Page 73 of Embers in the Outfield

There aren’t too many families waiting out here, so I don’t feel like my movements are interrupting anyone, but I try to keep myself from walking the entirety of the labor floor waiting room as the twins are most likely delivered at this point.

The next time the large double doors open, they reveal Ashton, his smile from ear to ear. Sam’s mother jumps from her seat that she occupied about fifteen seconds ago and rushes toward him.

“Sam’s doing great. The babies are perfect. They look like their beautiful mama. I’ve fallen in love all over again. We’ve got twenty fingers and twenty little toes. They’re fine but had to go to the NICU. They were struggling a little to breathe without the oxygen mask, but overall, are looking good. Once Sam is moving a little better, we can wheel her over to see them.”

Even though the babies are being monitored in the NICU, the smile hasn’t left his face as he talks to us. All of us breathe a sigh of relief with the news, and I can’t wait to see their sweet faces.

“I’m just going to swing back and check on Sam, then I can walk to the NICU and get an update on how they’re doing,” he says as he makes his way back toward the room where Sam is recovering.

We nod, tears falling down our cheeks with the happy news, and start to grab our belongings. Right then, I swing my gaze toward the television, not registering everything I see when I catch a flash of reflective gear that looks a lot like the kind I see at the firehouse.

I notice they’re covering a fire at a local factory that has been shut down for some time. The flames are taking over the screen, and my stomach drops. My hands go numb as I feel this dread come over me in fear that River is in the middle of that chaos. I know he most likely will be, the structure is far too big for one station to cover alone.

As if I conjured him up, I see his face come through the elevator doors that just opened. I feel instant relief seeing him in front of me, but it takes an extra second to realize it’s Clay, not River, coming toward me.

The look of concern on his face consumes him, and I feel all the contents in my hands fall to the ground. I start shaking my head, fear overtaking me as he gets closer.

He opens his arms to me as I rush into them, immediately talking into my ear, telling me, “He’s okay, Kennedy. He got injured on the job, but he’s going to be fine. I promise he is going to be okay.” He pulls away, then gets at eye level with me. “Did you hear me? Did you understand what I just said?” he asks, probably feeling my body shake in fear even though I know he’s going to be okay.

“Wh-what happened?” My breaths are shortening, and I can feel the anxiety taking over even as I try to calm myself down.

“He was trying to get out of the building, and it was so old, it came crashing down pretty quick. Quicker than we ever imagined. He didn’t quite make it out the door completely, and his leg got caught. But in his attempt to escape getting more injured, he hit his head and was unconscious for a bit. He’s downstairs in the ER waiting for orders from the doctor.”

I don’t know how Clay is being so calm as I’m a mess just hearing the story.

“I need to see him. Please, take me to him.” I start to grab my discarded items, and I look over to Sam’s parents. “Please let Ash and Sam know I’ll be back later to check on all of them. Tell them congratulations for me.” It’s hard to muster a smile, yet I give them a small one, and then I turn and rush to the elevator.

“How did you know I was here?” I ask him, forgetting a number of people know my whereabouts.

“I knew Sam was having the babies, but then once River came to, he told me to get you. Actually, he demanded it, so here I am.” He smiles, and it’s hard not to see all the similarities between the two of them at a time like this. Most of the time, all I see are the two of them as entirely different people. I see little differences in their facial expressions, but that’s probably due to years of inspecting their features.

I hug Clay and thank him for coming to get me. The elevator ride feels like a lifetime until it dings and opens to the hustle of the lobby of the ER. I see multiple firefighters waiting around; some I recognize, and some are new faces to me.

The nurse sees us coming and calls out, “This the wife?”

I must have a stunned expression as I look over my shoulder, waiting for someone else to be trailing behind me. To my surprise, she’s directing her question to us, and Clay answers,“Yep,” and the doors automatically open, and we’re moving along the corridor to River’s room.

“Who’s wife?” I ask, still not allowing all the pieces to fall into place.

“Only family is allowed back here, Kennedy,” he says as if I should have known.

I’m still digesting the idea of being River’s wife when the curtain opens, and River’s handsome face appears. He’s got a cut over his eyebrow that is being stitched by the nurse. A pretty nurse, might I add. If she could focus on her job and not on my boyfriend’s gorgeous features, maybe she’d be done already.

She snaps out of it to look over at us making our way into the room. “Oh, are you the wife?”

I don’t hesitate this time and make my way toward River’s side, grabbing his hand and squeezing it.

“That I am,” I say, making sure I lay claim on him before she decides to try anything further with him. She’s already a bit closer to him than I would like, but she’s fixing him up, so I’ll keep the green-eyed monster at bay for now.

The nurse must sense the tension I’m giving off and blushes slightly, returning to the cut on River’s face.

I move my gaze to him, and he’s smiling like he’s enjoying the fact I’m jealous a little too much.

“Hey, baby, or should I say wife.” He waggles his eyebrows and quickly winces.

“Stay still, please,” the nurse says, clearly disappointed her hot patient isn’t available.

“Are you okay? You’re scared me!” I complain, yet all of the cells in my body are relieved seeing him mostly intact.

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