“Where the fuck is she?” I growled at the nurse, pounding on the desk.
“Ty!”
I turned and looked toward Carter who was waving me over from the entrance of the E.R. into the main area of Williamsport General Hospital.
“Where is she?” I demanded, following Carter as we crossed the hallways toward the elevator.
“She’s … okay.”
“What the hell aren’t you telling me?” I watched as he pounded the button for the fifth floor.
“The doctors say she’s stable but that could change.”
As soon as the words were out of this mouth the elevator dinged and the doors opened. My attention went to the worried expressions on the faces of my mother, mother-in-law, and sisters-in-law. My father stepped out from behind my mother, followed by Aaron. Knowing my entire family was here when I couldn’t be filled me immense gratitude and love. The entire two hour drive from training camp back to Williamsport had been filled with anxiety and rage.
I’d had a nagging feeling for weeks, which was why I wasn’t too thrilled about leaving for camp in the first place. It was also why I’d convinced Resha to stay with Destiny while I was gone. Two months earlier Destiny had finally told me her involvement in the Phillip Morris investigation. Once it looked like he was going to jail for a while, she felt comfortable enough to tell me she’d been working with the SEC to provide some inside information that was then passed to the FBI. I was pissed, finding out the truth and the fact that she’d been put in danger. But she’d assured me that Phillip Morris had no idea who she was and that he was indeed going to jail. That helped ease my fear slightly. Now, I felt like a fucking idiot for not checking on it myself.
At the end of our first practice for the day, I immediately checked my phone and saw the emergency call from Destiny. I called just about everyone in my family and ran off the field, not even giving my coach an explanation. It was only when a nurse glanced at me, in my practice uniform, that I even realized I still had it on.
“Where is she?” I demanded of my father as I walked closer.
“Room 510, but she …” His words fell to the background as I brushed passed him in search of my wife.
I didn’t bother knocking on the door, instead, barging in. And the first thing I heard were loud screams.
“No, no, no!” Destiny demanded.
“Destiny, baby!” I yelled, running to her side and taking her outstretched hand. She was laying in the bed, her legs squirming and her free hand gripping her stomach. Her face was contorted in pain.
“Tyler! It’s too soon!” she gasped.
“Destiny, we have to get these babies out now.”
That was the first time I even noticed Destiny’s OB was in the room. A middle-aged Indian woman named Dr. Mehra.
“Tyler, we have to deliver your children now,” she stated, looking to me and then nodding at the nurse.
“No! It’s too soon. They’re too young,” Destiny wailed, squeezing my hand. “Tyler, tell her. They’re too little. They won’t make it. Please!” she begged with tears in those brown orbs that I loved so damned much.
“Dr. Mehra, do they have to be delivered today?” I questioned.
“I’m sorry, Tyler, but yes. It’s more dangerous for mom and the babies if we don’t deliver. But at thirty weeks there is still a great chance they will all survive.”
“No!” Destiny cried.
“Precious, listen to me.” I crouched down low, running my hand along the side of her face. “You can do this. Okay? Dr. Mehra’s going to deliver all of our babies and they’re going to be fine. They need you to be strong right now. We’ve got this. It’s game time.”
“Tyler, I can’t lose another baby.”
My heart squeezed in my chest. I pressed a kiss to her forehead. “With everything in me, I swear on this earth, you won’t.”
“Ty—”
“We’ve got to go. It’s going to be a C-section.” Dr. Mehra began barking out orders to the hospital staff.
Before I knew it, I was holding Destiny’s hand as her hospital bed was being wheeled out of the room and down the hall, toward what I assumed was the operating room.
“I’m sorry, Tyler, you can’t be in here for this,” Dr. Mehra threw over her shoulder before pushing past the double doors.
