Second Chance At Love

Second Chance At Love: Chapter 26

Here is Chapter 26! This chapter is sad. :(

Chapter 26:

"Your beautiful, just like your Mommy," I told Marina, my hand rubbing her soft hair gently. She was one week old now, and still I wasn't allowed to pick her up. Carleigha hadn't even seen her; she was unconscious most of the time, and when she wasn't she was not coherent. The doctor told me Marina was incredibly healthy and doing great for being born early, so I was told I'd be able to hold her within the next couple days. I just hoped Carleigha would be able to hold her soon after.

"Your Mommy needs to be okay, so she can see you," I whispered to the baby, "She loves you so much. Nobody will ever love you as much as she does. She wants everything for you, because you mean the world to her."

I spent a lot of time sitting next to Marina; holding her tiny hands or rubbing her head. I talked to her and sang to her, just wanting her to feel loved. She needed to feel loved without her mom here.

Cassidy went back to NYU on Sunday. She had classes she needed to go to and couldn't afford to miss. I was kind of in the same predicament but I decided family comes first. Besides, if I flunked the year, I always had money to fall back on.

Marina was growing more and more beautiful every day. Her hair was thick and dark, making her look like an Eskimo baby, and her skin was perfect. No splotchy imperfections. She would open her eyes and look up at me with those huge, beautiful, dark, blue eyes and it was amazing. I could just forget everything and the world seemed perfect. It was amazing how much I loved her, and I had never even held her.

"Hey."

I turned to see my dad standing in the doorway holding two cups of coffee. His hair was graying, much faster than it had last year, and he had many more wrinkles. I guess he had a lot more to fret over than he did a year ago.

"Hey. Is that for me?" I asked, pointing at the mocha. He nodded and handed it to me. I took a sip and sighed in relief as the hot liquid poured down my throat. Soon the caffeine will be going through my body, and I will feel much more awake and alive than I do at the moment.

"How are you doing?" My dad asked me, taking the empty stool next to be and smiling at Marina who was awake for once and staring up at me.

"I'm doing okay, I think. How about you?" I sighed.

He smiled sadly at me and then looked back at Marina. "It's hard. It's really hard," he said, "I lost my wife, I don't want to lose my daughter too."

I took his hand, "We're not going to lose her, Dad. It's going to be okay. You just have to have faith."

"I wish I did, Monica. I really wish I did," he confessed. I tried to give him a reassuring smile, but I felt like my heart was breaking. Why did this keep happening to my family?

"Have you talked to her doctor today?" I asked.

He nodded, "He said there is no improvement and that it might even be worse. They don't even know what could be doing this. She has so much infection and things are starting to fail. They're doing everything they can, Monica, but it's not looking good."

I bit my lip, holding back tears. I looked down at Marina. She deserved her mother, and she might not even meet her.

"She needs to survive this, for Marina," I told him, "Marina needs her mother."

My father nodded, like he agreed with every word I said.

"Are you ready to hold her?" the nurse asked me while walking into the room. I shot up from the couch I was sitting on.