Baby Steps
Part Two
Thank you so much to everyone who reviewed the first part! Love you all loads - you rock:D Here's chapter two for you! Oh, I researched Kate's medical condition but if I've got any of the details wrong please forgive me, all of my medical knowledge comes from Grey's Anatomy and House!
Hope you enjoy this chapter, there is one or possibly two more to go!
Please review! Xxx.
Tony broke every limit as he sped towards the local hospital that happened to be Bethesda Naval Hospital. Every now and then he stole a sideways glance at Kate to see how she was holding up. Kate was trying to mask her pain but it was obvious that something was very wrong with either her or the baby.
"Hang in there, baby." Tony said as the pulled to a stop at traffic lights. He drummed his fingers impatiently on the steering wheel as he waited for the light to change to green again. He sped away as soon as the last car had passed him from the oncoming direction. When they finally reached the hospital Tony pulled into the first place he could find and placed NCIS identification on the dashboard so the car would get clamped or towed away. Tony went round to Kate's side of the car and helped her out and in the direction of the hospital. With his ID at the ready Tony barged his way up to the reception and demanded that someone should come and see to Kate straight away. He then helped her into a uncomfortable plastic chair in the waiting room and paced in frustration.
"Come and sit down honey." Kate said. "Please."
Tony could see that he was making Kate more anxious so he went and sat beside her, taking her hand in his and squeezing it gently.
"How are you feeling?" He asked softly.
Kate squeezed his hand back. "A little bit better I suppose."
A middle aged female doctor approached them and introduced herself.
"My name is Doctor Tamara Smith, you must be Caitlin Todd." She said to Kate who nodded her reply. "If you'd like to follow me Caitlin…" She said, helping Kate to her feet. "And if you'd like to wait here…Mr Todd…"
"DiNozzo." Tony replied. "Tony DiNozzo."
People had often wondered why they hadn't got married. They had been together for three years now and neither of them felt they needed a legal agreement to prove their love for each other. Tony had changed a lot from his playboy days and seemed truly happy in sharing a relationship of commitment with Kate. In fact it was his idea for them to start a family.
Dr Smith lead Kate away to an examination room leaving Tony alone to wait for the verdict.
"How far along are you Caitlin?" The doctor asked, closing the door to the small room and getting Kate to climb onto the operating couch.
"Five and a half months." She told the doctor who made a note of this in a file with Kate's name on the front.
"Your last ultrasound was two weeks ago, is that correct?" She asked and Kate nodded.
"Everything seemed normal then." Kate confirmed.
"Well, I'd like to do another one just to see what's going on." Dr Smith requested and began to get the ultrasound equipment ready. Kate lifted up her top and prepared for the coldness of the ultrasound gel, she winced as it came into contact with her bare skin.
Dr Smith carefully studied the picture on the screen, a crease forming on her forehead as she frowned. "Everything appears to be fairly normal for this stage in your pregnancy." She said, clearing up the equipment. "I'll take your blood pressure too."
Kate nodded, praying that everything would be normal. She couldn't even bare thinking about something bad happening to her and Tony's baby.
Tony had bought a cup of coffee from a vending machine and was absent-mindedly reading the sports section from one of the newspapers. He wasn't really paying attention, as his thoughts were too preoccupied with Kate and the baby. He looked up with a mixture of fear and relief as the double doors opened and Kate and the doctor reappeared. Tony leapt to his feet and walked over to them.
"Is everything okay?" His words tumbling over themselves in her rush to speak.
The doctor nodded. "Caitlin has a condition called preeclampsia, this isn't uncommon as around five percent of pregnant women develop it during their pregnancies, especially if they are having their first baby. We don't know what causes it but Caitlin has fairly high blood pressure, which doesn't help. She needs plenty of bed rest, no stress and a healthy diet with plenty of iron. If she finds herself feeling worse she knows to come back here straight away. Hopefully we've caught this early enough for it not to be an issue. Your baby seems to be very healthy so there should be very few complications."
The look of relief on Tony's face was obvious and Kate smiled. Tony took her hand.
"Thank you very much Doctor Smith." He said and Kate smiled her thanks.
"Bed rest and no stress? Do you think you can cope with that Katie?" Tony asked as he led her out of the hospital. Kate glared at him and Tony smiled, she was back.
"I'll call Gibbs in the morning and tell him I'm not coming in tomorrow." Tony told Kate, as they got into bed together not much later.
"It's fine Tony, honestly. Abby said she would come and see me tomorrow anyway." Kate replied, trying to get comfortable. It wasn't easy when you were five months pregnant.
"I thought Doctor Smith said no stress." Tony joked.
Kate reached out and prodded his arm. "It'll be good to see her anyway. I hate being on maternity leave; I want to be back at work. I wish Gibbs wasn't so stubborn."
Tony laughed. "That doesn't sound like anybody I know." This comment received another sharp jab in the arm from Kate.
"I don't want to leave you though." Tony said, on a serious note, for once.
"I'll be fine and I have your number and Doctor Smith's if I need anything. I'm pregnant not mentally ill Tony." Tony opened his mouth to speak but Kate glared at him. "Don't say a word DiNozzo." She warned.
"Kate!" Abby exclaimed, hugging her friend fiercely late the next morning. "Pregnancy just makes you more beautiful! When are you gonna hurry up and make me a godmother?!" She asked excitedly.
"Right now if you don't let go of me." Kate replied, half way between being humourous and serious.
Abby looked apologetic and released her grip on Kate, instead she rooted around in her large black shoulder bag covered with safety pins and badges for heavy metal bands Kate had never heard of before.
"I come bearing gifts." She said, thrusting a quickly defrosting tub of chocolate ice cream in Kate's direction and pulling out a stack of DVDs.
"You watch chick flicks?" Kate asked in surprise.
Abby nodded. "I make McGee watch them too." She laughed conspiratorially.
Kate arched an eyebrow and led Abby through to the living area and they sat down on the sofa.
"Let me put that in the freezer for you." Abby said, gesturing to the ice cream.
"It's okay I'll…"
Abby cut her off. "No you won't. I am under strict instructions from Tony to let you rest." She said firmly, taking the ice cream out to the kitchen. She came back into the room and put the first of the DVDs into the player. Abby then settled back into a chair and made sure Kate was comfortable on the sofa which had been made up as a bed for during the day. The opening credits were rolling just as the phone rang, startling both Kate and Abby. The Goth offered to answer, in fact she told Kate in no uncertain terms that she would answer it.
"Hello, the Todd-DiNozzo residence." She said and Kate stifled a laugh. "Oh, hey Tim." Kate couldn't hear the other side of the conversation that irritated but she had to let it go, nothing was going to stress her out and harm her baby.
"What did you say?" Abby asked, trying to keep her voice neutral. She swore and Kate made to get up off the sofa. She could sense that something was wrong. Taking a deep cleansing breath Abby hung up the phone and turned around in surprise to see Kate standing in front of her.
"What are you doing out of bed?" Abby asked.
Kate ignored the question. "What's going on Abby?"
Abby sighed deeply. "That was McGee, something's happened to Tony. He's being taken to hospital." She cringed as she watched Kate's face crumble as he hormones took over. Abby hugged the pregnant woman tightly, so much for bed rest and no stress.