Karen felt a strong hand on her shoulder as she brought up a hand to her mouth. This couldn't be happening, not now. He promised her he'd come back. What was she going to do with Alicia? How was she going to explain to a two and a half year old that her father wasn't going to come back? She couldn't do it.
"We have more news. The man Sean Grayson who Mr. Truman who was supposed to be bringing back to the states, hasn't made it. Mr. Truman, as it's reported, seems to be alive. Shallow breathing, but alive."Karen sighed in relief, tears slowly starting to fall down her cheeks.
"I want to get a reporter on the phone," Karen said to whoever was listening. But it seemed that no one was moving. "TODAY!" Her staff members were moving around as quickly as they possibly could. Someone handed Karen a phone, but the sight of Will being carried on a stretcher caught her attention. He was alive, his mouth barely moving, but moving none the less. Karen smiled. "I need to go where he's going." She told Janice. Janice was already on the phone talking to someone. There wasn't anyone who knew what was going through Karen's mind; not even Karen.
The next twenty four hours went by in a massive blur. Karen had talked to Marilyn, who had come over as soon as she had heard the news from Karen. The two women sat in the living room talking and reminiscing over Will as if he was gone. But the truth of the matter was that he was on a plane coming to New York. They had gotten a call saying that Will's plane should be coming in with in the next two hours, which caused the Truman family to pack up their things and head to the airport.
The feeling of déjà-vu filled Karen. She was standing and waiting for Will, with Alicia in her arms and his parents standing behind her. They watched they plane land and the door open. She completely missed Alicia being taken out of her arms by Marilyn because the only pair of arms she found herself in were Will's.
"You son of a bitch," Karen whispered, putting her forehead on his shoulder. "I could kill you right now,"
"I know." He said rubbing her back soothingly. "I told you I'd come back."
"After nearly killing yourself," She said not letting her grip loosen.
"I went there to get a story Kare, and I got it." He said looking at her in the eye. "Sometimes you have to risk your life to get a story. I learned that from you."
After a month and a half of not being together, they made up for it. Karen didn't need to ask Marilyn to take Alicia for the night. Marilyn could tell they needed each other. Karen couldn't bring herself to get herself more than a few feet away without the thought of losing him again.
Karen was wrapped in a comforter, laying by the fireplace in their living room, using his lap as a pillow. She was fully stretched out, with Will tracing designs in her arm. The warmth she had missed, was taken care of. He wasn't going anywhere, not that she'd allow him to, but he had gotten what he needed and that was enough for now.
"They are going to interview me," Karen told him. "I'm going to resign from the magazine,"
"Are you sure about that? The magazine is your life Karen. You've put so much into it,"
"I'm opening an organization for families who have lost someone who's important to them. Whether it be their best friend, their parent, their sibling, whoever it is, I want our doors be open for them." Karen said, looking at Will. "For the thirty seconds when I thought I lost you, my world fell apart. Now imagine people who are going to have to live thirty years without someone who mean the world to them."
"Are you sure with the magazine? Giving it up?"
"It was fun while it lasted, but I can't do it anymore." She told him honestly. She shifted herself to look at the fire, feeling Will brushing her hair with his fingers. She laid that way, until she felt Will shift underneath her. She looked around and saw him getting ready to sit down again with two cups of coffee. "I have to tell the board I'm leaving today. I have to tell them who is going to replace me."
"Who is it going to be?"
"Erika or James. It's up to the board really, but either one would be nice." Karen tightened the comforter around her body, as if she were trying to hide something. "I need to start something on my own. I love the magazine and Janice,"
"What are you going to tell Janice? Are you just going to leave her?"
"No," She said quickly. "I'm bringing her with me. I can't do anything without that woman." Will chuckled, before titling Karen's head to him and kissing her forehead. It was a sign of love and a sigh of protection.
The phone began to ring, in what seemed the distance. The ring muffled by the pillows of the couch. Will groaned and Karen began to laugh, digging through the couch for the phone. "Hello?" Karen answered, before kissing Will's cheek. "Marilyn, hi, is everything alright?" Karen's demeanor changed, Will not realizing it. "Oh my god. Yeah he's right here. Is he okay?" Will turned slowly to look at Karen. "I'm so sorry Marilyn. You definitely don't need this right now. We'll be there as soon as we can." She hung up the phone and got to her feet.
"What the hell was that?" Will asked. "Why didn't you give me the phone?"
"After you finding out that your dad was rushed to hospital after having a heart attack, I don't think we'd have a phone." Karen told him, watching his face go pale. "I thought so. Now we need to get dressed and get to the hospital."
Karen noticed Will move in auto-pilot. He looked like a robot, more than anything. The thoughts that raced through his mind, Karen could not tell what they were. Everything must have seemed in a daze for him. They made it to the hospital ten minutes after receiving the phone call. They were immediately met by Will's brothers. Sam had been holding Alicia, who was instinctively reached for her mother. "What happened?" Will asked.
"According to mom, he was coming out of the bathroom and started to cough. And it was when he hit the ground that she called 911." Sam told them. Karen was rubbing Alicia's back, attempting to lull her back to sleep. Will shuffled his feet a little. "Mom called me and then I guess called you guys. I drove to mom's house right away and brought Alicia here." Karen nodded her head, as if she was telling Sam it was okay that he had brought her.
The next twenty minutes seemed to pass by in a blur. Karen's shoulder was used for Will's tears, for Marilyn's tears. She had become a part of a family, she never thought she'd fit into. Her theories of Marilyn not liking her disappeared. Not once did Karen think she was going to be the strong member, while everyone else around her seemed to fall apart.
It was in that twenty minutes where she realized that her family was Will's family. Her family wasn't just her, Will, and Alicia; it was more and she couldn't have been happier. While she shed her own set of tears, her new project seemed to come to life. It was going to be a family collaboration. She didn't want it to be anything but something to do with family; and she had the best family.