Written by Scooplet

Concept by Cheryl and Scooplet

Scarecrow and Mrs. King characters are the property of Shoot the Moon Productions and Warner Bros. Television. No copyright infringement intended. Not for commercial use. Sarah Stetson and Matt Granger are my creation, however, so please respect my right to claim ownership of them—I do not authorize permission to use them in stories not authored by me.

I Know He Watches Me, Part Two

Chapter Nine

Matt thought he heard Sarah, but her voice was so soft, he could barely make out the words over the sound of rain slashing the car windows. Did she say, "Sparrow"? He had been able to make out, "Love you." But now she had drifted away again. He was not sure which was better—Sarah unconscious and oblivious to the pain, or awake and miserable. She had been on the verge of tears, her voice plaintive and weak. He should have been there with her that morning. Instead she had had to experience a miscarriage alone. And there had been so much blood. Her skin was so pale it was almost blue around her mouth. Her hands did hold a bluish tinge. He bundled them in the blanket and tried to rub her limbs, but with Rene taking the turns and curves so quickly, he was forced to just hang on tight so Sarah's head would not loll around.

"Almost there, man. She'll be in good hands soon."

Matt thought he had held up pretty well until that point. It had been just minutes from the time he found Sarah until they were out the door, and he had not panicked. Perhaps this was an advantage of having served in a war zone. But now the tears threatened to come. He had seen violence and bloodshed, but nothing compared to finding Sarah—his beloved wife—like that. What if he had not found her? His mind could not go there. A sob heaved up involuntarily, and he swallowed it, staring out the window blindly at the rain coursing down the car's windows until he could gain control once again. If Sarah woke up again, he needed to be strong for her. Please, Lord. Don't take my wife.

A minute or two later they were pulling up to the emergency room's covered entrance, and Rene was helping Matt lift Sarah out of the car. Rene ran ahead of his partner, clearing a path in the crowded waiting room as Matt carried Sarah into the hospital.

Despite the chaos of families there for the accident victims and other patients, Rene managed to flag down a nurse, who guided Matt to a gurney just inside the treatment area. After setting her down, Matt could not let go of Sarah. He bent over her, stroking her hair and keeping an arm around her in a vain effort to warm her. Rene disappeared for a minute or two as the nurse asked Matt about Sarah. She was hurriedly making notes on a chart and signaling to another member of the hospital staff when Rene reappeared with two familiar faces.

"Thanks so much Kelsey. We'll take it from here. There's an ambulance pulling up in the bay." Rhoda Heird was already checking Sarah's pulse as Heidi Lindsay took the chart from the nurse.

"This isn't Agency business, Dr. Heird." Matt furrowed his brow at Rene, who was running off to park his car.

"At the moment we don't have any federal agents needing urgent care other than Sarah." Dr. Heird's voice was rushed as she and Heidi took Sarah to the NEST section of the ER. They were moving quickly, so Matt had to jog along to keep up.

Just as they reached the doors, Heidi placed a gentle hand on Matt's arm. "We've got her, Matt. We need to ask you to wait out here."

Matt said nothing as Heidi offered Matt a compassionate look and rushed inside to assist Dr. Heird with Sarah.

Dr. Heird had wheeled Sarah into an open treatment area and was barking instructions at two other nurses tending to Sarah, who already had an oxygen mask on her face. Heidi grabbed two I.V. bags from a shelf as well as some other supplies. He watched as she rushed to Sarah's side. With the curtain only partially blocking his view, he could tell one of the other nurses was stripping the blanket and sweats from Sarah as the other seemed to be taking vital signs. He thought he heard one of them call out a blood pressure of seventy over thirty, but that could not be right. It was so low.

"Matt."

He ignored Rene's voice as he stood, mesmerized, watching the team of medical personnel working on his wife. He had never wanted to be by her side more than he did at that moment, if only just to hold onto her hand.

"C'mon, Matt." Rene's voice was more persistent now, but Matt still did not move until Rene forced himself between Matt and the windowed door. "Let's go sit down, man. We need to make a few phone calls."

Wanting to say that he needed to stay with Sarah, Matt knew that Rene was right. He let Rene guide him to the small waiting room reserved for NEST personnel and their families. Rene took Matt's jacket and hung it and his own on a coat rack near the door.

"Who do you want to call first? You don't have to cancel the appointment—I told one of the people at the NEST desk about it. They're already notifying Sarah's doctor."

Matt tried to focus. He could help Sarah by letting the others who loved her know. Lee and Amanda should be called. But they were in England, tending to a dying friend. It was just coming up on evening. He could call them. He pulled out his phone and found Lee's phone number. But what would he say? He left his daughter at home to miscarry all by herself? That she was unconscious in the ER?

He stared at his phone for another moment and after playing with the touchscreen, placed a call.

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Sergey Popovich was wrung out, but the relief he had felt since his arrest that morning was still palpable. Sleep pulled at his eyelids as he hunched over the table in the interrogation room. He had been there for hours. When might he see Matt Granger? He needed to thank the man for saving his life and perhaps his country yet again.

There had been weeks of sleepless nights and worry, the threat to his life and the lives of his family members hanging over his head, yet in the blink of an eye it had all come to an end. The blonde woman—Chief Beaman, was it?—had assured him more than once that the case was airtight. There were two recordings with the voices of the arms dealers and his Kazakh compatriots talking about money and weapons. The weapons in the truck were now in the hands of the U.S. government. Ironic, since they had started out as U.S. government firearms, but had been sold as surplus in Mexico. Just like the weapons rusting at the bottom of the Black Sea. Had it been less than a year since the American agents had helped them?

Sergey's cooperation was what was keeping him out of jail. He would be allowed to go free—or at least he would be as free as one could be in a safe house. And Chief Beaman had talked about a state department representative working out asylum for Sergey, his sister, and her husband.

The door opened, and a weary-looking man, perhaps in his late thirties, stepped into the room. His movements were awkward as he managed the door with two coffees in his hands. He handed one to Sergey.

"Thank God for the invention of the lever door handle, right?" He arched an eyebrow at Sergey, a look of amusement in his eyes. As if to make certain the Kazakh man understood his meaning, the Agency employee jiggled the door handle with his elbow and grinned a little before he sat down at the table.

This man appeared to be friend, not foe, unlike the other agents.

"Thank you for the coffee."

"Look, I know it's been a long morning. I apologize for the rough treatment you've had. You understand that you were part of an arms deal between two foreign countries on American soil, right under the nose of the U.S. government."

Sergey started to say something, but thought better of it when the man held up his hand.

"You don't have to defend yourself. I'm just saying this whole thing was pretty bold. I think the Guatemalans were thumbing their noses at us." He made a gesture with his thumb on his nose, and Sergey nodded.

"If I might…" He hesitated. "You seem like a kind man. I was hoping to talk with Matt Granger."

The man's expression changed. Sergey had trouble reading him, but he almost seemed sad. "Agent Granger had other business to take care of. He won't be back today. We are taking you to a safe house for now. He might see you or call you in a day or two."

"Oh." Sergey looked down at the desk. His family was responsible for that man almost dying once. He knew that his fellow Kazakhs or the Guatemalans would have fired their guns on the Americans if they had had the chance. Matt Granger had possibly risked his life again to help Sergey and his country. How could he repay that debt?

"To be perfectly honest, he may not get to talk to you for more than a minute and he recorded your conversation with him the other day. Our attorneys don't want us to have any personal conversations with you. I'm just here to tell you about the safe house."

Sergey eyed the man's badge. Used to the Cyrillic of the Kazakh language, he had some trouble reading the Roman alphabet, but he made out the letters. Phillip King. "If Agent Granger cannot talk to me, maybe the Stetsons?"

This time Phillip masked his reaction. "We'll have to see, Mr. Popovich." He brought his seat forward so he could lean his own elbows on the table. "For now, I need to go over the rules of the safe house with you. You cannot have a cell phone. We will supervise all calls, but we will bring a phone to you."

"How is this possible? Are not phones tracked?"

"Don't worry about that—we have a way to avoid that issue. You can call your family when we get you there, but you will not be able to make calls regularly." He shifted in his seat as his cell phone vibrated. "Of course you cannot leave the safe house under any circumstances…" He pulled the phone from his pocket. "Excuse me. I need to get this."

Phillip stepped into the hall. "Hey, Matt. No worries about Popovich. I'm handling him personally."

"Okay."

Sensing hesitation on Matt's end, Phillip guessed that was not why Matt called. His brother-in-law soon filled him in.

"Phillip, it's Sarah. We're at the hospital. She's in bad shape. I found her collapsed at home."

His stomach tightening, Phillip paused for a second before replying. He had never heard Matt sound like this before. "How bad?"

"She lost a lot of blood." Phillip thought he heard a catch in Matt's voice.

Immediately Phillip knew that Sarah had lost the baby. Not wanting to make him say the words, Phillip jumped in. "God, I'm sorry. So sorry. Listen. I'll find someone to take my place here and come right over. Do my folks know?"

"No. I tried to call them, but I just couldn't get up the nerve. I decided to call you first."

Phillip wondered at his remark about 'get up the nerve,' but filed that thought away for later. He needed to know what the doctors were doing with Sarah. "I'll call my parents for you. Where is Sarah right now?"

"We just got to the ER. You know—Parker General. There was an accident on the parkway, so the ambulance was delayed and the place here is a zoo. Rene got us into the NEST section. He drove us over."

"Good. I'll be on my way in less than ten."

"Thanks, Phillip. I can call Jamie…"

"Don't bother. I'll bring him with me. We'll be there soon, okay?"

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Matt ran a hand through his hair and got up to pace. He knew he should be the one calling Lee and Amanda. But his mind was a jumble of anxious thoughts. He was barely holding it together.

Rene called his name twice before Matt registered that a doctor, holding a clipboard, was walking their way. It was Dr. Heird. If she was out here, who was with Sarah? Oh God, no. He clenched his fists. Don't think the worst.

Laying a hand on Matt's arm, Dr. Heird guided him to the chairs as she spoke. "Dr. Elliott took Sarah up to surgery."

"Dr. Elliott is here?"

"We called Dr. Elliott's office right after Sarah arrived. Dr. Elliott was in the car, not far from here, and was able to get back in just a matter of minutes. Sarah seems to have luck on her side."

Matt knew it was not luck. Sarah had said it herself when she tried to remind him of the sparrow verse. God watches over even the sparrows. It was a small comfort that Sarah been the one to point that out today. "Then she's okay? But why is she going to surgery?"

"I'm afraid it's the only way we can stabilize her. That's why it was so helpful that Dr. Elliott could be here quickly. She has had some similar cases before, and will talk to you about her treatment plan, but for now, she is performing an emergency D and C so she can stop the hemorrhaging."

Matt processed this information. He had heard the term D and C before and knew what it meant: dilation and curettage. For Sarah, it was better than a hysterectomy, but for the baby it meant... The sense of loss overwhelmed him. "D and C. Is the baby gone, then? Are you sure?" Running his hands along his thighs, he willed them to keep from shaking. He was vaguely conscious of Rene's hand on his shoulder.

"There was no heartbeat, Matt. I'm so sorry. We ran an ultrasound. The bleeding is from a partially dislodged placenta—and possibly some kind of blockage. There was also the beginning of an infection, but we'll know more after Dr. Elliott finishes the surgery. Normally, when a woman miscarries, she delivers the baby and the placenta on her own. We need to get in there and help things along—make sure there is nothing to cause an infection or further bleeding."

Feeling as if he was choking on the words, Matt struggled to get them out. "Will Sarah be able to get pregnant again?"

"There's a very good chance she'll be able to carry a baby safely in the future. As long as we can stabilize her and stop the bleeding…" Dr. Heird's words drifted off, as if she had been about to say something else and thought better of it. "We need you to sign this form."

Absent-mindedly taking the clipboard and signing his name as the doctor pointed to the signature line, Matt was still focused on the prognosis he had just heard. Matt knew the terminology doctors used. "Very good" was not the same as "excellent." Taking a deep breath, Matt realized that he needed to pray. He had done very little of that since he had found Sarah. "When you say we, are you going to assist?"

"I'll work on helping stabilize Sarah, since I've treated her before and have experience with trauma. She's in shock, although we have been giving her I.V. fluids. We've already run a type and crossmatch, so I would like your permission to give her blood products. We need to bring up her blood pressure and her counts are very low."

Matt thought of the stories he had heard of people catching diseases from tainted blood. He knew Sarah was concerned about that issue. "I'm kind of uncomfortable with giving her someone else's blood, but…"

"She's lost too much, Matt. We can't afford to allow her to make it up on her own. But there is a catch. She has a rare blood type. That's one reason why I'm here talking to you. We would have sent a nurse out several minutes ago to ask your permission, but we don't have Sarah's blood type here at the hospital. With the accident today, we've run out."

"Has Sarah regained consciousness? Did she wake up?"

"No. But it's just as well. With the loss of blood, it's too risky to fully anesthetize her. She was restless, so we gave her something for pain. We'll use a spinal epidural—anesthetize her from the waist down—for the procedure. She won't feel any pain." Dr. Heird rose. "I need to get back there and check on the blood situation. We expect the blood bank should have some here shortly." Dr. Heird gestured to the nurse whom Matt had not seen until that moment. "Heidi will help you with those forms."

"Blood bank? Is Sarah needing blood?"

Matt looked up at the sound of Phillip's voice. He and Jamie had gotten here faster than he had expected. Matt rose from the chair.

Jamie came to Matt's side, placing an arm around Matt's shoulders briefly.

Matt felt bolstered by the small gesture. He had the presence of mind to introduce Jamie and Phillip. "Dr. Heird, these are Sarah's brothers."

"Brothers?" Dr. Heird stepped up to the Kings, her voice urgent. "Then are you aware that your sister has a rare blood type? Does anyone in the family have the same blood type?"

Phillip was quick to respond. "Actually, we're her half-brothers, when it comes down to genetics. But yeah, Sarah and I got our blood type from our mom. Jamie doesn't have the same type. Does Sarah need blood?"

"We were hoping to give her two units to start."

"I'm in good health—I've given that much before. Show me where to go."

"Listen, I need to rush up to surgery." She motioned to the nurse. "Heidi will need to screen you—it's policy." Dr. Heird turned on her heel abruptly and rushed from the room.

After having Matt sign another form, Heidi wasted no time, shooting questions at Phillip as she escorted him into the NEST section of the E.R. "We need to know a little history first. Any current conditions? Have you been out of the country?" Her voice faded as the doors closed behind them.

Rene regarded Jamie for a moment as he sat down with Matt. "I'm going to find a vending machine. You okay with water, Matt?"

"I don't need anything."

"I'm getting you a water anyway. And a sandwich, while I'm at it. You skipped lunch."

"You sound like my mom," Matt sighed.

"Good. I guess. I've seen how much you eat in a day. You're running on beyond empty. You want anything Jamie?"

"Water would be great, thanks." Jamie reached for his back pocket to grab his wallet, but Rene waved him off and headed down the hall.

Jamie turned to Matt. "Phillip called Lee right after we left the Agency."

"I should have called your parents myself." Matt leaned forward, his elbows on his knees, and scrubbed his face with his hands. "I never should have left Sarah alone this morning. She wouldn't be here if it weren't for me. I got her pregnant in the first place, and I knew for sure something was off with the baby when she was having problems yesterday—"

Jamie held up his hand. "Stop. You told Phillip and me both last night and this morning that she was feeling better. We know you wouldn't have left her alone if she hadn't insisted you come in. You've got a thing about being her protector. It's great, most of the time, but don't let it give you a head case." Jamie watched Matt process his words. "And if I'm any authority on pregnancy, it takes two for that. Besides, Sarah said she forgot her pills. She told us all that—she certainly doesn't blame you for the baby being a surprise."

"The baby's gone." Matt covered his face with his hands again.

Although Matt could not see his face, Jamie nodded grimly as he placed a hand on Matt's shoulder. "I'm so sorry. I can't imagine how you feel."

"He—or she—was a surprise, but we were excited. Oh God. What if I lose Sarah, too?" How will I ever face your family again? he thought.

"Sarah is going to be okay. She comes from a long line—two lines—of fighters."

"Was Lee upset that I didn't call? What about Amanda?"

Jamie seemed unfazed by Matt's insecurity. "Lee wasn't upset with you. This is a lot to go through. He's worried about Sarah, but he asked how you were doing, too." Jamie pulled out his phone. "Jennifer and Amy are coming over—a friend is picking up the kids. Can I call anyone else for you? Your pastor? Have you called your folks?"

"I need to call my parents. I was going to call Pastor Carlson, too."

"Listen, you have to delegate stuff. Let me call your pastor. Give me the number, and then call your folks. I'll go out in the hall so you can talk privately."

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His stomach tied in a knot, Lee's first thought was to talk things through with Amanda. She was with Emily, but this could not wait.

He signaled her from the doorway and she rose from the chair where she had been holding vigil. It seemed to take forever for her to make the short trip to the doorway.

"It's Sarah. She had to go to the hospital. Something about the baby."

Amanda wanted details, but Lee held up a hand to stop her. "I don't know much. I've been waiting in the hall, hoping to hear from Phillip or Jamie, but they were still on the way to the hospital when Phillip called."

"We need to be there, if she's losing the baby."

Lee was torn. How could they tell Emily goodbye like this? This was all wrong. He wished he could be in two places at once.

His phone buzzed and they stepped into the hallway and closed the door to Emily's room. He turned on the speaker as he answered the call so Amanda could hear. "Stetson."

"Lee, it's Jamie. Matt wanted to call you, but he's pretty much a wreck right now, and I told him to call his folks."

"Jamie." Lee forced himself to be patient. Matt always did everything the right way. It was probably killing him that he was not making this call. Jamie would want to make sure Lee knew that. "What's going on with Sarah?"

"She's in surgery. She's lost the baby, and she's lost a lot of blood. Phillip is giving a couple of units right now. They might need more."

Lee swore softly. "A miscarriage. She's in danger?"

"They haven't stabilized her yet. They're trying to stop the bleeding."

Amanda clutched at his arm. "Lee, we have to go."

He nodded at his wife, guessing from her expression that she was as worried as he was. It was bad enough losing the baby, but what if? He did not let his mind go there. Not Sarah. She had been through enough. They had all been through enough.

"Mom? Lee? They have good doctors here, but she's going to need you. Matt needs you guys, too. He blames himself."

"That kid takes too much on his shoulders. I love him for it, but…"

"I know, I know. I already gave him the lecture, but it's not easy to convince him."

"I'm pretty sure Kirby has tried." He looked at Amanda. He wanted to put his arms around her—not just for her sake, but for his, too. His thoughts went back to the possibility of losing their daughter. "Listen, I'll let you know when we'll be getting there. I'm going to get on it right away."

As Lee ended the call, he realized that Margaret was standing there. "You heard?"

"I'm terribly sorry. I did not mean to listen in. I'm so sorry about Sarah and the baby."

"Thanks…" Running a hand through his hair, Lee fought for control. Now that he was off the phone, the full impact of what was happening to Sarah had affected him. His gut clenched and he fought to stay focused as Margaret replied.

"I'd like to help. You go in and talk to Emily. Wake her up if you need to. Say your goodbyes. I'll get a flight."

Amanda still clutched Lee's arm. "Are there any flights to D.C. at night? It's going well into evening…"

In an uncharacteristic move, Margaret placed a hand on Amanda's shoulder. "You might have trouble getting a commercial flight, but we have some connections. Please don't give the flight another thought. I'll have a maid pack your things."

Back inside the room, Amanda and Lee approached the bed. Amanda let Lee go first. He sat down in the chair he had been using so Emily could look in his face.

"Emily."

"Hello, Lee." Emily struggled to keep her eyes open. It was only the early evening, but she tired easily. "You're still here. You said all those lovely things about me."

Lee's smile was bittersweet. "They were true. You've been good to me and Amanda. Always teaching us something new, cheering us on, helping us to do our best. You were sweet to the children."

Her voice was low and slurred, but Lee and Amanda could make it out. "You make me sound like your mother. I could never be Jennifer."

"You were a good friend to her by mentoring me. I'll never forget you, Emily."

"We love you, Emily." Lee heard the catch in Amanda's voice. The tell-tale squeak had always revealed when she was distressed.

Emily drew a deep breath, as if she had something important to say. "Well, I'm not gone yet. Your family needs you. Sarah needs you. Take care of her and her Matthew."

Amanda furrowed her brow and glanced at Lee before replying. They had not told Emily why they had come back in the room. "We will, Emily. Goodbye, dear lady." She placed a light kiss on Emily's cheek, bringing a smile to the withered face.

Lee leaned over and kissed Emily on the forehead. "Goodbye, Emily."

"Goodbye, Lee. We'll see each other again. Don't worry." Sighing heavily, Emily closed her eyes.

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"Hi, Mom?"

"Matt! To what do I owe the pleasure of a call during the middle of the day?" Matt momentarily warmed to the sound of his mother's bright voice. He imagined himself there with her in the kitchen—at least that's where he guessed she was at this time of day. It was lunchtime or shortly after there.

"Mom. Something has happened." Matt sat hunched over, his elbows on his knees again. He ran his free hand over his face.

"Is it Sarah?" He could hear the motherly concern in her voice.

"Yeah. Mom, she miscarried. We lost the baby." This time a sob did escape. It almost felt like a release. But there were so many more where that came from.

Matt heard his mother's sharp intake of breath. "Oh, honey. I'm so sorry."

"There was a lot of blood. She's in surgery."

"Are they doing a D and C?"

Matt was grateful his mother was a nurse. He would not need to explain much. "Yeah. Phillip is giving blood for her. She has some rare blood type. I never even knew. No one ever said."

"Maybe you missed the conversation and they thought you knew. That's good that they can give her blood."

Matt held the phone to his ear, knowing his mother was waiting for him to speak again, but he had no idea what to say next. Then the words just bubbled out of him. "I almost lost Sarah, Mom. I might still lose her."

"Do you want me to come, Matt? I'll get on a plane this evening. I can be there tonight."

"Oh, Mom. You don't have to drop everything."

"It's what parents do. If you don't want me there, I won't intrude."

"It would not be intruding. Not at all." Matt willed his mother to understand what he could not voice. I need you here with me, Mom.

"I'll text you in a little while with my plans. Be sure to let me know how Sarah is doing."

"Thanks, Mom." Matt felt as if some of the weight that had been bearing down on him had lifted. He sat up a little in his seat.

"Your father has been listening in. He was working from home today. I'm putting you on speakerphone. He wants us to pray together."

"That would be nice." Matt cringed at what seemed a lame response. Sarah needed their prayers.

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Matt was still hunched over, his forehead resting on his hand, and his eyes closed in prayer when he felt someone touch his shoulder. Looking up, he saw Pastor Carlson standing there. Jamie had been in and out of the small, private waiting area, as had Jennifer and Amy. Rene had brought the sandwich and water bottle, but Matt could not eat. Everyone had been kind, but all of the people and the accompanying conversations over the last hour or two were getting to be too much. His nerves were raw.

"Pastor Carlson. Thanks for coming."

He glanced around. He and his pastor were the only people in the room. His eyes went back to the pastor, and saw compassion on his face. Matt knew the middle-aged man and his wife had four children at home, but he wondered if they had ever experienced a miscarriage. Was God punishing him and Sarah? Matt wanted to ask, but had no idea how to do it. It was too personal, too painful.

"Would you like me to pray with you, Matt?"

"You heard about Sarah? That she's in surgery?"

"Jamie told me everything."

"Phillip was in there giving blood. I should check on him. It's been a while."

"He has plenty of people to check on him."

Matt considered that and ran a hand through his hair. "I've been praying, hoping it will help."

"God always hears our prayers, Matt. You know that." Pastor Carlson handed Matt the water bottle that still sat untouched on a nearby table and gestured for him to drink some. "You need to take care of yourself for Sarah's sake."

"It's my fault she's here. I should have been home with her. She convinced me to go into work today, but I should have stayed with her."

"I heard she was feeling better. You couldn't have known."

"You don't know all the details, Pastor Carlson."

Taken aback by Matt's uncharacteristically bitter tone, the pastor considered his words. "What I do know about you is that you take on a lot of responsibility for Sarah's safety and well-being. You haven't told me all the details, and I shouldn't ask for them, but I can guess why."

Matt's head came up in surprise. "Well, I am in government work. Some of our productions are not for the public to know about."

Pastor Carlson smiled knowingly. "Well, whatever you call your work, I have guessed there is a lot of stress involved. Don't take on more than you already have. You are a good husband, but you can't be with your wife all the time. Sarah knows that, and she's a strong person. She doesn't expect you to be there all the time."

Matt was staring at the floor again. "Can we pray?"

The pastor looked a little startled to have his words brushed off so easily. Matt had come to him for advice in the past, and he been the better for it. But this time it was different. It would be hard to convince Matt that he was not responsible for Sarah's miscarriage.

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No longer alone in the waiting room, Matt played with the cap on his empty water bottle. Except for the occasional murmured words, no one spoke. It was as if everyone sensed Matt's need to be alone in his thoughts. The others had come and gone earlier, but as the activity level of the hospital had become even busier than earlier that day, they had been forced to join him in the waiting area.

Finally raising his eyes from the floor, Matt checked the time on the wall clock once again. Was it possible that they had only been at the hospital three hours? It seemed as if it should be midnight, but it was only mid-afternoon. Dr. Heird had come by briefly to say Sarah was out of surgery, and that the bleeding had been stopped. Dr. Elliott would be coming to talk to him once Sarah was stable. But that had been over an hour ago.

Now he saw Dr. Elliott in the hallway, approaching the waiting room. She looked as weary as he felt. Glancing around, she hesitated, and Matt rose from his seat. "Perhaps you'd like to join me in the hall, Mr. Granger?"

Part of Matt wanted to be alone to hear the news, but he knew that would be selfish. And he wanted to remain in the privacy of the waiting room until he could go to Sarah. "These people are all family, and this is our pastor." Matt gestured to Pastor Carlson. "Please tell me what's going on with Sarah."

"Well, as you know, we were able to stop the bleeding, but because of her condition when she arrived," at those words, Matt's gut clenched, "we are having to give her Mr. King's donated blood at a slow rate. We've had Sarah in recovery for over an hour, but it is taking some time for her to bounce back, since her counts were so low. It will be another few hours before we might see an improvement. They are clearing a space upstairs in ICU this afternoon. Sarah will be moved there sometime in the next hour or two."

Matt could only listen numbly as he processed the information.

It was Phillip who asked, "What's the prognosis, then?"

"We may need to give her another unit of blood. While we aren't too concerned yet, we also need to keep an eye on her liver, kidneys, and other organs. Blood loss can damage the organs."

Matt felt his knees buckling, but Rene was right there, easing him into a seat.

Dr. Elliott stepped over to Matt and crouched in front of him. "Sarah is young and in otherwise excellent physical condition. She's shown us more than once that she's a fighter. We have every reason to believe that she will have a full recovery. And given that time to recover, she should be able to carry another baby safely to term."

Matt clung to those words. He had feared that Sarah might never be able to become pregnant again. "When can I see her?"

"She has been in and out of consciousness. Once they have her settled in ICU, I thought it might help her if you came and sat with her—usually we allow spouses to stay the night. We just need to keep her quiet until she stabilizes. There is a waiting area you can use near the ICU." Dr. Elliott reached out and placed a hand on Matt's arm. "Dr. Heird told me how you and your coworker drove Sarah here. If you had not brought Sarah in when you did, and if Sarah's brother had not donated the blood right away, things might have gone very differently. You can be thankful for that." She waited for her words to sink in. "Dr. Heird will be taking over the management of Sarah's treatment. She'll be out in a little while to give you all an update—perhaps at that time Sarah will be ready for visitors. I'll be in touch with Dr. Heird and check on Sarah this evening."

After Dr. Elliott left the waiting area, Matt leaned back in his seat. For the first time since he had found Sarah collapsed in the shower, he felt a glimmer of hope. His eyes met Phillips'. When his brother-in-law had come back into the waiting room an hour earlier, a nurse had accompanied him, keeping a hand on his arm as she guided him to a seat. Matt had been so wrapped up in his own thoughts, he had hardly acknowledged Phillip as he sat with Amy and ate the sandwich Matt had refused earlier. He owed Phillip more than a thank you. If Phillip had not had the same blood type as Sarah's, Sarah might not have survived. He had trouble finding his voice.

"I need to thank you, Phillip, for what you did. Thank you for helping save Sarah's life."

Phillip was quick to brush off Matt's words. "It's the least I can do for my little sister. I can spare some blood. I'm just glad I was in the right place at the right time."

"You feeling okay? I heard you offered to give two units."

"I've done it before. They just gave me a lot of water afterwards and some decent snacks. Plus, I ate your lunch." A small smile formed on his lips, but it quickly faded. "Listen, man. You need to take care of yourself. You won't be any good to Sarah if you don't eat. Rene should be back in a minute. He went to get you one of those burgers you like."

Glancing around the room, Matt realized for the first time that Rene was not there. And as if on cue, his partner appeared in the doorway carrying a bag and a drink holder with two cups in it. Stepping over to Matt, he reached into the bag. "Please tell me you're hungry, bro. I've never seen you skip a meal. I got a burger and fries for each of us."

After eating a few bites of the hamburger, Matt realized how hungry he had become. He also realized something else. Looking around the room, he struggled once again to get the words out. "I can't tell you all how much it means to me that you've been so supportive. I know you're here for Sarah, but you've been a great help to me. I appreciate it."

"We're here for both of you, Matt." Jamie's voice was quiet, but forceful. "We plan to stay until you kick us out."

Matt smiled at Jamie's words, but he did not answer. He was too emotional to say anything.