Roman tore into the hospital much like he had torn out of his brother’s home. Fortunately, Pitch was there to relieve a measure of the unease Roman stirred when he shouted demands for information about his wife.
“Where is she?” Roman demanded of the nurse who had been called to assist he and Pitch when they’d been instructed to wait in the busy corridor.
The nurse managed saintly calm in the presence of the two glaring men. “Mrs. Tesano arrived by ambulance unconscious and unresponsive. Her coworkers found her that way and can’t be sure how long she was in that state before they found her. The doctor will be out to speak with you shortly-”
“Is she still unconscious?” Pitch asked.
Unease crossed the nurse’s small face beneath her surgical cap. She nodded. “I can tell you that her vitals look good. Her pulse is steady, blood pressure normal.”
“She’s pregnant,” Roman shuddered out the detail.
The nurse nodded. “Her coworkers told us. I-I’m sorry but I don’t have more details. The doctor shouldn’t be long-”
“Where is she?”
“The doctor will take you back, Mr. Tesano, it shouldn’t be much longer-”
“I want to see her-”
“Rome,” Pitch slipped an arm around Roman’s waist and held him back against his chest.
Roman fought against the embrace, intent on going after the nurse who was disappearing down the hall in the direction she’d come. He was in no fit state to put up a real fight especially against the likes of Pitch. Emotion was next to weigh in and he shook as sobs took hold.
“That’s it, that’s it, kid,” Pitch encouraged and followed his brother to the floor as Roman’s legs gave way beneath him.
~~~
Over the next two hours Mount Sinai saw many of its waiting rooms filled by members of the Tesano family as well as friends of Roman’s and Imani’s. There was no added news, besides what the nurse had come to share with Roman and Pitch hours earlier.
“Seems like a lifetime ago,” Pitch’s voice was gruff, muffled where he rested the side of his face in Candace’s cloud of brown hair.
Candace had ridden with Aaron and Rena to the hospital. Gabriel and Giselle had followed. Also in attendance were Imani’s Aunt Charifa Morris and her cousin Chazria.
“What the hell’s taking so long?” Pitch continued to quietly rage. “If it’s bad news, they don’t need to play this waiting game. Ro’s about as calm as he’s gonna get.”
“Shh...” Candace squeezed Pitch tighter in the embrace they shared on one of the long seats in the waiting room where much of the family had gathered. Aaron had managed to convince Roman to join him for coffee in the hospital cafeteria.
“We aren’t going to think like that,” Candace soothed while running her hand across the vast plane of Pitch’s back.
“Haven’t we suffered enough here, already? Losing Stone almost broke us and now Imani-”
“Vic-”
“Are the Tesanos cursed or somethin’, Cand?”
“Vicarus Tesano, you stop this,” Candace maneuvered from the embrace and stood. “We aren’t going to do this. Say that back to me. Say it.”
Pitch inhaled clearly working up the ability. “We aren’t going to do this.”
His words carried on a defeated key. Candace accepted the effort, putting a hard kiss to his mouth and hugging him tight.
~~~
“Roman?”
His head jerked up from the suit jacket he’d balled beneath his cheek to use as a pillow along the side of the mattress. He had taken post in a chair next to Imani’s bed. Sometime during the night, he had lost consciousness while he clutched her hand. He blinked dazedly, his brain still wrapped in the potent fog of despair which was unwilling to allow his escape.
“Roman?”
He blinked, realizing he hadn’t only been dreaming of her voice in his head. She had really been calling to him.
“Sere...” relief had the rest of the endearment dying on his tongue. Launching to his feet, he put a tender kiss to her forehead and one to her cheek. Then, he sat on the side of the bed and looked fiercely into her face. “How do you feel?” he asked.
“What happened?” Imani queried in turn and clutched his bare forearm beneath a rolled shirt sleeve. “The baby-”
“The doctors say it’s too soon-the baby’s too young for them to tell. But he’s still with us, so that’s the best sign.”
Imani smiled weakly. “You still think it’s a boy.”
Roman grinned, but quickly became serious. “I’m only kidding with that. All that matters to me is it’s ours and I love it.”
Water pooled suddenly in her eyes. “I’m sorry,” she sobbed the words as emotional shudders followed.
“No, no Princess,” he pulled her close, rocking her while his mouth rested at her temple. “None of that, okay?”
“But what if the baby-”
“It’s still with us. The doctor says we can only let time tell. Let’s do that, okay?”
