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I blink. Now I know I’m hallucinating because that didn’t sound like Sophie. That sounded like Danny.

I don’t answer. I can’t. But then there are hands on me, calling my name again. The fact that I can’t speak is what clues me into the fact that something is wrong. Is this still a migraine, or something else?

“Something’s wrong, Sophie. We need to get her to the hospital now.”

I try to respond but everything goes black.

This time, when I wake up, I manage to open my eyes and not feel like I’m about to die, though I do feel like something someone might have chewed up and spat out. I glance around and realize I’m in a hospital room with no understanding of why. I quickly press my hands to my stomach and swallow down a wave of relief when I feel my swollen belly.

The door to the room opens, and in steps an arguing Danny and Sophie. Danny with a tray of drinks in his hand, Sophie with a random bowl of fruit.

“Mum!” Sophie shouts when she sees I’m awake. She slides the fruit onto the table before hurrying over. She wraps her arms around me and squeezes tightly. I squeeze her back, though my arms shake while doing it.

“I’m okay,” I whisper, not sure if that’s true or one of those things mums tell their kids so they don’t worry.

She pulls back just as Danny moves in closer. “You are not fine. You were unconscious when we found you. You scared the shit out of me.”

“I’m sorry.”

“Don’t do it again,” he says gruffly before bending down to hug me. I wrap my arm around him and breathe him in, feeling tears prick my eyes. It feels like it’s been a lifetime since I’ve seen him and even longer since I got to hold him.

I let him go before it becomes weird. He pulls back, looking at my face with concern. “How are you feeling?”

“Confused mostly. What are you doing here? What am I doing here?”

“What do you remember?” Sophie asks.

I think back to the bar and the migraine. “I got a migraine at work last night. They sent me home. Everything’s a little hazy after that.”

“You didn’t work last night. We were supposed to catch a movie, but you didn’t answer my texts. And when I came over, you didn’t answer. I thought maybe you’d made up with Lick,” Sophie says.

Danny clears his throat and crosses his arms, but I ignore him. He’s my son, not my father.

“God, I should have known something was wrong. You passed out, and I went home in a huff, thinking you’d blown me off when you’ve never done that a day in your life. What is wrong with me? Have I always been such a⁠—”

“Sophie. This isn’t about you, so chill. Besides, when you still couldn’t reach her, you came and got me, didn’t you? You didn’t exactly ghost her for a week and denounce her all over social media.” He shakes his head before turning back to me.

“She called you for me, and you came?”

He sighs and takes the chair next to the bed before wrapping one of his hands around mine. “Soph has been filling me in over the last few weeks. I wasn’t really sure where we stood or if we could fix what was broken. I just…always felt like we were so different–that maybe you didn’t get me, and I didn’t get you.”

“I think all kids and parents feel that way sometimes.”

“I know. And seeing you like that? God, I thought for a minute that you were dead, and I realized how much of a fucking idiot I’d been.”

“Language!”

He chuckles, relaxing in his seat as Sophie passes him a cup he must have placed on the table. He takes it and fixes his stare on me. “It seems we have a lot to catch up on, Mum.”

“Yeah. I guess we do. But first, can someone tell me why the hell I’m here?”

“You passed out. They were worried about pre-eclampsia, but your blood pressure is back to normal, and they found next to no protein in your wee, whatever that means,” Sophie says, sitting on the edge of the bed.

Danny sighs. “It means you need to take it easy, Mum.”

“Easier said than done.”

“I know, but that’s my baby brother or sister in there, so if you can’t do it for you, do it for them.”