"Where is everybody?" I question my Mom as I sit down next to her in the waiting room. I avoid eye contact with her and stare out of the window, watching the rain beat off of the glass against the dark sky.
"Tom is with Louise, Isabella is with Alex, I think he's taking up babysitting as his new profession." She jokes and I stifle a laugh but smile. "You're not a disappointment, and I'd hate for you to think that's what I think of you. In fact, it's quite the opposite. I didn't know that Jake cheated on you, conveniently enough he left out those details when he called... I respect your decision to break off the engagement. If I'd have known, I would have done something differently, I was just looking out for you."
"I know, and I get it. I understand." I assure her, although words don't seem to express how I feel. "I'm sorry for being like that with you earlier."
"It's alright, I get it. I was the same as you when I was your age. Except, my Mother didn't want me to marry your Father. Look at how that one turned out." She sighs.
"Do you regret it? Marrying Dad. Do you regret that?" I ask her and she shakes her head instantly.
"I don't regret it, not for a second. He gave me some of the happiest years of my life and I have three beautiful, wonderful children as a result of it. I wouldn't go back and do anything differently. I just regret how it ended." She replies. "Maybe it's for the best, though. He's happily married now and I'm happy, too."
"You're happy?" I clarify.
"I'm very happy. I have a beautiful family and my second grandchild on the way, I'm financially stable, obviously. I live by the beach... I have nothing to complain about. I'm happy." She explains.
"That's wonderful, Mom, I'm happy for you." I smile.
"Although, there is the opportunity for me to get a promotion, expand and become a law professor. But I'm not sure if I want to. But, enough about me. What's going on with you and this Alex? The one who's looking after your sister. Tell me about him." She says, taking a sip of her coffee.
"There's nothing to tell you, there's nothing going on." I lie and she frowns at me.
"How stupid do you think I am, Alexa? I'm a lawyer, I can see through your lies. Now tell me what's going on with the two of you." She laughs and I mess with the hem of my t shirt.
"I don't really know what's going on with him right now. It's...complicated. He's kind of mad at me anyway, although I'm mad at him, too. He's so frustrating and I don't know what I want. I mean, I like him but I just got out of a four year relationship that was also an engagement. It'd be wrong to just jump right back in to another relationship. Wouldn't it? Is there ever an appropriate time to move on from that?" I ask her and she looks at me with amusement, although I'm not really seeing the amusing side to this.
"There's never an appropriate time to move on from anything. The only person that gets to decide when you move on is you and you don't do it until you're ready. Don't let people hold you back. If you really want something, you should go and get it while you can. People won't wait around forever, despite what they might tell you. Life is short and you don't want to look back and regret not doing something. So if you really, really want something, go and get it." She answers. "I'm going to go and be a law professor."
"I'm going to go and get what I want."
With my sudden adrenaline rush and confidence, I begin to walk towards the elevator to go and find Alex, who would probably be in my sister's hospital room. I paced around the elevator floor while I waited for the doors to open and I sprinted down the hallway towards the room, but when I got there, only Tom and Isabella were inside. He was stood by the window staring outside of it holding a sleep Isabella but turned around when I entered.
"Tom, where is everybody? What's going on?" I ask, frowning.
"There were...complications, they had to rush her in for an emergency c section." He replies, his voice quavering. I gasp and walk over to him, wrapping him in a short, comforting hug.
"Don't worry, she'll be okay. They'll both be okay. Addison is very good at her job, she's the best OB/GYN, literally. They'll be fine. She's going to do everything that she can to make sure they're both healthy." I assure him and begin guiding him out of the room. "Go down to Mom, she's in the reception downstairs. Wait with her and I'm going to go and see what's going on."
"Let us know as soon as you find anything out, okay?" He asks and I nod, ushering him towards the elevator. I then rush towards the OR board to find out what room they're in and rush towards the gallery, knowing they won't allow me inside. The gallery is empty and I stand as close to the glass as possible, watching intently as the c section proceeds. Louise is under general anaesthesia and isn't awake and won't feel anything that's going on, but everything is moving so quickly that I don't know who or what to watch.
A few moments later, Alex pulled out my sister's daughter and handed her to a nurse who cleaned her and incubated her while the others finished up with the surgery. I waited long enough to check that everything was fine before I headed down to Tom, Isabella and Mom, with the additions of Tom's Mom Hannah, and my brother, Max.
"Everything looks good, I think Dr. Shepherd is going to be down in a few minutes." I announce and everybody seems to breathe a sigh of relief, and I take a seat in between my Mom and my brother.
"Did you go after what you wanted?" She asks and I shake my head.
"Not yet."