"Max?" Zoe called as the noise of the door awoke her, the curtain's she'd accidentally left open hours before telling her that it was still night time in Michigan. Max had left to got back to Holby two days before, having been told of Robyn and Glen's accident, with Zoe unable to get the time off work at such short notice, he'd gone alone.
"Zoe?" He called back, the sadness in his voice making her fear the worst. Max had not been in contact since leaving for London, she'd dismissed as she'd imagined him sitting by Robyn's bed not feeling the time pass. His arrival back at their Michigan flat was a shock as she'd expected his trip home to be longer. Zoe had been keeping an eye on social media for any news from anyone as to the condition of her sister in law and her new husband, but everyone had been silent. Upon hearing Max call her name she immediately jumped out of bed, threw on a robe to combat the early morning chill and walked down to where Max was.
Max's eyes were red and puffy as he met Zoe at the bottom of the stairs, having already discarded his stuff in the living room. Zoe went to open her mouth, but she knew from the state of Max what had happened and found that no words would come as sadness overcame her too. Silently, Max nodded to confirm what Zoe already knew; Robyn was dead.
"Glen?" Zoe asked quietly and received the shake of Max's head in response, signalling that he too had died in the tragic wedding day accident. No more words were shared as they held each other, Zoe rubbing Max's back as he sobbed into her shoulder. It wasn't long before another soft cry could be heard in the house, causing Zoe to step back slightly.
"There's something we need to talk about." Max sniffled as he tried desperately to pull himself together. Stepping back from Zoe's embrace, he made his way to the living room where his suitcase lay abandoned on the floor, with a smaller suitcase and bag laying close by. Zoe followed her husband towards the sounds of the cries in the living room, ignoring the mess, her eyes fell upon the baby that sat in a car seat in the corner of the room. "She didn't have a will…" Max begun but couldn't quite find the words to finish his sentence as fresh tears pricked the corners of his eyes, the realisation dawning yet again that his sister wasn't coming back.
"You're the only next of kin." Zoe thought out loud as Max lifted the crying infant from her seat, who calmed almost immediately with the attention.
"We're Charlotte's guardians." He confirmed. Zoe had only seen her niece a few times in pictures on Facebook or when Max facetimed Robyn but never had she met Robyn's baby. "Duffy and Charlie helped to get some of her bits together, but I don't think we have it all, I don't know really know what a baby needs." He began panicking as he handed Charlotte to Zoe and started rummaging through the cases trying to identify anything he'd possibly forgotten.
"Hey, hey." She spoke gently as she placed a hand on his shoulder, trying to stop the frantic movement from the man she loved. "Max it's alright, I'm sure Charlie and Duffy gave us everything she needs for at least tonight and we can figure everything else out tomorrow." Charlotte was growing sleepy in Zoe's arms, her eyes desperately trying to stay open as Zoe gently bounced her. "We'll put her down in the car seat in our room for tonight, you are going to go to sleep and everything else we can talk about and sort out tomorrow."
Max rose from the floor and looked at Zoe, he was glad she'd taken control of the situation and not panicked at their new situation, because he didn't have the energy to reassure her. Since the death of his sister, he'd been alternating between numbness and overwhelming sadness and after more than 24 hours, he couldn't decide which one was preferable. He couldn't help but wonder if things would have been different if he'd been able to make it to her wedding, if that would have prevented his sister from not seeing the end of her honeymoon. Robyn had just got the fairy-tale she'd always wanted, her prince and the baby she'd dreamed of since childhood, for it to all be so cruelly snatched away was crushing to Max. He wanted nothing more than to fall asleep, to find himself in an existence where he didn't have to think, but it had been eluding him since he'd heard news of the accident. Placing a gentle kiss on Zoe's cheek, he then grabbed Charlotte's car seat and followed her up to their bedroom.
Hours passed before daylight streamed through a slight gap in the now closed curtains. For a second everything seemed normal, Zoe was awake first whilst Max lay beside her, still asleep but a slight whimper from the corner of the room reminded her that nearly everything was different to what it had been only days before. Quickly she rushed out of bed and towards the car seat containing her niece and carried it down the stairs before Charlotte woke Max, who'd cried himself to sleep only hours before.
"Good morning baby, someone hungry? Need changing? Both?" Zoe spoke in the voice that people reserve only for babies and pets. Taking her niece from the seat, she changed the baby's nappy and outfit and managed to warm a bottle from the formula that Duffy had slipped into a suitcase. She was glad of her experience with babies from her medical career, otherwise she was sure she'd be clueless when it came to looking after a baby. "I'm sure you miss your mummy." Zoe began as the baby continued to fuss, "So does your Uncle Max. We're going to do our best to look after you, but we probably aren't as good as your Mummy was, you being here is going to be hard for Uncle Max but also the best thing to help him get through this, but we might struggle. I know you don't understand, but please be patient with us, we're learning as we go along." Zoe spoke as she wiggled a teddy bear in front of Charlotte to keep her amused. This was going to be a rollercoaster, with the low points likely to be way more frequent than the highs but she was sure that this would be a good thing for Max and that meant that Zoe was going to give it her all.