Flashback: When a Lily blooms...
Who: The Cohen-Chang and the Changs
When: Fall 2015
Where: Tommy’s house, Mike’s car, and Lima Memorial Hospital
What: A happy and a sad day
**potential trigger warning**
“Uh, Tommy? How close are the contractions supposed to be before it’s time to go to the hospital and welcome babies into the world?”
Tina stood in the middle of Tommy’s living room, holding her phone against her ear. She grimaced as she watched Liz fiercely grip either side of the armchair and scrunch her face up in pain.
“The standard is five minutes in between with constant standard intervals.” Tommy replied as he looked up from the files he was reading. “Why?”
Tina removed the phone from her ear and stared at it for a moment. Really? Tommy always managed to sound so calm during these types of situations. Well, calm or clueless. But there’s no way his wife is almost nine months pregnant with twins and she’s just casually calling to ask that to add to her fun facts trivia collection.
“Well, Thomas, Liz is at seven and she’s muttering something about a mucus plug and Michael looks like he’s about to pass out from sympathy pain.” She was met with silence on the other line.
“So...should I go get the car now?”
“Wait. Why is my brother suffering from sympathy pain?” Tommy sputtered. He set his files down and pressed his phone to his other ear. “I need you to be direct, Tina. I am absolutely inept at inference.”
Tina loved Tommy, and so she refrained from retorting with a rather uncharacteristic and frustrated, “No shit, Sherlock.” She instead took a deep breath before speaking again. “Okay. Liz said she’s having her ‘bloody show’ and I don’t know what that is but it doesn’t sound all that awesome. And have you not met your brother?” Tina glanced away from Liz to where Mike was doing a flaily version of Lamaze coaching and looking a little green.
Mike felt pretty useless, armed with ice chips and a mental block on all the information he had researched. To paraphrase, he knew nothing about birthing no babies. That was his brother’s department. Literally. Tommy worked in the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology. What was he doing. The ice chips were getting all melty.
“Liz, should I-” He held out the ice chips. But she smacked his hand away. Tina resisted the urge to facepalm and kept her tone as steady as possible. Which wasn’t saying too much. “Tommy, you need to tell me what to do!” she whispered shrilly, turning away so the other two wouldn’t see her flip out. “As you may or may not have noticed, your brother and I don’t know anything about babies.”
Tommy’s jaw dropped. Liz was actually in labor? The twins were coming? If she was in the final stages then she should have known for hours that it was imminent, right? “Okay. First of all I give you permission to slap my brother should he get out of hand. Second, you need to get Liz here as quickly as possible. Can you ask her if she feels like she needs to push yet?”
Tina let out a weary laugh since she already reserved that right and nodded before remembering that Tommy couldn’t even see that. With her serious face back on she turned back around and leaned forward, placing her free hand gently on Liz’s shoulder and asked. Liz shook her head in response. “Okay, she said no. That’s okay, right?”
Tommy grinned, “Actually that makes me very happy, Tina. I’ll let my partner know that Liz is in labor and I’ll be taking my paternity leave starting today. Please get Liz in the car and I’ll meet you and Migs downstairs in the ER.”
Quickly promising to do as instructed, she hung up the phone. She took another deep breath. Keep calm. Liz needs you. Her two baby girls need you. Tina raked a hand nervously through her hair, trying not to panic. She tried to think of all the times Tommy told her she was a lot stronger than people gave her credit and felt herself breathing a bit easier. Plus, she figured it was either her or Mike in charge and she liked the odds of getting Liz there in one piece better if she was.
“Mike, please put down the ice chips and go fetch Liz’s overnight bag from the coat closet. I’m going to go grab your car. I want you to keep her calm and meet me in front in a couple minutes, alright?” She quickly scanned the room for his keys before spotting them on the coffee table. “If you make just one comment about Asian women and driving, I will end you.”
She halted her movements, blinking in surprise at her own sudden aggression. Mike stared back at her. Tina could be scary, like really terrifying. No one have thought so, but it was true what they said. It was always the quiet ones. He opened his mouth to say something, but he had no idea what to do but nod in understanding. He let her take his keys.
When Liz emitted a sharp cry, they lept into action. Tina went out to his car, and he went back to his sister-in-law. “I’m just gonna get your overnight bag, and then we’ll be off.” Mike didn’t stay to see Liz’s reaction.
Mike grabbed the dufflebag and ran to the door. His hand was on the doorknob before he remembered that he was forgetting one important thing. His tunes. He had made an awesome playlist for the trip to the hospital.
He went back to the living room for his dated but trusty iTouch. Which was right next to Liz.
Oh yeah...
Mike was glad that no one would ever know that he was this close to walking out the door without Liz. Had he walked to his car, without his sister-in-law, Tina’s glare would have flayed him on the spot and there would be two patients for admission to the hospital.
He helped Liz up and brought her her outside to his car, where Tina was waiting for them.
Tina breathed a sigh of relief when they approached the car. She had had this silly scenario playing in her head where Mike actually like forgot Liz or something. She shook her head; she knew it was ridiculous. Even for Migs.
As she watched his sister-in-law swat his hand away for probably the sixth time in half an hour, she made another quick decision. “Mike, let’s switch. You drive.” His driving skills were just as questionable as hers, but she knew she could handle Liz better. Plus, he was in training at the police academy. That had to mean his driving had to be somewhat acceptable now. Hopefully.
“Right... right.” Mike sounded dazed, but he made it to the driver’s side and got in, while Tina made it into the backseat with Liz. Tina scooted next to Liz, smoothing some of her damp hair out of her face in a way she hoped was soothing. Mike moved to put the keys in the ignition.
~
Tommy stood at the entrance to the Emergency Room waiting to see Mike’s car pull up. He glanced at his watch for, what seemed like, the millionth time wondering what was taking them so long. His mind had come up with multiple scenarios and they all ended up with Liz giving birth at home with Mike throwing up and Tina slapping anyone within a three foot radius. To make a long story short, it didn’t end well. Thankfully, for his churning stomach, the car he was waiting for soon pealed into the parking lot.
Tina skidded the car to a halt as carefully as she could along the curb where Tommy stood waiting. She practically flew out of the driver’s seat and ran around to the side, hunching forward to help Liz out as waiting staff came ready with a wheelchair for her. Amid the chaos, she graced Tommy with an exhausted but genuine smile. She had gotten his wife here in one piece.
“Thank you so much Tina! I can’t thank you and Mike enough for getting Liz here safely.” he paused a moment, “Um, where is Migs?”
Her happy expression turned into an eye roll as she nodded once to the backseat. “He fainted before we even left the house. I had to drag him out of the front seat so I could drive instead.”
Tommy groaned. “He always was a little too empathetic when it came to other people’s pain. Thank you for taking care of my bunso and my family.” He clapped his hands together, “So! Let’s get Migs into his own chair, Liz up to the Maternity ward and get these happy birthday celebrations on the way.”
Tina flashed Tommy another smile for luck before he left to follow Liz. She quickly got back into the car to park it in a place where it wouldn’t get towed. By the time she came back, she was facing a woozy Mike and the wheelchair they had put him in. Her lips formed a frown, trying to shove away flashbacks of pushing Artie around all throughout high school and down these very halls when Abby was born. With an almost inaudible sigh, she steered her not!cousin towards the waiting room.
~
Liz cried out that her water had broken and everything started to speed up. Tommy felt like he was moving in slow motion as he watched them push his wife into the delivery room and strap multiple monitors on her. The doctors and nurses were talking over each other so it was difficult to focus on what was being said around him. He sat in the chair next to the bed with what must be a very panicked look because his wife laughed loudly in between her painful contractions. “It’s okay, honey. We knew this part wasn’t going to be a cakewalk but I am looking forward to meeting Lily and Ellie.” She tried to smile again but the monitors were all beeping loudly and he could see that she was scared.
~
Mike suddenly found himself in the hospital, sitting in a wheelchair. The last thing he remembered was being behind the wheel of his car, getting ready to drive. He didn’t think that he had teleported. Even though that would have been awesome.
He was still a little out of it, but he figured he passed out and closed his eyes.
Not cool, Mike. He couldn’t afford fainting on the job.
As Mike blinked his vision into focus, Tina gave him a pointed look from where she was sitting by his side in one of the waiting chairs. She chose to say nothing, but had an eyebrow arched in a I’m not going to say it, but you so know I hate you a little right now way. Her expression softened when she cast a nervous glance towards the corner of the hallway where Liz and Tommy had disappeared around.
“Do you think they’ll be okay?” Tina fiddled absently with the plaid cuff of Mike’s long sleeve button down shirt, turning back to him with her eyebrows now furrowed in worry instead of God, you’re so stupid-ness.
“I really hope so.”
Mike reached for Tina’s hand, more for his benefit than hers. He needed an anchor, and she was it. Tina was always so strong, and he was thankful for that. If it had just been him...
He said the words they both needed to hear.
“They’ll be fine.”
Tina bit her bottom lip and silently nodded, covering his hand with both of hers. She gripped tightly as she looked down the hallway again. He had to be right.
~
Liz went pale when she heard the words “no heartbeat” and “emergency c-section” were suddenly yelled. She squeezed Tommy’s hand as the tears started to roll down her cheeks. He tried to reassure her but by the time she was being rushed into surgery she was openly weeping.
“Tommy. I’m s-s-so scared! We’ve gone through so m-much to lose them both!” she choked out.
“I know these doctors, Liz. I know they’re going to do everything they can so we can take home both our girls. I promise.” he peppered her forehead with kisses.
She nodded shakily and tried to wipe her wet face but stopped when she heard a small voice that started to wail.
Tommy leaned in to whisper into her ear. “So is this Liliana Maria or Elysia Maria?”
The baby girl in the doctor’s arms started to throw her arm and legs out as if she was stretching to greet the world.
“Oh she’s Lily. Look at her bloom, Tommy!” Liz grinned. Her eyes followed the baby as she was laid on the scale then cleaned up. A few seconds later she heard the doctors moving fast and speaking quietly to each other while they worked.
“Guys. What’s wrong with Elysia?” his voice cracked. “What is wrong with my daughter?”
~
The waiting room needed a serious name change. Mike felt that the “agony room” would be a better description. It had been awhile, far too long without any information. A nurse walked passed where they were sitting, and as she did she smiled at him. Mike smiled back to be polite. He was grateful for being acknowledged by anyone in this hospital, since most of the staff had been walking by hurriedly. None of them had given the pair a single look.
Tina had long since fallen asleep, her head lolling against Mike’s shoulder while their hands remained intertwined. She had driven here from Columbus in the middle of the night as soon as Mike had gotten a hold of her. She may or may not have broken a handful of traffic laws along the way, and socked him in the shoulder once she arrived, for not calling sooner.
~
In the next five minutes, Liz and Tommy’s lives went from the day they had dreamed of to one of the worst days of their lives. The doctors explained to the grieving parents that Elysia’s umbilical cord had knotted and cut off her blood supply.
Liz got stitched up as Lily was sent to the nursery and Tommy tried to think of how to tell their families that they would only be bringing one baby home. He kissed his wife after she was settled into her room then ambled towards the waiting room to break the news to Tina and his bunso.
~
Mike was wondering where doctors and nurses got their scrubs from when he saw his brother approaching them, a grave expression on his face. Mike nudged Tina with his free hand.
As he arrived in front of them, Tommy wordlessly helped a groggy Tina up and out of her seat.
“Tommy?” Tina blinked in surprise as she was hauled to her feet, her voice thick from sleep. “What...?”
Before she could finish her question, tears started to roll down Tommy’s face as he grabbed both of them into a hug and tried to speak. He struggled to find the words to tell two of the most important people in his life the bad and the good news.
“Liz and Liliana, um, Lily are both great. She has a lot of hair, beautiful eyes and a set of lungs that could shatter glass but,” he choked out, “Elysia..” he paused, “her umbilical cord had a knot in it and.. I-I-I thought everything was okay, Mike. Why isn’t she okay?”
While Mike gaped in silent shock at his brother and Tommy all but collapsed against them, Tina felt her breath catch in her throat and a sickening feeling creep into the pit of her stomach as if she’d been sucker-punched. She tried to open her mouth to say something, anything, but nothing would form. As the reality of his words washed over her, she felt tears spring into her eyes and all she could do was wrap her arms around them in return.
Mike didn’t know what to say. He was too stunned for words. He was trying to process what his brother just told them. He had been so ready to be the best uncle for two little girls.
The new father held the two dazed people for what felt like forever. His sobbing slowly quieted down to a few gasps then he pulled himself back to look a the pair.
“We need to go see Liz now. She needs us so badly and so does Lily. We can do this.” He was trying to convince himself as well as them.
Tina’s gaze numbly dragged to Mike before she turned to watch Tommy attempt to bravely lead them towards Liz’s room. Oh, Liz. She couldn’t imagine how she must be feeling; she had seen the nursery that was decorated in preparation for two baby girls. Tina stepped forward and gently grabbed Tommy’s arm to stop him. She had to know something.
“Tommy. I, um...” She felt a few tears trickle down her cheek. She hastily swatted them away. “Did I...Is there...” She took a deep breath, trying to keep her voice steady. It came out hollow instead. “If I had gotten her here sooner...?” Tina trailed off and bit her lip, trying to make sense of what she was trying to ask.
Tommy frowned a little as he squeezed her hand, “Oh no, little sister! It’s not something that happens due to any external force it just...happens. Do not feel guilty about this, Tina. You were there for Liz when I couldn’t be and I’ll always appreciate that. Got it? No guilt.”
Tina nodded quickly, knowing he was right. Before he could turn back around, she was on her tiptoes, reeling him into another embrace. “I’m so sorry, Tommy,” she whispered, raking a hand down the back of his head to his shoulder. There wasn’t much else she could say. Bidding him congratulations over Liliana didn’t seem fitting because of Elysia. She pulled back and gave him her best attempt at a comforting smile before stroking his cheek affectionately. She had a feeling that he knew she was there for him without having to voice it.
Tina simply took his hand in hers and finally let him lead the way.
Mike followed behind Tina and Tommy silently. His eyes were glistening with tears that he was trying not to shed. He had heard what his brother had said to Tina. No guilt. But that’s what he was feeling, even if in the back of his head he knew he couldn’t have done anything.
As they approached Liz’s room Tommy turned to face the others. “We all love Liz and Lily and Ellie and that’s why we’re here. This is going to be one of the hardest things we’ll have to do but we need to tell Ellie how much she means to us before they have to... Lily needs to see her sister with her eyes open,” he whispered.
Tina and Mike nodded solemnly before Tommy turned away from the hallway to pull the door open. There was nothing they could really say to make it better, but they both knew they’d do what they did best: be there for each other. For Liz and for Tommy, for Liliana and Elysia. She turned to Mike with tired eyes and reached for his hand again. They walked in together.
~
For the rest of the day, the patchwork family held the babies while they talked to them, sang them lullabies, laughed with them and cried over the little girl who was now alone. It would be a day that they would both mourn and celebrate as a family every year no matter where they were, no matter what they were doing.
When: Fall 2015
Where: Tommy’s house, Mike’s car, and Lima Memorial Hospital
What: A happy and a sad day
**potential trigger warning**
“Uh, Tommy? How close are the contractions supposed to be before it’s time to go to the hospital and welcome babies into the world?”
Tina stood in the middle of Tommy’s living room, holding her phone against her ear. She grimaced as she watched Liz fiercely grip either side of the armchair and scrunch her face up in pain.
“The standard is five minutes in between with constant standard intervals.” Tommy replied as he looked up from the files he was reading. “Why?”
Tina removed the phone from her ear and stared at it for a moment. Really? Tommy always managed to sound so calm during these types of situations. Well, calm or clueless. But there’s no way his wife is almost nine months pregnant with twins and she’s just casually calling to ask that to add to her fun facts trivia collection.
“Well, Thomas, Liz is at seven and she’s muttering something about a mucus plug and Michael looks like he’s about to pass out from sympathy pain.” She was met with silence on the other line.
“So...should I go get the car now?”
“Wait. Why is my brother suffering from sympathy pain?” Tommy sputtered. He set his files down and pressed his phone to his other ear. “I need you to be direct, Tina. I am absolutely inept at inference.”
Tina loved Tommy, and so she refrained from retorting with a rather uncharacteristic and frustrated, “No shit, Sherlock.” She instead took a deep breath before speaking again. “Okay. Liz said she’s having her ‘bloody show’ and I don’t know what that is but it doesn’t sound all that awesome. And have you not met your brother?” Tina glanced away from Liz to where Mike was doing a flaily version of Lamaze coaching and looking a little green.
Mike felt pretty useless, armed with ice chips and a mental block on all the information he had researched. To paraphrase, he knew nothing about birthing no babies. That was his brother’s department. Literally. Tommy worked in the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology. What was he doing. The ice chips were getting all melty.
“Liz, should I-” He held out the ice chips. But she smacked his hand away. Tina resisted the urge to facepalm and kept her tone as steady as possible. Which wasn’t saying too much. “Tommy, you need to tell me what to do!” she whispered shrilly, turning away so the other two wouldn’t see her flip out. “As you may or may not have noticed, your brother and I don’t know anything about babies.”
Tommy’s jaw dropped. Liz was actually in labor? The twins were coming? If she was in the final stages then she should have known for hours that it was imminent, right? “Okay. First of all I give you permission to slap my brother should he get out of hand. Second, you need to get Liz here as quickly as possible. Can you ask her if she feels like she needs to push yet?”
Tina let out a weary laugh since she already reserved that right and nodded before remembering that Tommy couldn’t even see that. With her serious face back on she turned back around and leaned forward, placing her free hand gently on Liz’s shoulder and asked. Liz shook her head in response. “Okay, she said no. That’s okay, right?”
Tommy grinned, “Actually that makes me very happy, Tina. I’ll let my partner know that Liz is in labor and I’ll be taking my paternity leave starting today. Please get Liz in the car and I’ll meet you and Migs downstairs in the ER.”
Quickly promising to do as instructed, she hung up the phone. She took another deep breath. Keep calm. Liz needs you. Her two baby girls need you. Tina raked a hand nervously through her hair, trying not to panic. She tried to think of all the times Tommy told her she was a lot stronger than people gave her credit and felt herself breathing a bit easier. Plus, she figured it was either her or Mike in charge and she liked the odds of getting Liz there in one piece better if she was.
“Mike, please put down the ice chips and go fetch Liz’s overnight bag from the coat closet. I’m going to go grab your car. I want you to keep her calm and meet me in front in a couple minutes, alright?” She quickly scanned the room for his keys before spotting them on the coffee table. “If you make just one comment about Asian women and driving, I will end you.”
She halted her movements, blinking in surprise at her own sudden aggression. Mike stared back at her. Tina could be scary, like really terrifying. No one have thought so, but it was true what they said. It was always the quiet ones. He opened his mouth to say something, but he had no idea what to do but nod in understanding. He let her take his keys.
When Liz emitted a sharp cry, they lept into action. Tina went out to his car, and he went back to his sister-in-law. “I’m just gonna get your overnight bag, and then we’ll be off.” Mike didn’t stay to see Liz’s reaction.
Mike grabbed the dufflebag and ran to the door. His hand was on the doorknob before he remembered that he was forgetting one important thing. His tunes. He had made an awesome playlist for the trip to the hospital.
He went back to the living room for his dated but trusty iTouch. Which was right next to Liz.
Oh yeah...
Mike was glad that no one would ever know that he was this close to walking out the door without Liz. Had he walked to his car, without his sister-in-law, Tina’s glare would have flayed him on the spot and there would be two patients for admission to the hospital.
He helped Liz up and brought her her outside to his car, where Tina was waiting for them.
Tina breathed a sigh of relief when they approached the car. She had had this silly scenario playing in her head where Mike actually like forgot Liz or something. She shook her head; she knew it was ridiculous. Even for Migs.
As she watched his sister-in-law swat his hand away for probably the sixth time in half an hour, she made another quick decision. “Mike, let’s switch. You drive.” His driving skills were just as questionable as hers, but she knew she could handle Liz better. Plus, he was in training at the police academy. That had to mean his driving had to be somewhat acceptable now. Hopefully.
“Right... right.” Mike sounded dazed, but he made it to the driver’s side and got in, while Tina made it into the backseat with Liz. Tina scooted next to Liz, smoothing some of her damp hair out of her face in a way she hoped was soothing. Mike moved to put the keys in the ignition.
~
Tommy stood at the entrance to the Emergency Room waiting to see Mike’s car pull up. He glanced at his watch for, what seemed like, the millionth time wondering what was taking them so long. His mind had come up with multiple scenarios and they all ended up with Liz giving birth at home with Mike throwing up and Tina slapping anyone within a three foot radius. To make a long story short, it didn’t end well. Thankfully, for his churning stomach, the car he was waiting for soon pealed into the parking lot.
Tina skidded the car to a halt as carefully as she could along the curb where Tommy stood waiting. She practically flew out of the driver’s seat and ran around to the side, hunching forward to help Liz out as waiting staff came ready with a wheelchair for her. Amid the chaos, she graced Tommy with an exhausted but genuine smile. She had gotten his wife here in one piece.
“Thank you so much Tina! I can’t thank you and Mike enough for getting Liz here safely.” he paused a moment, “Um, where is Migs?”
Her happy expression turned into an eye roll as she nodded once to the backseat. “He fainted before we even left the house. I had to drag him out of the front seat so I could drive instead.”
Tommy groaned. “He always was a little too empathetic when it came to other people’s pain. Thank you for taking care of my bunso and my family.” He clapped his hands together, “So! Let’s get Migs into his own chair, Liz up to the Maternity ward and get these happy birthday celebrations on the way.”
Tina flashed Tommy another smile for luck before he left to follow Liz. She quickly got back into the car to park it in a place where it wouldn’t get towed. By the time she came back, she was facing a woozy Mike and the wheelchair they had put him in. Her lips formed a frown, trying to shove away flashbacks of pushing Artie around all throughout high school and down these very halls when Abby was born. With an almost inaudible sigh, she steered her not!cousin towards the waiting room.
~
Liz cried out that her water had broken and everything started to speed up. Tommy felt like he was moving in slow motion as he watched them push his wife into the delivery room and strap multiple monitors on her. The doctors and nurses were talking over each other so it was difficult to focus on what was being said around him. He sat in the chair next to the bed with what must be a very panicked look because his wife laughed loudly in between her painful contractions. “It’s okay, honey. We knew this part wasn’t going to be a cakewalk but I am looking forward to meeting Lily and Ellie.” She tried to smile again but the monitors were all beeping loudly and he could see that she was scared.
~
Mike suddenly found himself in the hospital, sitting in a wheelchair. The last thing he remembered was being behind the wheel of his car, getting ready to drive. He didn’t think that he had teleported. Even though that would have been awesome.
He was still a little out of it, but he figured he passed out and closed his eyes.
Not cool, Mike. He couldn’t afford fainting on the job.
As Mike blinked his vision into focus, Tina gave him a pointed look from where she was sitting by his side in one of the waiting chairs. She chose to say nothing, but had an eyebrow arched in a I’m not going to say it, but you so know I hate you a little right now way. Her expression softened when she cast a nervous glance towards the corner of the hallway where Liz and Tommy had disappeared around.
“Do you think they’ll be okay?” Tina fiddled absently with the plaid cuff of Mike’s long sleeve button down shirt, turning back to him with her eyebrows now furrowed in worry instead of God, you’re so stupid-ness.
“I really hope so.”
Mike reached for Tina’s hand, more for his benefit than hers. He needed an anchor, and she was it. Tina was always so strong, and he was thankful for that. If it had just been him...
He said the words they both needed to hear.
“They’ll be fine.”
Tina bit her bottom lip and silently nodded, covering his hand with both of hers. She gripped tightly as she looked down the hallway again. He had to be right.
~
Liz went pale when she heard the words “no heartbeat” and “emergency c-section” were suddenly yelled. She squeezed Tommy’s hand as the tears started to roll down her cheeks. He tried to reassure her but by the time she was being rushed into surgery she was openly weeping.
“Tommy. I’m s-s-so scared! We’ve gone through so m-much to lose them both!” she choked out.
“I know these doctors, Liz. I know they’re going to do everything they can so we can take home both our girls. I promise.” he peppered her forehead with kisses.
She nodded shakily and tried to wipe her wet face but stopped when she heard a small voice that started to wail.
Tommy leaned in to whisper into her ear. “So is this Liliana Maria or Elysia Maria?”
The baby girl in the doctor’s arms started to throw her arm and legs out as if she was stretching to greet the world.
“Oh she’s Lily. Look at her bloom, Tommy!” Liz grinned. Her eyes followed the baby as she was laid on the scale then cleaned up. A few seconds later she heard the doctors moving fast and speaking quietly to each other while they worked.
“Guys. What’s wrong with Elysia?” his voice cracked. “What is wrong with my daughter?”
~
The waiting room needed a serious name change. Mike felt that the “agony room” would be a better description. It had been awhile, far too long without any information. A nurse walked passed where they were sitting, and as she did she smiled at him. Mike smiled back to be polite. He was grateful for being acknowledged by anyone in this hospital, since most of the staff had been walking by hurriedly. None of them had given the pair a single look.
Tina had long since fallen asleep, her head lolling against Mike’s shoulder while their hands remained intertwined. She had driven here from Columbus in the middle of the night as soon as Mike had gotten a hold of her. She may or may not have broken a handful of traffic laws along the way, and socked him in the shoulder once she arrived, for not calling sooner.
~
In the next five minutes, Liz and Tommy’s lives went from the day they had dreamed of to one of the worst days of their lives. The doctors explained to the grieving parents that Elysia’s umbilical cord had knotted and cut off her blood supply.
Liz got stitched up as Lily was sent to the nursery and Tommy tried to think of how to tell their families that they would only be bringing one baby home. He kissed his wife after she was settled into her room then ambled towards the waiting room to break the news to Tina and his bunso.
~
Mike was wondering where doctors and nurses got their scrubs from when he saw his brother approaching them, a grave expression on his face. Mike nudged Tina with his free hand.
As he arrived in front of them, Tommy wordlessly helped a groggy Tina up and out of her seat.
“Tommy?” Tina blinked in surprise as she was hauled to her feet, her voice thick from sleep. “What...?”
Before she could finish her question, tears started to roll down Tommy’s face as he grabbed both of them into a hug and tried to speak. He struggled to find the words to tell two of the most important people in his life the bad and the good news.
“Liz and Liliana, um, Lily are both great. She has a lot of hair, beautiful eyes and a set of lungs that could shatter glass but,” he choked out, “Elysia..” he paused, “her umbilical cord had a knot in it and.. I-I-I thought everything was okay, Mike. Why isn’t she okay?”
While Mike gaped in silent shock at his brother and Tommy all but collapsed against them, Tina felt her breath catch in her throat and a sickening feeling creep into the pit of her stomach as if she’d been sucker-punched. She tried to open her mouth to say something, anything, but nothing would form. As the reality of his words washed over her, she felt tears spring into her eyes and all she could do was wrap her arms around them in return.
Mike didn’t know what to say. He was too stunned for words. He was trying to process what his brother just told them. He had been so ready to be the best uncle for two little girls.
The new father held the two dazed people for what felt like forever. His sobbing slowly quieted down to a few gasps then he pulled himself back to look a the pair.
“We need to go see Liz now. She needs us so badly and so does Lily. We can do this.” He was trying to convince himself as well as them.
Tina’s gaze numbly dragged to Mike before she turned to watch Tommy attempt to bravely lead them towards Liz’s room. Oh, Liz. She couldn’t imagine how she must be feeling; she had seen the nursery that was decorated in preparation for two baby girls. Tina stepped forward and gently grabbed Tommy’s arm to stop him. She had to know something.
“Tommy. I, um...” She felt a few tears trickle down her cheek. She hastily swatted them away. “Did I...Is there...” She took a deep breath, trying to keep her voice steady. It came out hollow instead. “If I had gotten her here sooner...?” Tina trailed off and bit her lip, trying to make sense of what she was trying to ask.
Tommy frowned a little as he squeezed her hand, “Oh no, little sister! It’s not something that happens due to any external force it just...happens. Do not feel guilty about this, Tina. You were there for Liz when I couldn’t be and I’ll always appreciate that. Got it? No guilt.”
Tina nodded quickly, knowing he was right. Before he could turn back around, she was on her tiptoes, reeling him into another embrace. “I’m so sorry, Tommy,” she whispered, raking a hand down the back of his head to his shoulder. There wasn’t much else she could say. Bidding him congratulations over Liliana didn’t seem fitting because of Elysia. She pulled back and gave him her best attempt at a comforting smile before stroking his cheek affectionately. She had a feeling that he knew she was there for him without having to voice it.
Tina simply took his hand in hers and finally let him lead the way.
Mike followed behind Tina and Tommy silently. His eyes were glistening with tears that he was trying not to shed. He had heard what his brother had said to Tina. No guilt. But that’s what he was feeling, even if in the back of his head he knew he couldn’t have done anything.
As they approached Liz’s room Tommy turned to face the others. “We all love Liz and Lily and Ellie and that’s why we’re here. This is going to be one of the hardest things we’ll have to do but we need to tell Ellie how much she means to us before they have to... Lily needs to see her sister with her eyes open,” he whispered.
Tina and Mike nodded solemnly before Tommy turned away from the hallway to pull the door open. There was nothing they could really say to make it better, but they both knew they’d do what they did best: be there for each other. For Liz and for Tommy, for Liliana and Elysia. She turned to Mike with tired eyes and reached for his hand again. They walked in together.
~
For the rest of the day, the patchwork family held the babies while they talked to them, sang them lullabies, laughed with them and cried over the little girl who was now alone. It would be a day that they would both mourn and celebrate as a family every year no matter where they were, no matter what they were doing.