“Excuse me, sir, are you family?”
“Yes, I’m her boyfriend.Is she and the baby going to be okay?”
“Right now they’re stable.I’ll be back in a few minutes to check on her.If she wakes up, try to keep her calm.”
I sit down beside her and take her hand.Sitting closer, I can see the faint black-and-blue marks around her eyes and a bruise on her cheek.She looks so fragile I’m afraid to touch her.I lightly brush a finger over her bruised cheek and put my hand on her stomach, my eyes not leaving her face, careful not to touch the wires from the machines she’s hooked up to that are beeping steadily.
“Baby, what happened to you?You’re supposed to be at home waiting for me.”
I can’t stand seeing her lying here like this.I stroke the unbruised side of her cheek with my hand, and her eyelids move and slightly open.Her head moves into the palm of my hand and I smile.I love her so much.I can’t talk; I clear my throat and wait for her to open her eyes fully.
“Nick,” she says in a whisper, sounding like her mother.
“Baby, I’m here.”
“Where am I?”
“You’re in the hospital.”
“The baby?”
She tries to move, and the monitors start beeping faster.I press my hand against her cheek to make her look at me.“Shh, the baby’s fine, you’re fine.You have to calm down.Don’t move.”
“Whwhats all that beeping, something’s wrong!”
“If you don’t calm down you’re going to make yourself and the baby sick.”I take her hand and put it over her stomach next to the strap checking the baby’s heartbeat, hoping that will calm her down.It seems to work.“See, the baby’s fine, as long as you stay calm and don’t upset yourself.Okay?”
She looks at me and blinks.“Okay.”
“You scared me.”
“I’m scared.”
“You’re going to be in big trouble.Why aren’t you where I left you?”She looks at me and doesn’t say anything, her lips quivering.The last thing I want is for her to start crying and get upset again.“You don’t have to say if it’s going to upset you.I won’t be angry.I don’t want anything to happen to you or the baby.”
“I don’t remember a lot.I was at my parents’ house.”
“Why?”
“I don’t quite remember why.All I know is I was at the top of the steps and Kate was there.She was holding my arm, I think we were struggling, and I have the feeling she was angry, so angry.She was looking down at me, and I was scared.”
“I’m here with you.”
“I shouldn’t have gone over there.I put the baby’s life in danger; it would be my fault if something happened to the baby.”
“No, it wouldn’t.The baby is going to be fine.”
“I don’t want anything to happen to the baby.Promise me, Nick.”
“I promise.You need to rest.You’re upsetting yourself, and it’s not good.Hold my hand.”I squeeze her hand, and she’s crying.I look at the machines when I hear the beeps steadily increasing with each sob leaving her.Oh my God!“Cat!”Her eyes roll back in her head and she’s shaking uncontrollably, the machines go off like crazy pinball machines pinging and beeping.Nurses and doctors rush into the room, pushing me out the way.
“What’s wrong with her?”A nurse shouts at me to move.So many people are around her I can’t see her.Another nurse steps in front of me, blocking me from getting to her.
“What’s wrong with her, tell me what’s wrong?”
“She has a concussion, and now she’s having a seizure, and her blood pressure has spiked.The baby’s in fetal distress.We need to stabilize her and perform an emergency C-section.”
“It’s too early, she not due yet!”
