it was silent in the waiting room, only the sounds of pens scratching from the front desk and frank's soft sobs to fill the void in the air. it had been hours since ruby had watch her father "die" yet no word from the doctor. pete had arrived soon after and had gotten frank almost kicked out by how loud his shouting was. he also now sported a crooked nose, busted lip and black eye, courtesy of frank.
the ringing of the heart rate monitor echoed in her ears, her mind trapped in an endless loop of what happened: the babies screaming as nurses rushed in, yelling out multiple medical codes, different doctors asking her the same question over and over again just to recieve the same answer as before.
"w-we were talking- oh, god, we were t-talking a-and when i spoke up, the m-monitor started beeping- i-is he dead? oh my god, p-please say he's n-not dead-"
but now, she remained stoic, her eyes trained on the stroller in front of her, watching celestial fast asleep. pete had tried to hold him and she snapped, throwing random punches at whoever tried to touch the sleeping babe. he saw the most and he didn't even understand it.
but most of all, if tyler was dead, then he died thinking ruby hated him, thinking that she was mad, when she was the complete opposite. yes, she was confused as to why she had been the first call but she was ecstatic. she'd been the first to hold zarra, even before frank had the chance. but then when they sat together, that damn tension sparked between them, riling up all her confusion and turning it into frustration.
gosh, the things she would do just so she could change things for the better. what if she had been the reason all of this happened? what if that was the last time she spoke to him and she'd been nothing but a bitch?
"rubes?" a small voice came from next to her, followed by a few sniffles.
"i swear on everything i love, i-if you take this boy from m-me, iero, i'll kill you myself..." she croaked out, hands flying towards the stroller defensively.
"wouldn't dream of it," the tattooed man gave a shaky laugh before sitting next to her, whimpering quietly as he looked down at the newborn in his arms. "j-just wanted to keep you updated... t-they're still working on him-"
"please don't-" she sniffed, wiping her nose with the back of her jacket. "i-if you're not telling me that i can go see him,"
"but they said that he's stable and h-he's not bleeding as much as he had been..said we should be able to see him soon. said his body was just under a lot of stress.."
"stress?" she sniffed quietly, biting back a sob. "so i st-stressed him out?"
"no no no, babes, of course not. this wasn't your fault, okay? things like this happen all the time." frank reassured her, hesitant to touch her arm. the only person he touched without a major problem before was tyler and even now, he could feel his skin crawling. quickly, he withdrew his hand, smiling weakly when zarra cooed softly clutching at his thumb. ruby peeked over at them, eyes red and puffy. she saw how much love frank had for her and she gave the tiniest of smiles.
"she looks like him a little bit, don't ya think, rubes?" frank murmured, tears threatening to spill from his eyes. "she's gorgeous."
"joseph-wentz?" a timid nurse called out, squinting her eyes to look at the clipboard. "is the joseph-wentz family here?"
as everyone made their way over, ruby noticed how pete was gone, not even bothering to tell someone. hell, he wasn't even here for zarra's birth! but that wasn't the point.
