“Maybe a concussion.”
“Could also be internal injuries.”
“Paramedics said she’s pregnant with triplets.”
There was a curse and then more words that didn’t make sense to me.
She was taken into the ER and wheeled into a room that I wasn’t allowed in. I paced outside the door as Gideon and Samuel joined me. Nurses went in and out of the room and every time I tried to get inside, they blocked my path.
“Is she okay? Is my wife okay? She has to be okay, right?” I kept repeating to no one in particular. “She has to be okay. She has to be okay. She’ll be okay.”
Finally, after it felt like hours – a doctor walked out. I lunged forward, almost frantically. “What’s going on? Why is no one telling me anything? Is she going to be okay?”
“Mrs. Spencer has had two seizures back-to-back and there’s a placenta abruption. We have to prep for a C-Section immediately,” he announced tightly. “Your wife is in extreme distress and so are the babies.”
His word filled me with terror and I don’t know if it showed on my face because he gave me a sympathetic look. “Does that mean – is Julianna, is my wife – what are the risks? She’s only twenty-nine weeks along. Isn’t that too soon?”
The doctor nodded. “The triplets will be premature and will have to be put in newborn intensive care unit. Our goal is to safely deliver all three babies without any lasting damages.”
“And my wife? What about her?” I couldn’t even hide the fear and pain in my voice.
“I can assure you, both mother and babies are our priorities.”
Then he was gone and I was left with only his words to hang on to; to hope.
I paced the waiting room. Gideon and Samuel were both quiet but I appreciated the fact that I wasn’t alone here. I didn’t know how much time passed. Long seconds turned into agonizing minutes. Maybe it was an hour? Maybe more?
It felt like forever.
I didn’t know how much longer I could last because I was going absolutely insane. I ran a shaky hand over my face and then my gaze flickered to Gideon’s. “Can you call Selene for me? She’s watching Cameron.”
My father-in-law nodded. “I already did before I got to the hospital,” he responded gravely. “She’ll take care of Cameron. You focus on Jules and the triplets.”
I walked to the windows, numbly staring outside. Samuel offered me coffee but I shook my head. I tried to sit down but I was antsy for that, so I went back to pacing. Back and forth; fists clenching, silently praying and with my heart in my throat.
The sound of the door creaking open had me swivelling around and the doctor stepped out, his face neutral.
“My wife,” I choked. “Is she okay? What’s happening? The babies?”
“Your wife is still unconscious, but she should be awake soon. Mrs. Spencer had lost some blood, so she’ll be weak for a few days. While the delivery was harsh on her body, she’s out of any immediate danger and is recovering.”
Relief was instant and my legs grew weak. “Oh, thank God. Thank God,” I breathed. “Thank you. And what about the triplets?”
The doctor sighed. “Mr. Spencer, I want you to know we’ve tried out utmost best–”
My heart squeezed. “What are you trying to say?”
“I’m so sorry,” he whispered, his eyes turning glassy. “One of the girls didn’t survive the birth. She was the smallest of the triplets, weighting barely three pounds and we tried everything to bring her back but… I’m so sorry.”
I stumbled back, shaking with the force of my barely contained emotions. The pain was sharp and brutal. “You’re saying that one of my daughters… my daughter, she didn’t….”
The doctor shook his head dejectedly. My knees weakened and I stumbled down into the chair behind me. I blinked and then the shaking started; my heart racing and the blood coursing through my veins growing cold.
My chest shuddered as raw sounds of anguish tore through me and my heart bled.
I could hear Gideon speaking to the doctor but I wasn’t listening. Shock coursed through me and I was trying to make sense of it all.
One of the girls didn’t survive the birth.
This couldn’t be… real.
But it was. As much as it made me sick in my stomach, it was real. I swallowed down the acidic bile in my mouth before I could gag on it.
Eventually, I stopped shaking. Samuel clasped my shoulders. “They have shifted Julianna to a private room. You should be with her.”
I followed Gideon upstairs, slightly unsteady on my feet. The minute I walked into Julianna’s room, my heart seized at the sight of her. Looking so small and fragile in the hospital bed. Tears clouded my vision as I walked closer. The expression on her beautiful face was peaceful and that broke my heart because for how long?
How do I tell my wife that we lost one of our babies?
I ran a knuckle down her warm cheek. “I got you, Princess.”
I took a seat on the chair beside her bed, taking one of her hands in mine as I waited for her to wake up. It felt like forever and I leaned my forehead against our laced fingers. I waited and waited some more.
The door behind me opened and Julianna’s father stepped into the room. He walked around the bed and stood on the opposite side of her head, hovering over his daughter, watching her intently with heartbreak written all over his face.
My eyes locked with Gideon. He stared at me; there was no judgement. He was just waiting.
And I knew exactly what I had to do.
My dead father would probably be disappointed in me.
But I had to make a choice.
CHAPTER EIGHT
Julianna
I woke up feeling slightly numb and my head was all fuzzy, confused. My eyes darted around the hospital room and before landing on my husband who was sitting next to my bed, with my hand between his. I remembered what happened outside the Spencer’s Building but everything after that was just an empty blank in my memory.
“What–” My throat was so dry, I could barely speak. I swallowed a few times before trying to speak again. “What happened?”
My whole body was sore and there was a tinge of discomfort in my lower stomach. I looked down, expecting to see my heavy pregnant belly and while my stomach was still swollen, but it was fairly smaller than I remembered.
“Killian,” I gasped in alarm, trying to sit up but then I whimpered as agony laced through my body. “My babies, w-where are they?”
He lunged off the chair when I cried out and leaned over the bed, trying to get me to lay back down. “What happened?” I demanded sharply. “Killian!”
He swallowed hard, his gaze shifting around the room before coming back to me. “You were in distress and so were the triplets, so they had to do an emergency C-section,” he explained slowly. “The babies are premature but they will be okay.”
“Oh, thank God. Thank God,” I sighed, slumping back against the pillow. “Where are they? Can I see them?”