About thirty minutes later, Nina’s knocking on my door.
“Hey,” I say as I greet her when she comes in.
“Hi babe. What’s wrong?” she asks with a worried look.
“I don’t know.”
“Baby talk to me,” she says as she sits down beside me on the bed.
“Should we be getting married?” I ask confused.
“What? Yes, why shouldn’t we?” she shouts.
“I’m about to have a baby with someone else.”
“Liam, if you were able to have another chance with Haley would you take it, if I wasn’t in the picture?”
“I don’t know.”
“Be honest and answer me.”
“Fuck,” I say as I stand up and start pacing.
“I need to hear you say it.”
“Yes I would, but it’s not that simple.”
“You’re right because I am in the picture, but Liam, you need to follow your heart. Does your heart say me or Haley?” she asks with tear filled eyes. “I can’t go living our lives together if I’m not the one you want to be with.”
I stop pacing and turn to look at her, “I’ve done a lot of thinking since finding out Lily’s mine. I love you Nina I do, but I need to see if Haley and I can work,” I say as I see the tears fall. “God, I’m so sorry. This isn’t fair to you,” I say as I pull her up into a hug.
“It’s better I know now, then after we were married,” she says through tears. “What’s going to happen now?”
“I’ll go and tell people the wedding’s off. You don’t have to stay, this is my fault, and I’ll deal with everyone.”
“I need to go,” she says as she rushes out of the room quickly.
“Fuck,” I say as I drop to the bed. “What the hell have I just done?”
Instead of trying to talk to anyone tonight since it’s late, I head to bed, making sure to set my alarm early, so I can fill everyone in.
Haley
Thursday’s here and I can’t sleep. I’ve lain in bed and it’s already 11:00 a.m. Knowing Liam’s getting married in two days ends my chances of ever truly having him again. It’s like I knew it was going to happen, but my heart didn’t want to believe it.
I get up and grab a bite to eat before getting a shower. I can’t sit in this house all day and dwell on what’s happening.
“Going somewhere?” Kenzie asks as I walk down the stairs.
“Yeah, I can’t stay here today.”
“Do you want company?”
“No, it’s okay. I’ll be back later,” I say before heading out.
Turning my phone off, I throw it in the center console, not wanting to be bothered today. I drive to the lake for a little quiet time.
Once I park the car, I get out and grab a blanket to sit on and also a bottle of water, because it’s already scorching hot today. I sit under the tree because it offers some shade and watch the water and the small ripples in it, not believing how my life is about to change.
Liam
“What’s going on?” Brody asks confused as he answers his hotel room door.
“The wedding’s off,” I state as I walk into his room.
“What? Why?” Quinn interjects out of nowhere.
“Did you know that Haley’s having my baby?” I ask the two of them. Neither one of them can look at me, “How the fuck could you not tell me?” I snap.
“She said she was going to tell you,” Brody says quickly.
“We wanted to tell you?” Quinn confesses
“You should have told me,” I say, glaring at Brody.
“It wasn’t our place to tell. She said she was going to tell you,” he says.
“Next time, don’t fucking lie to me about something as serious as that,” I holler.
“But you didn’t even remember having sex with her,” Quinn states.
“Yes I do,” I admit.
“What?” she asks with wide eyes.
“I know what happened that night. But stupid me, I believed you two when you told me she had a one-night stand and got pregnant. I only really thought about it last week and did the fucking math to realize you both fucking lied to me,” I seethe.
“It wasn’t our place to tell you. Hails said she would tell you and she planned to before Lily comes,” Quinn says softly.
“So you’re not marrying Nina because Haley’s having your child?” Brody asks.
“It’s more than just that.”
“You still love her,” Quinn says as a statement, not a question.
“Yeah I do and I need to know if we can make it work before I give up completely.”
“Oh my gosh, have you called her? She’s going to be so flipping excited,” Quinn squeals.
“Am I missing something?” I ask feeling lost.
“She’s still crazy in love with you,” Quinn says, like I should already know.
“No, she’s not,” I say.
“Wow, you really are stupid,” Brody states, while he shakes his head.
“She wouldn’t marry me,” I remind them.
“Because of all the bullshit that happened with me, Kenzie and you two; she thought you would come back, but you didn’t,” he says.
“You moved on instead,” Quinn chimes in.
“I was pissed.”
“We know, we all know, but you never came back to talk to her, you just left,” Brody states.
“It doesn’t matter anymore, what matters is that you aren’t getting married and that you are having a baby with Haley. You two can talk now,” Quinn says excitedly. “I’m going to call her and let her know the wedding’s off.”
“Don’t,” I say quickly.
“Why not?” she asks confused.
“That needs to come from me.”
“Are you going to call her then?” Brody asks me.
“No, I need to let everyone know the wedding is off and then I’ll drive to Michigan to tell her. So please, I’m asking you two to not say anything. Don’t say anything to Kenzie either because she’ll tell her.”
“Okay,” they say in unison.
“I’ll see you guys later, I need to go piss some people off,” I say as I exit their hotel room.
I inform everyone in the wedding party and to say some of the bridesmaids are pissed would be an understatement. Next, I head to my parents room to tell them what’s going on; thankfully they aren’t pissed or too upset with the news. Nina already told her parents, who reamed me out for a solid thirty minutes, before I left to go inform everyone else.
By the time I head down to my car, it’s already 2:30 p.m.
“We’re following you,” Brody says from behind me.
“Okay,” I say as I throw my bags in the truck and hop in the driver’s seat to head back to Michigan.
Quinn
My phone starts ringing like crazy at 6:22 p.m. from Kenzie.
“Hey, what’s up?”
“You need to get back here asap,” she shrieks.
“What’s going on? Is Hails in labor?” I ask excited.
“No, she’s been in a car accident,” she says, as I now realize she’s crying.
“What? Is she alright?” I ask panicking.
“I-I don’t know, the doctors won’t tell me anything. It’s bad Quinn, it’s really bad.”
“What hospital?”
“University,” she stutters
“We’re on our way. Keep me posted Kenzie,” I say before disconnecting the call.
“What happened?” Brody asks worriedly.
“Haley was in a car accident, we need to hurry and get to University now,” I say shaking.
“Shit,” he says as he pushes on the accelerator, “Is she all right; what about the baby?”
“She doesn’t know anything, we need to hurry,” I plead.
“Call Liam,” he says as he hands me his phone.
“Shit,” I say as I take his phone with shaky hands to call Liam.
“You need to use the bathroom again?” Liam jokes.
“No, I don’t need to use the bathroom.”
“What’s up then?” he says laughing.
“We need to head to University Hospital,” I say shakily.
“What’s up? Is Haley in labor?” he asks shocked.
“No, she’s not in labor,” I hesitate, “Liam, she was in a car accident.”
“What? Is she okay? Is the baby okay?” he asks worriedly as his car accelerates.
“I don’t know, Kenzie hasn’t been told anything. Just go to the hospital.”
“Okay,” he says before disconnecting the call and driving faster.
Liam
I barely get out of my car, as I race inside the hospital. “Haley Lawrence, what floor is she on?” I ask the receptionist as I’m panicking.
“Hold on, Sir, let me check,” she says happily. “It looks like she’s still in surgery. You can go to the waiting room on floor 5,” she says as I run towards the stairs. I race up the stairs to the entrance for 5.
“Liam,” Kenzie rushes towards me as she’s crying.
“What happened?”
“A car crashed into her driver side, they rushed her into surgery,” she says through tears.
“How long has she been in surgery?”
“An hour maybe,” she stutters.
“Have they told you anything about Lily?”
“They were going to have to cut her out because she was in distress,” she says gravely.
“Shit,” I say pulling on my hair, panicking, “It’s too early.”
An hour later a doctor comes walking our way, “Any news on Haley Lawrence?” I ask as soon as he enters the room.
“I’m her sister,” Kenzie speaks up, as she stands beside me.
“She’s still in surgery. We had to deliver the baby, she’s breathing, but it’s labored,” the doctor states.
“What floor?” I ask.
“Right now she’s on the 6th floor.”
“Can I see her?” I ask.
“He’s the father,” Kenzie says quickly.
“Come with me,” the doctor says as I follow him out. We go up one floor to where he leads me to a nurse who shows me where my daughter is.
“As of right now, you can only see her through the glass,” the nurse says.
“Why can’t I go in? I want to see her,” I snap.
“Please let him go in, he’s her dad and her mom’s in surgery fighting for her life,” Kenzie pleads for me.
She looks at us both sympathetically, “I could get into so much trouble for this,” she says, “Come with me.” I quickly follow.
“Wash your hands good,” she says after she hands me a blue suit thing to put over top of my clothes. I hurry and change, making sure to wash my hands.
“Ready,” I say nervously.
“You won’t be able to pick her up, but you can touch her through the machine,” she says as she walks me towards my baby girl.
“Okay.”
“Here she is. I’ll let you have some time with her,” she says before walking away.
Looking down at this tiny little girl breaks my heart. There are wires and tubes hanging from her body. She looks so fragile. I reach my hand in the front circle and touch her tiny little fingers. I didn’t know fingers could be so small. The first tear falls before I even realize it. “Hey Lily, it’s me, daddy. I need you to be a fighter Lily, just like your mommy. I love you sweet girl,” I say as I rub her tiny fingers.
After a half hour, I head back down to the fifth floor to see if there’s an update on Haley. I walk through the waiting room doors to see Haley’s parents and my parents sitting there along with Isaac, Spence, Max, Quinn, Brody, and Kenzie.
“Any update?” I ask to no one in particular.
“Not yet sweetie,” my mom says.
“It’s been hours, they have to be able to tell us something,” Kenzie yells.
A doctor walks in as Kenzie ends her rant, “What’s going on?” I ask the doctor promptly as her parents stand up.
“Haley is in a coma. She has some swelling in the brain so we are monitoring her closely, but we hope the swelling will go down.
“How long is she going to be in a coma?” Mrs. Lawrence asks.
“We aren’t sure.”
“Where is she now?” I ask frustrated.
“They are moving her to ICU on the sixth floor.”
“Is she going to be okay?” Becky asks.
“The next 48 hours are critical for her; we are doing everything we can.”
“She could die?” Kenzie asks as tears fall.
“We are doing everything we can to help your sister,” the doctor says. “You can go up to the sixth floor, but its only immediate family that will be able to see her.”
We rush to the elevator as it takes us to where we need to go to see Haley.
“How’s Lily?” Becky asks me in the elevator.
“She’s beautiful, but she has lots of wires and tubes hooked to her.”
“Haley told me that Lily’s yours,” she says, surprising me.
“She is mine, they both are.”
“Your mom and dad told us about your wedding not happening,” Mr. Lawrence says.
“I couldn’t get married; I’m not over your daughter. I thought I could come back and tell her, but instead, here we are.”
“She’s going to be okay and so is Lily,” Becky says, “They have to be.”
We head off the elevator and towards the ICU area. “Only one person at a time,” the nurse says.
Mrs. Lawrence rushes inside. I’m hoping I get to see her; I need to make sure she’s okay. Mrs. Lawrence comes out about ten minutes later crying. Shit. Mr. Lawrence goes in and when he comes out he has tears in his eyes too. Kenzie is bawling by the time she comes out.
“Can I go in?” I ask nervously.
“Yeah,” Becky says, “Just be prepared, she’s pretty banged up.”
I walk inside to find Haley hooked to so many machines. Some of them are making annoying beeping sounds, while others flash numbers. She has bruises on her face, neck, and arms that I can see and her face is swollen on the left side.
“Hey Hails, I’m here,” I tell her as I take a seat on the chair beside her bed.
“Baby, I need you to please wake up,” I say as a few stray tears fall, “You gave birth to our daughter today. She’s beautiful and she looks just like you. She’s so tiny. I didn’t know fingers and toes could be so small, but they are. Hails, you need to wake up so you can see our baby girl.” I say as more tears fall. “I’m not getting married. I can’t, I’m still in love with you Hails and I want us to raise our daughter together. Please wake up. Please. Baby, I need you to come back to me,” I say as a fresh wave of tears fall.
I’m not sure how long I stay in the room with Hails until I’m told I have to leave, so they could run some tests. I walk out and find the Lawrence’s sitting outside. “You can go to Haley’s house, I’ll stay here,” I say as it’s getting later and later.
“I’m not leaving,” Kenzie replies.
“We aren’t either, but thank you Liam,” Becky says.
“I’m going to go check on Lily.”
“May we come with you?” Becky asks looking worried.
“Sure, she’s your granddaughter,” I say with a smile. I lead us to where Lily’s at.
“I figured you would be back,” the nurse says with a smile, “we moved her to the green area, which is over here,” she says leading us to where they moved my daughter. “I can’t let you all in, I’m sorry.”
“That’s okay, we can look through the glass,” Becky says kindly.
The nurse walks into the room and moves the machine that Lily’s in closer to the window so we can see her.
“Oh my, she’s beautiful,” Becky says as she starts crying.
“She’s beautiful,” Mr. Lawrence agrees.
“Look how small she is,” Kenzie says as she touches the glass.
“She’s tiny, but perfect,” I say as I
smile at my little girl.
“She’s a miniature you and Haley,” Kenzie says with a smile.
“Well, she is our baby,” I say laughing.
“She’s definitely got the blonde hair from both of you, I bet her eyes are blue too,” Kenzie says.
“I haven’t seen her eyes yet, she’s had them closed the entire time.”
“How long does she have to stay in there?” Becky asks.
“Until they can make sure her lungs are fully developed and that she can breathe on her own.”
“Hopefully that’s soon,” Kenzie says.
“I know. I want to hold her.”
“Me too,” Becky says with a smile.
For the next few weeks, I stay with Haley and Lily at the hospital. I only leave to go to Hails’ house to shower and change before coming right back to the hospital.
“Baby, please wake up. I know I messed up, I should have given you the stupid break and then everything would be fine, you wouldn’t be here. God, baby I miss you, please open those pretty blue eyes for me. I don’t want to raise our daughter without you; you need to wake up so you can meet her. She’s beautiful Hails.”
“Hails, please wake up,” I say as I rub her hand allowing tears to fall.
“You’re crying again?” Kenzie asks as she walks into the room, “I’ve never seen a grown man cry as much as you have.”
“I love her. She shouldn’t be in here,” I say slightly annoyed.
“I know you do, and I’m sure she can hear you. She is going to wake up Liam.”
“Is everything okay?” I ask, wondering why she barged in, she doesn’t usually do that.
“The nurse wanted to know if you wanted to go see Lily.”
“Yes,” I shout as I stand up quickly, “Baby I’m going to see our daughter, I’ll be right back. I love you,” I say as I kiss her forehead before heading to get our daughter.
Haley (5 weeks Later)
“Baby, please come back to me. Open your eyes baby,” I hear someone say, as something gets my arm wet. “I love you Hails, please wake up,” he pleads as he squeezes my hand.
Everything’s blurry. What is that beeping sound? I try opening my eyes again, “Liam,” I struggle to say.
“Hails you’re awake. Holy shit, baby, you’re awake,” he says ecstatically.
One More Chance (Chance, Part 2) Page 12