“The emergency doctors ran some quick tests including an ultrasound and some blood work, and discovered she had a ruptured ectopic pregnancy. This means a fertilized egg had implanted outside of the uterus—in her case, in one of her fallopian tubes—and the tube burst, which is what caused the internal bleeding.”
I walk a few steps over to the chairs on numb legs and drop into one.Pregnancy.Internal bleeding.I feel my breath coming fast, like I still can’t get enough oxygen.The doctor walks over and sits on a chair near mine. “She was pregnant?”
“She likely didn’t know because she had an IUD. Unfortunately, IUDs can increase the risk of an ectopic pregnancy, though the risk is very low. Now, because this was a life-threatening condition, we had to move quickly and get her into surgery to stop the bleeding. We performed what’s called a unilateral salpingectomy, which means we removed the ruptured fallopian tube. It was necessary in order to get the bleeding under control and to prevent further complications. The other tube and her uterus were not affected.”
Life-threatening.
“Is she—” I start. I try twice to clear the lump in my throat. No luck. “Is she going to be okay?” I don’t recognize my own voice.
“She’s stable now, which is great. We expect her to make a full recovery. And as soon as she’s moved to a room, you can go see her. It should be another fifteen to twenty minutes until they move her over. Can I get you some water?”
I shake my head again.
She hesitates. “All right. I’m going to have Maggie come get you when Ellie is in her room. She works with her and will be monitoring her through the night. Once Ellie’s awake, I’ll cometalk to her and share everything I just told you. She might be a little groggy and confused at first, since she was in and out of consciousness before the surgery.”
I nod to let her know I understand. It takes a minute, but then I hear her get up and the door click shut behind her.
Stable. Full recovery.I try to focus on those two things, but my mind is determined to focus on everything else.
Ellie was pregnant. I wait for the panic that normally accompanies that idea, but all I feel is sadness. Shewaspregnant. And it almost killed her. My body shudders at that thought. Isshegoing to be sad? They said her other tube is okay, so she should still be able to have babies, right? If she wants to? She’s never explicitly said, but based on how things went with her ex, I assume she wanted kids then at least. Would she want kids with me?I hope so.
The foreign thought takes me by surprise. And then a knock at the door brings me back to reality. First I’m going to make sure Ellie is okay with my own eyes. Then we can deal with everything else.
CHAPTER FORTY-FIVE
ELLIE
I wakeup to the rhythmicbeep beep beepof monitors and the familiar hum of the air circulator I only associate with hospitals. Did I fall asleep at work?
My eyelids feel heavy, almost like they’re stuck together. I flex my fingers and gently scratch the fabric under them. Definitely not my sheets. And something is stuck to my wrist—an IV? There’s a gentle, warm pressure around my ankle and it’s the only comforting thing I can focus on. Ugh, why is my brain so foggy?
I finally peel my eyes open a sliver and try to blink away the blur. I survey the room the best I can. I’m definitely in the hospital and I’m definitely a patient. What happened? I don’t remember coming here. I try to dig through my brain for my most recent memory.
Hockey. Right. I was in pain at the game. Did I get a ride to the hospital after all? Shit, I bet it was my appendix if I’m here.
I hear a monitor reflect my newly elevated heart rate and turn to look at it. My gaze catches on a large, slumped figure next to me. I blink a few more times to dispel the fuzziness and some of my anxiety melts away at the sight.
Matt’s head is resting next to my thigh, facing away from me. His hand is under the blanket near my feet. Ah, the gentle pressure on my ankle makes sense now. I stretch my fingers until they graze his soft hair, lightly touching the back of his scalp.
His head leaves its position so suddenly my fingers are frozen in midair.
Matt’s face is full of relief and something else. He leans forward and gently cups my face, planting soft kisses on my lips, eyes, cheeks, chin, hair. He’s saying something, but I can’t quite hear it. I strain my ears as he goes to kiss my temple and I finally make out his words.
“You’re okay. You’re okay. You’re okay,” he continues to mumble.
Involuntary tears collect at the corner of my eyes with Matt’s feather-like touches. I squeeze them tight. He pulls away and I feel his thumbs swipe under my eyes. I peel them back open to look at him.
“Hi, baby,” he breathes. “You scared the shit out of me. Please don’t do it again.” Matt sniffs and I notice the watery rim of his eyes.
“Sorry,” I croak-whisper. I sound awful, jeez. My mouth feels like sandpaper.
“I forgive you.” Matt gently offers me a sip of water from a cup I didn’t notice before returning it to the bedside table. He gives me a wobbly smile and brings one of my hands to his face. He holds it with both of his in front of his mouth.
I try to swallow, but it still feels like sand is lodged there. “What happened?” I ask him. He opens his mouth, but then the door opens softly and a doctor walks in. I don’t fully recognize her, but she looks familiar. I think her name starts with an S? Maggie is behind her, and the sight brings me relief.
“Hi, Ellie,” the doctor says. “I don’t think we’ve worked together yet. I’m Dr. Farah Sultana from the OB-GYN department. How are you feeling?”
Everyone hears it as my heart rate picks up.OB-GYN?
