Page 50 of His to Love
Her eyes searched the crowded room until she found me. “Patton,” she smiled softly. “You’ll take care of our son,” her voice sounded weak. And then her eyes closed, and the beating of her heart stopped again.
“No!” I couldn’t believe it. “Alexa, come back! Don’t go! I can’t do this without you!”
Someone took me by the shoulders, gently urging me to walk into the hallway as two more nurses pushed the machine in that I prayed would get her heart back to normal for good. “Stay out here, sir. We’ll do all we can for her. But you need to take care of that baby.”
I moved backward until my back hit the wall, dazed and in shock. “I can’t lose her.” I looked at the baby who somehow slept soundly in my arms. “Patty, we can’t lose her. I can’t do this by myself. I just can’t.”
I heard the sound of the elevator doors opening from down the hall and looked over. Luciano stepped off, blue balloons in one hand, a vase of red roses in the other. His eyes went wide as he saw me standing there, holding the baby. “Patton? What the hell is going on?”
“She’s...” I didn’t want to say it out loud and could only shake my head.
He ran to me, tossing the flowers onto the nearby desk of the nurses’ station while letting the balloons go. “She’s what?” He darted past me, trying to get into the room, but it was packed with people. “She’s my sister. What’s happening?” The loud zap of the electric paddles on her chest sent him stumbling backward. “No,” he whispered. “No, this can’t be.”
“Her heart stopped,” I finally managed to say. “I don’t know what happened. She was breathing fine and then she wasn’t breathing at all. I was sitting there next to her with the baby in my arms when she flatlined.” I had to stop talking, a knot forming in my throat.
“How could this happen?” Luci asked as he looked up. “You can’t let this happen to her.”
I couldn’t let one more second go by without telling the truth. “Luci, I’m sorry. I really am. I never meant to betray your trust. And I haven’t done a thing about my feelings for her. But—God help me, I love your sister. I want our marriage to be real. I don’t want to ever lose her. I hope you can learn to forgive me. I’m not going to let another day go by without telling her my true feelings. She has to come out of this. She just has to.”
His eyes went soft as he nodded. “You have my blessing, brother.” He held out his hand. “Let us join hands and pray.”
Holding Patty in one arm, I held Luciano’s hand with the other. “Virgin Mary, please hear our prayers,” I began as I knew no other who would be as quick to help Alexa than the mother of our savior.
My best friend and I prayed hard and faithfully as he added, “Alejandra Consuelo Christina De La Cruz-Nash is needed here on Earth. Her son and husband need her with them to grow as a family.”
My heart pounded so hard inside my chest, I feared it might burst right out of it. “Please don’t take her away from us. I will cherish her always.” It hit me that Alexa’s parents and brother had always thought of her as their angel, since she’d had her troubles coming into the world. “She is our angel right here on Earth. Please allow us to keep her for a while longer.”
My legs felt as if they might give out and leave me on the floor in a puddle of despair. But faith, hope, and the knowledge that many people were in there right now trying their best to keep her with us made me stand tall, certain that she would come through this.
I refused to listen to what was going on inside the room. I only listened to the sounds of Luciano’s voice and mine as we each prayed at the same time for her to stay with us.
We were not about to let her go. We were not about to call it quits and give into death. She was too young, too strong, and too loved.
I had no idea what had happened to her, but I knew the medical staff had seen this sort of thing before and knew what needed to be done to bring her back. None of them were ready to see her go either.
I began swaying back and forth, rocking the baby as I whispered, praying constantly, “We will not let her go. Please, help her. Please, helpus.”
Her brother and I held hands tightly, neither of us willing to stop praying until she was out of danger. She had a place in our hearts and held ours in hers as well. We were bonded, connected, and nothing—not even death—could break those bonds.
I held our son, knowing that he had to have the chance to know his mother. She was the most wonderful person on the planet. He had to meet her—get to know her—fall in love with her. He was meant for this world. He was meant to bring Alexa and I together. Patty was our fate. And fate couldn’t end before it even got a chance to begin.
Whatever I had to do, I wouldn’t let Alexa go. If prayers didn’t work, I’d do everything else in my power to help her come out of this. No one would ever stop me from trying.
You can’t go, my love. You can’t leave me now. I won’t let you go.
