Take One Last Breath

..::Austin’s P.O.V::..

“I’m going to go get food for everybody, alright?” Ville asked as we stood up. I yawned as I stretched, “And maybe it would do you some good to get some rest,” he said as he pulled me into his arms, and I nodded slowly as I rubbed my eyes.

“Fair enough,” I agreed, “I’m so fucking tired. I haven’t slept since we got home yesterday,” I admitted, and Ville laughed silently, and I could feel his cool breath on my neck as he did so.

“I admit, I was asleep most of the time I was in Bam’s room,” he admitted, “But Phil was in there in case Bam started waking up, so I didn’t feel too guilty.”

“Just as long as you’re not too tired to drive,” I pointed out. The last thing I needed was to find out Ville got in a bad car accident because he fell asleep at the wheel.

“Love, I feel just fine. Please, don’t worry,” He stole a kiss quickly as we started walking from the break room, “I’ll call you once I find the nearest food place that doesn’t sell shit. I need to find out what everybody wants once I do so, anyways.” That seemed to assure me, that he’d call once he got me. Either that, or I was just too tired to argue.

“Fine. Alright. I’ll go back to Kori’s room,” I said, “And maybe fall asleep or something. Actually, I’ll do that for sure,” I said, and I could feel Ville smiling as he kissed me one last time.

“I’ll call you as soon as I pull up to a place,” he assured me once more, and he kissed my temple, and strode towards the emergency doors that led out of the emergency wing, a place it seems I’ve ended up many times due to other people’s injuries. I sighed heavily as I started walking towards Kori’s room, and was shocked to not see anybody in there. No Hanna, no Knoxville, and most importantly, no Kori, which certainly woke me up. My first thought was that she’d be in Bam’s room, which was only a few rooms down the hall. I steadied my pace so I wasn’t running through the corridor, and was relieved as I heard Kori’s voice in Bam’s room.

“You really think we can do this?” I heard Kori’s voice say hesitantly, and my eyebrows furrowed together.

“I think we can,” Bam said, and he sounded almost delighted. Were they talking about maybe getting married? Or was something else completely fucked up and Kori-and-Bam-like going on.

“Then I guess we’re gonna be parents,” Kori said with a pleasant sigh. Parents? I thought the thought stayed in my head, but I found myself standing in the doorway of the room, and Bam and Kori looked at me like they were deer caught in headlights. Yep, the words definitely came from my mouth, “Austin,” Kori tried to contort her face into a smile, but there was no mistaking the fact that she was still scared at what I might be thinking right now. She was right to be scared.

“Parents?! You guys can’t even go a month without landing yourselves in the emergency wing, and you want to bring a child into that?” I wasn’t furious at the fact that they were having a kid, in all honesty. No really, I wasn’t. I was, however, furious at the fact that my best friend decided it would be better to not tell me. It did frighten me, though, thinking of Bam and Kori being parents.

“We can calm down our lifestyle, I’m sure,” Bam protested, and I shook my head.

“You have about ten other fucking idiots who always come around the house and destroy everything. You think they’ll calm down their lifestyle just for a kid?” I asked. I didn’t mean the words coming out of my mouth, but I couldn’t stop them. I was already starting to regret them.

“Well Knoxville said-“ Kori started, and I felt like I was damn near about to shit my pants.

“Oh, so you told Knoxville, but you didn’t tell me? I’m kind of your best friend, in case you haven’t forgotten,” I felt betrayed. If I was replaced by Knoxville, I might have to roll over and die.

“Because you’d react like this, and I was right,” Kori defended, and that seemed to calm me down a lot. She had a point; there was no escaping the fact that no matter how the news was broken to me, I’d over react.

“You’re right,” I said, stepping in and shutting the door behind me, “I’m overreacting. I’m tired, and I have a lot on my mind. I have the feeling everybody would be so in love with that kid, that nobody would start doing stupid shit all the time. Only some of the time,” I said as I walked over to one of the chairs. Kori got up and came over to sit by me.

“You have a right to be mad,” she said calmly, “Knoxville only knew by accident because Bam’s retarded. I…I wasn’t even sure if I was gonna keep it or not,” she admitted.

“Well, from what I’ve heard, you are going to keep it…right?” I said. I didn’t doubt that Kori and Bam could be great parents, and the more we talked about it, the more excited I was.

“Yeah, we’ve just decided that maybe we’ll be actually be able to pull this off. You’re going to have to help when you can, though. You’ll be like it’s aunt,” she said, which in turn made me smile.

“Name it after me,” I demanded, laughing slightly, “But what are your name options?” I asked, and she shrugged, and then started to play with the rip in the jeans I had brought for her.

“We just decided to keep the thing. We’re far from figuring out names right now,” she said, and I nodded understandingly.

“I get it,” I assured her, “this isn’t the kind of stuff that should be rushed, and believe me, I’ll be here to help me if you need me. Ville said I could visit a lot when we’ve gone off to Finland. It’ll be like I’ve never left,” I said, causing her to smile.

“Great,” Bam said sarcastically from his bed. It was a natural reflex to flip him the bird, and my phone started ringing as I did so. I took the phone from my pocket, and looked at the caller I.D to see that it was Ville, and I answered it immediately, putting the small device to my ear, “hey,” I said sweetly.

“I got here safely, as promised. I stopped at a market, and decided to grab subs, drinks, and snacks, if that’s fine with everybody,” he offered, and I nodded, not realizing he couldn’t see me.

“I’m sure everybody here is about ready to eat their own arms,” I suggested, “They’ll eat whatever you get them, no doubt.”

“That’s great. How are you, dear? Did I wake you up?” he asked, which reminded me that I was tired.

“Actually, I got some…news. I’m sure you’ll hear about it soon, but, I didn’t get to sleep. You didn’t wake me up,” I continued, and stifled a yawn, “Though I should get some rest.”

“Yeah, you should. I’m about to check out, alright? You catch a nap, and I’ll be there shortly,” he insisted, and I nodded again.

“Alright, I’ll see you in a bit,” I said, finding the seat a tad bit more comfy than before.

“I love you,” he said, and my heart fluttered once again.

“I love you, too,” I could feel the heat making its way to my cheeks. I hung up the phone once I was sure Ville did the same on his end.

“Awuh, she’s blushing,” Bam teased, causing my face to get even more red.

“Yeah, yeah, Dick-for-brains,” I said, then stood up, “I’m tired as all shit, so I’m going to go to your bed and pass the hell out, yeah?” I said to Kori, and she nodded, “I’ll see you when I wake up from the dead,” I said before I walked from the room and towards Kori’s. I was out like a light as soon as I hit the pillow.

..::Bam’s P.O.V::..

I let out a heavy and long held sigh as soon as Austin left the room, and I looked at Kori, my eyes wide like the sun, “That was close.”

“Yeah, too fucking close,” she agreed as she crawled back into the small hospital bed, “and for a second, I thought she was going to get really pissed. I can’t afford that right now.”

“Well, when do you think we should break the news?” I asked her. After what just happened, it’s best to just get the news the hell out of the way.

..::Ville’s P.O.V::..

I walked back into the emergency wing of the hospital with bags of food in both hands. I headed towards the break room, because I knew that’s where most of the guys were. Last I saw them, they were heading in there to watch football.

“FUMBLE,” Hanna yelled out as I walked into the Giants vs. Redskins game. The guys were going for New York, who were leaving the Redskins in the dust. I stood there for a minute unnoticed, but as soon as the word ‘food’ came out of my mouth, all eyes were on my. I set the bags down on the table, and grabbed a few things for Austin, and went off to find her. I figured she’d be passed out somewhere, and I was right as I found her on Kori’s bed, leading me to wonder where Kori was. I set the food down on a table, and walked over to the side of the bed, where I drug a chair over towards, and sat down. I was tired, as well, so I entwined my fingers with her own and let myself drift off.

..::Austin’s P.O.V::..

I had a weird nightmare. I was in Finland with Ville, and Kori called me. I could see her on the other end, holding her child, which was screaming and crying. I immediately got on a plane, but the plane kept flying over the airport where I was supposed to get off. Every time the plane passed the airport, they’d fly over the world another time, and as we started to lose fuel, and started falling from the sky, that’s when I woke up with a gasp, and I seemed to wake up a sleeping Ville as well, “What’s wrong,” he asked immediately, though he sounded tired and out of it.

“Bad dream,” I said simply, and lay back down on the bed, “Weird dream, too.” I added, “Food?”

“Yeah, I have some right here,” he said, and got up. I sat back up again as he walked over with a few items, and the first thing I went for was the sub Ville so heartedly promised over the phone. I didn’t know how hungry I was until I inhaled the sandwich, leaving even myself surprised. Ville crawled onto the bed with me, and I rested my head on his shoulder as I brought the blanket up to my neck. The hospital was a very cold place.

“I can’t wait to go home. I can’t wait till everything is back to almost normal,” I said, getting what was on my mind, off. Well, most of what was on my mind. It wasn’t my place to talk about the other thing that was on my mind.

“I can’t, either. Even though, I must say, I love the chaos that unfolds here,” he said, and I laughed at the fact that he didn’t even know half of it. He didn’t know that Bam and Kori – two people who’ve barely grown up themselves – were having a kid.

“Yeah, I’d have to agree it’s definitely a part of my daily life, now,” I admitted.

“Great news,” Kori said as she walked into the room, “Bam and I can leave tomorrow,” she said enthusiastically.

“Like in the morning?” I asked, and she nodded happily, “So, I can leave now?” I asked again, and she nodded, “Great, I’m beat. I need a shower. I need to sleep. I need warmth. So on so forth,” I said, getting up from the bed, “We’ll be here first thing to get you tomorrow, alright?” I asked, and she nodded. Bam followed in, and we said our goodbyes before Ville and I headed out to his car, and drove back to Bam’s fortress of fuckery. I took a shower and crashed with Ville, this time, free from any nightmares or dreams.

©Shannon