𝐋𝐈𝐅𝐄 𝐔𝐍𝐄𝐗𝐏𝐄𝐂𝐓𝐄𝐃

꧁ THIRTY ꧂

  Slowly, the door to the baby's nursery creeks open and within seconds; sunlight pours into it from the hallway window. Letting go of the handle, Josh's hand creeps it's way up to the light switch. He presses down on it, the bright fluorescent light from the bulbs illuminates the room even more. Josh scans over the small room, his hands touching everything he sets his sights on. He looks into the crib, the blankets and stuffed toys untouched. He sees the stack of diapers at the changing tower, unused. He spots the neatly hung row of colorful clothing the size of a doll, unworn. The room feels empty despite it being crammed with everything expecting new parents could ever hope of having for their bundle of joy.

Taking a seat in the soft grey rocking chair that's covered with a beautiful white shawl draping across the top, Josh turns his head to look at the photo frames on the dresser that still have the photos of a random family inside. He sighs loudly, letting himself be rocked a little. His whole world upside down.

   From the corner of his eye, a rectangular black box catches his attention and soon he's standing up, swiftly retrieving it and placing it on his lap. It's wrapped in ribbon and a note has been tucked in -between the red fabric and the hard cardboard. Josh wastes no time in opening the small envelope and taking out the card inside.

    Daddy

Mommy never got to give you this gift from me on Christmas.

I cant wait to meet you!

Lots of love,

Abigail

  The note makes him choke up a little bit but he swallows the lump in his throat and sits the note gently on the table beside him. He removes the lid from the box and gasps at the sight in front of him. In the small package; a football jersey made for a baby is folded delicately with 'Richards' printed on the back in red block capital letters. Eventually all the emotions are too much for him to hold in and he begins to break down into a puddle of tears. He takes out the fabric and smiles down at it, running his thumb across the surname that he and his daughter now share.

  For the past few weeks, the hospital has been the only place Josh seems to ever be. He puts his car into park and makes his way towards the entrance. There's other places he should be and other places he would rather be but there's no place that would stop him from being exactly where he is.

   He walks through the familiar automatic doors and is greeted with the friendly smiles from nurses he's become attached to over the time he's spent here. The smell of chemicals and body odor no longer seem to bother him either, which is one of the the only things he's glad about.

  A mop of curly blond hair comes into his view when he rounds the corner and he's immediately pleased to see his friend.

   "I thought I told you to go get some fresh air and sleep!" He calls with a chuckle as he nears.

   Mads turns around at the mocking tone of his voice. She rolls her eyes playfully, a smirk tugging at her freshly glossed lips. Josh's eyes advert from the blond to the tiny cooing baby girl that she's currently cradling in her arms. The sight of his beautiful baby girl is enough to give him all the courage he needs to remain in this hospital. He thinks about reaching out and taking the girl from her aunt but he doesn't want to piss off either girls by doing so.

"I have good news for you" Mads chirps in a sing- song voice. This makes the boy suspicious, as her version of good news usually isn't the best.

  "What did you do blondie?" He quips, staring at her with narrowed eyes. She glances down at the baby who's slowly falling asleep.

    "Dr. Simmons came over just before you arrived and said that if you're comfortable with it, you can take little miss tiny tot here to go meet Nessa today" she beams happily, rocking the sleeping child.

   Josh's face lights up like a kid on Christmas morning as the news passes through his ears. "Seriously? He really said that?".

   "Yup! Apparently she's made amazing progress throughout the night and he's pleased with her test results. He also agreed that meeting her daughter would possibly speed up the recovery process."

Josh wraps his arm around the blond girl in a hug before leaning down to kiss his daughters head. They carefully make the transfer and soon, he's holding his baby for the first time since last night.

   After the complicated birth of Abigail, Nessa had slipped into a comma which lasted around three whole days. Those three whole days were the longest and most agonizing days of Josh's life. Nobody knew if she was ever going to wake up again and the thought of losing her scared him half to death. Josh wouldn't have been able to cope if it weren't for his friends; especially Mads. She offers to look after Abigail whenever Josh needs a break or to be at the hospital and she's always there for him and his daughter no matter what.

    Nessa came around last week but she wasn't allowed to meet Abby until the doctors believed she was ready. Her body and mind had been through so much trauma that it wasn't a good idea for her to be overwhelmed with a newborn also on top of trying to get better. Which she eventually now is.