Second Chance

A chill crept down the guitarist's spine when the immaculately clean glass doors to the emergency room parted to allow his reentry. He had stepped out to take a call from Emily, who was on her way to join him. Though he had been tempted to take a short walk to clear his head, he knew that it was better to return to the waiting room with the Martinez family.

While he had only spent that small amount of time that one afternoon with them, he felt a connection with them. It was one that he couldn't explain, and to be honest, it made him a bit nervous. Though he couldn't put his finger on it, he knew that it was sure to come out soon and he wasn't so sure he was ready to find out. His biggest fear was that he was going to become attached to them. Why that worried him was the same reason this whole thing bothered him. What about Grey? How would that look if he became attached to another family because of their son, who was born out of a similar situation?

"Nothing is sacred. Live life like nothing is off limits. " the advice of his sister repeated in his mind and he drew in a breath to steady himself.

"What am I going to do?" Nicoletta wept quietly when he came around the corner. "I can't lose my baby, Brian."

While he desperately wanted to tell her she would not, he knew that now was not the time to make promises on things he had no control over. He must have opened his mouth half a dozen times, but words of comfort just weren't there.

"Let me pray for you." the offer slipped out before he had a chance to think about what he was saying.

"Would you? Please!" she exclaimed immediately, which left no room for him to recant his words.

How in the world was he supposed to pray for her? He wasn't a religious man, and could barely utter the pleas he had for his own family in the last few months. Even so, he found himself closing the gap between them. His hands took hers and troubled brown eyes watched the brokenhearted woman bow her head in reverence. With a silent breath out, his stance mirrored hers and he started with a soft clearing of his throat.

"God.... " his heart pounded against his chest now, as fear of messing up this moment draped over him. "I do not claim to understand what is going on, or how this family must be feeling. I can't imagine sitting in the e. r. waiting for word on how my son is, it must be terrifying. I'm asking you to help this little boy. Fix whatever is wrong. And I'm asking for you to comfort his family. Show them what to do, and show the doctors how to correct the issues. Amen."

"Thank you," she whispered. With a squeeze to his hands, she released them and took in a deep breath. "I know you may not believe the way my husband and I do, but I appreciate you trying."

"My family and I went to church here and there on holidays growing up, but it never really made sense to me. Everything that has happened in the last few months is starting to give me a different perspective." the guitarist admitted with a small nod. "Where is James, by the way?"

"He went to the chapel to pray. Sometimes prayer is all we have, Brian."

*

Emily gathered up two bottles of water and the two cups of coffee she had just poured before making her way back into the waiting room of the busy hospital. She had really come to hate the place. The few times she had been there hadn't ended well and she was desperately hoping this time would prove to be different. It had been nearly two hours since she had arrived and they still didn't have any news. It was eating her away; she couldn't imagine what the little boy's family felt.

Two heavily inked arms wrapped around her from behind and she immediately eased back into them. The guitarist's chin plunked down on her right shoulder. Words of endearment whispered into her ear, and she said them back before anxiety chewed lips let out a breathy sigh.

"Any word?" though she knew the answer to that question, she had to ask anyway.

His head shook gently against her in response. "No, not yet. There's something I want to talk to you about, though."

"OK. What's that?" tugging away, she turned to hand him a coffee and set the bottles of water on a nearby table.

"Thanks." thin lips pursed to blow into the small opening on the lid of the beverage, and rich brown eyes locked on crystal blue ones. "I'm just going to say first that I know perfectly well that this is the wrong time to bring this up, but we need to talk about it."

"I've come to believe that there's never a good time for sharing certain things. Right now, no time is a good time, so right now is as good as any." having stumbled through that entire response, she let out a quiet laugh at the awkwardness of the statement.

"Did you just channel Jimmy?" he had to chuckle now, too.

"Sounded like one of his impartations of wisdom, didn't it? Gees. I love that man. Sorry, go ahead."

"Zack called. He said everybody has been thinking about what we're coming up on." the look on his face negated the need to elaborate. "They want to hold a gathering. Something to acknowledge the fact that Gray was here and that everyone feels the impact that he didn't stay."

Silence fell over her now and her expression changed drastically. That was certainly not what she had anticipated the topic of discussion to be. Words seem to fail her, and tears began gathering in her eyes. She willed them not to overflow, but she wasn't sure standing there much longer would allow that trend to continue.

"I need to go," she whispered so quietly, her husband barely heard her. Her hand came up to prevent him from wrapping an arm around her and she shook her head. "I'll be back, but I need to go right now."

"I'm sor--"

"It's ok. I just need to go. Let me know when you hear something."