A few hours of torture...

He sat there in his chair, his family was around him. Maybe it wasn’t so bad, maybe it just looks bad. No, this was bad.

“Teddy, it’s going to be okay” his grandma told him.

He shook his head, pulling on his hair, “No it’s not, did you see how bad it was? Grandma, my car got totaled, how is it all going to be okay?”

“Ted, have some hope in you” Ted's mom said, her face twisted in worry.

He just shook his head while grabbing his hair again. He clenched his jaw, fighting the tears that wanted to come out. It was so painful how quiet the waiting room was, all you could hear was Teds intense breathing with his heart trying to break its way through his ribs, “You don’t understand,” Ted's voice cracked, “you weren’t there.”

“You're right, son. We weren’t there, but we are all here now so you're not alone on this. She is going to be okay... they are going to be okay.”

Ted looked up into his dad's eyes. His dad smiled slightly and laid a hand on Teds shoulder, it’s nice to have a family that never gives up on you.

Sometimes you have to think of the worse so you can be prepared for the worse. It’s something Emely, Ted's wife, always told him.

“Sweetie, are you sure you don’t want to clean yourself up? You wouldn’t want those scratches to get infected.”

“Mom, I am not going anywhere until I know she is okay. I’m nothing compared to the way she got hurt. Stupid idiot, who drives like an idiot, they could’ve killed any one of us.”

“And they didn’t, so don’t stress yourself over this.”

“Okay but mom, they just drove away after hitting us! Do they not have a heart?”

“I understand you, trust me I do. Sweetie, I just don’t want your blood pressure to rise up that’s all. Take deep breaths for me please.”

Ted’s mom was right, he was raising his blood pressure. He was just so angry at the person who hit them. At least check to see if we are okay. How was his family so calm?

A male doctor named Dr. Jackson came through the swinging doors and walked towards them with an anxious face.

Ted stood up, “How are they? Are they okay? Is she okay?”

He took a deep breath, “She is okay yes, but unfortunately, we are going to have to proceed to surgery.”

“And my baby?”

He twisted his fingers, “We are going to do everything we can.”

“Everything you can? Is there a chance my baby boy won’t make it through?”

“Ted, we are going to do everything we can, I need you to be patient. It's going to be a few hours, so I would recommend getting those scratches cleaned. In the meantime, we are getting her set for surgery.”

Ted backed away, feeling the world spin around him. So… there's a chance they won’t make it through. He ran his hands through his hair. 

“I have to get out of here.”

“Teddy!” Ted’s grandma called out.

Ted walked out into the hospital halls, ignoring his grandma.

Memories started to play in his mind…

***

“Come on, it’s been two minutes.”

Emely stood in front of him, pacing in the living room while shaking her hands, “Honey, it has only been 30 seconds.”

She put up her long black hair, her green eyes were so wide, “Why did the world do this to us, make us wait for two whole minutes, what’s the point? Why can’t I just know if I am pregnant or not right away? Does this world want to torture me?”

Ted got up and stopped Emely from pacing back and forth, “You’re going to put a hole in this floor if you don’t stop pacing.”

Emely looked at Ted with impatience, “I just want to know already.”

“And we will, you just have to be patient for this one time. Come on, be patient with me.”

Ted hugged Emely tightly, she didn’t know that he was killing time for her and it worked, it had already been two minutes.

“Okay, here we go.”

Emily stared at him, desperate for the answer. She put both of her hands on her face and pushed her cheeks up, “Tell me, what's our future looking like?”

Ted looked at it once and fought back the smile, “Sweetheart, I’m so sorry,” he joked, Emely stared at him disappointed and let her hands drop, she thought she wasn’t pregnant, “it looks like we are going to have to deal with a kid for the rest of our lives.”

Emily jumped up and down, screaming in joy, “You jerk!” she said, punching him in the arm.

Ted laughed, “Ow!”, he joined her and  also jumped up and down in joy, “Sweetheart, we are going to be a family!”

***

“And it looks like we are all good here, Ted. Would you like to take some extra bandages just in case?”

Ted felt like he was sleep walking, he looked at his doctor with his eyes drooping, “Yeah sure, why not.”

His doctor nodded, “Then you’re all set, have a good day.”

Ted walked out of the doctors room and stuffed the bandages in his pocket. He found his way back into the waiting room.  He tried finding things to do to pass time but all of them reminded him of Emely. He couldn’t even get coffee without thinking of the first time they met…

***

“An order of black coffee!”

Emily and Ted reached for the cup at the same time.

“Oh I’m sorry.”

“No I’m sorry, you have it” Ted told her.

“Are you sure? Have you been waiting long?”

Ted shook his head, “I’ve got nowhere to go, you take it.”

She smiled, “Thank you.”

“Black coffee!”

“Oh, well there’s mine” Ted said laughing.

She smiled and looked up and down at him, “Hey this might be a little odd, but would you like to go hangout sometime? You seem like a nice guy.”

Ted was shocked but flattered, “Yeah, I would love that. But I am a serial killer, so I better not” he joked.

Emily could tell he was joking, so she played along, “Oh that’s so funny, so am I. We should work together.”

“Oh that would be great! So after we finish doing our business, I can take you out to a nice restaurant!”

“So it’s a date” Emely laughed.

Ted raised his coffee, “It’s a date.”

***

Ted squeezed his eyes, he could feel the sharp prick of tears behind his eyelids while the lump in his throat made it difficult to breathe around. He missed her so much and was so worried, what was he going to do without her in his life? It would be nothing without her in it. Seven years together and there’s a chance that he was going to lose his whole world, what is he going to do then? Who is he going to come home to after a long day at work? Or who is going to help him through the tough times? No one can get to him like Emely does. Emely is all he has and all he wants.

Ted felt a tear drip down on his cheek, he couldn’t hold it in anymore. The one he loved most was the one he may or may not lose. He felt his leg begin to shake up and down from the anxiety rising up. His heart began to race, just the thought of losing her made him anxious. 

The sliding door opened, two new male doctors came walking through and headed directly towards Ted. One of the doctors has something in his hands, was that a baby?

The first doctor came up to Ted and smiled, “They both made it through, your wife is in recovery.”

The doctor behind him walked forward and handed him his baby boy, “Congratulations Ted, you’re officially a father.”