Sequel: Non Sequitur

Cinematic Confessions

The Proposal

The two couples had just finished up dinner and Cade was getting up to get dessert when Katherine's phone started to ring. She was about to ignore it when she saw that it was her brother calling her. Brent didn't call her that often, so she knew that if he was calling, it was something important. "Hello?" she answered, as she mouthed an apology to Corey and Autumn who were sitting across the table.

"What?" they heard Katherine scream, and Autumn's head snapped up, looking at Katherine worriedly. "Now? Are you sure?" Katherine continued.

"What's going on?" Cade asked, sticking his head out of the kitchen. Autumn shrugged her shoulders as she continued to look at Katherine. Cade came over and put his hand on the back of Katherine's chair, waiting on her to hang up.

"Okay, we'll be right there!" she said, hanging up the phone. "We have to go," she looked up at her husband. "Now."

"Hold on," Cade said, putting a hand on her wrist as she stood up quickly and started to grab her coat and purse. "What's going on?"

Katherine spun around. "Oh, sorry! Brianna's in labor!" she spoke excitedly. "She's having the baby! We need to get to the hospital!” Autumn didn’t get up right away, and Katherine looked at her while she put her coat on. “C’mon Autumn! Didn’t you hear me? Get up!” she exclaimed.

Autumn shook her head. “I’m sure there’s more than enough people there already, she doesn’t need an extra person.”

“Oh please! She’ll want you there,” Katherine insisted, grabbing Autumn by the wrist. “You too, Corey! Brent will want to see you there,” she told him, and both Autumn and Corey slowly got up, getting into Cade’s car since they had walked to Katherine and Cade’s place and Katherine didn’t want them wasting time by walking back to Autumn’s place in order to get Corey’s vehicle.

They got to the hospital a short while later with Cade taking back roads he knew of since he drove there every day to get to work. They made their way to the floor Brent had told them, and Katherine saw Abby and Patrick already there. “Hey!” she said, making her way over to them, asking them if they’d heard any news so far.

“Seabs is back there with her now, apparently she’s pretty far along already,” Sharp commented. “The baby apparently couldn’t wait any longer,” he added.

Abby smiled. “I’m so excited!” she exclaimed.

“Me, too,” Katherine told her.

Autumn sat down in a seat in the waiting room, her feet still sore from her day at the pharmacy. Corey sat down beside her, reaching over and grabbing her hand. “That’s going to be you in there soon,” he said, nodding his head towards the hospital room.

“Don’t even say that,” Autumn told him. “I’m so not ready to have a baby yet,” she said, putting her hand on her stomach. “I’ve still got to go through all those birthing classes and stuff. I’m not quite sure I want to watch the videos and things, though,” she added with a chuckle. “I don’t really want something that big coming out down there.”

Corey smiled at her. “Get you ready for when you have your own,” he spoke. Autumn didn’t say anything, but immediately her mind went to a baby of her own, with Corey being the father. She hadn’t really thought of kids of her own before, but she knew she wanted them with Corey.

All of a sudden, Brent rushed out into the waiting room. Everyone looked up at him expectantly. He looked tired and wore out, as if he were the one giving birth instead of his wife. “He’s here,” he spoke, but he wasn’t as excited as he should have been for a first time father.

“Brent, what’s wrong?” Katherine asked, reaching out and touching her brother’s arm. She knew him well enough to know everything was not alright with him. He had been so happy for this baby, and he should have been beaming that he was here.

The others gathered around him, and Brent spoke softly. “Something is wrong with Bri.”

Abby was the first to speak. “Is she okay? What’s going on?” she asked nervously. She had known Brianna the longest, having been friends with her when she introduced her and Brent back when Brianna was a part of Abby’s wedding to Patrick. “Brent?” she urged when he didn’t speak right away.

He ran a hand over his face, obviously in distress. “I don’t know, they didn’t say anything. I heard Ryan crying, and then a bunch of alarms started going off from the machines and they took him away from me and pushed me out of the room,” he said, close to tears.

“She’s going to be okay,” Patrick told him, putting a hand on his friend’s shoulder.

“Let me see if I can go find out something,” Cade offered, knowing he was the most likely to be able to get some answers since he was a doctor there.

Autumn stayed seated, holding her breath, as she watched Brent. “This can’t be happening,” he said, looking down at the ground. “Not again. I can’t lose another…” he trailed off before tears streamed down his face.

Abby pulled him into a hug first as Katherine put a hand on his back. “She’s going to be okay,”
Abby said confidently, though she was just as worried as Brent was. “I promise,” she whispered.

No one really knew what to say to him. No one had gone through losing one wife and then on the brink of losing another one. Katherine saw Cade walking back towards him, and she looked at him, but he gave no sign of good or bad news. Brent turned around to look at his brother-in-law. “She lost a lot of blood when the baby came, more than normal. They took her to surgery to try to see where the bleeding is coming from and stop it,” Cade explained. “That’s all I know right now,” he said.

“Why don’t we go take a look at your new baby boy,” Patrick suggested, and Brent nodded his head as Patrick guided him down the hallway to the viewing area. Abby and Katherine stayed back, talking to Cade, asking him all kinds of questions about the surgery and what could happen in it.

Autumn looked over at Corey. “You’ve been quiet,” she commented. “What are you thinking?”

Corey continued to stare at the ground until Autumn nudged him with her elbow. “This could happen to you,” he whispered so lowly she could barely hear him.

“Corey,” she began.

“I don’t know what I would do if I was in Seabs’ shoes and you were the one that was undergoing emergency surgery,” he continued, cutting her off.

“Corey,” she tried again. “That’s a risk, but you know as well as I do that thousands of women give birth every day with no complications.”

“But what if it happens?” he asked her.

“Corey,” she said softly. She could tell this was bothering him, but there was a risk in everything you did in daily life. Giving birth was no different.

He suddenly looked over at her. “Marry me.”

Autumn’s eyes went wide as she sputtered, “Wh-what?”

“Marry me,” he repeated. She shook her head but didn’t say anything right away. “Autumn, I know I love you, and this only reinforces how I feel about you. Marry me,” he said for a third time.

Autumn was trying to gather her thoughts before she spoke. “No,” she said, and his expression saddened. “Corey, I love you, too. But, we just said those words to each other tonight for the first time. And, you’re only asking me to marry you because you’re so worried. About Brianna, about me, about everything. I don’t want a spur of the moment proposal that you’re going to regret two days from now.”

“I’m not going to regret it,” he stated confidently. “I know I want to marry you.”

“Good,” Autumn smiled at him. “Then you’ll still want to marry me down the road. When I’m no longer pregnant, and you’re not worried. And you’ll have planned a proposal. That’s what I want, Corey. I want a planned proposal, a thought out one, when you’ve had time to think about it.” She could see his demeanor change. He wasn’t angry, but she could tell he was deflated. “Corey, I love you, and I can see myself marrying you and having children with you,” she told him. “But, I don’t want you proposing like this, not in a state of worry. I want it to be a happy occasion. Do you understand?” she asked him.

He nodded his head. “Yeah.”

She reached over and put her hand on his cheek, moving his head so he was looking at her. “I’ll say yes when you do,” she assured him. “But for God’s sake, don’t go out and buy a ring and propose tomorrow either,” she told him.

He chuckled to himself. She knew him too well for how short of a time they had been together. “I love you,” he told her.

“I love you, too,” she told him, giving him a sweet kiss. “And, I’m going to be okay, just like Brianna will be,” she said quietly.

He nodded his head and squeezed her hand before she stood up to go talk to Katherine to see how she was doing. She walked over to her and Katherine immediately asked, “What was that all about over there?” She had apparently been watching Autumn and Corey.

“He proposed,” Autumn said nonchalantly.

“What?” Katherine asked, her eyes practically popping out of her head.

“I turned him down,” Autumn continued.

“Autumn!” Katherine exclaimed loudly, unable to believe what was going on.

Autumn chuckled. “It wasn’t the right time. He knows that. It was spur of the moment in fear with everything going on with Brianna. He’ll get the timing right in the future,” she added.

“Any word on Brianna?” she asked, changing subjects.

Katherine shook her head. “No, and Brent is terrified, much to be expected. God, first Chelsea and now Brianna's in surgery," she said, recalling Brent's first wife who had died of cancer a few years ago. "He's had more than his fair share of time spent in the hospital. I just don't know why this is happening to him," she spoke quietly.

Autumn hugged her best friend. "Brianna will be okay," she said into her ear, not really knowing what else to say. Katherine nodded her head, not saying a word.

A doctor walked out into the waiting area, and Cade walked over to talk to him, apparently knowing who he was. "Go get Brent," he turned around. Abby nodded her head, immediately speed walking off to find him.

Moments later, Brent was practically sprinting back over to them. "How's she doing?" he asked, breathing hard.

"She's in recovery," the doctor told him. "She's stable right now. Give her an hour or so to wake up, and then a nurse will come back in to get you so you can go see her. She'll need to stay for a few days so we can monitor her," he stated. He didn't have a lot of emotion with his words, and Autumn wondered if he had just gotten so used to saying this speech.

"Thank God," Brent muttered, collapsing into a chair.

Sharp sat down next to him. "See, she'll be fine," he told him, and Brent nodded his head before putting it in his hands, his elbows resting on his knees. It was clear how upset he was.

Autumn watched as Katherine and Abby both comforted Brent, and she put her hand on Corey's arm. "I think it's time for us to go," she said quietly, and he nodded his head. He said a quick goodbye to Brent and told him to text him when he knew more about Brianna, and then he and Autumn made their way outside.

Autumn chuckled as she realized they didn't have a way back home. They had driven with Katherine and Cade, being in a hurry, and she looked at Corey. "So…how are we getting home?" she asked him.

It suddenly dawned on him the dilemma they were in. "Taxi it is," he shrugged, going to get a taxi that was waiting outside the hospital for anyone that needed it. He motioned for Autumn to follow him, and he let her get inside the taxi first before he slid in after her, giving the driver his address.

They didn't talk much during the ride home, mainly listening to the music on the radio. When the taxi driver pulled up in front of Corey's condo, Corey paid the man and then helped Autumn out of the car. "Definitely wasn't expecting our evening to go like that," he spoke as he led her up to the front door and to the elevator. He glanced at his watch, seeing that it was well after midnight. "What time do you work tomorrow?" he asked her.

"I go in a nine," she replied as the elevator doors opened to his floor, and she followed him out, letting him unlock his door and then walking inside.

"You need to get some sleep," he told her, kissing her cheek.

She smiled at him. "So do you. You play tomorrow night," she reminded him. "If you're lucky, I might even show up," she added.

Corey looked down into her eyes. Autumn didn't go to all of his games, so he was always delighted when she decided to make an appearance. "I'd like that," he told her, putting his hands on either side of her face and kissing her deeply. They separated with a smile, and Autumn made her way back to his bedroom, going to his dresser and grabbing one of his t-shirts that she would wear to bed.

She went and used the bathroom, and when she came back out dressed in Corey's clothes, she found him already in bed with the blanket pulled back for her to get in with him. "Hey Autumn, about earlier tonight," Corey began, and Autumn knew he was going to apologize for proposing so she cut him off.

"Don't worry about it," she said, leaning over and giving him a kiss. "I love you," she added with a smile as she laid down on her back but cuddled up into his body.

"I love you, too," Corey said quietly, kissing the top of her head as he reached over and turned the lamp on the bedside table off, pulling Autumn closer into his arms as she drifted off to sleep.
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