Slugger (Sequel to 'The Jet') Benny Rodriguez

Chapter 42

The beeping of the monitor above your head was hard enough to hear, but the hard breaths you sucked in every few minutes while fully unconscious broke Benny's heart.

He recalled the horrid events of today,  thinking all the way up to this moment, where tears came down his cheeks and rolled off his face one at a time.

You lost the baby.

It wasn't anyone's fault, and you were on bedrest for the last two days, but this afternoon Benny got a call from the hospital that you'd been admitted by ambulance. He rushed there as soon as possible, finding that you'd been put under to reduce the stress it was reaking on your body. He sunk to the floor by your bedside, being met eith the arms of his mother who was with you when you came in.

It was also announced to him that you had roughly a month to live if you continued the current treatment plan. Everything was just too much too fast, and for the last several months, the worsening of your condition made everyone who knew you scared half to death. This news was sure to be the final blow.

When Benny asked what they could possibly do to prolong your life and find a cure, they told him a transplant would be needed, but even if there was a donor, there were other, higher priority patients such as children no older than Eva. You wouldn't be very high on the list, and by the time it was your turn to receive a life saving organ, it would be too late. Your lungs were shriveling up faster than paper that caught fire.

Benny thought that maybe this was it, that perhaps his time with you had come to and end, and that right here next to your bed, he'd watch you take your last breath. That he couldn't handle. He needed you like he needed air to breath, and the amount of times he'd almost lost you, whether in a life threatening situation like this, or a more physical separation, made him realize that.

It was a tragedy that someone so young should have to go. What's that phrase? Only the good die young. In this case is was the good, the beautiful, the smart and talented die young.

"Mack," he whispered, kissing the back of your hand to try and ease his heart ever the slightest. "You need to stay strong for me.... for all of us. For Eva, for Vivi, for Ben. We all need you so much, and we won't get along without you."

Your monitor started going faster, and he got scared out of his mind when nurses came rushing in to tend to you, strapping a mask to your face, most likely feeding you more oxygen as for you to not go lacking it. Were you not able to breathe?

He ran his hands through his hair, then down over his face. This wasn't happening, it couldn't be.

The door was shut and he was left to pace in the hallway. He needed to be held, to be told it was going to be okay. Even if it was a childish need, it was a valid one. The person he wanted to be held by was struggling to live on the other side of the door, though. He didn't know what to do... what could he possibly do in a situation like this? His mother was in the cafeteria getting food when this all happened, and though he needed her support, he wasn't going to leave this hallway to go get her. He wasn't going to leave you.

One of the nurses came out of the room with a sad look on her face, tapping Benny on the shoulder to get him to turn around.

"Mr. Rodriguez, we're sorry... we've done everything we can possibly do, but without some sort of medical miracle, she won't make it through the night. Her body has been through too much strain with the miscarriage, and with her weakened cells, there's barely a chance for recovery."

"How far is she from the top of the donor list?"

"Second, but we only have one set of lungs coming in for immediate surgery. Without another one, she's just depending on life support."

Benny wanted to carve out his own lungs and hand them over, but of course that was purely irrational, and quite ridiculous. He kept thinking to himself: 'i will not bury my wife, if anything, she's going to bury me.'

He lacked for emotions as of right now. He went numb when he heard thst you wouldn't see sunrise. If you did, it would take a miracle. He completely and totally forgot how to feel like a human in those moments, and fell back into a chair against the wall. The nurse droned on some more about how sorry she was that they couldn't do more, but Benny couldn't hear it. His minds ear was harder at work, hearing flashbacks and memories of you, laughing, talking smack, and loving him.

He sat in that hallway for over two hours. His mother returned far before that, but he didn't notice. She heard the news from your doctor when she passed him in the hallway and she felt sick, working hard to get to her son. She held him tightly, crying her own eyes out, but he didn't move. She knew he was externally hardened, because he love you so much he was dying on the inside. She could see it in his eyes.

He slept in that hallway till morning, amd when people came rushing to your room, wheeling your bed from the area, he assumed the worst, panicking in every semse of the word. His mother held him and it was only then he realized your mother was here, too. Must have taken the soonest flight home to be with the family, preparing for the inevitable.

A surgical assistant was sent to explain to Benny what was going on, and that he need not worry.

"She's going into surgery," she told him, and he was able to breath again, if only for a split second of relief. "There was a car accident on the freeway about twenty minutes ago... they had a donor card."

Benny's eyes were softened and he was more than relieved to hear this. Everything was going to be okay, right?

"She's gonna be okay..." he said solemly, hope filling every inch of him.

"There is a risk, though. Without having tested her to see if the set is a match, she could react badly to the lungs and her body might reject them."

Of course... there was always a catch.

Benny nodded in understanding, leaning against his mother for support and hoping and praying that everyone would be okay.

-

Two days passed since the operation, and you were recovering nicely. You had been awake for several hours now, laying alongside Benny, who you insisted should be more comfortable than in those ugly hospital chairs.

"So, Rodriguez," you chided, bringing up something that had been on your mind for a while. "Did you ever go through the mail I set on your chair."

"You nearly died two days ago and you're worried about the mail?"

"I was just wondering if you saw it," you chided, intertwining your fingers together.

"I have not, you wanna tell me?"

You smiled and nodded enthusiastically.

"We've been invited to a wedding," you told him, and he furrowed hus brows in confusion... who did you guys know that was getting married?

"A wedding?"

"Yes, for our dear friend," you teased, wondering if he would ever guess. He tilted his head and you couldn't wait any longer. "Does Squints Palledorous ring a bell?"

"No way...." he didn't even believe it. He remembered getting a letter a while ago, something about him finally catching the girl of his dreams.

"Yes way, and the best part? It's six months away, so I'll be good to go by that point."

He smiled and kissed the top of your head, bringing you closer together.

"You know you have to wear a dress, right?" He reminded you and you laughed.

"I like wearing dresses."

"No, you don't."

"Okay fine, you like it when I wear dresses."

"Bingo."

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A/n: hi everyone my apologies for this piece of shit i just really want to finish this book so it's not hanging over my head for all eternity. Anyways one more update then it's over forever lol no more benny and mack content