Risking Fate (Mitchell Family #4)(53)
Author: Jennifer Foor

The bottle of liquor was disappearing by the second. I’d hit rock bottom. I cried worse than I’d ever cried in my entire life. Miranda consumed me in every way. I felt like I needed her love to breathe. I needed her in my life, supporting me and guiding me to be the man I knew I wanted to be.

My daughter was the sunshine to my day. She filled my heart with love and when we were together, I just wanted to give her the world. She knew she had me wrapped around her little finger and I was completely fine with that.

I walked into Izzy’s room and looked around at what was left. Sure, the furniture was still in place, as were all of Iz’s toys, but there was just enough missing for it to be apparent. I fell down onto her bed and buried my hands into my face.

All of the tears in the world couldn’t bring back what I‘d lost. The damage had taken its toll and I was certain that, even with time, I would never get over this pain.

I thought about my friends who had divorced parents and how sad it was for them to have to see their dads or their moms on the weekends, and if they lived out of state it was more like some holidays. I didn’t want that for my daughter, or my sons. I needed to see my kids every day.

If Miranda wanted to live in Kentucky, and she didn’t want me anymore, I would have to find a place there so that I could at least be close to them.

I’d do anything to be close to them.

Maybe in time, she and I could be friends. Maybe, after years passed, she would give me another chance. All I knew was that it would be my new life’s mission to prove to her that I wasn’t the guy she saw me as. I was the husband that was so infatuated with her love, that no other woman could ever make me stray. I wished she knew that.

I honestly don’t know how long I was in Izzy’s room, but my cell phone ringing woke me up. I cleared the sleep away from my eyes and realized where I was. Following the sounds of the ringing, I saw the number was from a weird area code. When I went to pick it up, they’d already hung up. I sat the phone down and pondered on finishing the liquor sitting in front of the table. Just before I grabbed the bottle, the phone rang again.

Nothing could have prepared me for that call.

Hello?

I’m looking for a Ty? Is this him?

Yeah, I’m Ty. Who are you?

My name is Joe and I’m a paramedic. Listen, your wife had an accident and you need to find any means possible to get here as soon as you can.

NO! THIS CAN’T BE HAPPENING…

Just tell me what hospital. I was screaming into the phone.

He told me the name of a hospital I had never heard of, which was bad, because I knew how far away they must be.

How is she? How is my daughter?

Your daughter is fine, Sir.

Miranda? Please….you have to tell me. Is she in labor? The twins? Please tell me something.

Sir, I’m not a doctor, but I do know you need to get here. Your wife is hemorrhaging. That’s all I know.

OH GOD NO!

Tell her I’m coming. Please tell her I am on my way.

I hung up the phone and grabbed my keys, never even considering that I had been drinking. Nothing mattered to me once I heard they were in an accident. Of course, I was thinking the worst, who wouldn’t have? With Izzy being okay, my focus was on Miranda and our boys.

I plugged the hospital’s name into my phones GPS and saw that I was a good hour and forty-five minutes away, and that was if I hauled ass to get to them. That much time could mean life or death. I had to get there. She had to know I loved her and she wasn’t alone.

I’d like to say that I kept my focus on the road, but it would have been a lie. My wife was all I could think about. My foot pressed against the floor as I battled time to reach them. I don’t know if God was on my side, or I just got lucky, but I pretty much drove ninety miles an hour the entire way, making it there in just short of an hour and a half. The last time I’d considered driving after drinking had changed my life and I swore that I’d never do it again, but there was nothing that could have taken my focus from getting to her, to them.

I don’t even remember putting the Jeep in park, before running into the hospital entrance. Of course, they gave me the run around about Miranda at first, because they didn’t have her registered under the right name. If she couldn’t give her information, it wasn’t a good sign.

Finally, after I lost my temper, a security guard escorted me to the third floor and had a nurse sit me down. I waited for him to go back down in the elevator, before I started flipping out again.

I rushed over to the nurse’s station. “Where is my wife?”

“Sir, please take a seat in the waiting room. I will have the doctor come out to talk to you.”

No no no! This can’t be good.

“Tell me now! Dammit, I need to know.” I’d driven at the speed of light to get to her and now this bitch thought she could stand in the way of me finding my wife.

Aww Hell no!

“Sir, I’m going to ask you again to have a seat. The doctor will be out shortly.” She held her hands on her hips like she meant business, but nothing she did could have made me calm down.

“Look, I just need to know what’s going on. If that was your husband in there, would you be okay not knowing anything? Please…..that woman is my life. I need to know something.”

She stared at my tired and worried eyes and finally shook her head. “Look, I’m not supposed to tell you anything, but I can see that this is hard for you. Come with me, Sir.” She started walking away from the operating room doors.

Where was she taking me? Was I too late? Was I waiting for a doctor to tell me that my wife hadn’t made it? Oh my God. What would I do without her? What would I do without that beautiful woman that meant everything to me?

“Stop!” I don’t know what made me say it. The nurse turned around and looked at me funny, as I hunched over to try to calm my stomach. “Please, just tell me where we’re going.”

She pointed toward a security door with a sign that read ‘NICU’. “It’s just through here, Sir. Follow me.”

Now, I didn’t really know what NICU meant, but I followed her anyway. Once we got through the doors, we were met with four smiling nurses.

“Nancy, who is this you have with you this evening?” One of the nurses asked.

She turned to look at me when she spoke. “This is the twin’s father ladies. He’s just driven a long way and I think he needs something to smile about.”

What was that supposed to mean? Jesus Christ, somebody better start talking.