When she walks away, I don’t waste any time as I open the door and stalk into the room. And the sight fucking guts me.
Sitting in a hospital bed is Teagan with wires hooked up to her and her belly, and tears are streaming down her face.
Seeing her look so vulnerable, scared and sad is the worst thing I’ve ever had to witness in my entire life.
“Mon coeur…” My voice cracks as I make it to her side.
“What…what are you doing here?” she hiccups. “You’re supposed to be pitching.”
I take her hand gently in mine, bringing it to my lips as I press a kiss there. “You think I care about a game when the woman I love is in the hospital?”
Her lip trembles as she sucks in a breath, her brown eyes glossy.
I lean down and softly kiss her, then pull away, looking into her eyes as I say, “I love you. Baseball isn’t my future anymore. You and Blueberry are. I’m exactly where I want to be.”
She nods shakily, her voice cracking as she says, “What if something’s wrong with our daughter?”
“We will deal with it together, okay?” I assure her as I kiss her once more.
There’s a knock on the door, followed by a voice. “May I come in?”
“Yes,” Teagan calls out, and the doctor walks into the room.
“Hi, I’m Dr. Dean,” she introduces herself to Teagan and me. “I heard you’ve experienced some cramping and spotting today. Is that right?”
“Yes,” Teagan admits as she squeezes my hand.
“Spotting in the second trimester can be caused by a few things, so it’s a good thing you came in. I’m going to do a physical exam and ultrasound to make sure that everything looks good, but just before we start, have you had any sexual intercourse recently?”
“We have,” I answer, noting the red hue on Teagan’s cheeks that tells me she probably didn’t want to answer this question.
Dr. Dean fixes her glasses on her nose, then says, “That could be the cause of it, but I’ll go ahead with the exams and get some samples just to cover our bases, all right?”
Teagan nods at the doctor as I squeeze her hand reassuringly as the doctor prepares for the physical exam.
Once that’s done, along with the ultrasound that shows our little girl, the sound of her heart beating, it feels like I can breathe again.
“Is the baby going to be okay?” Teagan asks as Dr. Dean moves the doppler over her belly.
“Yes. I want you to call your OB and schedule to see them in a few days to follow up, but you have nothing to worry about,” Dr. Dean explains, calm and collected.
“Will do,” I reply, unable to take my eyes off my baby on the screen. God, I can’t wait till she’s here. To hold her for the first time, see what color her eyes are, or the color of her hair.
After the ultrasound is finished, Dr. Dean says, “If you have any more questions, have a nurse page me. I’d like you to stay the night to relax and we’ll monitor things, along with getting your blood and urine results back. Then you can leave tomorrow.”
“Thank you so much,” Teagan and I say in unison.
“Of course,” Dr. Dean replies with a curt smile, then leaves the room.
“See, everything’s going to be okay.” I turn to Teagan, noticing the lingering fear in her eyes.
“I know. It was just so scary. I can’t imagine anything happening to her,” she says as she rubs a hand over her belly.
“Multiply that by two and that’s exactly how I felt. Imagining anything happening to you two is the worst kind of torture.”
“It’s going to suck, not being able to be as active as much anymore.” She sniffles, wiping at her cheeks.
“I know, but we need to keep you rested,” I try to comfort her, knowing this situation isn’t ideal, but at least it’s not dire.
