Where We Left Off (A Hunter Hayes Fanfiction, Book 2 of the HunTia Trilogy)

Chapter Twenty-Eight

*FIVE MONTHS INTO THE PREGNANCY: NOVEMBER, 2013*

HUNTER'S POV:

I swing into the hospital room with my crutches, my arms aching from swinging around all day. Still holding my guitar, I make my way over to Tia. She hasn't woken up yet. I start to sing 'Rainy Season', and when I finish, her heart stops beating.

They rush me out of the hospital room. I panic, thinking that I'll lose her. Sitting outside her room, I cry myself hoarse.

Dr Phillips comes out of the room with a grim look on her face.

Tia hasn't made it.

No one can save her now.

I wake up, gasping frantically, my heart thumping wildly. My phone tells me that it's two am, and Tia's lying next to me, asleep. I put my thumb over her wrist, and feel around for her pulse.

Unlike all the other times that I've woken up from this dream though, I can't feel anything.

Panicking, I move my hand to her neck, just under her right ear. To my immense relief, I feel her heart beating steadily.

I breathe out slowly, burying my face in her hair. The scent of her shampoo, violets and raspberries, calms me down. She stirs slightly, moving closer to me unconsciously.

I can't fall back asleep. The nightmare keeps going through my mind, over and over.

I can't lose Tia like that. She's everything to me.

So I stay awake. I watch her chest rise up and down with every breath. I trace her perfect lips and the shadows under her eyes with the tips of my fingers. I kiss her forehead softly. I think about how insanely lucky I am to have her.

At around four, Tia stirs. "Hunt, what are you doing?"

"Shh," I say. "Go back to sleep. You're dreaming."

She furrows her brow. "Really?" she asks, still drowsy.

"Yep. Sleep, my love."

"But the dream you never tells me that I'm dreaming normally..."

"Don't question it." I start singing 'In A Song' softly, and her eyes close against her will.

I start stroking her hair, to the point where it doesn't need brushing anymore. I've gone through it with my fingers so many times that it hasn't got any knots or any tangles.

The minutes tick by, and I wonder about what Tia's going to do with her career. The whole reason she moved here was for her career. She won't be able to do that with a baby. I guess she could take a sort of maternity leave, until the baby's old enough to come along with us while we go on tour, or just leave the baby with me. But I know her, and she'd never want to do anything to jeopardize my career.

So does that mean she'd jeopardize her own? Would she give up music for me? For this baby?

When it's around 8 in the morning, Tia wakes up again, properly. She opens her mouth to say 'good morning', but I kiss her, cutting her off.

She responds, moving her hand to the back of my head, and we just lie there, kissing. I taste chocolate and winter. When we finally pull away from each other, we're both gasping for air. I move my lips to her ear.

"I just want you to know," I murmur, "that I would never, ever take you for granted. You're my other half, and my better one by far, and I love you more than you would ever know. Just remember that, okay?"

She sort of stares at me. "Um... okay."

"I'm sorry," I apologise. "Was that a bit-"

"No, not at all. I was just wondering what brought this on."