"You're just barely hanging by a thread
You wanna scream but you're down to your last breath"
One Day You Will, Lady Antebellum

Every day that passed – every minute – this sitting vigil at a hospital bedside got harder and harder. Corey, the poor soul, couldn’t even face coming into the ICU anymore. His father had reported just the day before that Corey was coping with any of it, emotionally or psychologically, and he had a mental block when it came to doing his art. Art was his way of escaping and coping, without it, he was falling apart and blaming himself for the fact Euan’s life had been hanging in the balance.

It wasn’t Corey’s fault. Not even close. He had every right to have gotten upset about his grandmother’s ring. Euan never professed to be an expert in any of this sort of thing. He was so damn inexperienced in relationships that he had just been following his heart, possibly for the first time in his life. Until then, the only thing he sunk his mind, body, heart and soul into was being a father, and raising his beautiful son. He never believed he was made for relationships. Was even one of the world’s biggest cynics when it came to love. It was why Julie just hadn’t quite believed the turn of events that had lead to all this.

( She had had fingers gentle and loosely laced in with his... )

Julie Gresham // Original Character // 1,011 words

Fear of the unknown

With the help of some painkillers, Rose had finally fallen asleep and Angel was sitting quietly in the dim maternity unit room holding her hand and watching her sleep. She had the fetal monitor strapped around her belly and embracing the barely visible baby bump there, filling the room with the soft but rhythmic thud-thud of the baby’s heartbeat. It was soothing and cathartic for Angel after the stressful and worrisome prior hours. They didn’t know what was going to happen, or if everything would be okay. All they could do was hope, and hope like hell.

He had a notebook open on the bed beside her and he was penning lyrics to a new song, pouring his feelings out onto paper. But he paused, and placed the pen down on the paper atop the messy scrawls. After a moment or two of hesitation, not wanting to wake her, he placed his hand on her belly just above the monitor and his fingers caressed the soft skin there.

“So, even if this is kind of crazy, I just want you to know that I’m your daddy, and if you can just hang tight in there, sweetheart, and get used to these... these hostile environments, I promise that I will do everything I can to fight for you. Once we meet, I promise I’ll be the best daddy to ever walk the earth, and I’m going to be there for everything. All the things that are important to you, your mommy and me are going to be there cheering you on. Even though you’re only about the size of an apricot, I just want you to know that I love you. I do. I can’t explain it, but I do. Please just be okay?” He was choking up then and just leaned over, pressing a soft kiss to Rose’s stomach. He would give up everything he achieved just to make this all okay.

Angel Shaw // Original Character