TENACITY

CHAPTER THIRTY-NINE

Trey glared at her. "Is a doctor supposed to assume things just like that?"

She shrugged. "Forgive me for thinking you are a genius."

He closed his eyes and counted to five. "So, what do I do?" he asked, opening his eyes.

"Stay with her, talk to her; keep her occupied while we operate on her. She might even fall asleep soon." Then she paused. "And don't point out how delusional she sounds. Just go with it."

She'd left him then, going over to ask Alexandra how she was feeling. Her answer was "Fabulous!" and the nurses had snickered at that.

Trey went to sit next to her, grabbing her hand. When she looked at him, he said, "I'm back."

"I see that." She'd flashed him a smile, one full of joy and without restraint, and didn't even look away when Roberta wheeled over a half curtain to block their view of the surgery. He was glad, because he didn't think he could handle seeing her insides.

"Do you think I'm beautiful?" she asked out of the blue, her eyes now fixed somewhere above him.

He leaned in and kissed her, causing her eyes to snap down and settle on him. Her eyes went wide and she gasped, turning to look at the nurses over the curtain's rod. Then she slapped a hand over her mouth, blinking severally.

Trey chuckled. He squeezed Lexi's hand and she turned to him, mouth still agape. "I do think you're beautiful," he said in response to her earlier question. "The most beautiful woman I've ever seen."

"You do?" she asked in a small voice.

"Yes." He leaned in again, noticing how quickly she closed her mouth and met him halfway. Then her mouth was agape again.

"Definitely man candy," she whispered.

Trey laughed, dropping his face into a hand. "You'll be the death of me," he muttered under his breath.

He lifted his head, staring at her with the softest of smiles, and she stared back for a long moment. "You have beautiful eyes. A bright green one too." She pouted, adding, "I wish I could have a child with such beautiful eyes as yours."

He heard himself chuckling again, this time burying his face in her bed sheets. When he looked up at her, eyes bright, he said, "Remember I told you you're having children?" She looked like she was trying to remember, so he went on. "Well, you're about to bring my children into the world, love. Our children."

She gasped again. "I'm having your child? It means I'm getting a baby as beautiful as you?"

"They're twins; we're having two babies together."

"Two beautiful babies then?" Trey wiped at his eyes, ridding them of the tears gathered. Hopefully, their babies and Lexi herself make it out of this alive. "That is— oh!"

Trey leaned forward, brushing her hair back and cupping her cheek as he looked down at her with concern. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah..." she trailed off. "I just felt something weird in my tummy— oh!" Her brows furrowed as her hazy mind tried to make sense of what was happening. "What's happening?"

Trey looked at Roberta, who met his gaze over the curtain's rod. "That was my hand," she explained, and Trey realized it hadn't occurred to him that 'taking the babies out' had been literal. "Here's the first baby," she announced, stepping back from Lexi a little to give her male co-doctor space.

Trey's heart stuttered, and he squeezed Lexi's hand, then kissed the back of it as he said, "Our first child is here." Lexi was struggling to keep her eyes from closing.

Trey smiled, then his brows furrowed when he realized something. Mitch's baby had cried, screamed in fact, but their baby wasn't making a sound. "The baby isn't crying," Trey said.

"No," Roberta murmured, wiping them free of the fluids. Then she turned them in her arms, rubbing the baby's back as her co-doctor worked on getting the other baby out. When the baby didn't respond, Roberta muttered under her breath.

Before Trey could ask what was going on, she spoke. "I need you to cut the umbilical cord that connects him to his mother so we can take him to the NICU. He's breathing in short rasps."

Trey stood quickly, not letting go of Lexi's hand as he cut off the cord with a pair of scissors after both sides had been tied up. Then looked down at his baby, his heart swelling with love and pride.

"Here's number two," the male doctor said, presenting the second baby to Roberta. "This one's very pale, Dr. Morris. Most probably had less access to oxygen compared to the other sibling. We need to take them both to the NICU right away."

"I'll take them," Roberta said.

Trey cut the second baby's cord as Roberta settled the first—who had a small oxygen tube in his nose, chest heaving as he tried to breathe—in a cot, then waited for the second baby to be swaddled and handed over as well.

She put an oxygen tube in the nose of the second baby as well, and settled them in the cot next to their sibling. Then she tampered with the oxygen cylinder, setting it such that it gave them small quantities at a time, so as to not overwork their underdeveloped lungs.

"Stitch her up and have your nurses clean her," Roberta instructed as she wheeled them towards the doors. Then when she got to the entrance, she looked at Trey. "I'll be back to check on your wife, Mr Robinson."

After she rushed out, Alexandra tugged lightly on Trey's arm, breaking his trance. He lowered himself to her level, pressing a kiss to her head as tears fell down his cheeks. "Are they okay?" she asked in a quiet voice, brushing his cheeks when she felt tears fall on her temple.

"I wish I could say yes, but I really don't know. They have been taken into intensive care, which could only mean they're not fine—not completely." He pressed another kiss to her head. "I hope you and them make full recovery, and I'll do whatever I can to aid in that. We can't lose them, and I can't lose you either."

Lexi's eyes fluttered shut but she dragged them open again. "I trust you. What's your name?"

"Trey," a pause, "and I'm your husband," he finished, pressing another kiss to her brow.

"My husband?" He nodded, and she smiled. "You're all mine then. I was afraid you'd go away." Her eyes closed briefly and were flung open again. "Stay?"

"Of course. You don't even have to ask," he answered, kissing her head severally. "I love you so damn much."

She asked, "You love me?"

"Yes," he answered without missing a beat, then pressed a kiss to her lips, "so much." 

She smiled, finally allowing the darkness and sleep to pull her under.