Author's Note: Thanks to Lushiouschell, PrettyDiva, and Ghostwriter for the reviews on the last chapter. I had originally planned for it to be a lot longer but as I was writing it I realized that what I had in mind didn't really fit into that one. So this next chapter is going to bring a bit of drama because every family has to go through a hard situation sometimes. The idea for this chapter was borrowed from the soap opera All My Children.
"Thanks so much for doing this Kim," Tommy said as she dropped off Susan next door at Kim and Jason's. He was taking Patrick with him to Jason and Rocky's dojo where he had been training his son since he was five.
"I'm always happy to look after my goddaughter and Jayne loves playing with Susie," Kim told him.
"You be a good girl for Auntie Kim," Tommy told his daughter as he gave her a quick kiss.
"Bye Daddy," Susan said and quickly ran off to join Jayne who was playing in the living room.
"Have you heard from Kat?" Kim asked. Kat had been gone for over a week visiting Tanya and Adam.
"Yeah, she calls twice a day, I keep reminding her the whole point of her going away was to relax and take her mind off things but she can't help but worry," Tommy replied.
"Well speaking as a mom, I know exactly how she feels it isn't easy being away from your kids and it's even harder when you're pregnant and your hormones are raging," Kim remarked.
"Yeah well, I promise not to be gone too long, I'll pick Susie up in about an hour," Tommy told her.
"Don't worry about it, take your time," Kim called after him as he walked out to his car where Patrick had been waiting.
Meanwhile, in Stone Canyon at the home of Tanya and Adam, Katherine sat in the backyard with Tanya watching as Tanya's sons little Adam and Stevie played in their tree house.
"Kat is everything alright?" Tanya asked concerned with how quiet her best friend had been all morning.
"I'm fine, it's just that ever since speaking to Tommy on the phone I've wished I could be back home with my family," Kat admitted.
"Well, it's only natural seeing as how you've never been away from them this long," Tanya told her.
"I know you're right but would it be terrible of me if I called the bus station to see about going home a little earlier than planned," Kat replied.
"No, I've loved having you here but I understand your need to be with your family," Tanya told her.
"I think I'll go call right now," Kat said as she got up from her chair.
"Just make sure you call Tommy and let him know your plans," Tanya called after her.
"Actually, I think I'd like to surprise him," Kat answered as she entered the house.
"Hey Tommy, the little man is really good," Rocky commented after Tommy had finished practicing with Patrick.
"Of course he is, he takes after his old man," Tommy replied.
"Man, I cannot wait until my sons are old enough to start learning martial arts," Rocky told him.
"I never got the chance to ask, how you feel about having two babies instead of one," Tommy said.
"It was a little overwhelming at first but now that I've gotten used to it, I can't wait to for my boys to be born, we've even picked out their names already," Rocky replied.
"Please tell me you're not doing the George Foreman thing and naming them both Rocky," Tommy said.
"Honestly, I thought about it for a minute but I knew Emily wouldn't have it so, we decided to name them Michael Dylan and Matthew David," Rocky informed him.
"Hmm, Michael and Matthew DeSantos, it definitely has a ring to it," Tommy replied.
"What about you guys, what are you planning on naming your next daughter?" Rocky asked.
"I'm leaving the decision up to Kat, there's a name I think she's settled on but I don't want to say anything until she tells me for sure," Tommy told him.
"Well, I better go, my next class is about to start," Rocky said.
"Yeah, I should go too, I left Susie with Kim," Tommy said.
"Daddy, I miss Mommy," Susan said as Tommy tucked her into bed that night.
"I know you do Sweetie but she's going to be home really soon," Tommy said as he kissed her good night.
"Daddy, sing Mommy's song," Susan pleaded.
"Ok, but I can't promise it's going to sound as good as when Mommy sings it," Tommy said as he began to sing. "If I needed you, would you come to me, would you come to me, and ease my pain, if you needed me, I would come to you, I would swim the seas, for to ease your pain."
"Goodnight, daddy," Susan whispered as she drifted off to sleep.
"I love you, Susie," he said as he kissed her once again and quietly slipped out of the room.
"Alright, Patrick lights out," Tommy said as he entered his son's bedroom.
"But Dad, I can't go to sleep yet, I'm not finished reading yet," Patrick said as he clutched his favorite book that Kat always read to him.
"Ok, how about I finish reading you the story," Tommy said.
After finally getting both kids to bed, Tommy finally climbed into the bed he shared with Katherine and drifted off to sleep. He had only been asleep for what seemed to him like minutes but was really a few hours; when he was awaken by the sounds of the phone ringing. He struggled to open his eyes and glanced at the alarm clock which read 2:30 a.m. He quickly answered the phone so that it wouldn't wake the children.
"Hello?" he asked feeling groggy.
"Dr. Thomas Oliver," a voice said and Tommy immediately became alert hearing his name pronounced so formally.
"This is Dr. Oliver, who am I speaking with?" Tommy asked.
"My name is Nick Fisher, I'm a police officer here in Angel Grove, I'm afraid I have some rather disturbing news for you, there's been an accident," he informed him.
Tommy hung up the phone and was devastated by the news he had just received. He picked up the phone again and dialed Jason's cell phone number.
"Hello?" Jason whispered not wanting to wake up Kimberly who was sleeping beside him.
"Jase, it's me, sorry for calling your cell phone but I didn't want to call the house and wake up Kim and Jayne," Tommy told him.
"It's ok, bro, hold on a sec," Jason said as he quietly slipped out of the bedroom. "What's wrong?" Jason asked knowing that something terrible must have happened for Tommy to wake him up at this time of night.
"The police called, Kat's been in an accident and I need to get to Angel Grove General as quickly as possible, I don't want to wake the kids," Tommy explained.
"I'll be right over," Jason replied as he hung up the phone. Minutes later, Jason entered the house and found Tommy ready to leave.
"I'll call as soon as I know anything," Tommy said and didn't wait for Jason's reply as he dashed out of the house.
Tommy parked his car outside the hospital and ran as fast as he could towards the emergency room.
"Excuse, my name is Tommy Oliver and I was told that my wife was just brought in," he said once he reached the nurses' station.
"Yes, we got your name from a card inside your wife's purse, I'll alert the doctor that you're here," a nurse said as she left to find the doctor.
"Mr. Oliver, I'm Dr. Mead, perhaps we should sit down," he said leading Tommy over to the waiting area.
"What's happening with my wife?" Tommy questioned.
"Your wife sustained a trauma to the head, she was unconscious when she arrived at the hospital and she's now in a coma," Dr. Mead told him.
"Oh god, what happens now?" Tommy asked.
"We need to operate and try and relieve some of the pressure on her brain," Dr. Mead explained.
"So the surgery will fix her," Tommy said.
"I'm afraid we have a slight complication, we can't operate on your wife while she's still pregnant," Dr. Mead informed him.
"But the baby isn't due for another couple of months, can the surgery wait that long," Tommy replied.
"No it can't, the longer we wait, the less chance your wife has of coming out of the coma, we need your permission to perform an emergency C-section and take the baby," Dr. Mead revealed.
"If you do a C-section, will the baby survive at this stage?" Tommy inquired.
"The baby hasn't developed to the stage that survivability is likely, it has been known to happen, we could inject the baby with corticosteroids, which will help to speed up the development of the lungs and other organs but it's no guarantee," Dr. Mead informed him.
"Do what you have to do to make sure the baby can survive, do I need to make the decision about the C-section right now," Tommy replied.
"No, I know what a difficult decision this is, I'll go administer the steroids and leave you some time to think," Dr. Mead said as he left Tommy alone.
"Hey Bro, what's the news on Kat?" Jason asked as he took a seat next to Tommy.
"Where are the kids?" Tommy questioned.
"I left them with Kim, they woke up not soon after you left, I didn't tell them what was going on just that I had to go help their dad with something," Jason replied.
"Kat's in a coma and they need me to decide who's more important, my wife or my unborn daughter," Tommy revealed.
"Oh Tommy, I'm so sorry," Jason said as he put his arms around his best friend.
"Tell me Jase, how am I supposed to do that, who am I to decide who they should try and save, I want to save them both," Tommy said as tears fell down his face.
"Mr. Oliver, you can see your wife now if you'd like," a nurse told him.
"Go ahead, I'll be here if you need me," Jason said.
Tommy walked into his wife's hospital room and saw that Kat's head was bandaged and that she was hooked up to all kinds of monitors. She was lying so still Tommy could have sworn she was just sleeping and that any minute she'd wake up and scold him for worrying so much.
"Hey kitten, it's me, I'm not sure what to say, I don't know if I have the strength to get through this, they want me to decide who to save, you or our baby, the truth is I want to save you both but I don't think I can, you were so happy when you found out about this baby, the more the merrier you said, but I need you, our kids need you, but would I really be able to look into your eyes and tell you that our baby is gone, would you even forgive me, please wake up, tell me what to do, I don't know what to do," he said as he laid his head down on the bed and began sobbing uncontrollably.
"Jason, what's happening with Katherine," Kim asked as she entered the emergency room followed closely by Billy and Hayley.
"Kimmie, what are you doing here, who's watching the kids?" Jason asked.
"I called your mom and she came over, I just couldn't sit at home not knowing what was going on," she told him.
"Kim, you shouldn't be here, all you're going to do is get yourself all worked up and that's not good for you or the baby," Jason said concerned.
"Jason, I'll be fine, now tell me what's going on, where's Tommy," Kim replied.
"He's in the room with Kat, there was some head trauma and Kat's in a coma," Jason informed them.
"Oh no poor Tommy," Hayley said as she grabbed onto Billy.
"What about the baby?" Kim asked.
"The baby's ok for now but they want Tommy's permission to do a C-Section so they can operate on Kat," Jason revealed.
"But it's too soon, the baby's not ready," Kim said.
"See this is exactly why I didn't want you here," Jason said seeing that Kim was becoming upset.
"Has anyone called Tanya or Adam to let them know what happened?" Billy asked.
"Yeah, I called them, Tanya's just beside herself, she thinks it's her fault for encouraging Kat to come home early, she said Kat wanted to surprise Tommy and that's why she didn't call him about her plans," Jason informed them.
"Hey guys, I came as fast as I could," Rocky said as he joined them.
"Where's Emily?" Kim asked.
"She was still asleep and I didn't want to upset her until I knew exactly what was going on," Rocky replied and they filled him in on the situation.
"What can I do?" Kim asked as she entered the hospital chapel where Tommy was sitting.
"Hey Kim, are you sure you should be here?" Tommy asked.
"I'm fine, I'm just so sorry for what you're going through," Kim told him.
"I spoke to Kat's parents, it might be a few days before they're able to get here," Tommy said.
"I know how hard that must be for them, but I'm here if you need me along with Jason and everyone else and your parents are here too," Kim replied.
"I have to save the baby, it's what Kat would want, she would give her life for our kids, I told the doctor I wouldn't consent to the C-section, I need to give my daughter more time, even if it means losing her mother," Tommy said as he started to cry.
"I can't imagine what it was like for you to reach that decision but I think you're right, it's what Kat would want," Kim said as she took him into her arms.
Author's note: I hate to leave you hanging but I'm not sure if I want to continue this saga in the next chapter or just skip ahead to the next thing. What do you think?