dumped the stick in the trash and walked across the office quickly to empty the small bottle down the sink before coming back to her to hear Holly’s answer.

“Tomorrow.”

“Well, then this all makes sense. You’re about to have that baby anytime. It won’t be long now. I’ll let the doctor know what’s going on so he can check you out right away. I’ll make sure of it. Just sit tight for a minute I’ll be right back.” Her giddy expression and lively voice didn’t help any, and all Holly could do was nod.

Dear Lord! Okay, Hol, you’ve been preparing for the last nine months. Don’t be scared now. Think of finally meeting your son, and it will all be good. Don’t think of what you’re about to go through. It’s normal to be jumpy with your first one, you don’t know what to expect. It’ll be okay, just breathe.

“What’s going on? You’ve got no color left.” Skye got up to join her.

“I’m bleeding now too, and the receptionist thinks that I’m about to give birth at any time now. She says I’ll be able to see the doctor very shortly to check things out. Looks like you’ll be a me-mere again before you know it.”

“Yesss,” she hissed and made Holly laugh when she did a little dance right then and there out of excitement. It kind of shocked her. “My baby is going to have his own baby anytime now.”

Murmurs of “oh, congratulations” circulated.

After the nurse called her in to see the OB-GYN minutes later, the doctor found out she was four centimeters dilated and her cervix was thinned out. He suspected he’d see her in the hospital by nightfall, but she wasn’t in active labor yet, so he allowed her to go home for the time being.

The morning had completely drained her, and all she craved was a shower and a nap. With a little persuasion, Holly convinced Skye to go ahead home so she could have time to pack a bag and do what she needed to prepare. Three showers and a long nap later, she woke up in full labor.

Ugh!
She couldn’t take waiting any longer and picked up the phone to call Zander.

“Hey, are you almost home?” She gripped the receiver tightly and rubbed her sore back.

“Not quite, we’re just packing it in. I should be leaving in about twenty minutes or so, though. Why, what’s up?”

“Because I saw the doctor today and he thinks I’m about to have the baby anytime, and I’m in labor right now!”

Zander went from calm to a wreck in seconds flat. “Okay, I’m already in the truck.” She could hear him start it up and the screech of his tires when he pulled out of wherever he was.

“Okay, but don’t kill yourself on the way over. They say the first baby takes a while.” She breathed deeply and groaned. “So take your time. I just need you. I don’t want to be alone.”

“Where’s my mother?”

“I sent her home. Where are you?”

“
Grrr!
” His horn honked. “Stuck in traffic, but hold on—babe, I’m going to need both hands right now. I’ll be home soon, I promise. Just keep calm.”

“Ah, don’t make me laugh.” Her giggle turned into a moan. “I am calm, but follow your own advice. I love you.”

“Yeah, me too.”
Click!

***

Contractions were now three minutes apart, the pressure was insane, her back was killing her, and the stomach pains felt like the ones you got when you had to shit really badly only times a hundred. It took Zander ten minutes from the time he hung up to get home. The hospital drive was a short one, and now they were in triage with Holly hooked up to a monitor.

“Hmm, everything is looking good. Dad needs to go and register Mom for admittance, and then I’ll get the doc on call to check you once we move you to a birthing room.” The RN ripped off a sheet of paper from the monitor and pointed Zander in the direction of hospital registration.

Hospital rooms usually had an ominous feel to them, but the new room was pretty nice and quite spacious all around. The bed was bigger, there was a comfortable-looking rocking chair and another that reclined into a bed for the father to sit in if it took a while. Instead of the sterile white, the walls were more of a cream color, the furniture a light pink, and the whole room had a warmth to it. Or maybe it just seemed that way because she was in a place that produced life. This was the spot where they’d finally get to meet their little guy. Lord knew she couldn’t wait to get it over with.

The doctor walked in.

“Hi, Miss Hewitt, my name is Dr. Jonas, and I’ll be on call this evening to assist you.” He pulled on some gloves. “First we’re going to see how far long you are, and then we can discuss options. Would you like an epidural?”

“Yes, please.” She grimaced the moment his fingers entered her, but the procedure only lasted a minute.

“Okay, I’ll give the anesthesiologist a page before it’s too late. You’re about five centimeters right now, completely thinned out, and your water is slowly leaking. I’d like to rupture it completely to move the process along. Do I have your permission to do so?”

Whatever.
She nodded. “It won’t hurt him, will it?”

“No, not at all, your child will be perfectly safe. I can do this with my eyes closed,” he joked, but he was the only one laughing.

“What did I miss?” Zander rushed to her side and kissed her forehead just at the moment everything gushed out.

“Nothing much,” she said. “We’re moving the process along to get things going faster. I can’t wait to meet him.” She tensed to get through another contraction “I’m so tired.”

“I’m all done for now. I’ll get the call in to the anesthesiologist and get you comfortable as soon as we possibly can.” The doctor waived on his way out.

The drugs were sent from heaven. They worked immediately, and maybe a little too well, because she felt paralyzed from the waist down. She could barely move her legs. They felt so heavy, and when she was next checked by the doctor again shortly after, it was showtime; ten centimeters and ready to push.

“Come on, babe. You’re doing great. One more good push and his head will be out.”

Holly squeezed Zander’s hand and screeched, “
Gah!
” while she pushed as hard as she could. “Just get it out of me
now
!”

She was able to take two more breaths in before another contraction started and it was back to work.

“That’s it, Hol. He’s got hair, and it’s dark. Would you look at that?” Zander chuckled and she glared at him. Her head felt as though it was about to explode from the force of pushing, trying to get that baby out. Her coochie was exposed, and it felt like her insides were being ripped apart. Yeah, like she really wanted to look right now—
not
.

And then it finally happened after another hard push, the most precious sound in the entire world: her son’s first cry.

“You did it!” Zander lifted the hand he was holding and kissed the palm. “It’s a boy, and he’s beautiful, babe. Absolutely fucking perfect,” he added with pride.

As if on cue, the nurse placed him on her chest, and he settled with sucking his tiny fist. “Oh my God!” she wept, looking into the blotchy, red little face. “Hi, sweetheart, it’s so nice to finally meet you, yes it is, my precious little man.” As if he recognized the sound of her voice, the baby blinked up and opened his eyes for her, which made her heart leap and tears flow stronger. “He’s unbelievable.”

“So what are we going to name him?” Zander rubbed his fingers across his little arm, and the baby twitched. “Looks like he’s ticklish like Mom.”

“That’s okay isn’t it, little one?” She kissed her infant’s head and looked into the brown eyes of the man she loved. “Do you want an Alexander the second?”

“No.” He shook his head and smiled. “I’m not into that. I was kind of leaning toward Ashton. Do you like it?”

“I love it. Hi, Ashton Alexander Harrison, I’m your mommy and that guy over there is your dad.” She looked up to see if he was in agreement with the middle name. “Okay?”

“God, I love you so much.” He nodded and leaned down to kiss them both. When he pulled back, there were tears in his own eyes and he quickly looked away to wipe them.

Chapter Twenty

Winter of 2004

They were stuck in the smallest room ever awaiting word from the doctor. It must have been only a little bigger than the average size of an elevator. Minutes felt like hours, and hours felt like days. They were surrounded by sterile white walls and the matching stench and provided with the cheapest metal chairs available to sit on. Holly was ready to bite her nails off. She couldn’t imagine the type of anxiety Zander and his family were facing at the moment.

Skye was sick. More correctly, she had coronary artery disease and was currently in surgery for a quadruple bypass—major, serious shit. Here they sat while she was in an operating room somewhere getting veins cut out to repair the blocked arteries, and ribs broken to access the heart and repair it and get the blood flowing properly again. It was scary as fuck, and they weren’t even the ones going through the procedure.

“God, I hate this. How long did they say it would take before we got word?” Sebastien fidgeted in his chair, looking the worst out of the bunch of them. “I can’t stand the waiting.” He had a phobia of hospitals, and it showed.

Their father, Richard, leaned back and rubbed his hands over his face in exhaustion. “It should be soon, I hope. They said it’d take a few hours, and we’ve been here for what, about three?” His shoulders deflated and he sighed loudly.

“How are you doing?” Holly whispered and squeezed Zander’s hand. It was probably the stupidest question she could’ve asked, but it was all she could think of at the moment. He’d been really quiet the whole time, lost in thought, and it was driving her crazy.

“I’ll be a hell of a lot better once they come in here and say it all went okay.” He squeezed her hand. “When do we have to pick up Ashton again?”

“He’s at preschool until about three, and then he’s at daycare until five thirty if we need more time.” The look of worry and defeat on his face broke her heart, and she prayed Skye would come out of this well. His mother was a strong, proud, stubborn woman, so Holly had to think positively. Tired of sitting, she stood and felt the need to be doing something, anything, to feel useful here. “I think I need some air. Can I get anyone coffee, tea, water, maybe some lunch?

“I’ll go with you,” Jess offered, and Sebastien stood with her before Jasper spoke up.

“I think we could all use a breather, and I could use some food.” After they checked in at the nurses’ station to make sure the surgery was still in progress, the nurses assured them it’d be okay to take a half hour and get something in their systems to fuel them. It’d been a long morning, and the change of scenery was refreshing.

“Thank you,” Zander whispered and put his arm around Holly’s shoulders while they walked. “I’m worried about the old man. He’s scared shitless.”

“Aren’t we all?” She’d gotten off to a rough start with Skye, but they’d become closer after Ashton was born. As his only grandmother left alive, she wanted to make sure Holly’s son was a part of his me-mere and pappy’s lives frequently. It didn’t hurt that she’d also become somewhat of a mother-like figure to Holly.

“Point taken.”

During their quick meal, they talked about everything but what was currently going on for a brief escape. The tension was high until an hour after they got back. She’d been playing cards with Jess when the doctor strolled in still wearing his scrubs, and they were all finally able to breathe easy again with his news. The surgery had gone well and Skye would be okay.

But it didn’t last long.

***

Only a mere twenty four hours had passed when the phone rang.

“Hello?”

“The hospital just called. Skye is in a coma. She’s really sick from the operation. Can you tell Alex?”

Wait, what?
Richard was so upset that he was talking fast and confused her.

“But she was doing so well. Zander went to see her this morning before work, and she was talking and eating ice chips. How?” He’d called Holly that very morning to share the good news. He’d been so happy he’d gotten to talk to his mom so soon and said she was in good spirits.

“I aim to find out” was her father-in-law’s gruff reply. “I’m on my way back to the hospital as soon as I hang up.”

“Okay, I’ll call Zander right away, and he’ll probably meet you there. Can you keep me updated, please?”

“Uh-huh, can you call the others too?” He grunted. “I’m not in the right mindset to call a bunch of people. Yours was the first number I found, and I need to go find out she’ll be okay.”

“Of course I will.”

“Thanks,” he muttered and then hung up.

Her heart sank thinking about his poor mother, and now she was designated to be the bearer of bad news to the rest of the family. Were they ever going to catch a break?

***

“Honey, is that you?” She heard the door open, but she was too busy giving Ashton a bath to check if it was Zander or someone else from the family. They all lived pretty close by.

“Yeah.” Zander sighed and leaned against the doorframe a minute later. His eyes looked haunted with dark circles surrounding them, and his hair was messed up as if he had been tugging at it in frustration or helplessness. He looked utterly exhausted and defeated. “It’s not so good.”

“What happened?” Holly stood to grab a towel.

“In a minute.” He took it from her hands and wrapped their son up before he held on to him. “Hey, Little Man, I missed you today. Let’s get you dressed in your PJs and then daddy could use a big hug.”

She couldn’t help but smile when their son nodded and hugged his dad the whole way. Once Ashton was dressed and busy with a snack, it was down to business again.

“How is she?” The suspense was killing her. How “not good” where they talking here?

“It’s pretty bad. Apparently she’s got an infection and is fighting off pneumonia. I don’t get it. I talked to her just this morning, and she looked amazing considering everything she went through, and now she’s done a complete three-sixty in the opposite direction.”

“Will she be okay?”

“They’re not sure. Right now they have her in a drug-induced a coma and they’re giving her some antibiotics. We’ll know more in the next few days.” His shoulders sagged, and her heart broke for him a little more. “She looks horrible, Hol. She’s got tubes everywhere. There’s a couple intravenous lines in her arms, she’s got a feeding tube down her left nostril, and one huge mother of a tube down her throat. That shit’s stuck in my head now.”

“Your mother is a strong woman. Don’t give up on her yet.” She rubbed his back for comfort. “Is there anything I can do? Are you hungry?”

“Nah, I grabbed a sandwich from the cafeteria with my dad and brothers. I’m going to probably just take a shower.” He leaned over and kissed her forehead. “I’ll only be a couple minutes.”

Holly bit her lip as she watched him go down the hall, wishing there was more she could do for them all. Zander had stood by her when there was no one else, and his family had kind of adopted her into the flock. Being so useless was maddening.

***

It was a month of waiting and worry before Skye was out of danger and in the clear. She was doped up, weak, and the drugs must have been good because she was funny as hell on several occasions after she finally woke up.

“Hey, it’s about time you joined the living again.” Holly squeezed her hand. “You gave us quite the scare. Welcome back.”

“I don’t remember anything. How long was I out?” She looked dazed and confused.

“It doesn’t matter right now.” Richard choked up but looked overwhelmed with joy that his wife was finally alert. “We’re just glad to see those eyes again.”

“I’m happy you’re all here.” She lifted a hand and reached toward her husband before looking at them all. There was a full house with her three sons, their significant others, and their dad. They were driving the hospital nuts. “Shelby came to see me earlier, and she was completely naked. I couldn’t believe it.” Her eyes widened and she turned a bright scarlet while she rehashed the experience.

“Well”—Jess giggled.—“I’ll have to have a word with my sister, then.”

“Seriously?” Holly arched a brow as she whispered toward her sister-in-law/former foster sister. “There’s no way she would’ve…”

“Shelby’s on vacation with her boyfriend. There is no chance in hell she could’ve come to visit her today. They’ve been in Florida for a week now.” Zander and Sebastien overheard her too, and they all burst out laughing.

Skye went on. “And there’s this old guy down the hall that’s driving me crazy. You can’t miss him because he’s the one with no legs but he keeps running up and down the hallways and screaming loudly.” She huffed. “It’s giving me a headache.”

Everyone in the room bit back another laugh, trying desperately to hold it in, but Jasper ruined it with his reply of “Really?” as if he believed her, and the whole room erupted again in a fit of giggles.

“What?” he asked, so his father stopped to explain.

“Think about it, Jasp. How can a man be running up and down the hallways with no legs?”

His forehead creased to think about it for a second before the words registered. “Oh, right.” He blushed and did an awkward chuckle of his own.

“Those must be some good drugs you got there, Mom. Any chance you can bring some home with you? Oof.” Sebastien keeled over when Jess elbowed him in the stomach.

“Be good, would you?” she said.

When push came to shove, everyone was laughing and joking around from relief. It had been a tough, strenuous month, and things were finally looking up again.

***

Jasper was getting married, and Skye was absolutely heartbroken. She couldn’t go.

The plans were set for a beautiful wedding on the beach in the Dominican Republic, but she wasn’t healthy enough to travel yet and wouldn’t be for quite a while.

“My dream has always been to see each of my sons get married, and it’s not going to happen now. You’ve been with Alexander for a really long time, Sebastien has been with Jess forever, and the one son who decides to tie the knot has been with his girlfriend for way less time and I’m stuck here. I don’t think I’ll ever see it happen.”

“Well, maybe not with your oldest due to unforeseen circumstances, but you never know.” Holly shrugged. “He promised to take a ton of pictures and changed their plans a little bit to accommodate a small reception once they get back, so at least there’s something. Everything’s been planned for a while and nonrefundable. Otherwise, I’m sure he would’ve waited until you were better.” Holly looked at Zander with wide eyes and tilted her head toward her other half to jump in at any time. Thankfully he did.

“She’s got a point, Mom, and Holly and I plan on tying the knot eventually. We’ve talked about it before, so try not to stress out too much. It’s not good for you.”

We have? Yeah, maybe like years ago.
She shook her head at him. “There you go.”

“If you say so.” His mother snorted. “Don’t get my hopes up if you don’t mean it.”

“I won’t,” he said, and it surprised both women.

We totally need to talk, mister. There are things that need to be said and sorted out, because as good as it sounds to marry you, I am also okay with the way things are. No pressure.
She loved him to pieces, but did she really want him to propose because his mother had practically begged him for a wedding? She eyed him across the table, and as if he could feel her eyes on him, he looked back.

“What?” He shrugged without a clue.

“Nothing, but I think we’re going to have to discuss it some more before we go picking dates and start looking for some venues.”

“O-okay.”

Hours later that night after Ashton was snuggled safely in his big-boy bed was as good a time as any to continue the discussion.

“He’s out like a light. What’chya watching?” She dropped down on the couch beside him and put her feet up.

“
Third Watch
.” He turned the volume up a little. “I can’t believe there are only a couple shows left until the series finale. I love this show.”

“Yeah, me too. Looks like I pretty much missed this one, though,” she said and gestured toward the TV. “There’s what, maybe five minutes left?”

“Less if you don’t count the commercials.”

“Good point. Since the show’s over, you think we could maybe bring up what happened earlier today?” She turned to face him. “We talked about getting married a couple years ago, but it never came back up again. So I’m sure you can imagine my shock when you pretty much told your mother that it was going to happen, and it sounded like soon.”

“Well, isn’t it?” He grabbed the remote and muted the TV before really looking at her to wait for an answer. “Telling her she’d see us get married eventually made her happier. It’s killing her that she can’t go to Jasper’s.”