“… see your daughters shortly.”

“I’m sorry?”  I have to force myself to look back up into his knowing eyes.

He smiles kindly and takes another step into the room.  “I spoke with your son’s doctor before coming in.  He’s lucky, and they’ll be discharging him within the hour.  We’ll get you up to see your daughters shortly, Mr. Cage.”

I just nod my head and watch him turn and leave.  My mind is refusing to make sense of everything that’s happening around me.  The only thing keeping me from running through this whole damn building until I find Melissa and my daughters is the little banged-up boy sleeping in front of me.

With a deep breath and another silent prayer, I wait again.

With every minute that passes and still no word on Melissa, I feel more and more of my soul being stripped from my body.  That hope I had earlier has become so small that I almost can’t feel it anymore.

In the last hour, I’ve had nurses come in to check Cohen and Axel come back to update me on who is here and to tell me the same thing each time—no one will tell him anything.  I’ve filled out a million and one pieces of paper, and now I just keep staring at the two bracelets the last nurse attached to my wrist.

I finger the bracelets, watching them spin around my wrist, and once again fight the urge to take off on a hunt for my family.

My daughters… My girls are here and fighting in some cold and sterile room.  They’re fighting to live and there isn’t a damn thing I can do to protect them.  Every instinct in my body is telling me to go into protector mode.

My wife, my beautiful and loving wife, is somewhere within these walls, and the unknown is tearing me apart.

“Daddy?”  Cohen’s soft whisper has me dropping my hands and looking over at him.  “Will Mommy be okay?”  His chin starts to tremble slightly.

“C-Man, can I tell you a secret?”  He nods his head, a few tears slipping past his lids.  “I’m going to teach you a trick.  Remember when I told you that we always protect the women we love?  Well, Mommy and your sisters need a special kind of protection.  They need us to keep strong and share our strength with them.  Every time you think about your mommy, you give her just a little more strength.  And when you tell her you love her, it’s even stronger.  So right now, we’re going to sit here and we’re going to talk about every single thing we love about your mommy.  And when we finish with that, we’re going to talk about every single thing we can’t wait to show your sisters.  Then it won’t be long before they have so much strength that they just can’t help but get better.”

And that’s just what we do.  I hold his little hand and we talk about every single thing we love about Melissa until they finally release Cohen from their care.  

I hold it in, but deep down, I feel the bone-deep fear that I have no control over the outcome.

With my son in my arms, we walk out of the exam room and follow the nurse up to the NICU, where I’m told a doctor will find me shortly with news on the babies and Melissa.

My heart is somewhere in this hospital, and I can only hope and pray that everything will be okay.

Chapter 10 – Greg

“Mr. Cage?”  I jump when I hear my name being whispered.  When I look around, it takes me a second to remember where I am, but when I do, it all comes crashing down at once.

Melissa.

The accident.

My girls, born and fighting for their lives.

Cohen, safe and scared.

Everything I thought set in stone for our happy lives together is hanging by a thread.

“I’m sorry, sir. I didn’t mean to startle you.”  She smiles weakly, giving me a chance to get my bearings.

“It’s okay.  I didn’t realize I had fallen asleep.”

I look around, noting that Axel and Izzy are still in the same spot across the room.  Dee’s moved and is now lying with her head in Beck’s lap.  Asher is pacing, no doubt having a hard time being in the hospital so soon after losing his brother.  Sway and Davey are seated in chairs, silently holding hands and waiting for the nurse to start talking.

Fortunately, Chelcie took Cohen home with her.  It had been almost impossible for me to let him go, but I know he needs to be able to sleep and I need to be able to be here for Melissa.

“Would you like to come and see your daughters?  I apologize for not being out here sooner.  We’ve had a few other emergencies come in within the last hour that have kept me tied up.”