13-Donovan/Javier

Adoctor with blue and black hair rushes out of the emergency room, slipping on blue latex gloves when she reaches the back of Shorty's ambulance.

"What do we got?"

Carter and I arrived at the hospital when Shorty's ambulance pulled in. I jumped out of the car before Carter could put it in park.

There is chaos everywhere, but I could only think about Shorty and my baby growing inside her.

"Eighteen-year-old female, hypothermic drowning and a laceration to the ride side of her head."

"How long has she been down?" The doctor asks the paramedic who's still giving Shorty chest compressions.

"Ten minutes," she replies in pants.

"Let's get her ready in trauma two!"

The paramedics lift the gurney out from the bus while the paramedic hovers on top of Shorty, slamming her hands into Shorty's chest to keep her heart going.

I follow behind until a nurse stops me.

"I'm sorry, sir, but you can't go back in there."

"I need to be with her," I plead, holding back the tears.

"If you sit out in the waiting room, the doctor will come out and provide you an update."

"She's pregnant," I blurt out again. There are two lives to save, not just one.

The nurse gives me a sad smile with a nod and runs into trauma room two. The curtain is drawn, so I can't see what's happening—my body sags, feeling hopeless while Shorty is fighting for her and our baby's lives.

I pace up and down the hall with my hands on my head. Rage and sadness are battling with each other. I can't decide if I need to Hulk out and destroy everything in my path to keep Shorty safe, or cry, praying to God to save my girl.

When the curtains are pulled open, giving me a glimpse of Shorty.

The image before me catches my breath, and I fall to my knees.

Oh, God.

"Charge to 200!" The doctor yells in a demanding tone. "Clear!" She shocks Shorty with the AED. Her body jolts, but there's no pulse.

She's dead, and it's all my fault.

I didn't protect her as I promised her.

I failed her.

A vicious roar tears from my throat when the machine flat lines.

Suddenly, the nurses ran back into the room and closed the curtain.

"NO!" Lowering my head with my hands on my knees, I cry for Shorty. I cry for my unborn baby.

"?Ay dios mío!" A familiar female's voice screeches somewhere beside me.

"Get me a blanket! Donnie, it's me, Paloma. Let's get you warmed up before you suffer from hypothermia."

"I got him," Javi says in a soft tone. "Come on, man, let's take care of you." He hooks his arm under my pit and pulls me to my feet. He leads me into a small room and sets me on the bed.

"She's going to be ok," Javi reassures me, but I hear the crack in his voice.

Paloma moves around the small space and starts removing my wet clothes. Once I'm in a hospital gown, she wraps me like a burrito.

"This is an aluminum foil blanket. It will help increase your body temperature. You're going to be ok." She presses her lips against my forehead like a loving mother.

"I'll call his parents."

"How is Sadie doing?" Javi asks.

Before I could hear a response, my eyes grew heavy, and I slipped into darkness.

"This has to stop, Charles. I can't handle this. He needs to leave this place."

That sounds like Mom's voice, but I can't see her.

Where am I?

"He won't leave Sadie," Dad says softly.

"I know. She's not safe either." Mom sniffles.

Shorty?

Did something happen to her?

Flashes of images dance in front of me.

My truck.

Accident.

Shorty drowning.

Oh, fuck!

The beeping sound near my head goes crazy as I try to open my eyes. My heart is pounding in my chest.

I can hardly breathe.

"Donovan? Oh, baby," Mom cries as she hovers over me. I can smell her floral perfume.

"Get the doctor in here now!" Dad yells.

What the fuck is happening to me? I try to move my lips, but they feel glued together.

There are too many voices, and I can't focus on what is being said. I try to move my arms, hoping to grab someone's attention to wake me the fuck up, but I'm sucked back into the black abyss.