Ambivalence | FE3H.

Pt. 1 | News.

He sat in the waiting room, tapping his foot impatiently, hoping the doctor would show himself any minute now to tell him the news. once he finally did, the other stood up. wiping his sweaty palms on his pants. "so.. doc, is.. everything okay?" he asked nervously, seeing the doctors obvious saddened expression. "my apologies Mr. Eisner.. but i'm afraid she won't be able to make it..." tears immediately began to sting the mans eyes. the news he was hoping not to hear finally reached his ears. his wife was dead. he covered his mouth, trying not to sob any harder. the doctor stood there patiently, feeling unfortunate for the now widowed man in front of him. "w-what about the babies.. are they okay?" he asked with a shaky voice, hoping they were alive. the doctor pushed his glasses up, nodding. "yes, they're in the NICU right now, but i suggest you see them later, the nurses are busy with them at the moment" he spoke softly. hearing that his babies were alive was all he needed to not break down. even if they were having trouble, at least they were alive. the man nodded, slowly sitting back down, staring off into nothing. "would.. you like me to get you once they're finished?" he nodded, a tear rolling down his cheek. "yes please.." he croaked before clearing his throat. the doctor nodded before walking away. once he was out of sight the man leaned over, elbows on his knees as he quietly sobbed into his hands. at this point his didn't care who saw, he just needed to let it all out.

after crying for a good 45 minutes to an hour, he felt very tired and light headed. he wanted to go to the vending machine to get a water but he didn't even have enough energy to do that. so he slowly started dozing off, jolting awake every now and then to try and stay awake. he can't sleep until he see's his kids... he can't.

"hello... Mr. Eisner?.. hellooo" he heard a soft voice speak, nudging his shoulder. for a second he thought it was his wife. "honey?..." he mumbled softly, rubbing his puffy eyes, trying to get a clear view. "i'm sorry Mr. Eisner, but it's just me. my name is shelly, i'm one of the nurses who was taking care of your babies. the doctor told me to see you when they're ready. would you like to see them?" he sat up straight, wiping his face, nodding immediately. "yes.. yes, of course i would" she smiled through her mask before gesturing to follow her. "they're asleep right now, they'll be sleeping a lot actually. The doctor says they're not ready to leave yet, but they should he within a few weeks. if you would like to stay here you're welcome to, we have guest rooms all around the hospital" she kept talking, but the man just drowned most of it out, all he was thinking about was seeing his new borns for the first time. she then opened the door to a silent, dimly lit room, with a machine beeping softly. "well papa, meet your new babies. one boy, and one girl" she says, smiling. the man then smiled, tears forming in his sore eyes once again. he walked up to the small glass boxes, admiring his little babies sleeping peacefully. "they're beautiful.." he says, wiping his tears and sniffling, walking to the other one. "would you like to give them names now, or when you're well rested?" he continued to admire them for a little while longer before looking at her. "the boy will be byleth, and the girl will be beth" he said confidently as she wrote it down on a note pad. "such wonderful names, and matching too" he nodded, smiling. "my wife came up with them" the nurse smiled. "she did a wonderful job Mr. Eisner" he smiled once more. he couldn't pull his eyes away from his precious little babies. they were all he had left, and he was not about to waste time resting. he swore, that from this day forward, he was going to be there for them every day of their lives, and love them until the very end.