FicWad

Pete rushed through the doors in the maternity ward and immediately spotted Patrick as he leaned on the wall reading a pamphlet on Baby Shaking Syndrome. As if bored he cleared his throat and tossed the pamphlet haphazardly on a chair, he then sighed as he put his hands in his pockets. Patrick glanced up at Pete momentarily before doing a double take and almost running over to the bassist. He grabbed him by the shoulders as he gave him a once over.

"Oh my God Pete are you ok?" Patrick questioned frantically, checking him for physical ailments which was surely the reason he missed his child's birth.

"Where's Sara?" Pete questioned back just as frantic as he peered over Patrick's head to look down the long hospital hallway.

"I don't know, no one has told me anything. Where the fuck were you man? I tried calling but -" Patrick started but Pete cut him off as he brushed past him.

"Yeah my phone was off." The nonchalant way Pete stated that irked Patrick the wrong way causing him to reach out and grip his friend's arm forcefully stopping him from getting any closer to the information desk.

"What do you mean your phone was off? Your wife was nine and a half months pregnant; you don't turn your phone off." Patrick spat at his best friend who tried to shrug out of his grasp that was getting tighter by the second.

"Dude lay off." Pete pushed him slightly, "Let me go."

"No. Where were you?" Patrick inquired again still not loosening his grip on Pete's arm.
"Where were you that it was so important to shut your phone off?"

"I was working!" Pete raised his voice slightly while ripping his arm out of Patrick's grasp and once again heading for the info desk.

"What the fuck do you mean you were working?" Patrick followed after him, "Working on what, being a jackass? Because I really don't think you need any more help in that area."

"Shut up. You don't even know what the fuck you're talking about. You don't know the situation that's going on here." Pete stopped to turn around and forcefully point in Patrick's direction.

"How can work be more important than the birth of your child?" Patrick scoffed at the idea, he literally just could not understand it.

"Fuck off." Pete retorted, "This isn't even your kid. Mind your own God damned business."

With that being said Patrick backed away with his palms up.
"You're such an ungrateful little fuck." He shook his head in disbelief as he watched Pete ignore him and walk up to the desk where the nurse was trying to act like she didn't notice what had just happened.

...

"A marriage is supposed to be give and take, but I only give give give ALWAYS." Sara wiped her eyes while sniffling and fidgeting with the hospital band around her wrist. "I raise my children all by myself and I run my own business yet I still find time to drop fucking everything to relocate my family to L.A. so he can fucking work with her."

Kate sighed frustrated while checking the door once more, the nurse had just left with the baby but she was still nervous about being interrupted.
"Work with who Sara?"

"With Ashlee!" Sara raised her voice, "I should have left before but yet here I am two kids later still trying to be a good wife while he does whatever the fuck he wants." She laughed bitterly while shaking her head.

"Wait what?" Kate exclaimed while putting up her hand in disbelief, "Sara, no. He's not - not again. Are you sure?"

"I don't know what I should think anymore Kate." Sara let her face fall causing the tears streaming down her face to now drip onto the hospital sheet, "It's just, I don't trust him - God knows I love him but I guess I'm just not enough." She broke down once more letting herself sob.

Kate immediately embraced her,
"That's not true Sara, don't you dare think that. He loves you more than anything, he's just an idiot." She said forcefully while making Sara look her in the eyes.

With Kate being this close to her Sara was finally able to feel the vibration of her phone.
"Who is it?" She replied while pulling away from her best friend and wiping her tear stricken face.

"It's my mom, she's been calling non stop. I'll call her in a second so she can come to the hospital and I'll just go to your house and watch the kids." Kate smiled apologetically when Sara's face fell once more when she realized that it still wasn't her husband calling.

"No, tell her to bring them. I want to see them and they probably want to see the baby." Sara sighed wall letting herself relax into the pillows that were propped up behind her. "When she gets here you can go home, you need to at least get some sleep for that big interview with People tomorrow."

"That's not important. I want to stay with you, People can shove it." Kate replied with a frown.

"It's important to me that nothing get cancelled because my child allowed itself to be born and I decided to leave my husband. I love that fucking magazine, and you are going to go and be amazing, but first you need to get some sleep. Well . . ." Sara paused for a second to allow herself smile though her tears, "first you need to get me a Snickers and then you need to take that stupid husband of yours and go home to sleep, so both of you can gush about your 'sizzling shotgun wedding.'"

Kate rolled her eyes,
"It's fake Sara, its so stupid."

"Either way, you still have to go - Me, your Mommy, Molly, Petey, Olivia and," Sara stopped to smile once more as the nurse brought the baby back in to be fed, "Mackenzie will be just fine." She finished in a baby voice while gladly accepting her daughter.

"Sara are you sure?" Kate sighed while smiling politely to the nurse who understood and quietly excused herself from the room.

"Of course I'm sure that you need some sleep, you're shit without it." Sara sniffled before looking up from her feeding daughter to smile at Kate.

"That's not what I'm talking about." Kate began solemnly, "Are you sure about leaving? Are you sure this is what's best? Maybe you should just talk to him before making any rash decisions." She pleaded with her eyes still not wanting to believe that her brother screwed up so badly once again.

"Kate . . ." Sara scolded urging her to drop the subject, she was sure that she was sure.

"Ok. Alright." Kate responded defeated, she grabbed hold of Sara's hand and gave it a reassuring squeeze before turning to leave. Sara didn't deserve to be taken advantage of the way her husband always did, and she supported her decision to leave him 100% but as she walked out of the hospital room in search of a Snickers for Sara all she kept thinking about was getting in touch with Pete's psychiatrist to make him an appointment as soon as possible.

Kate also didn't realize how truly upset she was at her brother until she saw him walking slowly down the hallway. Immediately her body tensed and she fisted her hands together in attempt to keep her new found rage bottled inside. Pete finally looked up and locked eyes with Kate, his eyes were drained of all emotion as he stared blankly at his sister. She wanted to yell, she wanted to rip into him, to physically tear him apart. Kate wanted to hurt him for being so stupid, she wanted to hurt him for being so selfish but as she neared him the only thing she could manage was a strong slap across the face and in silence she left him there gripping his cheek in what she could only hope was pain.

...

Pete let himself in the hospital room quietly and watched as Sara hummed as she rocked the baby back and fourth.

"Kate it's about time," She began whispering as to not wake the child in her arms, "I mean the machine is right down the hallway-" She stopped speaking suddenly when she glanced up and saw Pete there instead of his sister.

"Oh I thought . . ." She let her voice trail off and her gaze fell once more upon her sleeping baby.

"That I was my sister, yeah I got that." Pete responded quietly while not taking his eyes off of his shoes as he fidgeted with the zipper on his jacket.

"Where were you?" She asked, trying to sound scornful but in the end only sounding tired.

She could hear him inhale, "I was at work."

"Oh," Sara scoffed sarcastically, "Did you get a lot done? How's it coming, she going to win a Grammy?"

"I'm sorry." Pete started quietly only to be cut off.

"I don't want to hear whatever it is you have to say." She responded as evenly as she could, willing some kind of strength into her voice.

Pete nodded in understanding while turning to leave.

"You don't even want to see your daughter?" Sara questioned almost hysterical and he stopped, dropping his hand from the door handle and breathing heavily.

"I didn't think that I was allowed, that you wanted me too."

"I'm leaving Pete." Sara spat suddenly and Pete cocked his head to the side inquisitively.

"They discharged you already? That's not entirely normal." He ruffled his hair entirely confused, which elicited a sigh from Sara.

"No as in you. Leaving you. I can't be with someone who takes me for granted and cares about working more than the birth of his child." She kept her face emotionless as she watched him register what she just told him. Pete however wore his emotions right on his face and Sara could clearly see him go from confused, to pissed, to horrified.

"That's not true Sara. You can't leave!" Pete raised his voice slightly but lowered it immediately once the child in Sara's arms stirred.

"That's what I thought before but I know now that I can. As soon I get discharged I'm taking the kids and we're going back to Chicago."

"No." He pleaded with his eyes closed, "Just . . . don't leave."

Sara stared intently in his direction she could tell that he wasn't finished and had just paused to think.

"Don't go back to Chicago. Just stay."

"No." Sara responded bluntly.

"I'll leave, just stay in the house. Don't take the kids. I'll just, I'll go to live in Patrick's condo. Please. I'll do whatever you want. Just don't leave." Pete approached the bed quickly and grabbed at the sheets carefully. He contemplated getting on his knees but figured that all the excess commotion would wake the baby and piss Sara off even more.

"Just go." She replied while turning her face away from him.

It was then that Pete's heart shattered. He nodded slowly while backing away from the bed. Silently he left the room.

He wanted nothing more to go home and think but unfortunately for him as soon as he walked out of the room he ran into his sister who looked up at him disappointment before once again not saying a word and trying to walk past him into the room. Pete sighed as he moved out of her way, he wished that she would yell at him, scream even anything had to be better then the silence radiating between them.

"Kate." He finally stated, grabbing her arm as he did so. "It's not what you think, you've got to help me."

Kate immediately ripped her arm from his grasp and went to open the door. Before she went in she looked at him one last time.
"It really doesn't matter what I think anymore Pete and I can't fix this." She went to push the door open but stopped just before,
"And don't do anything stupid to yourself Peter because right now no one is going to feel sorry for you."
With that she let herself back into the hospital room without a second glance back to her distraught brother.
It was harsh, she had known it but there was almost no other way to get into his head - she knew him well enough to know that much.