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| Harm sank into the chair, emotionally exhausted. He had nearly cried his eyes out when Krista had to bring Maddie to the neo-natal unit. His little baby girl had to lie in a small plastic box. He knew she needed to be in there. She was born way too early, and she had stopped breathing for about two minutes. And Mac... She had been in so much pain. True, having children was no walk in the park for women, but what she went through. He didn't think anyone could describe it, not even her. Speaking of his wife, what was going on with her? Was Beth able to save her? Or was she trying to figure out how to tell Harm that he had lost her? Harm stood up and began pacing. He wanted to hit something. He wanted to hit something hard! *Why?* he shouted in his mind. Why did things like this always happen to his family? What had they done to deserve this? What had Maddie done? Was this some kind of test? "Harm, please stop pacing, you're making me dizzy." "Beth! Is she all right?" Beth nodded, but her expression remained serious. "She's stable for now, but she's lost a lot of blood so she's really tired. Harm, there's still a chance we could lose her." "What caused this?" he asked, swallowing around the lump in his throat. "I'm sorry, Harm, we still don't know what the cause was," she replied. "Most of the time, doctors never figure it out." He could tell she was really tired. "It's all right, Beth, I know how hard you and the nurses worked to save my girls. And I know you'll continue to." "Thanks, Harm, I really needed that. I'll take you to Sarah and then I'm going to catch a few winks. I'll have my pager if the nurses need to get a hold of me." ************ "Please, Uncle AJ!" Evelyn begged. "I need to be there!" AJ shook his head. "You need to be here with your sisters and Nicholas." She crossed her arms, daring him to challenge her. AJ could tell where she got that from. "Aunt Harriet and Haley are here. Besides, I think Dad needs someone too." And she was right. "Fine, lets go." Evelyn smiled, reaching up to give her godfather a peck on the cheek. *************** "Bud." "Sir." AJ shook his head. He was a retired Naval officer and was still being called 'sir'. "I take it Harm's with Mac?" "Yeah," he replied, looking at Evelyn. "They're in that room, Evie. Why don't you go in?" She nodded slowly and walked over to it. With glance at the two men behind her, she went inside. Evelyn watched as Harm studied her mother's face. He looked so worn out. She slowly stepped up to him. "Daddy..." Harm turned his head at her voice. She immediately wrapped her arms around him. "Evie, I want to tell you something, but you have to promise you won't mention this to your sisters or Nicholas." "What's that?" she asked, pulling away to look at him. Harm hesitated before whispering, "I'm scared," he told her. "I have this horrible feeling in my stomach that I'm going to lose one of them. I hate feeling this way, Evie!" "This will work out, Daddy. Mom's a Marine and Maddie, well, she no doubt has the stubbornness of you and Mom combined," Evelyn told him with a smile. She kissed his cheek and sank onto his lap. The two watched Mac's face for the longest time. |
