Aching for Adam

Chapter 23

ELLE

I walked over to the bathroom, panicked and breathing heavily, trying not to spiral. I could feel wetness between my legs, and now there was blood on my hand, on the chair I'd been sitting on, and on my shorts.

"Should... should I call 911? What do I do?" I whispered to myself.

Too worried to care, I called the one person I'd been trying to avoid. "Pick up, please pick up, Adam." Straight to voicemail. I tried again—same result. "Shit!"

I dialed Suzie, and she picked up on the first ring. "Thank god, Elle, Adam has been worried sick about you. He's completely—"

"Suzie." My voice cracked, thick with emotion. She knew immediately I was crying.

"Oh my god, Elle, what's wrong?" Her voice sharpened with concern.

"It's the baby. I'm bleeding. I don't know what's going on. I'm scared, Suzie." I sobbed.

"Elle, get to the nearest hospital. Where are you? I'm coming, sweetie. Everything is going to be fine." Her calm tone soothed me a little. I told her where to meet me and rushed to the hospital as quickly as I could, forcing myself to stay calm and drive safely—for the baby.

ADAM

"Where are you? I'm coming to pick you up. Are you home?" Suzie's voice was panicked.

I was on my laptop—she had reached me through social media since my phone had exploded against the wall.

"Why are you calling me on this? What's going on?" I frowned.

"We don't have time for this. Where are you?" she pressed.

"Jeez. Calm down, Suz, you're scaring me. I'm at home." My heart was already starting to pound.

"Don't freak out—okay, useless to say that. But listen, Elle had a problem. She's heading to the hospital. I'm not going without you. She needs you there, and you need to be there. I'll be at your place in ten minutes. We'll have to take a short flight but everything has been arranged. Be ready." 

The ground seemed to crumble under my feet, and I had to grab the counter to steady myself.

No. No, no, no. This wasn't happening.

Suzie arrived, and I jumped into her car. She gave me what little details she had, and I tried to breathe deeply to keep from unraveling.

The short plane ride felt interminable, and silent, except for the sound of my racing thoughts. Suzie didn't try to distract me with small talk, which I appreciated. Finally, we arrived at the hospital and were directed to her room.

I hadn't seen Elle for 3 days, and now this was where we had to reunite. It killed me. I should have been with her. She had been alone in a hospital, probably terrified about our baby. Our baby. I silently prayed that he or she was all right and promised whoever might be listening that I'd give anything in exchange for the baby's safety.

We stepped into a small private room with the curtains drawn. I heard a faint whimper. When I peeked through, I saw Elle curled up tightly, wiping tears away with a tissue. My heart broke, and I walked straight to her, pulling her into my arms.

"Adam. You're here!" She clutched my arms and buried her face in my chest.

"I'm here, my love. I'm never letting you go. I'm here." I kept repeating, holding her as if I could shield her from everything. Suzie hadn't followed us in—she must have known we needed privacy.

"What happened?" I asked gently, careful not to agitate her further.

"I don't know, the doctor hasn't come by yet. I was bleeding, Adam. She said it can happen sometimes early in pregnancy, that it's usually nothing to worry about. But I'm so scared. I don't want anything to happen to our baby. And I've missed you so much." Her sobs tore through me.

"I've missed you too, my love. I'm sure everything is fine. I'm sure our baby is fine. I'm here." I rubbed her back, kissed her hair, doing everything I could to stay strong when inside I was barely holding it together.

The doctor finally entered, and we looked up with equal parts hope and fear. "Your baby is fine. This was just due to—"

I let out a long, shaky breath. The rest of her explanation blurred as relief crashed over me. Elle's shoulders sagged, gratitude pouring out of her as she thanked the doctor again and again until the woman excused herself with a kind smile.

"Elle," I whispered.

She turned and crashed into me, sobbing now with relief.

Then she looked up at me, guilt etched on her face. "Adam... I'm so sorry. I can't believe I left you again. I feel so terrible. Believe me, I know I said I never would—"

"Don't." I cut her off gently. "The only person who should apologize is my mother, and that's not going to happen. I understand it was a lot to handle. I wish you had talked to me instead of running away, but it's over now. I don't care about them, Elle. You're the only one that matters. Do you understand? You don't have to worry about them anymore." I stroked her hair and kissed her forehead.

"I love you," she whispered.

"I love you too," I murmured back.

"Marry me," she whispered again, so softly I almost missed it.

"What?" I touched her cheek, searching her eyes.

"There's a chapel. I saw it on my way in. Marry me, right now. Today. We can have the big wedding later, but I want to commit to you now. Please." She gave me a crooked smile, and I knew I'd do anything in the world to see it again.

"Let's do it. And hey, we even have a witness." I chuckled.

As if on cue, Suzie peeked through the curtain. "Did I hear someone propose?" she asked with a toothy grin.

We all laughed, the heaviness of the past week finally beginning to lift.