My Heart Beats Only For You: A Future AU
I was woken up by the sound of beeping.
Mechanical beeping.
I opened my eyes.
The room was mostly white and it was very cold.
I looked to my left, where Atem was sleeping.
I rolled over onto my side.
All the pieces then came together.
This was the hospital and all that Egypt stuff was just a... dream?
I sighed and attempted to wake Atem.
"Psst. Atem. Atem?"
I took a moment and thought, then noticed a few pieces of paper lying on a table next to me.
I picked one up, wadded it, and threw it at him. He twitched slightly and continued sleeping. I sighed and picked up another piece, wadded it, and threw it. He twitched again and opened his eyes.
"M-Mana? Is that you? Can't be. You've been on life support for weeks," he mumbled.
"No, you dummy, it is me," I said.
A big smile crept across his face.
"You mean, you're not dead?"
I nodded.
"Of course not! I would never die on you," I told him.
He chuckled slightly and rushed over to hug me.
"I thought you had left me, Mana, and I wasn't ready," he said as he started to cry.
I hugged him tighter.
"It's okay now, baby, I'm here. Everything's alright. Shh," I tried to comfort him.
Within seconds, his crying had stopped and his breathing steadied.
"So, can you remind me of the events leading up to my almost death?" I asked.
He nodded.
"Well, it all started a few weeks ago when I proposed to you," he started.
"Okay, so we're engaged?"
He nodded.
"We had started to plan our wedding when you got sick. You started having dizzy spells and sleeping a lot. And one day, I came home, since we're living together, and you were asleep. I tried to wake you, but you weren't breathing. I-I called an ambulance and they revived you. You weren't expected to make it through these weeks. But, you did," he finished.
I stared at him in question.
The machine started to beep faster.
"Cupcake, calm down. It really wasn't that bad," he said.
"I am calm," I told him.
He chuckled slightly.
"Babe, the machine monitors your heart rate."
"So?"
"It beeps with the beats of your heart."
I was very confused.
"What do you mean?"
He sighed.
"Cupcake, you know this stuff already. I mean, you went to nursing school," he said.
I giggled.
"Why don't you remind me how it works?"
He sighed.
"How about you ask the RN when she comes back?"
I smiled.
"Okay."
He laid down next to me.
"Baby, you're squishing me," I whined.
"Deal with it," he said with a smile.
I giggled and rested my head on his shoulder.
He hugged me closer and gently pushing my head against his chest as the beats of his heart provided the perfect soundtrack for a nap.
~Later~
It wasn't long before Atem shook me awake.
"Sweetheart, the nurse is here to take your vitals. You gotta wake up."
I slowly opened my eyes as the nurse took my arm.
"The doctor will be here in a few minutes," she said as she took my blood pressure, "Try to be still, Mana."
I nodded slightly as she wrote some things down on a clipboard.
As soon as she finished, the doctor came in.
"It's good to see you awake, Mana," he said.
"It's good to be awake, Doctor," I replied.
He smiled and said, "Everything looks fine for right now, but we want to keep you for a bit to monitor your recovery."
"And, what of the baby?" asked Atem.
I shot him a questioning yet rude look.
"We'll do an ultrasound tomorrow to find out more about that," he answered.
He turned to walk out.
"Excuse me, sir?" I asked.
He turned and faced me.
"Yes?"
"H-How does that thingy work?" I asked, pointing to the monitor screen.
"The heart rate monitor?"
I nodded.
He walked over.
"You see those sticky pads on your chest?" he asked me.
I nodded.
"Those can feel your heartbeat on your skin, and they send electric signals over to the monitor. You following?"
I nodded again.
"I think so."
"Okay, so the electric currents turn into those lines on the screen. So, those lines are really your heartbeat. Cool, huh?"
I nodded.
"Very. Atem over there said I already knew how it worked, cause I went to nurse school. I guess I forgot," I giggled.
He smiled.
"I told him you'd forget stuff when you woke up. I have another patient to take care of. Maybe we can chat more later. Bye, Mana."
And with that, he left.
"He seemed friendly," I said.
"A little too friendly, if you ask me," Atem replied.
I giggled.
"Atem, you have nothing to worry about. I would never cheat on you, especially not now, with our baby coming."
I put emphasis on baby so he'd get the message.
"I see. You're mad because I didn't say anything about the baby," he said.
"Bingo."
He sighed.
"I didn't want to get your hopes up, especially since the baby is a contributing factor to our engagement."
"You mean, you're only marrying me for our child?" I asked.
"No! No, no. I'm marrying you because I love you. The baby only helped," he explained.
"Gotcha," I said with a smirk, "You should have seen the look on your face."
He sighed.
"I saw right through you. I was only putting on," he mumbled.
"Sure, whatever you say, big guy," I giggled.
He smiled at me.
"So, about earlier," I said.
"What about earlier?"
"Before I fell asleep, you said something about the machine thingy having something to do with me being worried."
He sighed.
"Not this again."
"Yes, this again. Now, explain."
"Okay. Remember how he said those lines are your-"
"Heartbeat, yeah. We established that."
"Okay. Well, notice how the beeps are in sync with the lines?"
I stopped and looked, listening to the beeps as they went with the lines.
"Yeah, so you mean that since the beeps are in sync with the lines, then if the lines and the beeps get faster, it means my heart's going faster?"
He nodded.
"Indicating that you're exercising, stressed or scared."
"Ooooh, I get it now."
I listened to the fast beeping from the monitor.
"I suppose that beeping is from the exercise from my brain," I said with a giggle.
Atem chuckled and looked out the window.
"Hey, look. It's dark outside. Why don't we go to sleep?"
I nodded and yawned.
When I closed my eyes, I soon fell asleep.
~The Next Day~
I felt a slight nudging against my skin.
"I'm sleeping," I groaned.
"You gotta wake up. It's time for your ultrasound."
I flashed a smile as a few nurses walked into the room with a machine which I assumed to be the ultrasound machine.
"Okay, Miss Muto (we're going to assume that Atem's last name is Muto and that Mana has already taken on his name), are you ready?" said one nurse that I knew to be my nursing school buddy, Mikayla.
"Ready as I'll every be, Mikayla," I said.
She smiled and picked up a part of the machine.
"This is the Doppler," she said.
She turned and looked at the heart monitor.
"Don't worry, girly. This won't hurt a bit," she reassured me.
I nodded as she started the ultrasound.
In a moment, she pointed to a part of the screen.
"You see that itty bitty thing right there?" she asked.
I nodded.
"That's little baby Muto."
I smiled.
"Really?" asked Atem.
She nodded.
"Mmhmm. He's less than one inch long. Only about two centimeters."
"Atem, do you see her?" I asked.
"Yeah, I see her. Or him," he answered.
It was then I noticed a sound I'd never heard.
"Mikayla, what's that sound?" I asked.
"What sound?"
"Th-That sound. It sounds like horses galloping or something like that."
"Oh, that sound. That's your baby's heartbeat," she answered.
I smiled wide as I started crying.
"Cupcake, what's wrong?" Atem asked me.
"Nothing, it's just so wonderful. It truly is a miracle that our baby's okay," I told him.
He smiled and hugged my neck. I sniffled.
"I shouldn't be crying," I said, "This isn't something to cry about."
"It's okay, Miss Muto, a lot of first time mothers cry when they hear the baby's heartbeat. It offers a sort of reassurance that the baby is alive and okay," said Mikayla.
"Mikayla, I forgot to ask. Who are those other nurses?" I asked.
"Oh, they're nurses in training who needed some hands-on experience," she answered.
"Oh. When will I start showing?"
"In about a week, though it could be longer," she answered.
I sighed happily as she finished up.
"Okay, we're all done and I printed up a picture from the ultrasound so you can keep it for the baby book," she said, handing the picture to Atem, who put it in his suitcase.
After Mikayla and the training nurses had left, I turned to Atem.
"So, what's in the suitcase?" I asked.
"Clothes, and now a picture of our baby," he answered with a chuckle.
I smiled, but started to feel nauseated.
"Atem, help me to the bathroom," I said, attempting to stand up.
"What's the matter?" he asked, taking my hand.
"I feel like I could throw up," I told him.
He pulled me up and guided me to the bathroom.
He helped me onto the floor and stooped down next to me, holding my hair back as I coughed up the practically nonexistent contents of my stomach.
Atem took a ponytail holder from his suitcase and put my hair up.
"Thank you, Fluffer Nutter," I managed to say.
"No problem, Cupcake," he replied, kissing behind my ear.
I smiled as Atem helped me off the floor and back into bed.
He went into the bathroom and returned a few seconds later with a washcloth. He started to wipe off my face around my mouth.
"What are you doing?" I asked.
"You had a little, you know, on your face," he told me as he put the washcloth in the hamper and got a tiny bottle of mouthwash out of his suitcase and a plastic cup which he had been drinking water out of a bit earlier.
"This'll make your breath taste better. I can imagine it doesn't taste very good right now," he said as he handed the mouthwash to me.
I put a little in my mouth and swished it around, then spit it out in the cup.
"Thanks, baby," I said with a small smile.
"Anytime, sweetheart."
I sighed and said, "Fluffer Nutter, how do you want the baby to be born?"
"What do you mean?" he asked.
"Well," I said, "There's so many different things we could do. I think I want to do a water birth at home. What do you think?"
"Isn't that dangerous? Won't the baby drown?"
I giggled slightly.
"No, baby. The baby is already in fluid and he will be until he's born. It would be totally safe, unless there was the possibility of premature birth," I told him.
"Wow, you seem to know a lot about this," he said.
"Just like you said. I did go to nursing school," I said with a giggle, "Now, if we have a home birth, we'll probably need a midwife. Say, isn't your mother a midwife?"
He nodded.
"Good. She probably won't charge as much as another midwife since she's family."
"Aren't you getting the cart ahead of the horse?" he asked with a chuckle.
I giggled at him.
"I suppose so," I said, "But, it doesn't hurt to be prepared. Though, there could be complications and we'd have to transfer to an actual hospital. That would be terrifying."
Atem's eyes widened in horror.
Everything went quiet.
So quiet, I could have sworn I heard Atem's heart beating.
"So," Atem broke the silence, "What kind of complications could occur?"
"Any number of things. But don't worry. Most are rare. Anyways, I see on the internet that normal resting heart rate for adult females is around 70 beats per minute," I said.
"So?"
"So," I continued, "Mine is 90 right now and I'm resting."
"Well, I'm not a doctor, so I couldn't tell you. But, I do know that you're not having a heart attack," he said with a chuckle.
I picked up the last piece of paper from the table next to me, wadded it, and threw it at him.
"No crap, Sherlock."
(Must. Resist. Urge. To time skip.)
I pressed the nurse button and explained the situation and asked for a nurse.
A few minutes later, a nurse walked in the door.
"I hear your a bit worried about your heart rate," she said.
I nodded.
"Isn't it supposed to be slower by about 20 beats?" I asked.
She smiled.
"Normally, yes, though it still wouldn't be serious. But, since you're making another little human being inside you, your heart has to work harder. Nothing to be afraid over," she said, her smile not fading.
I returned the smile.
"Thank you. I'm just so stressed over all this stuff that's been happening and I could swear I could feel my heart pounding in my chest," I told her, gesturing towards my heart.
"You probably did," she said, "Oftentimes, stress can cause heart palpitations that can feel like your heart's pounding out of your chest or that it's skipped a beat."
She turned on her heels and left.
"That makes me feel better," I said, "Atem, did you know all that stuff?"
"Can't say I did, Cupcake," he answered.
He stood up.
"I'm going to get some food. I'll be right back," he said, kissing my forehead.
"Don't be long," I called after.
Around fifteen minutes, he returned, pizza in hand.
The smell made me gag visibly.
"What's the matter with you?" asked Atem.
"The smell of your lunch makes me wanna puke," I said sharply.
"But, you love pizza!" he said.
"Please, just eat it somewhere else before I barf on you," I said with a slight giggle.
He smiled, said, "Fine." and left.
A few minutes later, the doctor came in.
"Good afternoon, Miss Muto. Where's your boyfriend?" he asked.
"I told him to take his pizza somewhere else. I couldn't stand the smell," I said, "It's strange, though. Pizza is my favorite food."
"That's quite normal during pregnancy," he explained, "It's because you have a heightened sense of smell."
I nodded to show I understood.
"We'll wait for your boyfriend to get back to discuss your condition."
We sat in silence for a few minutes until Atem returned.
"I finished my pizza now. Oh, hello, doctor," he said upon noticing the doctor in the room.
"Hello, Mr. Muto. I was just here to discuss Mana's health," he said.
"Okay. Go for it."
The doctor chuckled and said, "She's cleared to go home now."
Both I and Atem smiled wide.
"Yay!" I exclaimed as I hugged Atem tightly, "You did bring me something to change into, right?"
He nodded.
"Even prepared just in case you didn't wake up till you were showing," he said.
He grabbed my clothes out of his suitcase as the nurse who came with the doctor took my IV out of my arm.
I changed my clothes and Atem took my hand as we left.
"I'm so excited to go home, Atem, I've missed it so much," I said excitedly as I watched the scenery go by on our ride home.
He smiled at me.
"I know you are. How about I put on some of your favorite music to quicken the ride?"
I nodded.
"Sure, but I can't remember my favorite kind of music," I told him.
"Well, then it'll be like your first time all over again."
He plugged a cord into his phone and turned on a song.
When it started, I recognized it mostly.
I started to sing.
"Careless, careless. Shoot anonymous, anonymous. Heartless, mindless. No one who care about me."
Then, the singer started to sing a different language.
"Woah, what language is that?" I laughed.
"Korean," replied Atem, "It's K-pop."
"Oh. I remember now," I said, "Hey, play "Bang Bang Bang"."
"Sure thing."
And we jammed the whole way home.