More Than Just Lovers (Book 2)

21. Alone

~Josh

Forty minutes went by and Jackson and Leo weren't back yet. Linda had dropped the kids off about ten minutes ago, so I was expecting everyone to be back by now. And yet they weren't here yet.

I had dinner basically ready to be served. Both kids were sitting in their seats at the table, excitedly telling me about their day. Except I couldn't help but be distracted every time I looked at the clock, counting the seconds that they were late.

I shook my head. It was only my doubts coming back to haunt me. They were fine, probably trying to figure out how to fix Leo's car instead of Jackson just picking him up and them coming right home. Something bad didn't happen to them and it definitely wasn't because I had finally decided to apologize and be a family again. They were fine. Of course they were fine. They were going to walk through the door any minute now.

So I turned my attention back to what Ashley was currently saying. "And then Emmy decided to go into the ball pit but she didn't just go in like the rest of us. She backed all the way up to the far wall then ran until she got to it then jumped so high! Like a hundred feet up!"

I knew that was an exaggeration, but I played along. "A hundred feet? Wow. That's impressive."

She went to say something else, but my phone started ringing then, so I shushed her, telling her to wait a minute. The number was unknown, but had this area code, so I answered it.

"Hi, I'm looking for Josh Hart," said the man on the other end.

"That's me. What can I do for you?"

"I'm calling because you're on the emergency contact list for both Leo and Jackson Hart. Are they relatives of yours?"

My throat caught. "Y-yeah. Is - is everything alright? What happened? Are they okay?"

"Sir, please calm down. There was a car accident. Both men are currently in transit to Saint Mary's Hospital."

"Oh my god," I whispered. Then I repeated the words at a normal volume. "Are they okay?"

"They're both stable for now. They'll know more at the hospital."

They were stable. That's all I needed to hear right now. It was terrible news, yet I was thankful he wasn't telling me they had died.

I wiped my cheeks with the back on my hand as I thanked the man and hung up. Wiping my cheeks did nothing to dry them, but I didn't have a tissue nearby. Instead, I had two children staring up at me, clearly worried. I didn't want to tell them that their dads are heading for the hospital. These kids have gone through enough as it was, they didn't need this.

Instead, I dialed my sister's number as I left the kitchen, telling the kids to stay put. Alyssa lived the closest and I knew she'd come over as soon as I explained the situation. I wasn't bringing the kids with me to the hospital, which meant I needed someone to watch them. Thankfully, she was home and agreed immediately to come over, which only left me with the job of finally telling the kids what was going on.

I started by placing two plates of food in front of them while I sat across the table from them. "Okay guys," I said softly. "Remember how Dad got hurt and he was in the hospital for a while to get better?" They both nodded. "Well, your other daddies just got hurt too. They're going to the hospital to get better. I'm going to go see them tonight and Aunt Alyssa's going to come over and stay with you, okay? I promise I'll be home before you go to bed and tomorrow we can all go to see your daddies, okay?"

"Why can't you just fix them, Daddy?" Logan asked, on the verge. "You're a doctor. You made me feel better. Make them feel better too."

I had to hold back my own tears. "I'm sorry, buddy. I'm not that kind of doctor. I wish I could though." Neither of them will every understand how much I wished I could just fix everything so that our family was whole again.