Learning to Live, Again

Chapter Thirteen

Corbin's POV

I held my youngest child, Madeline, to my chest, my cheek resting on the top of her head. Her breathes were coming out short and fast, letting me know she was beginning to calm down. Addaline and I were sitting in the hospital waiting room. Rowen was thankfully asleep in the stroller, but Madeline had been having a hard time breathing all day, worse than usual,  and I was worried. 

After I'd gotten home, I'd gone in to check on the twins and Madeline had been lying in her crib, her mouth open as if she were trying to cry, and her face was purple. I didn't know what to do, so I had stood there and watch as my little girl struggled to breath.

My mother had thankfully walked in a couple seconds after me, and she knew what to do. She carefully maneuvered Madeline's head so it was tilted back, moving her tongue so she could breath. She told me to call 911, but by the time I grabbed the phone she was breathing fine and her face was slowly going back to pink.

I would have still called, but Addaline arrived home from wherever it was she had been that day, and talked me out of it, saying Madeline was fine now, so we shouldn't worry. Except, that I was worried. Addaline didn't seemed worried at all; in fact, she'd seemed annoyed that I had even made her drive with me to the hospital. Although, I couldn't blame her. She seemed as exhausted as I felt, and the last thing I wanted to do was to take my child to the hospital, but I couldn't take the chance that she might have another choking fit in the middle of the night, while I'm sleeping.

The only thing worse than a crying baby in the morning is one that isn't even breathing.. Or so I could imagine. I definitely didn't want to find out.

"Addaline, can you take Madeline for me? I'm going to go talk to them and see what's taking so long." Addaline sighed, clearly annoyed, and took the baby from me. "Careful," I snapped at her when she recklessly let Madeline's head drop. "You could cause her serious problems."

Addaline glared at me. "I know how to hold a baby, Corbin. Believe me, I spend enough time around them to know how fragile their stupid necks are."

I frowned, scowling at her. "Whatever, just be careful." I stood up and made my way to the desk. "Excuse me? Miss?" The woman looked up, her lips pulled into a frown. I had the feeling she frowned a lot, if her premature wrinkles had anything to say about it. "Hi, my baby," I pointed to Madeline, "stopped breathing earlier, and I'm extremely worried it'll happen again. I need to see a doctor as soon as possible, and I was wondering when it might be our turn."

The woman glared at me, her pen tapping against the desk in an annoyed manner. "Listen, punk, you and your baby need to wait in line like everyone else. See that woman? She thinks she has cancer. I bet you $50 she does not. That man has a rash that he thinks is contagious. I'm 99% sure he's a dumb ass." I opened my mouth to say something, but she cut me off, "The point I'm trying to make, boy, is that your baby is most definitely probably fine. Babies stop breathing sometimes, without life or death hanging in the balance. Now, if you will, go sit back down, stay out of my face and away from my desk, and wait for someone to call you. Thank you."

Before I could say anything else, she ducked her head again and started reading papers. I wanted to tell her off, but I had the feeling that she was a guaranteed trip out the front door, courtesy of a couple of security guards. I had just seen Caleb go to jail. I really didn't feel like following suit over something as dumb as a bitchy nurse. So, instead I turned around and returned to my seat beside my wife and daughters, and waited.

And waited.

And waited some more.

We waited in that waiting room for over two hours. When we finally got in, we had to wait an additional hour for the doctor to finally come in to see us. When she did, she was all smiles and apologies. Any other day, I would have taken her words at face value, but I was pissed. I had just spent the last hour and a half fighting with Addaline over who would watch the kids tomorrow and whose turn it was to change Rowen's diaper.

It was ridiculous. She refused to take my suggestion and each of us care for one child a day. She insisted on doing everything "fairly". That meant if she changed Rowen's diaper while I was gone, Rowen would not get changed again until I came home and did it, even if it was hours until I came home. I tried to explain to her that Rowen couldn't just sit in a shitty diaper for hours on end, but she didn't seem to understand that.

So, needless to say, when the doctor came in, I was not in the nicest of moods. 

"Hello everyone," she said, a smile on her face. "So, I hear one of your little ones seems to be having some breathing difficulties."

I nodded. "They were born prematurely, as most twins are known to be, and Madeline, the youngest, has had breathing problems since day one. Our doctor doesn't know what is it. The reason why we're here and not scheduling an appointment with our doctor is because Madeline stopped breathing. When I came home she was gasping for air, and my mother had to tilt her head back to help her breath."

"Alright, well, let me see the little one." I cradled Madeline in my arms, and lifted her up so the doctor could see her. She put the stethoscope on Madeline's little back and listened to her breathing. After a few moments, she leaned back. "Well, her breathing seems to be fine, just a little shallow. From the sound of it and the way you described it, she might just have been choking on her tongue, but, since she is a premature infant, she may have asthma. I'm sorry, but there's really nothing I can do. You'll have to take her home and make an appointment with your doctor. Have him test her for asthma and check her lungs."

I scoffed. "Really? That's it? This is why we waited almost three fucking hours? Are you fucking kidding me?"

Addaline set her hand on my arm, "Corbin-"

I yanked my arm from her. "No, Addie, this is bullshit. If my daughter dies tonight, you better believe you will be the one I blame. Let's go." I turned from the frightened doctor and made my way to the waiting room. Without waiting, I pushed Rowen's stroller and carried Madeline out of the door. By the time Addaline had caught up, I already had the girls strapped in their seats, and I was climbing into the car.

"Corbin, what is wrong with you? Threatening a doctor? Are you fucking crazy?"

I sped out of the parking lot, my jaw clenched in anger. "We waited for three hours for her to just say, 'Oh, sorry. Your baby almost died, but I have no idea why. Please leave, and good luck with your baby not dying.'"

Addaline rolled her eyes. "That is not what she said."

"It might as well have been," I shouted. I must have scared the girls because they started crying.

"Corbin, you're a fucking maniac."

I gripped the steering wheel. "You would know."

"What is that suppose to mean?"

I shrugged. "Oh nothing; just the fact you had Jeremy in my house. What the fuck were you thinking? He beat the shit out of Niamh, and, if the police had known about him before they found the killer, you would have been blamed for her kidnapping, too. What were you doing with him?"

Addaline looked out of the window, not answering.

"Addaline!"

"What?" she snapped. "Do you want me to tell you we were having sex?"

I scowled. "Not unless it's true. What was he doing there?"

Addaline opened her mouth to answer, but instead she turned and screamed. I turned just in time to slam on the brakes. It didn't help though; the brakes locked up and I slammed into the person crossing the highway. When the car finally stopped, I looked in the direction of the body. It was almost fifteen feet from us, and from here, it looked like the person had white hair.