Another update and it hasn't been a month!
I'm not sure how many more chapters are left but I hope you're still interested in this story
"It was the ADA" Amanda said "Silvia dropped the charges earlier today and…"
"She dropped the charges?" he wasn't sure this surprised him, especially since she left, but a part of him had hope, hope he was able to convince her to do the right thing.
"Yes, she dropped the charges but he got a call not long ago, they arrested your father again because he attacked her and she's…she's at the hospital, it looks bad"
"Shi…" Nick had no idea what to do, what to say, what could he do?
"This one" Ethan walked back into the room holding a book "read me this one mommy" he gave her the book.
"Soon baby" Amanda smiled at her son "go wait in your room" she waited for him to leave before she spoke again "we've got to go to the hospital. Call Zara, she can watch Ethan. We need to do this"
"Yeah" he nodded "you're right"
"We'll talk to him there, find everything out, ok?" she touched his arm and walked to Ethan's room while Nick grabbed his phone to call Zara. She watched Ethan sometimes and was happy to help again.
Nick walked into the boy's bedroom and for a few seconds watched Amanda reading their son a story.
"And the balloon was floating in the air…" Amanda noticed him staring "you called her?"
"I'm gonna drive her over, I'll be right back" he walked in and kissed the top of Ethan's head.
"Bye daddy" he turned his attention back to the book "read about the balloon"
"When am I getting a story baby?" she smiled at him "I think you should read a story to me once"
"But I don't know how" he laughed.
Nick heard them laughing and wanted to stay, to pretend nothing was going on, just sit next to Amanda and Ethan and listen to her voice as she read the story about the balloon, he couldn't remember how it went and needed to know, he had to know what happens to it.
"Hey dad" Zara opened the car's door and sat down.
"Thanks for helping out Zara, we really appreciate it"
"Sure" she could tell her father was worried "is everything alright?"
Nick nodded but didn't reply, he didn't know the answer.
"I'm sorry" ADA Frank Kendrick met them at the hospital "She's still in surgery, so I don't have any news"
"What happened?" Nick asked.
"She came into the office, dropped the charges, said it was a misunderstanding, she wanted her baby to have a father…" he shrugged "we couldn't keep him locked up without her testimony"
"So you just let him go?" Nick snapped "like nothing happened"
"I can't hold him with no reason, I wish I could" Kendrick tried to defend himself "I asked you to help so she won't change her mind"
"This is just freaking…" Nick mumbled but Amanda gave him a serious look, the ADA wasn't the man to be mad at.
"What now?" She asked.
"He was arrested, I don't think he can get away with this one"
Nick restrained himself and didn't respond, what he wanted was to see Nicholas Amaro senior and choke him with his bare hands. Make sure he can't hurt anyone else ever again.
"Here's the doctor" The ADA said and Nick stood up.
"I'm sorry" she shook her head "we did everything we could but couldn't stop the bleeding, she's gone, I'm sorry"
"Shit" the ADA rubbed his temple.
"The baby?" Nick looked at the doctor.
"The baby's in NICU, I don't know how he's doing, you can check with them, I have to go…"
"Thank you doctor" Kendrick nodded at her and turned his attention to Amanda "I need to go back to the office, it's a murder charge now"
"We'll go check on the baby" Amanda said and her fingers grazed Nick's palm, she could read his mind, knew what he was going through.
"I'll be in touch" the ADA smiled and left.
Nick looked at the other man as he walked away, it almost felt unreal, he was still at home, covering his son with a blanket, wishing him goodnight, having a few quiet hours with Amanda. He wasn't at this hospital.
"Come on" Amanda touched his arm again and they walked to the elevator.
When the elevator door closed Nick suddenly remembered something, it was probably the only good memory he had of his father.
They were going to visit someone, he wasn't sure who or why but it was just the two of them. He followed his father into the elevator and watched as he pushed the button.
"I wanted to do it" he said quietly, not sure if it was ok for him to say, his mother said some things were not ok to say to him.
"You wanted to push the button?" Amaro senior asked and the kid nodded "come here" he picked him up "now you can push all of these"
"All of them?" Nick asked, surprised he was allowed to do it.
"All of them" the man nodded.
Nick slowly touched one of the buttons and a smile lit up his face just as the button was lit up by his touch.
"The next one, it's ok" his father assured him.
Nick quickly moved to the next buttons until he was done. He looked at his handy work and laughed with excitement.
His father was laughing too and in that moment Nick felt good being in his father's arms. He wasn't sure if it ever happened again.
There was a ding and the doors opened.
"Excuse me" they approached the nurse at the reception "we're looking for information about baby boy Rodríguez"
"Name?" she typed something but didn't look at them.
"Nicholas Amaro"
She raised her eyes at Nick and glanced at Amanda before turning her attention back to him "are you the father?" she probably knew he was the one responsible for everything.
He shook his head "I'm…the baby's brother" it was the first time it felt real, the relation to this baby. He was his brother.
"Let me call the doctor" she said quietly and picked up the phone.
It didn't take a long time for the doctor to appear, she seemed tired and upset, like she was having a bad day, he had a feeling that the news she was about to give him wouldn't make his better.
"Let's talk privately" she said and gestured at a quiet corner "I understand you're related to the baby"
"I'm his brother, this is Amanda, she's my partner"
"Look, I understand his mother died earlier and I wish I could give you good news" she looked genuinely sorry "but the baby is…he was born prematurely, he's about 24 weeks and with that and with the beating she took, I'm afraid there's not much we can do, the machines can only do so much, but his organs are not developed enough to handle this, the damage is too severe"
"What are you saying?" Nick asked.
"I'm saying" she took a breath "he hasn't got much time"
"He's dying" Nick said it mostly to himself "crap" he turned away, tried to control himself, count to ten, to a hundred, he'd count to a billion if it could help.
"What can we do?" he heard Amanda's voice and looked at her.
"There's nothing to do, just wait, but…"
"Are you saying all we can do is wait for him to die?" Nick tried not to raise his voice.
The doctor didn't react for a few seconds, not wanting to say yes "but if you…maybe you could stay with him, so he's not alone"
Nick had to look down, make sure he was standing on something, because at that moment he felt like he was falling down, there was nothing beneath him, he was going to fall and nothing was going to catch him.
"Of course" Amanda said and grabbed a hold of his hand, the gesture bringing him back to reality, to the hospital.
"Yeah" he nodded.
"I'll make sure a nurse calls you in a few minutes" she nodded and walked away.
"I don't…"he shook his head.
Amanda wrapped her arms around him, what could she say to him? To herself? Right now all that mattered was the baby.
"I'm gonna call Zara, let her know we're not gonna be back anytime soon, I'll be right back" she reached for her phone.
"Don't tell her where we are, ok?"
"Of course not"
The first thing that caught Nick's eye was how small he was, he'd never seen anything like this. This tiny creature was lying there, the wires seemed bigger than him.
"We don't have a name" the nurse looked at Nick and Amanda, expecting them to give her an answer.
"I don't know, I don't really know his mother…it's complicated"
"Oh" she wrote something down in his chart "doctor Reid told me she explained the situation"
"Is there really no hope?" Amanda asked, she was trying to act calm, but seeing the baby, knowing how hard it was on Nick, it affected her.
"There's always hope, but he's too weak, even with the treatment we don't know how much time he's got. But it's good for him to have family by his side. Here…" she brought a second chair and placed it by the incubator "and you can touch him gently, just make sure to disinfect your hands. I'll be back later to check on him"
"Thank you" Amanda smiled at her.
They were left alone with the baby and neither was sure what to say or do so for a few moments they just listened to the sound coming from the machines. The only thing that was keeping him alive.
Nick reached for Amanda's hand, he squeezed it and looked into her eyes "I…" she shook her head and closed the gap between them, lightly brushing her lips against his. She was there for him and he needed her there.
Nick grabbed the hand sanitizer so he could clean his hands. He sat down and looked at the incubator before reaching for the boy's tiny hand.
"Hey baby" he tenderly caressed his fingers "I'm your big brother"