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Benji never called Mila by her name, not since he found out it could be a feminine version of Michael. He called her “M” or “Kiddo”. Dana had chosen it. He liked to believe she hadn't known, but the way she flipped through baby naming books when pregnant, the odds of that were slim.
The doctors working on her kept calling her Mila. Saying her name like they knew her. Maybe they did. Dana had brought the girls into work enough.
He went to reach for Dana, but she wasn't there at his side. But at Robby’s, hand in his. Almost as if she let go, the world might stop spinning.
Their daughter was dying in front of their eyes, and she chose Robby to cling to. Not her husband, not the father of her children. Benji had never needed her more than he did right then and she wasn't there.
“She's going to be fine physically,” Jack Abbot said, looking directly at Dana and Robby. Benji felt like he might as well not even be in the room. “But we've all done this job long enough to know that amount of pills is not an accidental overdose.”
“My daughter wouldn't ever be so selfish as to try and kill herself, she wouldn't,” Benji snapped, crunching the paper cup in his hand. “Screw you for even suggesting she would.”
“She's been depressed for months,” Dana shot back. Like all this was his fault. She was still so close to Robby that their bodies could easily be stitched together to become one. “She was going to counselling until you told her that she didn't need that new age bullshit. That Evans get a grip and get on with things.”
He didn't miss Robby’s hand going to the small of Dana's back or that Jack looked as if he wanted to be anywhere but in this room. It was on the tip of his tongue to tell her if she was ever bloody home then maybe Mila wouldn't be depressed. Just to see her hurt.
But their marriage was too fragile for both to fling blame at the other. It just wouldn't survive it.
“Look, why don't we call your sister so she can tell Mary Cecilia that Mila is going to be okay,” Robby suggested softly to Dana. The way her face softened almost instantly made Benji want to throw up.