Second Chances

Chapter 11

Kim's POV

I sat next to Adam's hospital bed, listening to the rhythmic beeping of the monitors. I had decided that it was my favorite sound in the world, the monitors a steady reminder that Adam was still alive. For the past few hours, I had been so worried that he would be gone, that the last conversation we would have had would have been that stupid fight, and that he would never know that we were going to be a family. And for a brief period I had been worried that I would lose them both, but somehow now that I knew Adam was going to be okay, it was the least worried I had been about potentially losing the baby since I had found out I was pregnant. I was just so relieved that Adam was alive. That I hadn't lost the man that I loved. Because I did love him. And this whole screwed up day had reminded me of that. And it had reminded me that I had never really stopped loving him. Not after I had broken off our engagement all those years ago and not after we had struggled to get through our loss. And now I had a chance to tell him how I still felt. And we had a chance to be a family. If he would just wake up.

I must have dozed off because next thing I knew, I woke up to the monitors beeping irregularly. I was about to panic when I saw Adam's hand move toward mine.

"Hey Kim?" he said, hoarsely. I nodded, unable to vocalize a response. "I don't think I'll be able to make dinner tonight."

At that I laughed and couldn't hold back my tears any longer. Of course the first thing he'd do was make a joke, and about our idiotic fight no less. Suddenly, though, my laughter turned into sobs, and his face scrunched up in concern.

"Hey, Kim, it's okay. I'm alright, I'm gonna be fine, okay?" I nodded, but I couldn't for the life of me stop sobbing. Through my tears I could see the worry still on his face, and I felt him squeeze my hand reassuringly.

After a few minutes, I had finally gotten my sobs under enough control that I was able to choke out, "You scared me."

"I won't do it again," he promised, with a weak smile. We both knew it was a promise that neither of us could truthfully ever make, but it reassured me enough to keep going.

"I couldn't imagine what I'd do without you," my voice cracked, and I took in a shaky breath before continuing.

"I don't want our baby to grow up without you."

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Adam's POV

"I don't want our baby to grow up without you."

I must have hit my head when I went down. The doctors had forgotten to mention it, but I was, in fact, heavily concussed right now. That was the only logical explanation. Because the words coming out of Kim's mouth made absolutely no sense. I wanted to say something, anything because our baby was in heaven, and I'm pretty sure Kim wasn't trying to say she wished that I was up there with them. Unless I had seriously pissed her off enough to wish death on me. But I couldn't think of anything that had done that reached that level, at least not recently, so I was at a loss.

She smiled at me, as I sat there looking like a fish out of water, opening and closing my mouth, trying to figure out how to make words come out. Giving up, I resorted to just shaking my head.

She laughed and nodded back, making fun of me no doubt. Smiling, she moved the hand that was holding hers and placed it on her stomach. I stared at her in disbelief, as I began to understand what she was saying, my eyes darting back and forth between hers and our hands on her belly.

"I've been trying to tell you for a little while now, but every time I chickened out or something came up or, well, this happened," she said gesturing to the hospital bed.

I kept staring at her, still in shock, but by now I was grinning like an idiot. She laughed nervously. "You could say something, ya know."

"This," I said, tugging on her hand to bring her closer, "is the most amazing news I've ever heard." I leaned in to place a light kiss on her stomach, which I knew was kinda cheesy but blame it on the pain meds, and I pulled her in for a hug.

I felt her breathe out a sigh of relief, and I realized how worried she'd been acting recently. Now I knew why. I knew how much she blamed herself for the miscarriage, and I couldn't imagine how scared she must have been these past few days. I hugged her even tighter, trying to make up for everything she had been through.

Once we pulled apart, I could see tears in her eyes, mirroring the ones in my own. I patted the bed next to me, and she climbed in beside me. I couldn't help but think back to the last time we were like this, the worst night of our lives, when she wouldn't even look at me. Now, however, she curled up against me, careful not to brush against my injured leg. I wrapped my arm around her, and she leaned her head against my chest. I lightly kissed the top of her hair before settling back against the pillow.

I smiled. This was the happiest we both had been in a long time.

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Kim's POV:

I snuggled up against Adam, his heartbeat sounding against my ear. That was my favorite sound in the world. Because unlike with the monitors, I had to be close to him to hear it. And that was my favorite place to be.