When the tall figure of Ethan walking with his hand on top of the cart carrying his two sons entered the hallway, Allie smiled and stood up, in the process kicking Luke’s leg to alert him. A small laugh fell from his lips before he took in a deep breath.
“Come on,” Luke said, putting his large, comforting hand at the small of her back. They walked quickly towards Ethan and she knew something was wrong. Ethan’s expression wasn’t one of joy. No, it was haunted. Allie hesitated and latched onto Luke’s hand. He looked at her with questioning eyes. She knew he was confused by her action—she was too, but it just felt right. Jerking her head towards Ethan, she said, “His face.” As they got closer, Allie saw his bloodshot eyes. Something was definitely wrong. Her gaze fell on the cart and she counted … one, two little boys. That’s when it hit her—Mia. “Oh fuck,” she said softly. Allie looked to Luke. On the outside, he appeared calm, but the tightening of his grip on her hand told her otherwise.
Luke went to Ethan and grasped his shoulder. “Man, you look like hell. You all right?”
Ethan grabbed his forehead, rubbing hard at it, before running his hand over his scalp, pulling off the hairnet. “No, I’m not all right. I just witnessed my wife have a seizure, bleed out, and almost die. I’m not okay,” he said, his words choking on the flood of emotions rushing through him.
Instinct had Allie reaching out for his hand. Luke pulled Ethan into his arms, where he basically collapsed. She let go of Luke and wrapped her other arm around Ethan and held his head to hers. The two of them held Ethan up as he cried in their arms. The big, tough quarterback sobbing because his wife almost died had tears of her own streaming out of her eyes.
“She’s okay?” Luke croaked. Allie’s eyes darted to Luke and saw the pain on his face. His best friend, one of the most important people in his life was in trouble.
“I think so,” Ethan said, breaking free of the embrace. He quickly dried off his face, doing what he could to erase the evidence of his tears. Nodding at the staff, they continued to the nursery. His sons were wheeled into the room, but Ethan stayed out, watching them through the big window. Allie could tell he needed to let it out. He was barely holding it together right now.
“What the fuck?” he cursed loudly, spinning around and sliding down the wall to the floor. Allie followed him to the ground, throwing an arm around his shoulders and pulling him to her. Luke stood above them, doing what he could to give them some privacy.
“This is supposed to be a happy time—I’ve got two sons, but my wife …”
“What happened?” Luke asked.
Taking a deep breath, Ethan told the story and Allie listened with her heart in her throat as he recounted what happened. “God, I don’t even know. My mind wasn’t working. I just … I just was staring at her still form on the table. She was so pale, so frail. I thought I had lost her. I have never been so scared in my entire life. I—” He stopped and ran his hand through his hair. “She wasn’t awake when I left. I knew she’d want me with our boys, but …”
Luke lowered himself to their level, grabbing Ethan’s leg, then looked at her. “Allie, can you stay here with him? I’m going to see if I can find out any information about Mia.” She nodded quickly. He then focused on their friend. “Ethan, stay with your babies. I’ll be back. Okay?”
Ethan nodded and closed his eyes. Luke bolted up and walked away, back the way they had come. Then Luke stopped, his hand going to his face and his shoulders were slightly shaking. Her eyes started to water as she realized he was sobbing. After a few moments, he stood taller, composing himself more than likely. He wiped his eyes and continued on. She watched after him until he was out of sight, then she turned her focus back on Ethan.
“Come on. Let’s get up and look at those boys of yours. Are they identical? Who do they look like? Hopefully they don’t have your ugly mug,” she joked, hoping to get him to laugh.