"What happened?" I pant.
The nurse looks at me withconcern. "She just vomited in the operation room."
My heart sinks.
"I'm afraid to say that the complication is getting worse," the nurse says in a soft tone, looking at me with sympathy. "I'm so sorry, Mr. Klein, but your wife's life is in danger. We have to prepare for the worst."
Those words slice my heart, slowly and painfully. I feel like theworld around me stops moving. I don't even realize it when the nurse walks back into the operation room and closes the door with a soft thud.
I press my forehead against the hospital wall, my fist clenched tightly as I rest it above my head.
Please, God. Don't take her away from me.
I don't even realize that I'm sobbing until I notice my shoulders shaking. I don't know what I will do if I lose her. Cassie is my everything. She's the air that I need to breathe, the blood running through my veins.
She's my beating heart and soul.
The lump in my throat is getting bigger, and it hurts like hell.
Please, Cassie. Don't leave me. How am I going to survive without you?
"Dad?"
Aiden's voice startles me. I snap my head around, only to find Aiden staring at me with so much sadness, his lips trembling.
Oh God, what have I done?
I have to stay strong for Aiden, and now I just made him even more worried.
Isn't that what Cassie said? For me to take care of our children when she's not around?
That thought itself shatters my heart into a million pieces.
I stride toward Aiden, who's on the verge of falling apart.
"What happened?" His voice breaks. "What did the nurse say? What did she say about her?"
I stop in front of him, and when I bend down, a tear slides down from the corner of his eye.
"Is it because of me, Dad?" he rasps, more tears streaming down his cheeks. "Is it because I wanted her to have a baby?"
I pull him into a tight hug, silently cursing at myself. "No, Aiden. Of course not. How could you think something like that?" My voice is loud and firm—I won't let that thought linger in his head a second longer.
When we pull away, my heart breaks even more from seeinghim sobbing uncontrollably. "Will she survive? I can still see her again, right?"
I nod, wiping his tears away, while the pain in my throat almost kills me. It fucking kills me. "Of course you can still have her by your side, Aiden. She will never leave you."
???
Every second passing by as we wait for the doctor to come out feels like torture. When the door of the operation room finally opens again, my heart thuds.
The doctor steps out, and I approach him, Aiden following behind me.
"The baby is healthy," the doctor says. "And your wife..."
I'm glad that our baby is healthy, but my heart won't be completely at ease until I hear what happened to Cassie.
"She has passed her critical condition." A warm smile forms on his lips, and I feel like I just got my air back. My heart feels like it's about to burst out of my chest with relief.
