Easy to Love You (2 page)

Finally finding it by my right foot, I grabbed it and dialed Mason’s number. He answered on the first ring, “Was it her car?”

I took a shuddering breath, “Yeah. She’s alive but they’re air lifting her to Cooper University Hospital. Can you meet me there?”

“I’m on my way.”

I dialed Cooper and he picked up before it even had a chance to ring, “Dude, please tell me that’s not her car.”

“I’m sorry Coop. They’re air lifting her to Cooper University. I need you to call your mom and dad and have everyone meet over there.” I couldn’t call her parents, not unless I had some useful information.

“Do you think she’ll be ok?” I heard Jaylinn crying in the background.

“She has to be.”

“Alright, we’ll meet you there in a few minutes. I’ll have Jay call your mom.”

“Thanks.”

Cooper took a deep breath, “Hunter?”

“Yeah?”

“Be safe. Everything’s going to be ok.”

“It has to be Coop, I’ll see you soon.” I hung up and for the first time that I can remember, I cried.

Everything has to be ok. CC and the baby will make it through this. They have to. As I drove I did something that I didn’t do nearly enough, I prayed. I prayed all the way to the hospital. Things were finally perfect, almost too perfect for us, and now this had to happen.

I was the first to arrive at the hospital so I rushed over to the admissions desk to see if CC had made it there yet.

“Excuse me, can you please tell me if my fiancé, MacKenzie Cahill, has arrived yet?”

“Sure, let me take a look.” She began typing away on her computer. “It looks like she just came in. If you’ll have a seat, I’ll see what I can find out for you.”

“Please, as soon as you know anything, let me know. She’s nine months pregnant and was involved in a car accident a little while ago.”

With sympathy in her eyes she nodded and began typing again. I walked away from the counter so that the next people in line could be helped. I reached in my pocket and took out my phone to check the time; two hours had gone by since I left the scene of the accident - that was two too many for me. I was pacing nervously back and forth in front of the vending machines when Cooper and Jaylinn appeared. As soon as she set eyes on me Jaylinn’s sobs came fast and heavy, and she threw her arms around me in a tight, heaving embrace. I squeezed her waist for almost a second, then let go and raised my eyes to Cooper. I couldn’t comfort my sister right now; I was barely holding on myself.

“Any word?” Cooper asked, giving me a slap on the shoulder.

“No, nothing yet. They’re going to call me as soon as they find something out.” I said, returning the uncomfortable but friendly slap.

“Everyone’s on their way here. Maybe Dad can get them to give us more information if we haven’t heard anything by then.” Cooper said as he and Jaylinn went to sit down.

“Hunter? Come sit down, you’re making me more anxious.” Jaylinn asked. I took a seat next to her and hung my head in my hands, resting my elbows on my legs. Things had only really ever got this intense for me once before; but I couldn’t let the memories of my father surface. I’d spoken about him to Mason and Cooper, and CC knew of him but that was it.

A few minutes, maybe longer, had passed; I wasn’t even sure at that point; before the rest of CC’s family showed up.

I stood and hugged my mom when she rushed over to us, and she immediately started crying. In between the sobs she asked, “Have you heard anything yet?”

I kissed the top of her head and looked over at Mr. Cahill before I answered, “No, nothing yet.”

CC’s father cleared his throat in an attempt to keep his composure. “I’ll go see if there’s any update. They should be able to tell us something by now.” he said, wandering in the direction of the front desk.

I looked over towards Jaylinn, Hailey, Mrs. Cahill and Chloe, who were all seated in the corner of the waiting room. “Mom, why don’t you go sit with the girls? I’m going to go get some air for a few minutes.”

Tears still pouring from her eyes, she nodded. I kissed her cheek and she joined the girls with her head down. I strode out of the waiting room and down the hallway, there was no way I could be far if Mr. Cahill came back with news. Mason, Cooper and Jackson followed me out but I really just needed a little time to myself.

“Did you find anything out?” Jackson asked.

“No, they aren’t saying anything. I guess that’s a good sign in a way but I still think this is bullshit. I just want to know what’s going on.” I told them as I leaned back against the wall. “I told her I would always fucking protect her, and now look what the fuck happened. She’s never going to forgive me if something happens to our baby. Shit! I’m never going to forgive myself.”

“Dude it’s not your fault. It was an accident.” Cooper said.

Mason leaned back against the wall right next to me and said, “She may be heartbroken when she wakes up but there was nothing either of you could have done to prevent the accident.”

“I should have taken the time off work and just picked her up, that way none of this would be happening right now.” I was so pissed at myself. Just the other night, while CC and I were lying in the bed, we were laughing because she said she could barely reach the pedals with her belly in the way. Thinking about it now, it really wasn’t that funny.

Chloe came out of the waiting room with Alex and the diaper bag in her hand. “Sorry, I’m just going to change Alex.”

“It’s alright babe.” Jackson pulled Chloe in and kissed Alex’s cheek.

I kicked off the wall and went back into the waiting room. It was probably a dickhead move but whatever; I didn’t give a shit right now. “What the fuck is happening in there?” I yelled as I paced back and forth in the waiting room. I was really trying to keep calm but my whole life was behind those damn doors.

“We don’t know yet.” Mr. Cahill said when he came back in and wrapped his arms around his crying wife.

I kept trying to look in through the doors every time someone would go in or leave, but all I could see were a bunch of doctors and nurses scrambling around. I stopped moving, even stopped breathing, when I saw CC’s limp arm hanging off the edge of the table; recognizable only from the ring I had given her just a few months ago and the bracelet I had given her for her birthday.

Cooper came up behind me and put his hand on my shoulder, “I have to do something; I can’t just wait here and do nothing.” I walked over to the trash can and kicked it; everyone jumped. I need to do something to take the edge off; I’m going fucking insane not knowing anything except that she’s alive.

It was nearly 9 p.m. when a doctor calmly strolled out. He called for us and led us into a private room; I took a seat between my mom and Mrs. Cahill, who both reached over and grabbed my hands. Everyone else was standing behind us, except for Chloe who stayed in the waiting room with an oblivious, sleeping Alex on her lap.

The doctor cleared his throat, “I’m Dr. Clearly, I’ve been working on MacKenzie since she arrived. She is alive, but has suffered a great deal.” I felt lighter already. Thank God for that! Whatever lies ahead for us, we can deal with that together. Now for one more miracle and I could finally start to relax a little bit. “After we assessed all of her injuries, we hooked MacKenzie up to the ultrasound monitor to check on the baby. The on call OB-GYN made the decision to perform an emergency Cesarean section - MacKenzie was having contractions and, since she was nearly full term, it was safer to deliver the baby than it would have been to wait. She delivered at 4:38 p.m. and the baby is being monitored in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit, but appears to be doing well.” I hung my head as a sob escaped me, I couldn’t hold it back. I don’t think there was a dry eye in the room. The doctor continued, “MacKenzie appears to have protected the baby during the crash and has taken most of the injuries to her wrist and leg. She has a dislocated thumb on her left hand, which we have reset. Her right wrist is broken which will have to be in a cast. The right ankle was severely crushed and we will need to operate on that as soon as we can. When she arrived she was unconscious and we’ve kept her in a medically induced coma right now for her safety. Sometimes when the body has gone through a trauma, it can go into shock if it regains consciousness too quickly; we just want to make sure that doesn’t happen. She is getting a CT-Scan now, so depending on the results we may be able to slowly wake her up.” Dr. Clearly sat back in his chair. “One of the nurses will come and get you when MacKenzie is back in her room and settled.” He stood up to leave but looked at me before turning away and said, “She is extremely lucky, not many people would walk away from something like this.”

I reached out to shake the doctor’s hand, “Thank you for everything you’ve done.” He took my palm in his and shook firmly. “Are we able to go see the baby now?”

“Yes of course, you need to go up to the fifth floor and the nurses there will be able to help you. Congratulations son.”

“Thank you.” I turned to everyone; they all had tears in their eyes, even badass Mason.

“Let’s go see the newest McCormick.” Mason said, clapping me on the back.

We all rode the elevator up to the fifth floor and went quickly to the nurses’ station. I explained who we were and a friendly looking woman escorted us to the waiting room, explaining that only two people were allowed in at a time.

I looked over at Mrs. Cahill, knowing she would want to see the baby. She nodded at me and we followed the nurse back to a locker room, where she handed us scrubs. “I need you to put these on for the safety of the babies and your own. When you’re done I will show you where you can visit.”

She left the room and we quickly put the blue scrubs over our clothes. I opened the door and we followed her down a hallway and turned left into a room where I heard all kinds of different machines. My stomach clenched thinking that my baby was hooked up to one of these.

The nurse gave me a small smile, probably noticing my panicked expression, “It’s ok to be afraid, it’s a little overwhelming.” We strolled a few more feet before she stopped in front of one of the tiny beds. “Here’s your little miracle.” She smiled at me then stepped aside.

I took a step forward and my eyes landed on a little baby all bundled up, but from what I could see, looked perfect. I noticed a little card above the baby’s head.

Wow, I had a baby boy! I took a shuddering breath and looked back over at the smiling nurse. “Can I hold him?”

“Of course!” She came closer to us, realizing my hesitation. “Do you want me to pick him up and hand him to you?”

I nodded my head. She leaned in and scooped him up and he started fussing. She pointed with her head to a rocking chair that was next to me. “You can sit there if you want.”

I took a seat and she handed me my son. As soon as he was in my arms he took a deep breath and settled down. Mrs. Cahill had tears in her eyes but stood aside and gave me this time with him.

The nurse winked at me and said, “Looks like someone knows who their dad is. I’ll leave you two alone for a little bit; if you need anything just let me know.”

I looked up at her and smiled. “Thanks. By the way, what’s your name?”

She returned my smile, “I’m Lynn.”

“Thanks Lynn.”

I looked back down at my pride and joy. He was so little but so chubby. I pulled his cap off and chuckled to myself, “Looks like I won the bet, little man.” He had a head full of dark curly hair, almost exactly like his little cousin Alex. I laid him down on my legs and gently put his cap back on. I opened his blanket and his little fist came springing out, so much like his mom already, so much fight in him. I took my pinky to his little fist and he opened it and latched on. I cuddled in close to him; I was going to remember this moment for the rest of my life. A few tears dripped down and landed where my finger and his hand connected, I looked at his face and he cracked a little half smile. I knew he didn’t understand what was going on around him but at that moment my whole world changed. I did not care what anyone thought or was going to say about us having a baby together so soon, or that she was too young. All that I cared about was this little man and my soon to be wife.