“Oh, my darling, darling Skye. Please forgive me for abandoning you all these months.”
“There is nothing to forgive,” she whispered.
“I love you, my brave angel, with all of my twisted, bitter heart.”
She smiled through her pain. “You do?”
“Oh, you will never believe how much.”
“You can show me later.”
“Yes, I damn well will. You’re going to be fine. Just fine. Everything is going to be fine. I promise.”
The car went over a bump too fast and jolted us. She cried out in pain.
“For fucks sake, be careful,” I roared furiously.
The moment we arrived, she was taken straight to the emergency room. I stood by her side as another doctor examined her. Lorenzo gave him the rundown of his initial examination and verdict.
She was moaning in pain, her body and face twisted in agony. I held her hand tightly. I had never felt so vulnerable or defenseless in my life.
“Her contractions are getting too close together …”
The room began to flood with nurses.
“Where’s the OB?” the doctor snapped.
“She’s on her way,” someone else said calmly.
“What’s going on, Lorenzo!” I asked in a panic.
“The baby’s heart rate is dropping dangerously low with each contraction and she’s too weak to push, so they’re going to have to do a C-section right now,” he explained anxiously.
“Get her prepped and into the OR,” the doctor commanded.
“We have to take her now,” a nurse said.
I kissed her lips. “You’ll be fine. I swear it. You’ll be fine. It’ll be over soon. I’ll be here waiting for you.”
Then I let go of her hand.
It broke my heart when she made a small frightened noise. They began to roll her out of the room. The swing door shut on my face. I could go no further.
Everything had moved so fast and for the first time in years, I realized what being powerless and out of control felt like. I clenched my fists tightly. No. The outcome this time would be different, and I was going to protect what was mine. My wife and child and nothing was going to take them away from me. Nothing.Chapter 55Skyehttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YrLk4vdY28QThe round lights in the ceiling as they rolled me into the OR barely registered. The only thing in my mind was the brutality of my contractions. Waves of pain coursed through my body and my fingers dug into my palms to help relieve some of the pressure.
I had never in my life been in so much pain.
But then I remembered his promise. Everything will be fine. I believed him, and that more than anything gave me the strength to hope for a time beyond this pain that seemed as though it would never end.
The Anesthesiologist put a mask over my face. “Count backwards from ten,” she said kindly.
10, 9, 8, 7… 6… then everything went dark.I woke up slowly. My whole body felt heavy. Even moving my fingers was an effort. I knew I was in a hospital. I felt fear. My lips moved.
“My baby,” I called weakly. “Where’s my baby?”
It was only then I realized I was not alone. There was an arm and a head on my thighs. The arm lifted and he straightened. I stared at him in shock.
He looked haggard. More unkempt than I had ever seen him or thought was even possible. His eyes seemed to be full of pain, red and strained.
I panicked. “Where is my baby?” I cried desperately.
“It’s okay, It’s okay, he’s alive, but he’s too tiny. They put him in an incubator, Skye,” he said brokenly.
I sighed with relief. “He’ll grow,” I said with a small smile.
I raised my hand and rested it against the side of his face and he shut his eyes as if to savor the feel of my hand. I thought of the ride in the car when he said he loved me. Did I dream it?
“You care about me?” I asked, my voice hesitant.
His eyes immediately came open. “I love you, Skye. I love you.”
My fingers slid into his hair as I grew desperate to hold him close.
He responded to my silent request and moved his head till my lips could touch his cheek. “I waited so long to hear that.”
I felt him shudder as he turned, and his lips moved across my face till they found mine, and the kiss was the sweetest thing I’d ever tasted. He lifted his head. “I have a confession to make.”
I knew he was no saint and I knew how sexual he was. Sometimes we would have sex five or six times a night. And that all these months without me, I knew he would have been with other women. In fact, I didn’t want to know. I put my finger on his lips.
“Don’t tell me. It doesn’t matter. It’s the past. I love you and nothing else matters.”
“You don’t even know what I’m going to say, do you?”