Chapter 15

Danielle

I was swimming up through heavy water. With each stroke closer to the surface, my strength faded away, but I had to reach the top. I had to find my baby. The baby was crying and I could make out a bleary image of someone holding him beyond the water's edge. Hold on, sweetheart. Mommy's coming. I struggled against the weight of the water, but the water was on fire, licking at my flesh demonically. I exhaled sharply and forced my eyes open.

The world I woke to was so different from the one I had left, I wasn't sure if I was still alive. My head was on a pillow, and I faced a window. A bird was singing joyfully outside, the only sound to break the stillness of the morning light as it fell across my legs. My hand went instinctively to my stomach.

My scream shattered the air.

Samantha sprang from a chair in the corner. "Dani, stop. You'll rip your stitches open. Nurse. Nurse!" She tried to press my shoulders back onto the bed.

"My baby!" I cried hysterically. "MY BABY!" I struggled to get out of bed, the pain ripping me in half as I fought. A nurse rushed in, coming around to the far end of the bed to help Sam secure me.

When I stilled, they looked at each other in confusion, then turned to find out what I was staring at.

Tucker was coming through the door, a blue blanket draped over his arm. In his big, skillful hands, I got a glimpse of the little head covered with dark hair, the blue cap they placed on it mushrooming off.

A wave of relief hit me so strong it knocked me back onto the pillows. "Oh."

Tucker rushed to my side, his euphoric joy cresting over me like a second wave. "Here he is, honey." His voice was full of awe as he nestled his package beside me in the bed. "Our son."

The tears bathing my face now were not brought on by the pain; the pain retreated again to some hidden corner of my mind. "Oh my God, Tucker," I said breathlessly, lifting a shaking hand to peel back a corner of the blanket to get a better peek. A tiny hand stretched out, the miniscule fist shaking defiantly in the air, a yawn accompanying the jerky movements. "Oh," I cooed. Sobs began to tremble through me. My body contested the movements, sending miniature bolts of pain shooting across my abdomen and chest. "Hi, Baby Myles."

Sam stretched to see him, too. "After the lead singer from Alter Bridge?"

I nodded.

Tucker frowned. "I thought it was after my grandpa."

"Oh. It is. It is."

Now Sam was frowning. "Not Myles Kennedy?"

"Umm...."

Tucker smirked. "So that's why you wanted his middle name to be Kennedy."

"No. I thought Myles Kennedy McCord had a nice ring to it."

"Yeah. Sure." He smiled. "You know what? You can name him anything you want." He stretched over the bedrail and kissed me softly. "You scared me, Dani," he whispered.

I squeezed my eyes shut and a tear leaked out. "I'm sorry."

He kissed me again. "Don't be sorry, silly. I'm just glad to see those beautiful eyes of yours."

The tiredness dragged me under again. It weighed on every cell in my body. I struggled to talk. "How did Sam get here?" I'm not sure if they answered me as I lost hold and slipped back into an unconscious state.

* * *

Samantha

We drove through the night to get to her. It was Kyle's idea. When he realized I wouldn't fall asleep worrying about her anyway, he pointed out that we both still had a couple days off before having to return to work. I did fall asleep in the car, though, and my sweet husband drove the whole... seven or eight hours, himself. Even before Tucker called, I knew something was wrong. Her not checking in with Tucker after she'd been gone so long didn't seem right.

What a relief to have her wake up and get to hold her precious baby. Almost made me want to have one myself. Almost.

No. I'd done my time with childbirth and raising kids, and Kyle was cool with that. He was a great father to my kids, though. Better than their real dad by a long shot.

When Tucker asked us to go back to the house and check in on Tabby, Scott, and Zoe, I was more than happy to. There is only so much of watching a friend in pain, then watching her sleep, that I could take. It was still pretty early when we got to the house, so we were trying to be quiet when we opened the door. It creaked on its hinges, and we crept in, closing it gently behind us.

We stopped to listen, and it was silent. "They must still be asleep," I whispered to Kyle. I set my purse down and that's when I noticed them. Curled up on the couch. Kyle was right behind me.

He stuck his hands in his pockets. "Well, I'll be."

"The little tramp," I joked.

"No." He smiled, looking at the pair. "They're cute together."

"Hmpf," I snorted. "Zo-e," I called.

I almost felt guilty when they jumped, then scrambled to sitting positions on opposite sides of the couch. Zach ran a hand through his hair and avoided eye contact. Zoe looked at him, then back at us with round eyes. "What are you guys doing here? Have things gotten worse with my m—with Dani?"

She'd almost said it. I knew Scott called Dani "Mom" from day one. Zoe was a bit slower in coming around, but clearly she sensed the connection. "No, honey. She was awake for a while, but was down for the count when we left." I sauntered over to the couch and sat between them, patting their knees. "So. What are you two kids up to?" I looked from one to the other.

"Oh, well.... I called Zack last night because I was scared, and upset... and he was nice enough to come over."

"And nice enough to spend the night, too." I eyeballed him.

"Oh, we're just friends, Mrs. Neaman. Nothing went on here. I was only trying to... help Zoe."

"It's Scofield now, Zack. Scofield."

"Oh, that's right."

I would feel sorry for the kid if I didn't catch a glimpse of the hurt in Zoe's eyes. I'm not sure what it was about, but I didn't want to tease her anymore.

"You want to go meet your brother?"

She jumped up. "Can I?"

"Sure thing. Uncle Kyle can drive you over there if—"

"I can do that," Zack offered. "You look tired, Mr. Scofield," he added quickly. "I'd be happy to do it for you."

"It's Kyle, Zack." My husband was an easy mark.

He doesn't seem the least bit interested in making these two squirm. Hmm. Character flaw.

Zack got to his feet, and Zoe grabbed her phone.

"You guys can use any of the bedrooms upstairs. If you want to catch some sleep." She grimaced. "Unfortunately the rug rats will be descending soon."

I looked at Kyle. "I'll handle them." I took his hand and patted it, turning back to the kids. "Your Uncle Kyle drove all night to get us here."

"That's nice."

"I'm like that." He gave me an accusatory glare. He was a party-pooper when he was exhausted.

The kids moved toward the door.

"And help yourself to whatever. I think Dani made brownies. There should be coffee. I don't know if we have any cereal...."

I waved my arms at them. "We'll be fine. Get on out of here."

Zoe smiled. Whatever was bothering her before seemed to have melted away. She was all wiggly with excitement. She rushed back over to us and gave us a hug and a kiss. "Thank you for coming."

Kyle held her hands for a moment when she backed away. "We wouldn't want to be anywhere else, Zoe." He jerked his head toward the staircase. "We'll take care of the rug rats. You get going."

"Okay. Thanks, Uncle Kyle." She dived back in for another squeeze, then they headed out the door.

Zack stuck his head back in at the last minute. "Congratulations on your wedding."

We thanked him, but when the door closed, I turned to Kyle. "Wasn't he being a tad bit Eddie Haskellish?" I asked him, referring to Wally's friend on the old TV show, Leave It To Beaver. We liked streaming reruns.

He slid his arms around me. "Stop. He's a nice kid. It's not as if we found them in the buff."

"Probably came in too soon."

"Sto-o-op!" He took my hand and trailed it after him as he led the way to the stairs. He put his hand on the newel post when he reached it. "Didn't Zoe look a tad... banged up?"

"Yeah. I thought so, too."

"Hmm." He yawned.

"We better get you to sleep, cowboy."

He tipped an imaginary hat to me. "Yes, ma'am, Mrs. Scofield."

We giggled and I went to tuck him in.

* * *

Zack

I breathed a huge sigh of relief when the door closed behind us. "Man." I looked at Zoe. "Aw-w-wkward."

The excitement lighting her face moments before faded away. She stuck her hands in her pockets, but didn't look at me. "Yeah."

I marched across the lawn next to her, trying to come up with something to say. I kept looking at her face, but she stared straight ahead. I opened the passenger door for her. Silence.

"Shit," I mumbled as I walked around to the driver's side. Was she mad at me for kissing her? For taking advantage of her in a weak moment?

I got in, slid my key in the ignition, but stopped before turning it.

My heart was in my throat when I twisted to face her. "Do you want to talk about the kiss?"

She looked at me for the first time. "What? It was nothing, right?" Her tone was even, her eyes lifeless.

Not for me.

I stared blindly out the windshield.

"Okay." I started the engine.

She was silent on the way to the hospital. I sat and thought about things to say to her. Do I talk about what that kiss meant to me? But what if it meant nothing to her, like she said? I should just tell her. But if I did, and she didn't feel the same way, then awkward wouldn't even be enough of a word to describe it. She'd avoid me because of her embarrassment, and I'd be another Nick. Sidelined. Or maybe their friendship would never recover.

I stole a glance at her. She seemed serene, but I could tell she was doing a whole lot of thinking herself. I thought I'd broach the subject again when we got to the hospital, but she opened her door as soon as we pulled into a parking spot. She marched off without me, but stopped when she got about three cars down. She didn't turn. Just waited for me to catch up and resumed her pace, her hands still stuffed in her pockets. I resigned myself to the idea we wouldn't be talking about anything today and followed along two paces behind her and to the left, like a servant.

When we reached Dani's floor, she seemed to add a bounce to her step, and when she spotted the room number, she practically ran the rest of the way.

"Daddy!"

From his chair in the corner, Mr. McCord stood and put a finger to his lips. She threw herself into his arms. He clutched her.

"Zoe, I'm so sorry." I'd never seen him this emotional before. I looked away, feeling as if I was intruding.

She released him and turned toward the bed. She sucked in her breath and brought her hand to rest on her chest.

Her dad took her hand, swiping his thumb over it. "I know. She looks pretty bad, doesn't she?" he whispered, staring at his wife, too. He waved a hand in the direction of Dani's face. "But this is all superficial, the doctor said. In fact, he said she should be looking back to normal by the end of the week." I took a step forward to get a better look. "They're only small cuts where shards of glass from the windshield hit her. Most of the injuries were internal, but they've stopped the bleeding. She's simply weak." He touched her hand. "None of her bones were even broken when he hit her."

Zoe looked at him. "He?"

He started. "Uhh... yes, he—" He opened his stance more to include me. "Zack. Thanks for coming and for bringing Zoe."

"No problem." I shifted my gaze again to Dani. Dozens of small cuts dotted her forehead and upper cheeks, a few looking a little more serious than others, and one large bandage loomed right at her hairline.

Zoe's dad took her shoulders. "Why don't we move out into the hall so we can talk better and Dani can get her sleep." He led her away, but Zoe's gaze was still fixated on Dani, until she got to the door. I followed behind them. As soon as the door was closed, Zoe started.

"Dad, what happened to her?"

He turned and walked down the hall. "Why don't we go visit your baby brother. I know you must be anxious to meet Myles."

She smiled. "Myles? Like Myles Kennedy?"

"Seriously? Yes, like Myles Kennedy, whoever he is. In fact, it's Myles Kennedy McCord."

"Really? That's awesome!"

"If you say so." Mr. McCord looked up at the signs.

"Are you headed to the nursery?" an aide asked.

Mr. McCord smiled. "Well, we're trying to."

"You're doing good. Keep going to the second hallway down there." She nodded in the direction we were about to head. "Turn right. It's the only way you can turn. The nursery will be on your left."

"Is he big?" Zoe asked as we continued up the hall.

"Big for being early. Six pounds, five ounces."

We turned a corner. "Does he have hair?" A bank of glass panels opened up the hallway on our left. "Oh! Which one is he?"

"Front row. Third one from the left."

"Oh, my gosh!" she squealed. "Can I hold him?"

"Yes, actually you can. Wait here in those chairs and I'll be back in a minute."

But Zoe couldn't be pried away from the window.

"He looks so perfect," I commented. "You can't even tell he's been in an accident, or he's here any earlier than he was supposed to be."

A nurse came in to scoop him up and Zoe clapped her hands. She hurried over to the hall her dad walked down and he was striding toward us with a blue bundle in his arms. He stopped and held him so we could get a better view. "Zoe Marie McCord, meet Myles Kennedy McCord."

"Oh." She touched his teeny hand and his eyes blinked open. Zoe was delighted. "Oh, hi, Myles. So nice to meet you. Can I hold him?"

"Sure." He gestured with his head. "Sit down. I'm not too confident in my handoff skills yet."

Zoe did what she was told and held her hands out. Mr. McCord gently set the baby in her arms. I bent to check him out better. He was making little noises and wiggling around a lot.

Mr. McCord put his finger in Myles' miniature hand and the baby wrapped his fingers around it. "He's pretty active."

Zoe talked to her brother. Her face was glowing and she looked more beautiful in her T-shirt and jeans than she did in her dress before the wedding. She would make a good mother someday. Tender, compassionate, but straightforward, and funny. She looked up at me. "Do you want to hold him?"

"Me? No way. He's about football-sized. I might toss him down the hall." I did run my hand over his head. His skin was so soft and he smelled incredible.

A couple of minutes later, a nurse came out. "It's feeding time."

"Oh." Zoe sounded so disappointed. "Okay." She gave him to her reluctantly.

We began walking back the way we came. Mr. McCord spoke up, "They just gave Dani her pain meds, so she'll be out of it for a while. Why don't you guys go back home and I'll call you when she's awake and you can come back later."

"Okay. Have you gotten any sleep?" Zoe asked.

"Yeah. Some. Here and there." But I could tell it wasn't much. He looked like he was barely keeping his eyes open, and he walked slowly.

"Are you sure? We could stay with her if you want to go home and get—"

"No. I'm not going anywhere." He sounded almost alarmed.

"Okay. If you're sure, Dad."

He drew her into his arms. "I'm sure." When he let her go, he added, "I'll call you."

After he'd returned to Dani's room, Zoe made me walk by the nursery one more time, so she could tell me how adorable her brother was again. We got lost briefly, but made it out to the car after a bit. On the way home, she babbled on and on. It was good to have my Zoe back again.