Please wait outside. That is what they told me.

I had been reluctant at first, not wanting to leave her alone, but I did not want to get in the way of their work. So here I sit, in the hospital waiting room.

Doctors and nurses were rushing in and out of the room, exchanging folders and quick, hard to understand words, while I was standing in the corner, hoping that everything was all right.  They were telling me that there were a few complications, but her condition was steadily improving.

But then the monitors began beeping. Our nurse, Garrett I think his name is, flashed a look of concern at the machines next to the bed. I remember these next few moments like a vivid nightmare. Our calm, content little room filled with flowers and well-wishing gifts from our friends, crumbling into chaos, filling me with an overwhelming sense of fear and helplessness.

A feeling that lingers as I sit here, doing nothing.

Stop that, Jarred. I need to stay positive. I need to show her a genuine smile when I can return to her side. She will have that tired yet triumphant smirk – the same one she has when she returns from a rough workday. Yeah, just another hurdle in life, and then everything will be back to normal.

My back slumps in the rigid chair, and I lazily scan the room. A television hangs down from the roof, displaying some kind of sports match – no one in the room is paying it any attention, and the volume seems to be turned most of the way down. I watch the players run back and forth along the wide grassy field for a moment, until my brain distorts the image on screen into the frantically beeping monitor that was resting by my wife’s hospital bed. The alarms ring in my ears, the bodies rushing around me, the world closing in-

I snap my vision away, gritting my teeth.

A happy place – what can I distract my mind with? I turn my attention to the table beside me, a small collection of magazines resting on top. Summer Getaways is the first one, a pristine sandy beach dotted with palm trees. That would be perfect right about now. A warm sun beating down on me, soothing, rhythmic waves caressing the shore. In and out. In and out…

“Jarred Olsen?” A voice pulls me from my daydream. I turn to meet the smile of Garrett, that nurse.

It is a gentle smile. I can feel my stress and worry fading, replaced with relief. And gradually, excitement creeps in too.

I follow Garrett through the hallways and into the room.

Tiffany sits on the bed, hair a mess, with that familiar tired smile that meets mine. In her arms is…

Our daughter; Rose.