Risking Fate (Mitchell Family #4)(54)
Author: Jennifer Foor

Two nurses were standing over two little incubators that were side by side. One of them motioned with their hands for me to walk toward them. My heart began beating out of my chest the closer I got. Two little babies, in matching beanie caps and diapers, who were hooked up to all kinds of tubes, were inside of the plastic enclosed beds.

The nurse pointed to one of the babies. “This little guy came out first. He weighed four pounds and four ounces.” She turned quickly and pointed to the other baby. “And this little guy, well he must have been a little piggy, because he weighed four pounds and fifteen ounces. Congratulations, Sir, you have two twin boys.” She put her hand on my shoulder as I looked from one baby to the other.

My eyes started to burn with tears and I couldn’t hold them back, even if I tried. I’d miss them being born and they were so tiny. “Why are they hooked up to so much shit…err..I mean wires? Why are they hooked up to so many wires? Are they going to be okay? They are so small.”

“They were born premature and both of them had collapsed lungs from the internal bleeding your wife suffered. Once we blew their lungs up and got them breathing again, we needed to hook them up to the machines to monitor that everything else is okay. When something like that happens, it is standard.”

Wait! Did she just talk about Miranda past tense? Did I hear her right?

I held up my hands for her to stop talking. It was hard for me to get words to come out of my mouth. “Are they going to be okay?”

“As far as we can tell, yes. They scored fine on the APGAR test and aside from some early signs of Jaundice, we think they will be fine.” She smiled and looked down at one of the babies.

Okay, my boys are safe and in good hands. “Where is my wife?”

She started to hesitate, but when she looked directly into my eyes, she just froze. “You don’t know?”

Oh God! Please don’t say it. Don’t say she’s gone. I can’t live without her. Please don’t say that.

“I don’t know anything.”

She guided me over to sit in a nearby chair. I was reluctant, but preparing myself for the worst news ever, well, I kinda wanted to be sitting down. I also would need a trashcan very soon, as I could feel the vomit reaching the base of my throat.

I just wanted this to be a nightmare. Seeing my baby boys was amazing, but I needed to find their mother. We needed to be seeing our boys together. I couldn’t do this without her. I couldn’t raise three kids alone and feel the pain that was rushing over me. I felt empty, like my life was being sucked out of me as well.

“I don’t know everything, but I can tell you what I do know.” She took a few deep breaths and kneeled in front of me. I knew this wasn’t going to be good news. “As you probably know, your wife was in an accident earlier this evening. From what I gathered from the other nurses, a deer went in front of her car and caused her to swerve off of the road.”

Izzy.

“Where’s my daughter? Where is Izzy?”

The nurse stood back up and put her hands in her hips. “They should have told you that first. She’s in our lounge coloring. They checked her out when they were brought in. She’s fine, but asking about her mother often.”

I stood up and cut her off. “Please take me to her.”

I followed her down a long hallway and into a large room with a kitchen area. She looked up and jumped out of her chair, running toward my arms. “Daddy.”

I pulled her into my arms and squeezed her close to my body. “Daddy’s here Iz. Daddy’s here.”

Once I had a hold of her, I turned around to the nurse, who was standing at the door. “My wife?”

The nurse looked to the other woman that Izzy had been sitting with. They nodded and the woman called Izzy to come finish her picture. The bile started rising to my throat, realizing they didn’t want Izzy hearing. I walked out into the hallway and leaned against the wall, eager to hear the truth.

“I’m not supposed to be the person to tell you this, but if I were in your shoes, I would have to know something. Your wife had already lost so much blood by the time she came in. Our first concern was getting the babies out safe. Once we got them both breathing again, they were taken to neonatal and they began frantically working on your wife. In cases like this, we can’t always tell where the bleeding is coming from.”

Please don’t say she’s gone. Don’t say she’s dead. Please don’t say it.

“They’re doing everything they can.”

“What did you say?” Say it again. Say she’s alive.

“The doctors are doing everything they can to save your wife. For the past two hours, it’s all they have been doing.”

“Where is she? I need to see her. I need to be with her. Please?” I was ready to beat down every damn door in the hospital until I found her.

“She’s in surgery and I know you want to be with her, but I can’t let you do that. Your wife has been in surgery for a long time and she needs to avoid any kind of contaminant that can cause an infection. Her life depends on you giving us this time to try and save her. Please understand.” She grabbed my arm for assurance, but I pulled away.

I slid down the wall and put my hands in my face. Time passed but I stayed in the same position. Finally, the nurse said I could just go in with my daughter whenever I was ready. I gave a nod, but never looked up at her. I was too devastated and afraid to respond to anything.

It was obvious that Izzy had no clue what was going on and neither did anyone else in the family. I finally got up and gained my composure to make the first phone call. I grabbed my cell phone and walked until I had better service.

Hello?

Colt? My voice was broken as I tried to conjure up enough courage to explain everything. Miranda’s been in an accident. She was on her way to your house. You need to get the family and get to the hospital right now. Please hurry.

Where are you? How bad is it, Ty? Tell me something. How bad, Ty? Where’s Bella? Was she hurt?

It was too real. I couldn’t talk anymore… I couldn’t talk about this.

They say it’s bad. I haven’t seen her. I don’t know anything. Oh, my God, I can’t live without her, Colt. Please get here. Find her mother. Just come as soon as you can.

I started to really get choked up and had to hang up and text him the information. They were hours away and I knew it could be too late when they did arrive.

Miranda was the best part of me. If she died, part of me would die.