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She managed to stagger into the kitchen, and she opened the medicine cabinet to get some ibuprofen. After shaking out four pills, she returned the bottle and started toward the cabinet for a glass.
Pain assaulted her, spearing through her, robbing her of breath. She fell, hitting the floor with a thud, driving the air from her lungs in a painful rush. She lay there, balled into a fetal position, afraid to move because the pain was so horrific.
Something was terribly, terribly wrong.
“Ryan,” she called weakly. “Adam? Ethan?”
Darkness hovered on the fringes. She fought unconsciousness as the pain intensified. She heard a distant sound, tried to call out again, but the blackness swirled until she was dizzy with it.
RYAN awoke, a frown turning his lips downward. It was automatic to reach for Holly, a habit he hadn’t broken in over thirty years. But she wasn’t there. Something had awakened him. His name. He could swear he’d heard her call.
Throwing aside the covers, he hurried out of bed and into the hall. No lights were on in the house and it was silent. The fire had long since died out in the living room and only a few glowing embers remained.
“Holly?” he called.
Something like dread pitted his stomach and clutched at his throat. He hadn’t checked his brothers’ bedrooms because he’d just known that wasn’t where she was. After surveying the living room, he walked toward the kitchen and damn near tripped over her before he’d gotten far.
His heart bottomed out. He dropped to his knees, yelling her name hoarsely. She was in a tiny ball, knees drawn up as if she were in unimaginable pain. Her skin was hot and dry to the touch. He immediately felt for a pulse, relieved to find a steady rhythm against his fingers.
“Adam! Ethan!” he roared. “Get in here!”
Gently, he collected Holly in his arms, unsure of what to do. He only knew he wasn’t leaving her lying on the cold floor.
Not ten seconds later, his brothers ran down the hall and appeared in the kitchen.
“What happened?” Adam barked.
Ethan crowded into Ryan, his hands going to Holly’s face and then her neck, frantic, just as Ryan had been to feel the reassuring pulse pattern.
“What’s wrong with her?” Ethan demanded.
“I woke up when I thought I heard her call for me. She was gone and so I got up and found her on the floor,” Ryan said grimly. “Get the keys. We have to get her to the hospital. ”
His words sent his brothers in different directions. Ethan grabbed a blanket and tossed it over her as Ryan headed for the door. Adam sprinted toward the bedroom and returned a moment later, dressed and holding the keys to the SUV.
“Get me some damn clothes,” Ryan bit out in Ethan’s direction. “You can change on the way and I’ll get dressed when we get there. ”
He wasn’t about to let Holly go long enough to rectify his current mode of undress.
FOUR hours later, the three brothers paced around the waiting room, edgy, silent, worried sick. The doors burst open and their children rushed in, their faces white, eyes filled with fear.
Adam immediately went into protective mode. His wife was in surgery and he was scared out of his mind, but he didn’t want his sons and his daughter to be as afraid as he was.
“Daddy,” Callie said, rushing into his arms. “What’s wrong with Mama? What happened?”
Adam crushed her to him and held on a long moment while his sons went to stand by their other two dads. Lily stood back with Max, but she looked no less concerned than everyone else.
Adam pulled away from Callie and motioned his brood into one of the smaller side rooms usually reserved for the doctor to speak to the family. When everyone was pushed inside, he took a deep breath and glanced over at his brothers.
“Your mother is in surgery. ”
Dillon looked crushed. Michael’s lips drew into a grim line, and Seth looked utterly baffled, as if he couldn’t quite grasp it all.
Callie’s eyes filled with tears and Max wrapped a supportive arm around her.
“What’s wrong?” Dillon croaked out, his voice choked with fear.
“Appendicitis,” Ethan said quietly. “They believe it may have already ruptured. They didn’t waste a lot of time going in. We won’t know more until the doctor comes out of surgery. ”
No one looked as though they had any idea what to say or do. They stood numbly, staring at one another, helpless anxiety reflected in their gazes. If Holly were here, she’d take charge. She’d soothe everyone. Do what she did best. Love with all her heart and warm the entire world inside and out.
Adam sank into his chair, his legs no longer able to hold him up. Callie immediately wrapped her arms around him, hugging him tightly. “She’ll be all right, Daddy,” she whispered fiercely. “She loves you all too much to go down. She’ll probably be back on her feet in no time. You know she wouldn’t miss Christmas for the world. ”
Adam smiled faintly, amused by the fact that his precious daughter was the one providing comfort for him. It was his job to protect his children. His wife. Only now his sons and his daughter were gathered around, offering their support to him and his brothers.
All through the rest of the night, they sat in grim silence, and the realization of just how important a role Holly played in their family was outlined in stark reality. She was the very center. The heart and soul. The one around whom the rest of the family revolved. Every heart. Every child. Every man. They all loved her with a fierceness that couldn’t be described, only felt.
She was everything to this family, and Adam didn’t even want to contemplate how they would survive without her. She was their strength. Their light. The glue that held them all together.
He could see her in every one of his children. Callie’s infectious smile. Her exuberance for life. Her kindness and gentleness. Her fierce stubbornness and her endless capacity for love and her undying loyalty to those she loved.
Seth’s steadfastness. His quiet strength. His resilience. Michael’s intelligence. His work ethic. His quiet spirit. The way Dillon loved with all his heart and soul. Just like Holly.
“Daddy?” Callie whispered. “She’ll be okay. ”
It wasn’t posed as a question but he could hear the uncertainty in his daughter’s voice. She was trying to offer him the encouragement she so desperately needed herself.
Adam drew her into a hug. “Yes, baby. Your mother’s going to be fine. She’s a fighter through and through. She’s been down before, much worse than this, and she refused to stay down. ”
Just then the doctor came into the small room and everyone looked up, the sudden silence tense and forbidding. Tension coiled and snaked through the room. Dread mounted and everyone leaned forward, eager to hear what the doctor would say.
