It took a few minutes before Nate could get James to wake up and when he did, there were several people around him after hearing the commotion. James landed hard but couldn't of hit his head on anything but the floor and it was a brand new plush carpet so it cushioned some of the blow. James moaned when he opened his eyes and turned his from side to side to figure out what happened. He was dazed and confused.
"You alright, James?"
"yeah, I think so…" he said slowly but not slurred. "What happened?"
"You fainted."
"From what?"
"You got a bit of surprising news but everything's fine. I think we should get you checked out though, you had a pretty hard landing."
"No, I'm alright." he said as he tried to get up. He got to his feet with some help from the staff and quickly lost his balance and shuffled backwards into the wall. He tried to shake it off but it made him dizzy and it hurt. "Ow…"
"How about now?" Nate asked about the hospital again. This time James agreed and his assistant drove him over to the emergency room. It wasn't all that busy so he was seen pretty quickly, he still felt dizzy and he had a dull ache but the doctor checked him over and said he would be fine, there was no sign of a concussion. He sat for a little while in the examination room trying to get the throbbing in his head to stop, the calm hustle of the ER kept him focused on what was going on but at the same time he wasn't listening. When it became busy and several pages made suddenly he listened a little more intently. A car accident case was coming in two of the passengers were beat up pretty good, one of which was a pregnant woman. He sat up straight at the words, ignoring the pain his head as his heart beat faster; he had forgotten up until now that he had just received news that Katie was pregnant and just gave birth to triplets. His mind began swirling again with all the thoughts he had just had at the studio but had to stop as the throbbing became unbearable. He put his hands to his head and laid back with a thud and waited for it to subside.
Upstairs, Katie was just coming out of her induced sleep and although groggy she was pretty energetic. She couldn't feel any pain at the moment but once the pain meds wore off and she became more alert she would settle back down. She was doing fine thus far and recovering nicely. She had yet to make any indication about what happened or why she was there, she also made no mention of her children. Doctors assumed that she may not have known, especially since because of the urgency of her case, she was knocked out immediately to deliver all three. In order to prevent any relapse or stress, they wanted to wait before making any mention of it.
Back in the ER, James was still trying to make heads or tails out of everything while trying to ease the pressure in his skull. It had stopped throbbing as hard since he had gotten here and was now more bearable; which was great because he was being discharged. He was led out to the waiting room and dismissed and looked around for Nate's Assistant, Natalie who was his ride home but she was nowhere to be found. He checked outside thinking that maybe she had gotten a phone call but she wasn't there either. He waited a little bit outside, enjoying the fresh air before going back inside to find her at the reception desk. He was behind her so she didn't see him but he picked up on her conversation.
"That's right, I need to check in on her condition. Last name P-R-Y-Z-S-W-E-I-C."
"She's in a stable condition according to this, she's recovering nicely and woke up this morning with quite a bit of energy."
"I want to see her." James said suddenly
"Oh, James you scared me." Natalie replied in shock
"I want to see Katie, if she's awake it means she can have visitors right?" James asked
"Yes she can." the receptionist said
"But you cant see her, only staff can." Natalie insisted
"Why cant I? Why am I the one being shafted? I deserve to see her, its my fault she's even here! It's bad enough that I have to deal with everything that's going on and that I don't know what to do or where to turn but how can I get a start anywhere if you guys wont let me try myself first?" James retorted, getting louder.
"James, you need to calm down. You're causing a scene." Natalie begged
"Answer me! Why wont you let me see her?" He said stiffly grabbing Natalie's shoulders. She paused and stared at his desperate eyes.
"It's possible that she doesn't know she was pregnant. She might not know that she just delivered three lives. She was put under quickly because of complications they were having, one of the triplets isn't doing well and if one or none of them make it then maybe it's best she doesn't know. You know as well as everyone else what she has been through. She hasn't asked about them at all, she could possibly resent them for being a product of something that ruin a part of her life. We don't know what's going on in her head." she explained
"Somehow I can't believe that. Katie is a caring person, she cares for animals like they are her own children and even unknown human children she can mother. I also don't think she is as dumb as you're trying to make her seem to be. I do know what she went through and I do know what she is like. Whether or not you want me to see her, I don't care, I'll search this hospital top to bottom to find her." He argued before leaving them to begin his search.
He finally found her room with the help of an orderly wondering the hall of the ward she was in. She wasn't even in the maternity ward, she was in a regular patient room. He walked in but saw her asleep, or at least he thought, she turned over to him and he greeted her with a smile. He was out of breath from his long jog trying to find her. He took a moment for himself before he was at her side.
"How are you feeling?"
"Alright I guess, I'm bored and tired. I've been here for a few days now and feeling better each day." she said a little distant.
"Good to hear. I'm sorry I couldn't visit sooner."
"It's ok" she said. She wasn't being pushy or rude but there was an underlying tone of impatience, frustration and distance. James could sense it but didn't know how to ask what was wrong.
"You know you can tell me anything right?" he asked. She nodded in reply. "Then why don't you tell me what's on your mind?"
"I just feel like someone isn't telling me something. I don't know what it is that makes me think that though. I've been feeling sick for a while on and off but because of my condition I often feel this way, but the pain I felt at the studio was debilitating, I've never felt anything like that before." she explained. James just wanted to spill everything but he didn't. he still had many questions and wasn't sure how he felt about everything. Before the incident they were all best friends, but even after all the therapy and working together for several months and everything seemed normal, he couldn't help but feel a distance growing between them. He knew that what he did could never be taken back. They wished that everything went away and that everything could back to normal but maybe that was the problem, they were running away and left things unfinished. But how do you start a conversation like that?
"James?" Katie called to him. He came out of his thoughts and looked to her.
"Yeah?"
"How did you get time away from the studio to visit?"
"Oh I didn't. Nate said no one was supposed to visit while you recuperated for a few days. I'm here because I hit my head."
"You alright?"
"I'm good. No concussion, just a headache." he assured. "That's why I am the only one here, and I had to break away and try to find you. I just wanted to check in and see how you were doing and to tell you to get well soon." he smiled. She smiled back at him but they were interrupted by an upset Natalie.
"Mr. Diamond! It's time to leave." she said impatiently. He got up without question and gave her a pat on the shoulder before heading to the door. He turned and waved before being pushed out by Natalie as she closed the door behind them.
