Shane: Can we see him?

Doctor: Yes but he is sleep.

Carmen: Can we stay the night with him?

The doctor shook his head.

Doctor: He will mostly be out of it tonight and by tomorrow afternoon he will be home. He is in good hands and I suggest you two get some rest. You are going to have a pretty cranky baby on your hand for the next couple of weeks.

Shane: You don’t understand sometimes he wakes up scared in the middle of the night.

Doctor: We have capable nurses that will make him comfortable. You should really go home.

Shane: Listen I doubt any of your nurses are going to be able to make our son feel more comfortable than his parents could. Now we are going to stay the night whether you guys like it or not.

Doctor: Ok Ms. McCutcheon, I will tell the staff.

Shane: Come on Carmen.

Shane took her hand and followed the doctor to Angel’s room. Just like the doctor said he was fast asleep.

Shane: You gave your mommies quite a scare little buddy.

Carmen kissed Angel’s forehead.

Carmen: Buenos Noches mi amor. (Good Night my love)

They sat in silence for awhile.

Carmen: Thank you.

Shane looked up from Angel’s heart monitor to Carmen’s face.

Shane: For what?

Carmen: Being here. I freaked out and you seemed so cool and collected. Even when talking to the doctor you told them what was going to happen. I am very grateful for that.

Shane: I just wanted to make sure that Angel was alright there was no need to thank me.

The silence crept in again and Carmen desperately wanted it to leave. She remembered a time where they would talk for hours about the littlest thing, and now they barely spoke more than five words to each other. Everything seemed so forced.

Carmen: Shane?

Shane: Yes Carmen

Carmen: Do you hate me?

Shane sighed and Carmen hung her head down. She couldn’t bear it if Shane hated her. She would rather rip her heart out of her chest then live with knowing that Shane hated her. Carmen loved Shane still and she hoped that Shane still loved her also. Even with everything that happened in their relationship Carmen never hated Shane. If anything the more distance Shane put between them the more she wanted to hold on tighter. The more she wanted to love her and let her know that she wasn’t going anywhere. That she didn’t think any less of her and that her love would not change. The silence after the sigh wrapped around Carmen’s heart and squeezed until she couldn’t breathe. She looked up at Shane the tears clouding her eyes but she willed them not to fall.