Together Forever

Chapter 17. ♧

Jordan, for the first time since he heard the news, broke down in the locker room. Not caring about the media in front of him, he rested his face in his hands and cried.

Kobe, not wanting to see his young teammate's weak moment plastered everywhere, placed a towel over Jordan's head. Jordan was grateful for his teammates. They'd just won and were supposed to be in high spirits, but they were more concerned about his wellbeing. The media soon cleared out, leaving only the players.

"You good?" X broke the silence. Jordan shook his head, running a hand down his tear streaked face.

"It's not your ankle is it?" Someone else piped up. Jordan had honestly forgotten about his terrible landing. Not only was he in physical pain, he was also in emotional pain.

"My baby's gone, man." He croaked out. His body shook violently as he held back more tears.

Earlier...

Sitting in the NICU, Jordan watched his sleeping baby. Weighing in at three pounds seven ounces, she was his little fighter. IVs, monitors, machines constantly beeping, it was all too much for him. No one or nothing could have prepared him for this reality. Sure he knew babies were born early, but he'd never seen one in the hospital. He surely would have remembered the vigorous scrubbing, the lamps, the feeling of anxiousness as their heart rate fluctuates on the monitor. It was early in the morning and he couldn't help but be nervous as he watched the nurse feed her. She wasn't bottle fed yet, they fed her through tubes. Tubes that she definitely didn't like. She rarely made noise, but when the tubes moved you could hear her give a slight whimper.

He never thought he'd long to hear a baby cry.

Tears ran down her reddened cheeks as she held the toilet. Audriella had been feeling nauseous for the entire week. It wasn't unusual, but this was a bit extreme. She'd spent hours hanging over the toilet releasing acid. Only acid. Her stomach was in so much pain, but she chalked it up to just her abs being sore. With a growing baby and morning sickness, she was bound to have a sore stomach at some point.

"Are you sure you're okay?" Gabby asked softly as she rubbed her roommate's back.

"No," Audriella shook her head. "I will be though. I just need some fluids and crackers."

"You threw up the last pack." Gabby frowned, holding her close. Audriella groaned softly.

She couldn't remember the last time she'd felt this bad. All she wanted to do was sleep and be alone. Clearly that wasn't going to happen since Jordan made it a point to call her every hour.

"Tell me you're fine." He begged as she coughed on the other line.

"I'm okay." She mumbled. He promptly hung up and switched to video.

"No you're not." He frowned, she looked horrible. Even worse than when she had Strep throat and the flu together. He could tell by the redness of her eyes that she had been crying. "Fuck the game I'm coming down there."

"No, Jordan." She whined, pushing her hair out of her face.

"Yes, you clearly aren't okay. I need to be where you are." He frowned as she shook her head.

"You need to focus on your game. If anything changes you'll be the first to know." Audriella moved the camera away from her face to scrunch it up in pain. The cramps in her stomach were getting stronger.

"Audriella..." He called out sternly.

"Yeah," she put her now relaxed face back in front of the camera.

"At least go to the hospital for me." He pleaded. If he couldn't be there, he wanted her under watch. If not for her, at least for his child.

"I'll go." She crossed her fingers behind her back. She wasn't going to a hospital, she hated needles and that's all they were going to do. Poke her within an inch of her life.

"Promise me on my career that you'll go. I'll leave this arena right now and take the next flight out." He threatened making her sigh.

"I'll go, I promise." She sounded defeated, but she didn't want them to confirm what she already knew.

"Okay, I love you." He spoke calmly. His nerves were starting to settle down so he could focus. That was all she wanted.

"We love you, too. Play hard." She disconnected the call and started to pack her bags for the next couple days.

Entering under a private name, Audriella was stuck in the bed with an IV and a monitor across her stomach. She was annoyed, but was focusing all of her attention on Jordan. He was playing like he had no worries. Not a care in the world. That was all she wanted. He needed to succeed in his career.

Jordan wiped his face as they moved into the locker room. He was playing hard because he wanted to be home with his fiancé and baby. In his head, the better he played the faster he could get to them. Ignoring the pep talk, he wandered into the bathroom. His phone vibrated in his shorts.

"You okay?" He immediately bombarded her with questions. Audriella answered each question honestly. His heart broke with every sentence.

"I love you, too." He mumbled. Letting his phone drop, he placed his hands on his head. Tucking his lips between his teeth, he let out heavy breaths through his nose.

"Clarkson, you good?" Jordan Hill peeked in on him. It was almost game time and they had set out in search of the rookie.

"Yeah- yeah, I just needed a minute to uh get my mind right. I'm coming." Jordan stuttered making his teammate frown. He wasn't used to seeing him so bothered. Clarkson was usually the relaxed one.

"Leave it all on the court." He repeated Audriella's words.

With the help of his teammates, he was on his way to his fiancé. He didn't even shower or put his uniform away, he just threw on his sweats and bolted. Even with the medics behind him, he ignored all the people calling his name.

"I'm looking for Chanel Taylor." He spoke impatiently to the receptionist. He would have skipped the middle man, but he had no idea where his phone was.

"Room N268." She spoke seductively. Jordan ignored her and walked away. The girl smiled and immediately went to tell her friends who she saw.

The door had guards and nurses surrounding it which alarmed him. Why would nurses be crowding around unless something was wrong? Bypassing all of them with ease, he heard the soft whimpers.

"Dri." He mumbled taking in her appearance. All the machines and tubes around her scared him. All of his fear went away when she held out her arms for him. He immediately wrapped his arms around her and let his tears fall.

They had to get through this together.