Chapter Twenty-Three
Jaxon
Dammit, Bri must be so freaking pissed off right now. I’m running even later than I thought I would. I pull out my phone as I run to my car and try calling her again to tell her that I’m on my way, by the time I climb into the car her cell goes to voicemail, again. This is not like her not to answer my calls; she must be seriously pissed for my tardiness.
I start the car and pull out before trying her house phone again. I’m starting to get worried. The house phone also goes to voicemail, and I decide to leave another message. “Hey babe, it’s me. I’m so sorry for running late, but I’m in my car and on the way. So sorry baby.”
I end the call and press my foot on the accelerator, I need to get to that hospital sooner rather than later. I can’t believe I’m fucking up the first time I get to see my kids.
Ten minutes later and I’m stopping in the hospital parking lot. I take a look at my watch and curse when I realize that I’m ten minutes late. Shit, Bri is going to be so disappointed. Fuck, I’m even disappointed in myself.
I rush into the hospital and ask the first nurse I see where I can find doctor Matthews, Brianne’s doctor and close family friend. I run towards where the nurse told me to go and knock on the closed door.
“Come on in,” someone answers from the other side. I quickly open the door, ready to start apologizing but stop as soon as I step in. Dr Matthews looks up from his desk, an annoyed expression on his face.
“Jax, you are late, where is Brianne?” He asks, looking behind me.
“Wait, you mean she isn’t here yet?” I ask, a bit of panic forming a knot in my stomach. “I’m supposed to meet her here,” I frown as I pull out my phone to try and call her again.
“Really?” His face expression changes from annoyed to slightly surprised. “It’s not like her to be late for an appointment, or not to let me know if she might run late.” He frowns.
“Yeah, I’m gonna try and call her,” I tell him as I dial her cell number again. I decide to leave her a voice message when she doesn’t answer.
“Hey baby it’s me again, where are you? I’m starting to get worried. Please call me as soon as you can.” I take a breath before continuing. “And Bri, I love you.” I hang up and start pacing before dialling her house phone again, which also just rings without answer.
Where the hell is she?
I decide to call Liv; those two are always together, maybe they decided to meet up before the appointment and then lost track of time. I find her name on my phone and press call. She finally answers after what felt like ten years.
“Hey, nerd, what’s up?” She sounds a bit winded.
“Hey Liv, is Bri there with you by any chance?” I ask as calmly as I can.
She giggles before answering me, actually giggles. Olivia is a lot of things, but a giggler is not one of them. “No, she’s not, she’s supposed to be at the doctor with you right now.” She pauses for a brief second. “Jaxon, you better not have forgotten, Brianne was looking forward to this. I swear I’ll kill you myself if you’ve forgotten!” She threatens.
“Actually, I’m at the doctor, and she isn’t here, and she isn’t answering her phone either.” The panic in my voice is now evident. I’m starting to get a bad feeling.
“Look if she isn’t there with you I’ll just try calling Carson, maybe she’s with him,” I tell her.
“She’s not with Carson,” She says before I can end the call.
“What, how do you know that,” She keeps quiet for the longest time and I’m about to end the call when she answers.
“Because… Uhm... Carson is with me right now.” She says hesitantly. Liv, with Carson? What the hell. But I don’t have time to dwell on what those two are doing together, because if Brianne is not with either of them, then I have no idea where she could be. Her parents’ house maybe?
“Okay, I think I’m going to drive to Brianne’s and check if she’s okay,” I say.
“Nah, stay at the hospital and Carson and I will go check on her, I’m sure she’s just asleep and lost track of time. She’s been sleeping a hell of a lot these days. Those little Satan’s have been draining her. We’ll call as soon as we get there.” She says and then ends the call before I can give her shit about calling my babies Satan’s yet again.
“I just called her parents and she’s not there either,” Dr Matthews tells me, intensifying my panic.
“I’m starting to have a bad feeling about this,” I say, fear lodged in my throat as I start pacing once more.
Bri baby, where the hell are you!
Thirty minutes of not hearing anything from Liv and Carson is driving me up the walls. I really just feel like climbing into my car and driving to go check on Bri myself. This radio silence and not knowing if my future wife is okay is stressing me to no end.
I try calling first Liv and then Carson but they both don’t answer their phones. What the hell? Did they even go check on Bri? Why the hell aren’t they answering their damn phones?
“Look, I can’t just sit around and do nothing. I need to go check on her. Something feels wrong.” I say to the doctor as I grab my keys. I don’t even wait for him to answer me and rush out.
“Young woman, 30 weeks pregnant with twins and she’s lost a lot of blood!” I skid to a halt when a medic comes rushing through the hospital emergency double doors pushing a stretcher. “Get a doctor ASAP!”
I watch in horror as a bloody Olivia comes rushing in behind the medics with wild fear filled eyes. What the hell is happening? I’m frozen to my spot as I watch the scene in front of me play in slow motion. The medics come rushing past me, and I finally see the bloody woman being rushed in. Brianne, that’s my fiancée on that stretcher.
“My babies, save my babies!” Brianne screams and a cold sweat forms on my forehead and I still can’t move. Brianne. My babies are the mantra playing over and over in my head as fear grips my chest so tight that I struggle to breathe for a second.
“Jaxon, where is Jaxon!” She screams again, and my limbs start doing what they are supposed to.
“Baby, what happened!” I ask, my panic rising by the second.
“I’m sorry sir, but you can’t be here,” one of the nurses stops me just before I can grab Bri’s hand.
“What? No, she’s my fiancée, and those are my damn babies I have every right to be here!” I shout at the two nurses trying to hold me back as the medics and Dr Matthews quickly push Bri toward the OR. “I need to be there!” I shout, finally breaking free just to be held back by the hospital security guards.
“Sir, you need to calm down and let the Doctor do his job and try to save both your fiancée and your babies!” One of the annoying nurses tells me as my horrified eyes stare at where they disappeared with Bri. “Go on and wait in there and the Doctor will brief you when he’s done.” She says, pointing to the hospital waiting area where I can see Olivia sitting on a chair, crying.
“Fine!” I shrug out of the guards holding me and rush towards the waiting area.
“Liv, what the hell happened?!” I ask her as soon as I step in the room.
“I… I don’t know Jax.” She looks up at me, tears still streaming down her cheeks. “When Carson and I got there, her door was wide open and when we got inside, she was unconscious on the floor in a pile of blood, God Jax, there was so much blood,” her voice breaks at the last word and she starts sobbing hard.
“I think,” she hiccups before continuing, “I think she fell down the stairs,” My heart sinks. “I was so scared, still am. She kept going in and out of consciousness the whole time.”
“Is she going to be okay?” I ask it so soft like if I say it out loud, it will make matters worse.
“The medics couldn’t tell me,” Liv is still crying as she buries her head in her bloody hands.
“Where’s my daughter, is she okay? Are my grandbabies okay? What happened?!” I look up to see Bri’s parents and brother rushing in the room. Their eyes wild and filled with fear, fear for their daughter, sister and the love of my life.
This is all my fault, I should have been there like I promised. If I was there, maybe I could have prevented whatever happened to Brianne. We wouldn’t be in this situation if it wasn’t for me not keeping my promise about going to pick her up for our appointment. Why did I have to run late? Why did I let Franky, my colleague talked me into helping him with his work? If it wasn’t for that, I would have been on time. I would have been there!
“Goddammit, I should have been there!” I say as I collapse to my knees.
“Oh honey, don’t worry, Brianne is a strong woman, and she’ll fight for herself and those babies.” Mrs B tells me as she kneels beside me, taking both my hands in hers.
Bless her; she is trying so hard to stay strong for all us because we are all breaking right now. Once again, I wish my own mother was half the woman Brianne’s mom is.
Three hours later of sheer dread and panic, Dr Matthews walks into the waiting area wearing scrubs. We all jump to our feet and look at the tired looking doctor.
“Is my daughter okay?” Mr B asks the question I’m too scared to ask.
“What about the babies?” Both Carson and Olivia ask at the same time. But my tongue feels heavy in my mouth from fear, so I struggle to form words.
“Well, Brianne had a placental abruption, which resulted in her losing a lot of blood. She’s had major surgery and thankfully she was found in time. She’s going to need a lot of help recuperating and lots of rest. She’s been through a hell of a lot these past few hours.” He says, pulling down his face mask. I breathe a sigh of relief but fear the worst because he doesn’t mention my kids. Does this pla-what-you-call-it abruption mean bad news for my kids?
“What about my nephews?” This from Carson as he steps forward.
“We had to perform an emergency C-section because the babies were in distress, with Placental Abruption it can be fatal for the babies.”
“Oh, dear God,” Bri’s mom gasps as tears fill her eyes.
My heart sinks, and I feel tears stinging my own eyes. Did I just lose my kids? I never even got the chance to hold them.
Dr Matthews sighs before continuing. “But we managed to save them both. The babies still have to be kept in incubators because they have been born prematurely but none the less, they are alive. We have given them both betamethasone to promote fetal lung maturity. They are going to be monitored closely but so far they seem to be doing great.” Gasps and sighs of relief fill the room, but I can’t seem to remember how to breath.
My babies are born, they’re alive!
“Congratulations Jaxon, you have a healthy baby girl and boy.”
“They’re all okay!” Are the last words that come from my mouth before I feel gravity pulling at me and darkness consumes me.