The Unexpected

Chapter 20: Not Again

Liam's POV…

I was sitting behind my desk filling out a few forms when my cell phone began to ring. I looked at my watch and saw that it was about the time that lily normally calls me every evening when I'm working late. “Hello, babe,” I speak into the phone after confirming that it was indeed Lily calling me.

“You need to hurry to Mercy Hospital now!” An unfamiliar male voice demands then end the call. As soon as the call ended a bone-chilling emotion surrounded me. I rushed out of my office without locking up my office or saying a word to my secretary Tara.

I fumbled with my keys as I tried to concentrate on unlocking the door and calling lily's phone at the same time. “Come on Lily answer your phone baby,” I begged in panic mode. After what seemed like forever for me to unlock the truck door to my silver Ford f150 extended cab truck I hopped inside and sped out of the parking lot. I switched on my emergency lights and damn near speed through every red light along the way.

I slammed the truck in park then ran into Mercy Hospital with no other thought plowing through my head but getting to the love of my life and our baby. “I'm here looking for my fiancé.” I blurted out in a rush to a man who sat behind the counter tapping away on a computer.

“Sir, what is your fiancé's name?” He asked in an agitated voice.

“Her name is Lily Carmichael.” A familiar female calls out from behind me. I turned around to see who this was who answered for me, and it was the same elderly lady that was comforting Ashley and I the last time we were here with Lily.

“Sir she's currently in the operating room.” The young man informs me then proceeds to tell me he needs her insurance information.

“I'll pay for any care that she needs out of my pocket,” I tell him then fill out her medical forms placing myself as her guardian. My mind was in overload as I recalled the last time I was in a similar situation like this one, years ago.

“Come sit down young man.” The elderly lady says to me in a soft and loving motherly voice. She grabs me by the left hand and pulls me towards the black, cushioned chairs then pats the seat beside her for me to sit down. I just stood there for a minute staring off into space wondering if I were about to experience the same pain that I went through almost six years ago again.

“the Doctor will be out to talk to you as soon as he can.” The elderly lady tells me when she sees me begin to stride towards the emergency room door. I stalked back and forth between the waiting area and the emergence room door for what felt like an eternity. On my last trip towards the door, several nurses rushed into the room pulling many heavy-duty medical types of equipment into the room.

I heard a loud wailing noise that sounded like it came from a baby. That cry instantly sent my world spending into a state of Déjà vu. I slumped down in a nearby black chair praying that this was not happening all over again.

Minutes later I hear code blue being blared through the speakers on the ceiling. This was the very same code that echoed in this waiting room the very moment my wife gave birth to our daughter. I seemed like I was watching the same scenario play out in slow motion all over again like a horror movie of my own life.

I could hear My daughter Chloé screaming every time a nurse would enter or exit the room. “You have to believe that Lily will fight with everything that she has to stay with you and her daughters.” The elderly lady said to me when she witnessed tears slid from my closed eyelid and down past my cheeks then dripped onto the back of my hands.

I felt her thin frail arm wrap themselves around my shoulders and hug me tenderly while I let my emotions have their way inside me. If there was any way that I could describe how I was feeling it was this. Just like you see the tears pouring from my eyes like a ravaging waterfall my heart was also crying a raging river of unstoppable tears. I felt like someone was forcefully ripping out the nicely healed stitches to my old wound. If I lost Lily I knew deep down in my soul that this time this wound would never be able to be sewn closed again.

I sat there trying to wrap my mind around the fact that in the span of six years I was on the verge of losing the love of my life. “How can fate be so cruel to both of my daughters?” I turned and asked the sweet woman that was currently comforting me as if I was her son. “Was both of my children destined not to feel their mother's love?” I then asked before she had the chance to answer the first question.

“You can't think like that son. You have to pray and believe that your prayers will be answered.” She replies while still holding me in her arms. My heart broke, even more, when I looked down at the ringing phone in my hand and saw my brother-in-law's number on the front of the screen. How was I going to break the news to my daughter about Lily if she didn't pull through?

Clearing my voice as good as I could, I answered the phone. “Hey, brother-in-law there's a special little lady here that wants to speak to her dad,” Niels says with a chuckle in his voice.

“Daddy guess what happened to me today?” Ashley asked me in a cheerful voice.

“What happened, today baby?” I asked, trying my best to sound as cheerful as I could.

“I asked ms. Lily can I call her mommy and she said yes. I have a mommy now daddy.” She squealed with excitement while I broke down crying all over again.

“That's good news baby.” I managed to get out in between my tears then said, “Ashley, honey put your uncle Niels back onto the phone.”

“Brother-in-law I need you and Leah to keep Ashley for a few days or longer if you don't mind.” I blurt out as soon as Niels gets back onto the phone.

“You know that we don't mind keeping Ashley. Is there something wrong?” Niels questions me with worry in his voice.

“It's Lily. She's in Mercy Hospital operating room.” I replied. I began to cry loudly as soon as I let those words fly out of my mouth.

“I'm on my way.” Niels states then hang up the phone.

“I'm looking for the family of ms. Carmichael.” A short, stout, middle-aged Asian man wearing blue scrubs announces as he walks out of the emergency room. I immediately stood to my feet and walked over to the doctor with the elderly lady walking close behind me. “My name is Dr. Lee.” He says with his left hand stretched out towards me. I was able to successfully remove the bullet that was lodged in ms. Carmichael right shoulder…”

“Hold the fuck up. What in the hell did you just say?” I yelled in disbelief at what I was hearing coming out of the doctor's mouth.

“Ms. Carmichael was dropped off here with a gunshot wound to the shoulder.” The doctor rushed to explain as I glared at the emergency door behind him. “She delivered a healthy seven pounds and four ounces, little girl. I was able to remove the bullet without any complications. At the moment she is unconscious. I don't know when she will awaken due to the massive amount of blood that she lost due to giving birth and the gunshot wound.

I had completely zoned the fuck out after hearing the doctor tell me that the love of my life has been shot. She wasn't struggling for her life due to complications with her pregnancy. She was in this damn situation because someone had shot her.

“You may go in to see her but let you know beforehand that she has been rough up pretty bad.” Dr. Lee says to me before walking away from me. I took a few deep breaths trying to prepare for whatever I may see once I enter the room. My heart began to ache when I saw lily lying in the hospital bed looking frail. All kinds of Tubes and wires were hooked up to her everywhere.

Her face was swollen on one side and her lips were busted. She had a bandage wrapped around her right shoulder. The bed that she was lying on looked like it wanted to swallow her whole. A tear slipped from my eyes when I thought about how she wouldn't be in this situation if I had just attended Mandy's graduation with her.

“I'm here baby,” I whisper in her ear then kissed her on the forehead. “If you come back to me, I promise you I will never work late again. I will never leave you to attend anything else again alone.” I pleaded with my future wife while caressing her hand tenderly. “Please don't take your love away from me Lily.”

I walked into the bathroom to grab a warm, wet washcloth then walked over to where lily lay and dabbed the wet cloth on her forehead to wipe away the few beads of sweat that was forming around the edges of her face.

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