Charlie stood there: trying to make sense of what she had just heard. Her stomach turned and she leaned against the wall to try and regain her composure. Mike was laying in his hospital bed, barely coherent, and recovering from his kidnapping and even after all of the shit that had been hanging in the air between him and Paige over the past few months, he had still asked for her. It didn't take long for Charlie to put two and two together, if Mike was asking for Paige, and Paige had written Mike that letter, then they must've been together at some point, meaning Mike was probably the father. Did Mike know? She wondered, hell did Paige even know? She couldn't convince herself that Paige would've gone through with her suicide attempt if she had known she was pregnant, but then again, everything that had happened had been so dark and heavy between the two that she really couldn't be certain. If Mike knew when he asked for Paige he would've mentioned that reason, and since as far as Charlie was concerned the two hadn't been on speaking terms, she decided that there was no way Mike actually knew that he had gotten Paige pregnant. Charlie looked through the dark window into Paige's room. The blonde was spread out on the stark white hospital bed, her hand (instinctively or purposefully Charlie didn't know) protectively resting on her stomach, which although at first glance still flat, if Charlie looked closely she could tell the baby bump was beginning to form. Charlie's heart dropped, she hadn't even realized that there was a chance that neither Paige nor the baby would wake up.
Mike laid in silence in his room, his eyes focusing on the white sheet of paper with Paige's loopy scrawl on it, he didn't know what he was going to do if she didn't wake up, he couldn't imagine living in such a cruel world without his beautiful ex-girlfriend. The word ex burned in his throat, after the whole fiasco that had landed him in the hospital he couldn't bring himself to be angry with her. He had been a shit of a guy over the past few weeks, he hadn't been honest and he hadn't been there for her when she needed him most. He had listened to her cry herself to sleep multiple nights, and he had wanted nothing more than to go crawl under her comforter next to her and wrap her in his arms and attempt to console her. But of course, he was the reason she was crying, he had made her miserable, and even though it had been unintentional, he regretted everything.
Sid had told him. He'd told him that it had been the pretty blonde who had given up Mike's location, without hesitation. Mike had initially been shocked, but the shock turned to sickness and he had to keep himself from throwing up at the mere thought that what he had done to Paige had been so bad that she had let him get kidnapped as punishment. He felt miserable, he didn't blame her, not when they hit him or cut him or shot him. He had felt nothing but numbness. Not once had he hated her, in fact throughout the torture he had been unable to escape memories of her, fond, loving ones. He still loved her, he decided he probably would never stop, and he wanted to let her know that, but he didn't think he'd get a chance to tell her when he'd felt the cold barrel of the gun against his temple. He prayed to God that she would be ok and that she would move on and have a family and a wonderful life. It was his dying wish for her to have a life, a good one, even if it didn't include him.
Paige's doctors were worried, some of her bodily fluid levels were way to high, and were consequently putting her recovery and her pregnancy at risk. She hadn't woken up yet, infact she had barely had any brain action over the past three days, and they were not optimistic on the baby's odds, although they felt certain she would be able to recover. They had to wait until she was conscious to test for disease that would interfere with labor, they were almost certain it was going to be a positive for one of the various threats. It took five days for her to regain consciousness, she blinked open her eyes and immediately began crying and asking if Mike was okay. Charlie assured her that Mike was going to be alright and Paige calmed down enough for the doctors to be able to talk to her.
"We are going to do some pre-natal tests, based on the amount of stress your body is going through we cannot promise that there will be a good conclusion but if you could just hang in there that would be very helpful." One of the tall doctors told her, Paige stared at him with confusion,
"Pre-natal? I'm not pregnant." She answered, lost in her head.
"Our tests show that you're about 10 weeks along." The doctor answered quickly and Paige's face turned ghostly white,
"Oh my god" She whispered, tears streaming down her face and absolute sorrow filling her heart, "what have I done. Mike..." She tinkered off, sobbing as the doctor prepared the tests.
It wasn't a surprise to anyone when the test came back,showing her heightened rate of miscarriage probability was almost 25%. She didn't know what to say, so she cried into Charlie's arms. She knew she needed to tell Mike, but she was in no condition to be moving from her bed, and Mike was still trying to recover. She hadn't even thought about if he would still want her, after almost getting him killed, if he would ever give her a second chance. She knew however, solely because of what a good person Mike was, that he would want to be a part of his child's life, even if it was completely clean of Paige. She was frightened that there was a 25% chance that she would lose the baby and even if she carried it to term the extreme dosage of pills she had taken would likely affect her birth, or even worse her child. She was disappointed in herself, and she knew Mike would be devastated, and maybe angry with her for putting his child in harms way.
Mike missed Paige. He hadn't seen her in almost three weeks, both had been told they couldn't leave their beds, of course Mike had no clue why Paige was on such intense bed rest. One night, he got tired of missing her and he pushed himself out of bed into the wheelchair that was by his bedside, and tried, as quietly as possible, to go see her. The wheelchair frustrated him to no end, but he had come to terms with what the doctor had told him, knowing that the only chance he had to fully recover was to listen to the doctors instructions, and if the doctor said he'd likely spend a year or so confined to the wheelchair then he was obliged to do it. The rolling of the wheels against the tile made a numb rumbling, and he tried to go quicker, feeling exhaustion setting in and knowing that she was right down the hall. He arrived outside her door to find it empty, no Paige in sight, and his stomach dropped. A tall doctor strolled by and Mike looked up at him
"Where is Paige Arkin?" He asked, and the doctor looked at him,
"Paige is down in the Antenatal department, it's floor 5, room 506." The doctor answered, Mike didn't think twice about which department Paige was in, all he heard was she was in room 506, and he was going to get to her. He rolled tiredly towards the elevator, rolling into it and pressing the button for the fifth floor. When he arrived he was suddenly surrounded by lots of powder blues and light pinks, and that was the moment he realized where he was. He thought maybe she was overflow from a different floor, and had been placed here because it was comfortable, and with that assumption comforting him he rolled towards room 506. He peered through the window, he saw her, lying, connected to a ton of monitors, she looked so sick and weak. He thought back to her note, and he felt nauseous looking at her. She looked so unlike the strong, powerful woman she was.
He let himself in, silently approaching her bedside, careful not to roll over any wires, he put his hand over hers and gripped her small hand in his. He felt her stir, and he felt bad, he didn't mean to wake her, but when she had looked over at him and burst into tears he had felt the urge to try and comfort her.
"I'm so sorry Mike." She cried, and he rubbed her hand,
"I'm going to be okay Paige, it's all going to be be alright, I never once was angry with you, I deserved what happened." He said softly and she started crying again,
"That's not all I'm sorry for." She whispered and he looked at her, confused, "I didn't know, I shouldn't have taken the pills, I didn't know Mike I didn't know. Please don't hate me." She peered at him, tears flowing down her cheeks,
"Paige I could never hate you." He answered and she looked at him, still miserable,
"It's not just me I hurt." She said quietly and he still looked lost, "I'm pregnant Mike." She said, she watched as his eyes turned a stormy blue,
"Who'd you sleep with? I thought you were too focused on hating me." He asked, he looked hurt, and she felt worse for what she was about to say.
"You. I'm 13 weeks pregnant, the last time we..." She looked at him, trying to read his reaction, his face softened, the hurt dissipated and all of a sudden he looked concerned,
"Paige, why are you apologizing?" He said as he looked at her quizzically,
"Because" she sniffled, "the pills I took hurt it, they said there's a 25% chance I'll lose the baby and even if I do carry to term she could be born with defects or I could have major complications. This isn't how I imagined having a family with you, not with me in a hospital and you in a wheelchair." She rambled, crying softly. Mike didn't hesitate to wrap her in his arms and whisper in her ear that he loved her and everything was going to be okay.