Chapter Twenty - Four

"Oh, God, no!" cried Lila. "What happened? Is he okay?! Is he alive!?" Lila began to cry. Eddie hurried over to take her daughter into her arms while Jamie took the phone. "This is Commissioner Reagan."

"Sir, I'm so sorry to have upset your daughter, but I had to make the notification. Please tell her that he is alive, but that's all the information I have regarding his condition. It appears that a car traveling in another lane lost control and crossed into your son-in-law's path and he had no time to avoid it. We looked in his wallet and found your daughter's name and number on his emergency contact card as well as your courtesy card."

"We're on our way, please have an escort at our home in 10 minutes, for my wife, my daughter and me. Thank you, Sergeant." Jamie hung up the phone. "Get your coats on, I'm going to all Erin to come over and stay with Dad. We'll go directly to the hospital as soon as the radio car gets here. Eddie, don't let her out of your sight."

Eddie gave Jamie her patented, "Duh," look. She'd only been Lila's mother for 22 years.

The radio car arrived promptly. Lila prayed the whole way to the hospital. "Please, God, don't let me lose him, not now, not ever…" The Sergeant hadn't been able to give nearly enough information to satisfy her terrified mind, but knowing that Steven was alive was definitely better than wondering.

With lights flashing and sirens blaring the radio car sped into the parking lot at Lutheran Hospital, dropping the family at the ER entrance so they didn't lose any time getting inside. Eddie still had a firm grip on Lila, while Jamie thanked the two officers before heading inside. .

"I'm Mrs. Tenney," Lila said as she arrived at the desk, pale and out of breath. "My husband was brought here, he was in an accident, Steven Tenney!"

"Oh, yes ma'am, we've been expecting you," said the nurse behind the desk. "Let me go see what's going on with him while you have a seat."

"I don't want to have a seat!" yelled Lila. "I want to see him, NOW!" Lila knew they had protocol to follow, but at that moment she couldn't have cared less.

"Lila, calm down," Eddie whispered to her distraught daughter. "Give them a minute to find out what's going on. Take a breath."

Jamie stepped up behind Lila and Eddie and rubbed his daughter's back. "It's all right, Kitten. Just wait a few minutes."

"I know you want to see him," the nurse sympathized. "But I have to go see what the situation is before I can allow anyone back there." Lila's face was incredibly flushed and her cheeks were bright red. "You don't look too good, Mrs. Tenney, I'd really like for you to sit down."

"And I'd really like for you to quit giving me a bunch of crap and go find out what the hell's going on with Steven!" Lila fired back.

"Okay, yes, ma'am, I'll be right back," said the nurse as she jogged down the corridor and disappeared. Lila realized right about that time that she didn't feel well, and she decided sitting down was a good idea.

"Mom, I do think I need to sit down," Lila told Eddie who was more than thankful Lila made that decision. Eddie left Lila's side only for a second while she got her a cup of water. Lila drank it slowly as she felt a baby kick a couple of times, and she put her hand on her tummy. "I know, little ones," she whispered. "I'm worried about your daddy, too." Less than 2 minutes later, Lila saw the nurse heading back in her direction.

"Is he okay? I want to see him!" said Lila as she ran up to the desk.

"The doctors are working on him right now, ma'am," said the nurse. "But they want me to take you back to the family waiting area and as soon as they're done, one of them will come talk to you."

"Oh, no! It's bad, isn't it?" sobbed Lila. "This is how the whole 'we did everything we could' scene always starts! Oh my God, he's dying, isn't he!"

"I don't have any answers for you, Mrs. Tenney," the nurse replied gently as Jamie and Eddie did all they could to soothe their daughter. "But I'm going to walk you back to the waiting area and your parents can sit with you until the doctor can come talk to you."

Lila was crying too hard to speak, but she nodded her head, and together they walked down the hallway, Jamie and Eddie flanking Lila like bookends.

Two hours passed before anyone came in to talk to Lila, the two longest hours of her entire life. She thought about everything she'd miss if her worst fears came to pass - his smile, his laugh, the way he treated her like a princess even when she didn't feel like one. She thought about their life together thus far; how his proposal had been the most amazing one in the history of the universe, how their wedding had been the happiest day of her life, how on their honeymoon in California they had made love on the beach under the stars, something she'd never, ever forget. She thought back to the day they found out they were having the babies, and how excited he was when he recognized a tiny hand on the ultrasound. "I can't lose him…" she said to herself as the sobs took over once again. Jamie sighed and pulled Lila's head to his chest. It was easier when she was the baby and all he would have to do was hold her tight and sing their bedtime song to stop her tears. Finally, a doctor appeared.

"Mrs. Tenney?"

Lila looked up to see a man in green scrubs and a white lab coat standing before her.

"Yes," she answered, doing all she could to brace herself for bad news.

"I'm Dr. McMasters," he greeted, his voice gentle seeing Lila's very rounded belly and the father that looked like he'd take him out if he dared to speak to his little girl in a different tone of voice. "I'm one of the doctors who worked on your husband." Lila couldn't help but notice he used past tense, "worked", and her heart fell into her stomach.

"Just tell me everything!" cried Lila. "I can't wait any longer!"

"Try to calm down, Mrs. Tenney. I can't allow you to see him when you're this upset, it won't be good for him."

"He's alive!" exclaimed Lila.

"Yes, he is alive," the doctor confirmed. "I take it you weren't aware of that?"

"My Sergeant told us he was alive when he left the scene in the ambulance," Jamie clarified. "But since then no one has told us anything. My daughter is understandably upset about that."

"I'm sorry you've been so worried all this time, Mrs. Tenney," said Dr. McMasters. "We needed to fully assess his condition and treat him accordingly, and that took longer than we expected it to when he first arrived."

"I would have appreciated it if someone had let me know that," said Lila in a very stern voice showing much of her Reagan temper and a little of her Janko fortitude. "Is it common practice to keep the family in the dark and let them sit here and think the worst when there's even a little bit of news they could be given!"

"No, Mrs. Tenney, it isn't, and again I apologize for not letting you know that he was alive, but like I said, it took longer to get him stabilized than we had planned."

"Whatever," said Lila, fed up with the issue. "Can I see him now?"

"Very shortly," replied the doctor. "First I want to bring you up to speed on what happened to him and what we had to do."

"Alright," said Lila. She was anxious to see Steven, but she needed to know what to expect. Eddie took Lila's hand while Jamie stood next to them poised to intervene if he felt it was necessary for Lila's sake or given her current mood, the doctor's.

"According to the paramedics, he was conscious when they arrived on the scene. He was breathing on his own, but it was shallow, and they had to get him out of the vehicle quickly in order to help him."

Lila was picturing in her mind how horrifying the scene must have been.

The doctor continued, "Once they got the brace around his neck and extracted him from the vehicle, he remained conscious but his breathing grew weaker. By the time he reached us, he had lost consciousness and was no longer breathing on his own. As a result, we had to artificially resuscitate him."

"How long did it take?" asked Lila as she wiped away a few tears. The babies, seemingly knowing Lila was upset, kicked just a little.

"Not too long," answered the doctor. "A couple minutes or so. Once we got his breathing going again, it remained stable, which is a very good sign."

"What are his injuries?" asked Lila, knowing he must have some.

"Aside from still being unconscious, he's got a couple of bruised ribs on his right side from the seatbelt impact, both his knees are bruised from slamming against the dashboard, and he's got quite a nasty airbag bruise on his face."

"What's his overall prognosis? asked Jamie when he saw Lila turn her head and begin rubbing her tummy as the babies kicked again..

Dr. McMasters thought for a moment. "The biggest concern we have at the present time is the head injury. It doesn't appear too serious based on the CAT scan, but the fact that he hasn't come to yet does have me a little worried."

"So based on the tests, he should have been awake by now?" asked Lila, the fear evident in her voice.

"Not necessarily, Mrs. Tenney, we know he doesn't have any bleeding on his brain, and the swelling is minimal, but sometimes even under those circumstances it takes patients a good while to regain consciousness."

"I'll ask again," Jamie broke in with a much firmer tone. "His overall prognosis?" He wanted things laid out for his daughter they could handle anything as long as they knew it was happening.

"If he wakes up within the next 6 hours or so, I'd say he stands every chance of making a complete recovery."

"And if he doesn't?" It was Eddie's turn to press for info as Lila turned her body into her mother's arms.

"Then we'd need to do another CAT scan and run some other tests to see if anything is going on that we didn't see initially."

"I see" replied Lila. "Can I see him now, please?"

"Do you feel like you're calm enough?" asked the doctor.

"I think so, yeah," replied Lila. She knew she'd cry again once she and Steven were alone, but she dug down deep and forced herself to keep it together until then, otherwise they'd not let her see him.

"Do you want Daddy or I to come with you, Lila?" Eddie asked softly but Lila shook her head. "No, but if Dad can all Josh and Maura. They still aren't speaking but they have the right to know."

"Of course, I will, Kitten," Jamie promised. "If you want us, you just have someone get us, we'll stay right here."

Lila nodded and followed the doctor. He led Lila to a private room where Steven was. She thanked the doctor for his help, and he left the two of them alone.

"Before I call the Tenneys," Jamie began when Lila was out of earshot. "Is it just me or is she really all over the place today, going from hysterics to being sleepy to that firm biting tone she used on the doctor?"

"Of course she is, Jamie," Eddie replied. "Do you remember me in my seventh month? I was totally crazy. I don't know how you even put up with me, add to that a classic Reagan temper and a little insecurity about us sheltering her so much…This is what you get. She'll be fine, go call the Tenneys. I'm going call Joey to come down and Danny and Linda to sit with your father. It's doing to be okay."

Eddie rubbed Jamie's back and each went to make their calls.

A/N: Steven is still hanging in there and he does have a lot to live for. I just completed this story, there are 17 more chapters to go, including a four chapter labor and delivery arc all culminating with a family dinner. Hope you enjoy!

Next update – May 29th – I am going to update again tomorrow so I'm not dropping more than two stories a day – Lila is finally permitted to see Steven, Joey supports his sister.