A Fostered Love

Epilogue: Kyle

*Play the song above during this chapter. I just wanted to try out the audio stuff and I just put it on this chapter.*
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Fifteen Years Later

"Where's mommy?" My four year old daughter asked me as we sat on the couch waiting for my wife's arrival. Usually, Layla would be home by now, and my suspicion was growing by the minute.

My phone rang beside me from an unidentified caller. I answered it, not really knowing what to expect.

Little did I know this would be the day my world would come crashing down.

We arrived at the hospital twenty minutes later.

"Where's my wife?" I shouted as I rushed through the hallways of the ICU, unsure of where I was going. A few nurses tried to stop me, but I ignored them, trying to find her. I could feel Emma growing more uncomfortable and scared as I carried her down the hallways. I tried my best to comfort her by rubbing soothing circles on her back, but I was too distracted.

"What's your wife's name sir?" One of the nurses asked, finally realizing that it was pointless to hold me back.

"Layla Sampson. I got a call-," I started but the nurse interrupted me. I noticed the grave look that crossed her face and my heart sunk a little more.

"She's in surgery right now." She said giving a small smile to my child. I put Emma down and guided her over to a chair.

"How long until she is out?"

She hesitated, "However long it takes her to push through."

I looked down, lowering my voice as I spoke to her, "What happened?"

The nurse paused, "You wife was in a terrible accident. The doctors are doing everything that they can."

"How bad was it?" I asked, not sure if I wanted to know the answer.

"Her car hit another wreck and she was thrown from it as it flipped over."

My breathing stopped and bile rose in my throat. This can't be happening. Not again. She can't die. She can't leave me. Not now. Not after everything we've been through. I need her, now more than ever.

My voice cracked, "The injuries."

"I'm sorry?" The nurse asked, not hearing what I said.

"The injuries?"

She tensed at the question, not answering it right away like I wanted her to.

"Tell me."

She took a breath. "Four broken ribs, snapped spinal cord, skull fracture, possibility of brain damage, internal bleeding, and deep wounds from the glass of the car window."

I stayed quiet, knowing that the doctors were a hopeless case. I knew that it would be impossible for a full recovery. Not after all of this.

"Mr. Sampson I-,"

"I want to see her."

"She's in surgery right now, we will have to wait for her to get out."

"Let me see her. Let me see my wife for one last time."

The nurse looked back at me with a sad expression. "Follow me."

We walked down the white hallways, but I wasn't even paying attention. I clutched Emma tightly in my arms, but my mind wasn't grasping where I was. The only thing I could think about was Layla. Her smile, her beautiful smile that I would never get tired of. The way her hair cascades down her back in beautiful brown waves. The way she can ignite all of my senses with a single touch. The small little quirks she has that makes me fall in love with her more and more each day.

And I was about to loose all of that.

Just like I lost my mother.

Why me?

Why does it always have to me be my happiness that is taken from me? I didn't do anything to deserve it, did I? God, now would be a good time to explain yourself. Explain why, after everything I've been through, you have decided to take away one of the things I care about the most. Why go through all the trouble of making me suffer just to do it again years and years later, once I've moved on and grasped happiness once again? Don't I deserve some god damn happiness sometimes, or is that too much to ask?

The nurse opened the door and directed me inside of the room with a glass window looking directly into the operating room.

And there she was, lying on the table with six surgeons surrounding her. Her eyes we closed, almost as if she were enjoying a nice rest.

"Why is Mommy in there?"

Emma. So naive to the world. Too young to be loosing a mother, much like I was.

She was an almost exact replica of her, only inheriting one or two things from me. Her large brown eyes looked up expectantly at me, reminding me so much of her mother that it was painful.

"Mommy got hurt sweetheart, but soon she'll be better."

Emma stayed quiet and we both looked through the window together, watching as they poked and prodded.

My heart raced as time ticked by slowly. Each minute that passed was a minute closer to losing my love, and that was an undeniable fact. The pain I was feeling was worse than when I had a knife plunged in my back. It was as if a thousand knives were stabbing me simultaneously, ripping me to shreds with each blow.

It was in that moment that I realized what Layla had felt so many years ago.

The fear of not knowing what was going to happen next was terrifying and gut wrenching, and I just wanted it to stop. I wanted her to be fine. I needed her to be fine, but I couldn't do anything about it. The feeling of complete and utter helplessness was one of the worst feelings I could have in this moment.

The moment I noticed the flat line on the heart monitor was the moment that time slowed down. I watched as the doctors hurriedly began CPR, then later tried to shock her back to life, but it was no use. She was long gone, and so was I almost, until Emma's voice caught my attention.

"Why are you crying Daddy?"

I hadn't even noticed the tears were falling. I looked over at her, not sure how to break the news to her. "Mommy left us."

"Will she be coming back?"

I kissed her forehead, trying to find a way to break the news, "She won't be back for a very long time."

"Why not?"

My voice catches, "She's with the Angels, darling. She's with the Angels."

I turned back to the window, watching as the doctors pulled the sheet over her head. My final words for her were whispered through the glass, in hopes that she could hear them wherever she was going.

"Rest in peace my love, for I will be there with you soon enough."