Would he be able to cope?

The only reason he felt he finally coped with his family’s loss was because of Audrey. There was no other Audrey out there, so what the hell was he to do?

“Tate.” He looked up to see Fallon looking down at him. Her face was blood red, and she was hiccupping as she said, “You can go in.” Tate looked over at Lucas, and for the first time, he saw tears rushing down his friends face.

Oh, this was going to be bad, he thought as he stood slowly, moving out of Nora’s arms and past Lucas and Fallon. Audrey’s room was the first room to the left of the waiting room, and when he reached it, he stood there, frozen as he looked in at the woman he loved.

Audrey’s face was unrecognizable. With the blood cleaned off her face, he could see her two swollen shut, black eyes; her crooked bruised nose and her lips split in half being held together by a dark black thread was visible under the ventilator tube. Her hands were at her sides and were covered in dark black and purple bruises. Tears gushed down Tate’s face as a sob tore through him. He had to brace himself against the door to keep from crumbling to the ground and dying.

She looked just as Matilda did when he saw her lifeless body in the morgue.

It was horrible, and just as before, Tate found the nearest trashcan which was in the hall and he vomited all of the disgusting jail food they had given him only hours ago. He couldn’t do it all over again; he couldn’t lose someone else who was his world. Wiping his mouth with the back of his hand, he washed his hands at the nearest sink and then went back into Audrey’s room, rushing to the bed to hold her hand.

Tate pressed his lips to her knuckles, feeling her warm skin under his lips. Tate’s tears wouldn’t stop as they ran down his cheeks, landing on her bed. He grabbed her hand and moved it to his cheek. With a shaking hand he placed his on top of their child. Looking up at her face, he bit down hard on his lip as he willed himself not to scream out in pain. Leaning over, he gently kissed her forehead before leaning in close and saying, “Baby, please, I need you to come out of this. I need you to wake up, look at me and tell me you love me as much as I love you, love. I need you to tell me we’re pregnant and when you are due. I need you to tell me what you want, a boy or a girl because we never discussed that. I want a girl, someone as beautiful as you with my humor, or maybe your humor because I think you are funnier than I am. I need to know, baby. I can’t do this world, this place without you. I need you, please, please, come out of this. Please. I love you. I do, Audrey, so f**king much. I love you. I hope you can hear me and know that. I do. I do, so much.”

His tears splashed along her skin as his heart broke into billions of pieces. He didn’t simply want her anymore. He needed her. He needed her smile, her laugh, her commentary during their shows. He needed to taste every cupcake she created. He needed to taste her lips after a long day on the ice or after a long road trip away from her. He needed to feel her naked scrumptious body against his every single day. He needed to make her his wife. He needed her to grow their baby, so that he could help her nurture it when she brought it into the world. He needed her to know he was going to love her with his whole being, every day, for the rest of their lives. He needed her to know, he was her Prince Charming and she was his gorgeous Cinderella. That they will live their Happily Ever After.

He needed her.

Laying her hands back down, he sat back into the chair, and watched as her chest rose and fell with the sounds from the ventilator. Running his fingers through his hair, he gripped the strands, welcoming the pain while feeling like his world was ending.

“Sir, are you staying with her through the night?”

Tate looked up at the doctor and shrugged his shoulders, “I don’t know, did you ask her family?”

The doctor nodded as he said, “They said to ask if you wanted to.”

Tate wanted to run to Nora, William and Fallon and wrap his arms around them and thank them. They had given him the ultimate gift because he wasn’t sure how he was ever going to leave her.

Nodding his head, Tate said, “Yes, I need to stay.”

Chapter 28

Fallon stood in front of a pair of windows, looking out onto the Nashville skyline. It was so beautiful, and so sparkly as people lived their lives, not a care in the world, while Fallon’s heart slowly broke from the pain of having no answers about her sister. It was close to midnight and the doctors expected some kind of change by now, but there wasn’t any. Clutching her neck, Fallon’s phone sat loosely in her other hand. She had called Susie to check on Aiden, and to ask her to keep him through the night until tomorrow when they knew some more answers. Thankfully for her, Susie was on vacation from her job and had no problems helping them out.

Tears pooled in Fallon’s eyes as she thought how to tell Aiden about Audrey. He wouldn’t understand, and it killed her to think how scared he was going to be. Audrey was his world, as she was Fallon’s. How would any of them survive if she didn’t make it? When she felt and saw a pair of strong, tattooed arms come around her waist, she crumbled against Lucas, holding onto him as the life jacket she needed.

“Baby girl, everything is going to be okay,” he whispered against her neck.

“I’m so scared, Lucas, so f**king scared,” she cried as his grip on her tightened.

“I know, baby,” he said, kissing her softly on her neck, “Audrey wouldn’t want you to cry like this, she’d tell you not to worry.”

“I know but she’s just gonna have to accept my tears. I am worried shit about her.”