Shadows of the Past

What Could've Been

Rooster never could understand how being in a hospital surrounded by people one could still feel completely alone. He had been led into a waiting room on the third floor of the hospital at the base while the doctors attended to Shadow. Maverick paced back and forth at the entrance to the room, unable to contain his nervous energy. Only an hour had passed before one distressed Jake Seresin burst through the elevator in search of the two men. Both of them stood when he finally located them and made his way over,
"How bad?" When the two pilots took in the man in front of them they shared a look before Maverick responded,
"They took her for a CT scan. She fell from a set of steps while talking to one of the kids. She's yet to regain consciousness. The doctors are concerned about potential brain damage because of her history.." At that moment Jakes knees buckled under his weight and the older man had to catch him to keep him from falling to the floor. He and Rooster guided him into a nearby chair before Maverick continued,
"You have to stay calm Jake, for y/n. She needs you.  Take some deep breaths. I'm gonna go get you some water I'll be right back."

Hangman rested his head in his hands, unsure how the day that had started so perfectly could take such a horrible turn. Bradley sat down beside his friend, unsure what to do or say to help ease his pain.
"I never thought we'd be here again. Not after the first time." Rooster nodded, leaning back in his chair.
"I had hoped we never would have to." Jake sniffled back tears as they threatened to come to the surface.
"It was my fault. I was driving, I should've looked. I should've protected them, both of them. It was my job to keep them safe and I failed." He crumpled forward, sobbing into his hands. The sandy haired man wrapped his friend in the tightest embrace he could,
"Don't say that Jake. It wasn't your fault. The guy was drunk and ran a red light, it wasn't your fault. Y/n doesn't blame you, she never has." Jake took a shaky breath,
"She was 10 weeks you know, we were so excited. She already had names picked out and everything. All for it to be ripped away from us. When she woke up 2 days after the accident I didn't know how to tell her Bradley, how do you tell the love of your life that the only thing she'd ever wanted was taken from her?" Rooster rubbed a large palm over Hangman's back trying to bring comfort that he knew he couldn't. He knew that Shadow had been pregnant at the time of the accident, being her closest friend she had told him before she had told Hangman himself. He would never tell her but even though he acted annoyed at the few times she'd spilled juice in his Bronco from her watermelon that seemed to be her only pregnancy craving, he would give almost anything to have those times back.
"I pushed her away. I didn't feel worthy of her, I pushed her away when I should've been there for her. I thought leaving was the best thing for both of us, I thought she'd move on and find someone else."
Rooster thought back on the many nights spent holding a sobbing Shadow in his arms, whispering to her that everything would be okay while her husband was gone on missions all over the world. He had done the best that he could, but his comfort was no substitute to that of her soulmate.
"She never stopped loving you Hangman, not once. She never gave up on you." If it was even possible Jake sobbed even harder and Bradley pulled the shorter man into his side trying to do the best he could to ease the pain.

Maverick returned with the water shortly and all three men settled down to wait. It was a few hours before a man in scrubs and a lab coat appeared in the room,
"Family of Y/n Seresin?" All three men jumped up,
"I'm her husband, well ex husband but..this is Bradley Bradshaw he's her emergency contact." When Jake had begun his tour of missions abroad so frequently they both agreed that she should list Bradley as her emergency contact in the event that Jake wasn't able to be reached.
"I'm Dr. Wilson I'm the one in charge of your wife's case. The CT scan showed no evidence of hemorrhage or swelling. She has a very mild concussion but still hasn't regained consciousness which is concerning. We're going to keep her overnight for observation, she's been moved to a private room on the fifth floor. I can take you if you'd like." The three men followed the doctor up to the crisp white room on the fifth floor and left them with instructions to call a nurse should they need anything. Hangman immediately made his way over to the chair beside the bed and sat down in it, fixated on the woman lying in the bed.

She looked so small surrounded by the stark white sheets, hooked up to a series of beeping and chiming equipment that were the only things telling Jake she was still alive aside from the steady rise and fall of her chest. He reached out cautiously and took her small left hand in his own, not failing to notice the silver band that still adorned her ring finger even after all this time. Rooster pulled up a chair on the opposite side to settle in for the wait while Maverick told him he was going to the cafeteria to get coffee for them.

Minutes turned into hours as the pilots waited for any sign of movement out of the woman in the bed. Rooster had left just long enough to go to Y/n's to grab them both some clothes and to drop Gunner off at Phoenix's house. Just as the sun was rising on the second morning y/n's fingers twitched and flexed, tightening slightly around Jakes own. He quickly sat up and put his hand on her head stroking her hair,
"Y/n? Baby can you hear me? If you can hear me squeeze my hand Bug.." the other two men in the room waited with bated breath until the saw the fragile hand weakly grip the larger one wrapped around it. Y/n's eyes slowly slid open, blurry figures came into view and she didn't recognize where she was. Slowly but surely her vision cleared and she was met with the sight of Hangman on one side, Bradley on the other and Maverick at the foot of her bed. She looked over at her ex husband and he gave her a watery smile,
"Welcome back beautiful."