Chapter 22 — Landon’s Most Terrifying Moment

Landon:

"We're done!" Jared yelled drunkenly. The crowd roared in response to his drunken stammering. I watched him stumble my way, shaking my head at him. "Dude, it's a party. We're celebrating. We're done!" Jared said loudly.

"Dude, that was just freshman year. We've still got three years to go," I informed him. Jared gasped, offended.

"Killjoy! Derik, tell him he's a killjoy," Jared demanded, flailing his arms.

"Landon, you're a killjoy," Derik said in the most serious tone he can muster.

I just shook my head as Jared placed shots in front of us. We continued pounding back drink after drink.

"Derik, you little gobshite, stop staring at the lassie and go ask her out," Jared ribbed.

"Hold up. What lassie?" I asked, confused.

"Rebecca. The sweet blue-eyed lassie who helped Derik study for his finals." Jared pointed her out across the room.

"That's the study buddy lass. Derik, you gombeen, you told me she wasn't pretty." I let out a whistle. "She is a looker."

"Shut up," Derik said, going red.

"I think he's just afraid of some competition. Knows he can't win against me," Jared said, a smug smile stretching across his face.

"Screw you. I could pick up twice the girls you could," Derik challenged.

"Prove it. Starting now, whoever gets more numbers before midnight wins."

We went from party to party at the university, collecting numbers from girl after girl and drinking drink after drink. I did not know how we ended up in our hometown. It was only a ten-minute drive. Derik and Jared were tied in their phone number count and looking for another party.

We decided it would be fun to break into my dad's garage and take his classic cars for a race. I was behind the wheel, drunk. So drunk, I did not realize I was in drive, not reverse. The car went straight through the kitchen, hitting my mother and throwing her into the fridge.

***

"Landon?" Derik's voice pulls me out of my memories. "How is she? Is she okay?" Derik asks.

"She's... She's... I don't know...the baby...the blood..." I ramble.

Why is there so much blood? Wake up! Wake Up.

"Landon, it's going to be okay. Sometimes, there are complications, but doctors are trained for these incidents," Derik says, trying to calm me down.

"They said they have to do an emergency C-section. They said she had a placenta abruption. She's not due for another three weeks," I say in a daze. I look down at my hands which still have blood on them from carrying her into the hospital. My hands seem to blur in front of me as memories pour into my head—memories of sitting in a waiting room just like this one.

***

"Where's my mom? Is she going to be okay?" I asked the doctor.

"They've taken her into surgery now. It looks like your head is going to need some stitches. We should get that taken care of," he said calmly.

"I don't want to take care of a few measly stitches. I want to know how my mom is," I demanded.

"I know, sir. She's in surgery now, and we'll update you as soon as we can, but until then, you need medical attention," he said again.

"Who's doing the surgery if you're out here?"

"Your mom has a very good general surgeon and our head of trauma unit working on her."

"I don't want her to have a good surgeon. She needs a great surgeon."

"Landon," a voice boomed down the hall. I turned to see my dad storming down the hallway.

"Dad, it's Mom. She's...the car...the blood..." I tried to explain through my shock.

"You're Mr. Campbell, I presume, Lilie Campbell's husband?" the doctor asked. My father nodded. "As I've just explained to your son, she's in surgery now. We'll update you as soon as we know more."

"Thank you, doctor. Now, if you'll excuse me, I'd like a word with my son." The doctor gave a quick nod before walking away.

My dad put his arm on my shoulder, guiding me to an empty conference room. "The police want to question you; you will say nothing," my dad said in a no-nonsense voice the second the door closed. "My lawyer on his way; he said not to say anything. Hopefully, we can keep this to community service and keep it out of your record," he said, glancing down at his phone.

"Off my record? Dad, I drove your Cadillac through the kitchen and ran over Mom. Your wife!"

"I know, you gobshite. What do you think the university is going to do when they get wind of this? They are going to kick you out. If you're lucky, I might be able to call in a favor to make sure they don't hear about this." I shook my head, sure I was hearing him wrong.

"Dad, do you hear yourself right now? Mom might die. I might have killed her. And all you care about is keeping this out of my record so I can go to school?"

"You're not even twenty-one yet, Landon. No son of mine is going to rot away in some jail cell. You will not bring shame on the Campbell name." I shook my head, releasing a disbelieving laugh. I headed for the door but paused with my hand on the door handle when my father called out to me. "Not a word until my lawyer gets here."

"Yeah, right," I said before leaving the room.

***

"Landon? Landon? Landon?" I look up to see Derick still sitting beside me. "Where'd you go? Have you heard a word I've been saying?" he asks. I shake my head, leaning forward to rest my elbows on my knees. Derick does not repeat whatever it is he was saying, just allows us to sit in silence.

"You remember the first time I had to sit in a hospital waiting room?" I ask after about fifteen minutes.

Derick hesitates a minute. "Yeah," he rasps almost inaudibly.

"I don't think I've ever been as scared in my whole life as I was that day."

"Let us not go there. This isn't the first time Brooke's been in the hospital because of this pregnancy." I turn my head to look sideways at him.

"My wife is in there delivering my baby right now. There is a high chance she and the baby will not make it. I thought the first time I sat in a waiting room was the most terrifying moment of my life, but I was wrong. This right now is the most terrifying moment of my life. And I am responsible for both," I say.

Derick leans forward. "You were not the only one responsible that night. We all were in that car. We all were drinking. It could have been any of us behind the wheel that night."

"But it wasn't. It was me. I got behind the wheel drunk, and my mother paid the price." Before Derick can respond, Doctor Green, Brooke's doctor, comes out into the waiting room. I jump to my feet, ready for any news she has.

"Mr. Campbell," she greets me with a small smile on her face.

"Is she okay? Is the baby okay?"

"Congratulations, Mr. Campbell, you have a very healthy baby boy." Her smile grows as she delivers this news. I blink back tears of relief at this news before it occurs to me that she has only mentioned the baby. "And Brooke? How's my wife?" I demand. Derick puts his hand on my shoulder as if bracing me for the news.

The doctor's smile remains frozen on her face. "Your wife is recovering from the surgery. She lost a lot of blood, and we have given her some medicine to help her sleep. You can come back to see her now if you like, and we can have your baby moved to her room so that you can meet him."

"Yes. Yes. Take me to them."

"Of course, if you'll just follow me," she says before guiding me to my wife's room.

The sight of Brooke asleep so still and peaceful makes all the tension leave my body. She looks just like Snow White with her pale pallor. The sound of the monitor beeping is my only proof that she is alive. Beep. Beep.

"A nurse will be in with your baby in a minute," the doctor says before shutting the door as she exits. I reach out to hold Brooke's hand. It is warm but limp in mine.

There is a knock at the door before I can say anything to Brooke. The nurse comes in carrying a tiny bundle in a blue blanket. "Mr. Campbell, meet your son," she says before placing the baby in my arms. She smiles and leaves the room, but I hardly notice. He is perfect. He has a chunky face that is scrunched up while he sleeps. On top of his head is a dark patch of hair, just like Brooke's.

"Hello, Cahal. It's me, your daddy," I whisper as I gently bounce him in my arms.

"Is he okay?" Brooke croaks. I glance down at her sleepy eyes staring at my arms. I smile down at her.

"He's perfect." I reach out to brush the tendrils of hair off her face. "You did well." I crouch down so she can see his face. Brooke smiles at him and rubs his cheek with her pointer finger.

"He's beautiful," she rasps, her eyes drooping again.

"Yeah, just like his mom," I say, but Brooke has already fallen back asleep. "Cahal, you have the most beautiful and kindhearted mother a man could ever ask for," I say as I sit down in the corner, content to watch the two people I love most in this world sleep.