Help.

23

I'm really sorry...

He saw Jen looking sadly at them and anger boiled inside of him. He pulled away from Mitch and looked at her.

     "What the hell happened?" He asked and Mitch put a hand on his chest.

     "Scott-" he cut him off.

     "I'm not going to calm down Mitch! Our child is dying!" Mitch shut his mouth. He couldn't help but want to smile at the fact the Scott called Leah "theirs".

     "So what happened?" He asked Jen and Jen looked down.

     "I was sitting on the porch and they were playing in the street. That's what they usually do, there's usually never anyone driving in my neighborhood especially that fast. Some big SUV sped around a corner and Leah was right in its path and it just... ran her over." She said her voice shaking.

     Scott nodded, "sorry I just..." he turned around and walked down the hallway. Mitch stood there not know what to do.

     "It's not your fault... thank you for everything." He said to her genuinely.

     "Please call me when you hear anything. I'm going to go home... Kaytie's pretty shaken up." She said and Mitch nodded.

     She left and Mitch again didn't know what to do. It seemed like he was in this situation a lot lately.

     He paced in front of the door bitting his nails. He had called Scott twice and tried not to worry about him. He would go and find him but he couldn't leave just in case anything happened.

     Scott finally came down the long hallway and Mitch looked up and saw him. "You can't just fucking leave like that and not tell me you're okay!" Mitch scolded him.

     "I just needed some air I'm sorry." He said and Mitch shook his head.

     "With everything that has happened to us, you need to tell me where you are and if you're okay!" He said before continuing pacing.

      "I know I know. I'm sorry." Scott said and Mitch nodded not looking at him. She had only been in surgery for 20 minutes when the surgeon came out of the room.

     "Is one of you the parent of Leah Hoying?" The doctor asked and Scott and Mitch both stood up and approached him. "Both of you?" He asked quizzically and Scott gritted his teeth.

     "Yes Leah is our daughter. Now is she okay?" the doctor looked down at his chart.

     "Your daughter is... I'm going to put it into simpler terms. Basically you're daughter has extreme internal bleeding. She is slowly drowning in her own blood."

     "What does that mean? Can we fix it?" Scott asked immediately. The doctor sighed shaking his head.

     "We tried to go in a fix the problem but she is bleeding in multiple places that we cannot stop the bleeding from. You're daughter is on life support for now but... you chugs can decide when to pull the plug."

     "So she's still alive but you're saying that the machine is keeping her alive?" Scott asked shakily and the doctor looked up at him.

     "No she's not alive but the machine will allow you to say goodbye." The doctor said shortly. "She's in the next room. Take as long as you like."

     Scott put a hand over his mouth and looked at Mitch. "Mitch... how do I do this..." and Mitch shook his head and started to sob. He pulled Scott to him and they both sobbed into each other.

     After a few minutes they pulled it together enough to go in their. Scott walked into the room and tears started to fall down his cheeks once again.

     The small girl looked up and smiled weakly. "Hey daddy! Hey Mitchie!" She said and Scott came over to her side sitting next to her. He took her small hands in his and smiled the best he could.

     "Hey pumpkin," he said and ran his fingers through her head. "How are you feeling?"

     "Good, I'm sleepy. Why are you guys crying?" She asked innocently and Mitch came and sat next to her on the edge of the bed.

     "We just love you so much." Mitch said his voice barely there. Scott rubbed her hands lightly and kissed the top of her hand.

      "Honey I know that I have been really sad lately and kind of distant and I'm really sorry about that. You were never the reason I was sad I promise."

     She nodded and smiled at him, "I know. Papa was." She said and then looked at Mitch, "When are you gonna be my dad?" She asked and Mitch smiled and wiped some tears that started to fall.

     "He is baby. I think he's always been more of a dad to you then your Papa ever was." Scott whispered and Mitch kissed Leah's forehead.

     "I'm your dad baby." He whispered and Leah nodded.

     "Are you gonna adopt me when you guys get married?" She asked and they both held back a sob.

     "Yes baby." Mitch whispered running his hand through her hair with tears streaming down his cheeks.

     "Why are you guys crying so much? What's wrong? Where am I?" She asked and Scott looked down.

     "Baby you're going to go on an adventure..." Scott looked at Mitch and he nodded, "We're just sad that we won't be able to go with you. But we'll come see you really soon."

     She looked at them confused, "where am I going?" She asked and Scott shrugged.

     "You get to choose. You see this machine right here?" Scott pointed to the machine, "When I press these buttons it's going to take you where ever you want." Scott sniffled and squeezed his daughter's hand. "Where do you wanna go?"

     "I wanna go to Iceland! I wanna take you with me though! You've always wanted to go, right!?" Leah said excitedly looking at Mitch. Mitch's heart broken but he smiled and nodded.

     "Honey we can't go with you right away but we will meet you there." He said and Scott looked at Mitch. They both nodded and Scott kissed Leah's forehead.

     "Is it gonna hurt?" Leah asked and Scott shook his head.

     "No baby." He whispered holding her hand.

     "I'm scared daddy..." she whispered looking at him with fearful eyes.

      "I know baby but it's going to be okay. We'll see you very soon okay?" He whispered and she nodded.

      "I love you daddy." She whispered and he bit his lip to keep from sobbing as he flicked off the switches. Slowly her eyes closed and she went limp.

     Mitch put his head in his hands and sobbed. Scott let out a loud sob and cried into his and hers hands.