She lets go of my hand, her expression falling. “What do you mean?”
“Mr. Hunter?”
I spin to see a male doctor in front of me with his hand out. “I’m Dr. Aceves.” His facial expression gives away nothing. That scares me. I shake his hand, looking into his eyes for a hint of what I should expect. He motions to the row of chairs for Liv and me to sit down.
“I don’t want to sit.” I bite my tongue before I take my anger out on him. With my voice calmer, I finish, “I want to know how my wife and baby are.”
He nods, but remains expressionless. I’m finding it harder to remain calm. “Why don’t we go into a conference room, Mr. Hunter?”
“Just fucking tell me, Doc!” My control has just flown out of the building.
“Brady, I think the doctor’s right.” Liv grabs my arm. “We should talk in private.”
I look around and notice we’ve drawn a crowd. People are staring. Then I see him. I recognize the stance, the notepad, the camera. Motherfucker! I charge toward him, ready to unleash fury, but Harrison is walking toward me. He takes in the scene and stops me with a hand on my chest. “I got this, Brady. Go talk with the doctor. Tori needs you.”
Just hearing her name reins in my anger. I nod at Harrison as Liv loops her arm through mine, following Dr. Aceves.
I hear the weasel ask Harrison if he’d like to give a statement and if Aidan Hunter was involved in the incident at the house. His behavior is deplorable. Fucking snake!
“The only statement I have for you is that the family would like you to get the hell out of this hospital.”
I grin at Harrison’s reply. We may have started out despising each other, but he’s become the rock in our family.
When we enter a small room, Dr. Aceves and Liv have a seat at a small table. I’m too worked up to sit. Instead, I stand with my back against the wall and my arms folded over my chest. As I glance at Dr. Aceves, I now see the concern on his face.
“I’m sorry, Mr. Hunter, but your wife lost the baby.”
His words hit me like a two-by-four, knocking the air clean from my lungs. My nerves are shot. My knees buckle, and I fall onto them. This is going to destroy Tori.
Tori!
“And my wife?” I can’t look at him, afraid I’ve lost her, too.
“She should recover. When she came in, she was unconscious. Her heartbeat was gravely low, and she had lost a significant amount of blood. Her placenta tore in the fall, and that is when she lost the baby. She has a pretty severe hemorrhage.”
“Is she awake? Can I see her?”
“She is awake, but we’ve had to sedate her to keep her calm. Due to the hemorrhage, we need to operate to stem the bleeding and remove the baby and placenta before it gets worse. We need your consent.”
The request sends my brain into a spin. “What are the risks?”
“You’re wife’s injuries are severe. She may require a hysterectomy, but we won’t know for certain until we operate. And I’ll be honest with you, the surgery could be fatal, but if we don’t operate, she’ll bleed to death.” His expression is grave. Without my consent, my wife dies. With it, she might die anyway.
How can this be happening? Six hours ago we were hanging pictures in the nursery and talking about who Mona would look more like.
“Do whatever it takes to save my wife,” I say, thrusting my face into my palms.
“Of course, Mr. Hunter. Wait here, and a nurse will be in shortly with the forms. When they wheel her out, you can escort her up to the OR. When we’re finished, I’ll come out and let you know how it went.”
“Thanks,” Liv tells him before coming over to me. Her hand rubs circles over my back. It does nothing to dull the ache in my heart. If I lose her, I’ll never recover.
“I’m very sorry for your loss,” Dr. Aceves offers before leaving us alone.
Tori
Something is wrong. Seriously wrong. The lights above my head flash by in a continual stream as the gurney races down the hall. My eyelids are weighted. I reach up to feel what is causing the pain in my head. My hand rubs against rough fabric…bandages? Brady’s at my side, jogging next to the gurney. “Brady…Brady…what’s happening?” His face twists in pain as he looks at me. Red, swollen eyes look down upon me, and I know in this instant that my baby is in danger. “What? Brady, please tell me what’s going on.”
“You’re going to be okay.” He sucks back a sob. “The doctors will save you.”