Larry’s hands flew to his head. His phone burned in his pocket. He remembered the doctor’sp last words: “If she gets worse at home… chances are low.”

 Larry’s hands flew to his head so fast it looked like the room itself had punched him.

“No… no, no, no…”

The hospital hallway blurred around him. Nurses rushed past. Machines beeped somewhere in the distance. But all Larry could hear was the doctor’s voice repeating over and over inside his skull like a nightmare that refused to end.

“If she gets worse at home… chances are low.”

His phone burned in his pocket.

It felt heavier than it ever had before.

Because deep down, he already knew who was calling.

Bethany.

Or maybe Isaiah.

Or maybe one of the neighbors screaming that something had happened.

Larry’s chest tightened so hard he could barely breathe. Sweat rolled down the side of his face as his shaking fingers reached into his pocket. For one second, he couldn’t even answer it. Fear froze him completely.

The screen lit up.

ISAIAH CALLING.

Larry nearly dropped the phone.

“Hello?!” he shouted.

All he heard was crying.

Loud. Broken. Panicked crying.

“Dad—”

Isaiah’s voice cracked apart.

Larry’s heart stopped.

“What happened?!”

“She— she collapsed again!”

The world tilted beneath Larry’s feet.

The doctor’s warning exploded back into his head.

“Chances are low…”

“No…”

Larry stumbled backward against the wall, covering his mouth. Nurses looked over at him, but he didn’t even notice.

“Is she breathing?!” he yelled.

“I—I don’t know! She won’t wake up!”

Larry’s knees nearly buckled.

Everything inside him shattered at once.

Just hours earlier, Bethany had begged him not to leave her alone. She had looked pale and exhausted lying in that hospital bed, her voice barely above a whisper.

“Please stay tonight…”

But Larry had convinced himself she’d be okay.

The doctor had discharged her.

The medicine was supposed to help.

And Larry—foolishly, selfishly—thought one night at home wouldn’t hurt.

Now he felt like the worst husband alive.

“I’m coming!” Larry screamed into the phone before taking off down the hallway.

He ran so fast people had to jump out of his way. His shoulder slammed into the hospital doors as he burst outside into the cold night air.

Rain poured from the sky.

Thunder cracked overhead.

Larry didn’t care.

He jumped into his car with trembling hands and sped through red lights, gripping the steering wheel so tightly his knuckles turned white.

Every second felt deadly.

His mind replayed memories of Bethany nonstop.

Her smile.

Her laugh.

The way she always reached for his hand during scary moments.

The way she looked at him earlier that day before he walked out of the hospital room.

There had been fear in her eyes.

Almost like she knew.

“Please don’t die…” Larry whispered brokenly as tears blurred his vision.

The rain hammered against the windshield.

Traffic lights stretched into streaks of red and yellow.

Then his phone rang again.

Larry answered instantly.

“Dad!” Isaiah cried. “She stopped breathing for a second!”

Larry’s entire body went numb.

“What?!”

“But the ambulance is here now! They’re trying!”

Larry slammed the brakes at a red light so hard the tires screamed.

Trying.

The word destroyed him.

Trying meant things were bad.

Trying meant Bethany was slipping away.

Larry punched the steering wheel in frustration.

“This is MY fault!” he shouted at himself.

A driver beside him stared in shock as Larry broke down crying right there at the intersection.

Because he knew the truth.

He should’ve listened.

The doctor warned him.

Warned all of them.

But now Bethany was fighting for her life while strangers worked over her body in their living room.

Larry sped the rest of the way home like a man possessed.

When he turned onto the street, flashing ambulance lights painted the neighborhood red and blue.

Neighbors stood outside whispering.

Larry’s stomach dropped.

“No…”

He jumped from the car before it even fully stopped.

The front door was wide open.

Paramedics crowded around Bethany on the floor.

Her skin looked pale.

Too pale.

Machines beeped rapidly while Isaiah stood in the corner sobbing uncontrollably.

Larry rushed forward.

“BETHANY!”

One paramedic held him back.

“Sir, let us work!”

Larry looked down at her trembling body and felt his soul crack open.

Oxygen tubes.

Chest compressions.

Blood pressure dropping.

Everything the doctor warned about was happening right in front of him.

Larry buried his hands into his hair and screamed in agony.

“PLEASE DON’T LEAVE ME!”

Bethany’s eyes fluttered weakly for half a second.

And somehow… she found him in the chaos.

Her lips moved slightly.

Larry dropped beside her.

“What? Baby, what?”

Barely audible.

Almost impossible to hear.

“…scared…”

Larry completely broke apart.

Tears poured down his face as he grabbed her cold hand carefully.

“I’m here,” he cried. “I’m right here.”

The paramedics quickly loaded her onto the stretcher.

Larry climbed into the ambulance beside her, refusing to let go of her hand even for one second.

As the ambulance doors slammed shut, the sirens screamed into the night.

And Larry realized something horrifying.

For the first time in his life…

He truly didn’t know if Bethany was coming back home.