The next day drags on, especially with him gone from the office. With every hour that passed, I missed him more and more, and I was growing anxious for him to come home. We talked the whole time over lunch, and I told him about my meeting with the twins while he listened, eating his salad. I told him I was feeling lonely in that big house, and he suggested I invite the girls over to stay with me until he came home the next day.
I called them, and they kindly agreed to keep me company while he was away.
“Girl, I have absolutely no idea what I’m doing here, by the way,” Ana declared, beating the cake batter we were trying to make.
I frowned, looking at the recipe on the tablet. “Is it creamy?” I asked her, and she shrugged sheepishly.
“If by creamy you mean lumpy, then yes.” I laughed and leaned over to look at the mess she’d made of the batter.
“Ana, you had one job. Cream the butter and sugar. How did you mess everything up?” Jo scolded her as she looked into the bowl.
Ana looked at her with one arched eyebrow. “Fine, Betty fucking Crocker, you do it then!”
I shook my head, laughing at the two of them as they bickered. “And what are you laughing at?” She laughed, throwing flour in my face.
I coughed and sputtered, waving my hand in front of my face to clear the cloud of flour. Ana and Jo laughed as I glared at them with my face covered in flour.
“Oh, yeah? You’ll see now.” I grabbed a handful of flour and threw it at them, which turned into a food fight in my kitchen. We were all covered in flour, eggs, and batter.
I ran to answer my phone when Cole called me. The look on his face when he saw the state I was in was priceless.
“Jesus, what the hell happened to you?” Cole laughed as the girls and I laughed.
“We’re trying to make a cake for you,” I told him, wiping the flour from my eyes, and he laughed loudly.
“Baby, the ingredients go in a bowl, you know that, right?”
I smiled and shrugged. “Blame Ana. She started throwing flour.” I teased, and she threw more flour in my face.
“Here, eat this!” Ana cackled maliciously.
Cole watched me with a smile as I slapped Ana’s butt. “I called to say good night, baby. Have fun with the girls. I’m expecting to be home tomorrow afternoon. I love you.”
I smiled. “I can’t wait. I love you too.” Cole blew me a kiss before hanging up. I sighed and stared sadly at the phone. My heart felt heavy, and I wasn’t sure why.
“Sheila, are you okay?” Jo asked when she noticed the dark look on my face.
I nodded and forced myself to smile. “Yeah, I just really miss him,” I said, trying to shake off the uncomfortable feeling that was making my chest feel tight.
After we cleaned up, the girls and I cuddled in my bed and watched a movie until we fell asleep.
The next day, I woke up feeling excited. My baby would be home in a few hours. After breakfast, I showered and got dressed, eagerly waiting for Cole to come home. I was counting the minutes.
The hours passed, and he didn’t come home.
It was already after six in the evening; he should have been home hours ago.
“Sheila, honey, why don’t you sit down? You’re going to wear a hole in the floor,” Ana sighed, watching me pace back and forth as I redialed Cole’s number for the thousandth time.
“I can’t sit down! Cole should be home by now. Where is he?” I snapped irritably as I paced frantically.
“Sheila, maybe his flight was delayed,” Jo suggested, walking over to me, and I shook my head.
“Then why hasn’t he called me?!” I screamed and took a deep breath, closing my eyes. “He knows I’d worry. Something’s wrong. I can feel it,” I whispered. My chest was growing tighter, making it difficult to breathe.
“Sheila, don’t say that. Cole will walk through that door any minute, honey,” Ana tried to reassure me, and I shook my head.
“I’ve had this horrible feeling in the pit of my stomach ever since he told me he was leaving. It just didn’t feel right, and it’s getting worse. Something’s wrong,” I told them, and Ana wrapped her arms around me.
“Sheila, try to calm down, honey. You’re pregnant. All this stress isn’t good for you or the baby,” she told me, and I sighed when the doorbell rang.
I pulled away from Ana’s embrace and ran to the door. I opened it, expecting to see Cole standing there, but it wasn’t him—it was Josh. He stood there staring at me, his blue eyes red-rimmed and filled with desperation.
“Sheila…” Josh whispered, his voice breaking, and I shook my head.
Oh God…
“Josh, no.”
“I’m sorry,” Josh murmured, gripping my arms. “Cole’s plane crashed…”
“No!” I screamed, and Josh caught me when my legs gave out as if someone had pulled the ground out from under me. Josh cradled me in his arms, and we both fell to the floor. Aimee and Jo came running over to us. I kept screaming Cole’s name over and over.
Cole hadn’t left. He couldn’t have.
He promised me… he said he was coming home. Cole wouldn’t lie to me. “Josh… Josh, he wouldn’t leave me, he wouldn’t! Please tell me he’s not gone. Please tell me he’s coming back. TELL ME!” I screamed at him, sobbing as I pushed against his chest. Josh cried, shaking his head.
“I wish I could, Sheila,” he whispered, and I cried into his chest as he rocked me. Ana and Jo came closer, and they all hugged me while I cried.
Josh’s phone rang, and he bent down to answer it. “What?” he snapped angrily at whoever was on the other end.
Josh looked at me, sobbing in his arms. “Where? Okay… okay. Thank you.” He sighed and nodded before hanging up. “Sheila, hey, hey, they found him. He’s alive. Cole’s alive,” he told me, taking my face in his hands.
I opened my eyes and looked at him. “What?”
“He’s in critical condition, but he’s alive,” Josh told me, and I covered my face with my hands and sobbed helplessly.
“Oh God,” I whimpered. “Josh, please take me to him.” I begged, curling my fingers into his shirt, and he nodded.
They helped me up, and we all left the house. I sat in the back seat of Josh’s car with my head against Jo’s chest, crying as she ran her fingers through my hair.
I was praying with all the faith I had in my heart that he would be okay.
He had to be okay.
If something happened to him, how would I survive? I wouldn’t. I couldn’t go on without him.
In that brief moment, I thought he was gone. I was ready and willing to join him. The pain was unlike anything I had ever felt in my life.
When we stopped outside the hospital, I opened the door and ran to the reception desk with Josh and the girls close behind me. “Tristan Cole Hoult. Where is he?” I asked through my sobs, and the nurse looked at me and blinked.
“What is your rela—”
“I’m his wife! Where is he?!” I screamed, slamming my hands down on the desk. The nurse typed on her computer while I paced frantically.
“He was just brought in by air ambulance. Go to the ICU on the third floor. The nurses there will give you more information.”
I didn’t even wait for her to finish before racing down the hallway.
“Sheila, slow down!” Ana shouted as everyone chased after me through the hospital corridors.
Josh grabbed my arms and pulled me toward him as I gasped. “Sheila, hey, take it easy. You’re pregnant!”
I struggled against his hold and shoved him away from me. “Let me go!” I screamed, pushing open the door to the stairs and running as fast as my legs would carry me.
I looked around at the signs and ran to the end of the hallway where the ICU was. I stopped when I saw a team of doctors and paramedics rushing a gurney toward me.
I felt my soul leave my body when I saw it was Cole. “COLE!” I screamed and ran toward the gurney.
He was unconscious and had a deep cut on his head that was bleeding heavily, leaving a trail of blood on the hallway floor as they pushed him along. “Cole, baby, I’m right here, I’m right here. You’re going to be okay. You have to be okay. Please, I’m begging you, don’t give up on me. On us,” I sobbed.
“Miss, please step back,” the doctor said, and I held his bloody hand.
“He’s my husband. Please save him, please don’t let him die,” I sobbed helplessly, and he nodded.
“We’ll do everything we can, I promise, but you need to let him go now.”
I cried and released his hand, following them until they took him into the operating room.
“Cole!” I whimpered, screaming for him as Josh wrapped his arms around me to keep me from running through the operating room doors.
I looked at my hands stained with his blood and cried.
My knees trembled beneath my weight, and I collapsed into Josh’s arms, my screams echoing through the halls.
“Sheila, hey, shh, shh. Cole’s going to be okay—he’s going to be okay. Look, he’s fighting to stay alive for you and your baby. Now you have to do the same for him. You need to be strong for him.” Josh continued whispering in my ear as I sobbed, unable to catch my breath.
“Josh is right, Shay. You have to be strong for him and your baby. He’s going to survive this. Cole would never leave you, honey,” Ana comforted me as I sobbed and shook my head.
“Why us?” I whimpered. “Why does this keep happening to us? We were finally so happy. Why can’t we just be happy, Aimee? Why?” I sobbed, and she hugged me.
“Sheila, it was an accident,” Jo told me, brushing my hair away from my face. I shook my head.
“I should have gone with him,” I whispered, staring at my trembling hands. “I should be with him.”
“Sheila?!” I looked up and saw Cole’s mother running toward me, looking just as devastated as I was. She fell to her knees in front of me, and we both sobbed.
“Is he okay? Please tell me he’s okay!” she cried desperately, and I shook my head weakly.
“I don’t know,” I whispered, closing my eyes. “He doesn’t look good, Mom.” I cried, holding up my hands, and when she saw the blood on them, she began to cry.
Elaine held my face in her hands and wiped away my tears. “He’s going to be okay, sweetheart. I believe that with all my heart, and you need to believe it too.”
I closed my eyes and nodded. She placed a hand on my stomach. “He won’t leave either of you, not when he loves you so much,” she comforted me, and I whimpered.
“Oh God, I’m so scared. I don’t want to lose him.”
“Hey, look at me. We’re not going to lose him,” she told me sternly, and I nodded.
I had no choice but to hold on to those words, but inside I was dying, and no amount of words or reassurance could stop the torment in my chest.
Hours passed without any news. My mother and brother came too as soon as Jo called them. Josh paced anxiously up and down the hallway while Sam leaned against the wall, staring at the floor. My mother was comforting my mother-in-law, and I just sat there staring at my hands.
“Sheila, let’s wash your hands and splash some water on your face,” Jo suggested, and I shook my head numbly.
“Can we get you anything?” Ana offered, and I sighed, closing my eyes. An endless stream of tears continued rolling down my face.
“No.” I pulled away from the girls and stood up. My bladder was so full that it was starting to hurt.
“Sheila, where are you going?” my mother asked, and I told her I had to use the bathroom. She gestured for the girls to follow me.
I stopped outside the bathroom and turned to face Ana and Jo. “Girls, give me a minute. Please?” I begged, and they nodded in response.
I needed to be alone for a little while. I went into the bathroom and entered a stall. I closed the toilet lid and sat down on it.
I covered my mouth with my hand to muffle the moan that escaped me. I sat there crying for a while, just rocking back and forth.
“God, please, please, I’m begging you not to take him from me too,” I prayed, placing my hand over my chest. “Please bring him back to us. Don’t let my daughter grow up without her father like I did. Please, please, I’m begging you,” I pleaded helplessly. “Don’t make us live without him.”
I placed my hands on my stomach and closed my eyes. “Come back for your angel, Daddy,” I whispered in distress.