James Darcy:

        Rose's call finally came through just as I was pulling on the street near the building Charlotte and I resided in. My thoughts far too invaded by what could be happening to her to dwell on the fact that we had happily  spent many beautiful years of our life as a family together in this place.

          I immediately answered the call after the first ring, stopping at the traffic signal light that had just turned red. There was an anxious, dreadful feeling that took over as I picked up the call.

         "Hey, James. I'm sorry I've had my phone on silence this whole time, hence why I missed your call." Rose said, a heaviness to her words that she even couldn't hide. She sounded tired but beyond that, there was worry. In the background, I could, though faintly, make out a voice coming from an intercom calling upon a certain doctor. My heart dropped.

       "Where is she?" I was barely able to let the words out, my voice sounding strange to my own ears. I looked up when a car behind me started honking their horns that the light had turned green. Yet I couldn't move. My body, I realized, was trembling from emotions I hadn't felt in awhile. Panic, dread and my fear of losing her rose instantly in me, my knuckles turning white as I tightened my grip on the steering wheel.

        So many thoughts and images going through my mind. The car behind me blared their horns again, that startled me back to consciousness. If it weren't for the fact that I was so completely out of it, I would have wondered why, instead of moving to the empty lane next to me, the car behind me had been so focus on making me move. I let it go and started driving.

        "James, did you hear me?" Came a voice through my car's speakers. I had forgotten that Rose was on the other line. "I said we are at Tisch Hospital, we got here over thirty minutes ago. She was admitted as soon as we arrived...." she was saying. But all I could think of at that moment was the fact that Charlotte was admitted to an emergency room and I needed to get to her as soon as possible.

      "I'll see you soon." I said and hung up, making an illegal U-turn that I couldn't care less about as soon as I could and headed toward the hospital which was, thankfully not too far away from where I currently was.

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        Emergency rooms made me antsy. And by the time I got there, I was just about ready to crawl out of my skin. That anxious feeling that I carried with me from the moment I had missed Rose's first call, had built up to the point of making me physically sick. To say that I hated hospital emergency rooms was an understatement, nothing good was ever happening for you to be there.

       This took me back to the many times I had to bring my mother there so that she wouldn't overdose and die. Throughout my whole life, I had to be that person who shouldered that weight because my father did not care enough or maybe simply stopped carrying after the first few times of the same cycle.

       I remember so vividly how frightened I was the first time it had happened. I was barely thirteen years old, though bigger for my age as my father had often said. I had been the one to find her in the living room, no one home but her, lying on the couch unresponsive. I thought she had died. I had phone my dad but he didn't answer so I lifted her up as much I could, dragged her to her beat up Chevrolet that she had let me drive occasionally since I was eleven years old, and drove her to the nearest emergency room.

       I wondered then, as I sat and waited for the doctors to come back with an update on my mother's health, what would have happened if I hadn't skipped class and gone home that day. I wondered how long she had been there unconscious with the syringe still in her arm. What a hell of a way to live. Better yet. What a hell of a way to see your mother die. What was I going to tell my siblings?

       But that feeling I had, that was nothing compared to what I was feeling now at the thought of Charlotte here. I would do anything for her to be okay, anything.

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        I was walking over to the nurse's station to ask for the information that would help me find Charlotte when I heard my name being called. I looked up to see Rose making her way towards me. She smiled faintly as she approached.

        "Hey,"

        "What happened?" I asked, no time for small talks. She pointed at a few empty seats a few feet from us. I made my way towards them as she followed. We sat down, I looked at her and noticed that she was still wearing her pajama. A cup of coffee in her hand and bags under her eyes. She looked tired, I couldn't blame her.

       "I wasn't with her but got a call from Chris that she had lost consciousness and so he had called 911 and they were on their way. So I basically just met them here."

          I frowned. "What was he doing with her?" I asked, knowing that it didn't matter at the moment but unable to not feel a wave of jealousy and possessiveness. I didn't know he was still coming around and that did not sit well with me.

        "Apparently they've been spending some time together," she replied then quickly continued when she saw my face change, the bile in my stomach rising. I had to remind myself, how now was not the time. "They have just been talking as friends, nothing more."

       "So, why was he there this late in the night?" I asked bitterly, unable to stop myself.

       "He said he went to check up on her when she hadn't answered his calls or text messages." She told me.

      "I guess I should be thankful that he did so." but I couldn't stop myself from wondering how close they had gotten in the past few months that it was okay for him to show up uninvited to our home.

        "Yes, I don't know what would have happened if he hadn't shown up and called 911." She added and to that, I simply nodded.

        "What had the doctors said?" I asked to focus on what was the most important. I knew that things were at least stable because if it weren't the case Rose wouldn't be as calm as she was, given the situation at hand, though they was still worry in her worn eyes.

        "They were able to stabilize her and the baby who was a bit in distress." She started then shook her head. "Apparently she was super dehydrated so they started an IV drip on her and are closely monitoring the baby. I don't know how I hadn't noticed how much weight she had been losing even though I see her a few days a week. But it seems like she also hadn't been eating well. She looks so frail and sickly." Her voice shook, her lips trembling, her fingers tightening around the cup she was holding, her head down.

       I was ashamed to admit that I also hadn't noticed. Charlotte hadn't wanted to see me if it weren't for the doctor's visits she allowed me to accompany her to. She had told me it was best this way so that she could heal on her own and that seeing me would make it harder. I hadn't fought her on it. She had made her mind and I didn't think that I could say anything to change it.

       So I had let it go. It had been a few months of hell for me, only able to talk to her briefly when I would call under pretext of checking up on Sebastian, and seeing her only about once or so a month.

     "It's okay, Rose. Don't beat yourself up about it." I put my arm around her and pulled her into me, she came willingly. Wiping at the tears streaking her cheeks now. "Sometimes we are blind to the things right in front of us."

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        We waited upward of an hour before the doctor that had been taking care of Charlotte came to update us on the status of her health. The second the doctor approached us, we immediately got up to meet him, Rose putting her cup in the empty chair next to the one that she had been occupying while we waited, her Focus completely on the younger doctor.

      "She is doing well. She had been resting but is awake now. We will keep monitoring her progress for a day or so to make sure all is well before we can send her home. She will be moved to recovery." He smiled. Next to me, Rose released the breath she had been holding.

      "And the baby?" I asked, the fear still in me until I knew both were okay.

       "She's also doing great, her vitals came back normal. Her heartrate is strong which is what we like to see.  Doesn't seem to be in distress anymore. We are still keeping a close watch on the both of them. But your baby girl is strong and healthy.

     My heart skipped at the mention of the baby's gender. "She?" I asked again to make sure I heard him right.

      The doctor looked between Rose and I and realized he had probably revealed something he shouldn't have."I'm sorry, was the gender a secret?"

      Rose started chuckling happily, tears streaming down her face. "Charlotte hadn't wanted to know yet. Wanted it to be a surprise." She looked up at me, the smile hadn't left her face. "I'm sure she'll be happy to know we are having a girl." She added and I nodded, the images in front of me becoming blurry as I took it all in. I was barely able to concentrate as the doctor yet again apologized for ruining the surprise.

      "I am so sorry, I figured since she's six and half months pregnant that by now, you would have known the gender. I am truly sorry. "

      "It's okay, what is done is done. And as long as they are both in good health, that is all that matters." Rose said. And the doctor proceeded to tell us that we could come and see Charlotte for a bit, before excusing himself.

       "Go ahead. I'm sure she'll be happy to see you. I have a few phone calls to make." She smiled. All I could do is nod before following the doctor to the room that Charlotte occupied.

        I stopped in front of the door, an illogical fear creeping up as the thought occured that she might not want to see me. Yet, the thought of not being able to see her with my own eyes to make sure she was okay was sickening. With that resolution in mind, I softly knocked on the door before slowly opening it to enter.

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Guys!!! I'm so excited that they are having a girl. I was debating on what the gender of the baby should be for weeks on ends but I think it makes sense now. Though, it's a bit bittersweet if you think about it.

Let me know what you think. Thank you for reading ! 😘😍