Will just stared at Paul in disbelief. "What are you doing here?"
Paul shrugged his shoulders and sat down on the chair near the bed. "I wanted to make sure my baby-daddy is okay."
Will sneered at Paul. "I am NOT your baby-daddy." Will felt a pain in his lower back. He took a deep, cleansing breathe before saying, "How dare you come here and say that to me. This baby is my husband's."
Paul narrowed his eyes at the self-righteous tone of Will's voice. "Are you going to deny that we had sex around the same time you conceived that baby?" Paul pointed to Will's stomach.
Will unconsciously put his hands around his middle just as another sharp pain went across his back. Will shifted on the bed until the pain subsided slighted. "No, I'm not going to deny that. But we used protection. There is no way you are the father of this baby." Will wasn't sure who he was trying to convince, himself or Paul.
Paul nodded his head in agreement. "Then why ask the doctor to perform a paternity test? Why would you need one if you're so sure the baby is your husband's?"
Will's mouth hung open in shock. "I…didn't…you were eavesdropping?"
Paul huffed, "It wasn't hard to overhear. I was standing at the door when the doctor asked who else could be the father. Come on Will, just admit there is a possibility that I'm the father of that baby."
Will refused to answer.
Paul blinked and then tilted his head in thought. "Or could there be more possible baby-daddies than just Sonny and me?" Paul eyed Will. "Is that it?"
"No. I would never do that to Sonny." Will was practically in tears. "I love him." Will was feeling dizzy again and the pain in his back became sharper and lasted longer. He closed his eyes and continued to take deep breathes to help lessen the pain and dizziness. "Please leave." Will whimpered.
Paul was about to protest when the monitors Will was hooked up to began beeping out of control. Paul didn't know what to do.
The pain was unbearable. Through clenched teeth, Will whimpered once more. "Leave! Now!"
Before Paul could respond, Kayla, Maxine and a couple of other hospital personnel stormed into the room. Paul was pushed out of the way and ordered to leave the room. Paul took one last look at Will and left the room. He never meant for this to happen. He just wanted the truth from Will. Paul went to the waiting room and pulled out his phone and called Sonny. "Pick up. Pick up." Paul ran his hand through his hair waiting for Sonny to answer.
"'Ello?" Sonny's sleepy voice came through the phone.
"Sonny? It's Paul." Before Sonny could respond, Paul began to speak again. "Sonny, you need to get to the hospital right away. Something is happening with Will."
Sonny sprang from the bed and began putting his shoes on. "What is wrong with Will?" He left the room and went straight to the front door.
"I don't know." Paul said. "You just need to get here."
"I'm on my way." Sonny hung up the phone.
Paul closed his eyes and said a silent prayer. What have I done? I don't know what I'll do if Will loses the baby. At this point I don't care if the baby is mine or not as long as they are okay.
Adrienne was sitting with Ari at the kitchen table playing with blocks, when Sonny rushed past them. "Sonny? Is everything okay?"
"I've got to get to the hospital. Something is wrong with Will. Stay with Ari. I'll let you know what's happening the minute I do." Sonny kissed the top of Ari's head and left the apartment.
Paul was pacing the floor waiting for some news on Will. Please be okay. Please be okay. He heard commotion in the hall and left to investigate. He saw Sonny storming towards him.
Sonny looked around and after noticing Paul, ran toward him. "Paul! What happened? What's going on with Will?"
"I don't know. We were talking and all of a sudden he looked like he was in pain. The machines started going off and the next thing I knew, a bunch of doctors and nurses stormed the room and kicked me out before I could find out anything." Paul left out the part where he accused Will of lying about the paternity of the baby.
Before Sonny could respond, Kayla and Maxine were walking toward them. Their expressions were grim.
"Aunt Kayla, how are Will and the baby?" Sonny could feel his heart beating a mile a minute. "What is going on?"
"Sonny, let's go to the waiting room for a moment." Kayla took Sonny's hand and led him over to the waiting room.
Paul watched the two walk away and leaned against the wall. He closed his eyes and let out a shaky breath. It would be his fault if Will loses the baby. He looked over to the closed door and made a move toward it but stopped before he got close. You can't go in there! Paul turned and left the hospital.
Kayla gently guided Sonny into a seat and sat next to him. "Sonny, I'm not going to sugarcoat this." Kayla looked into her nephew's worried eyes. "Will experienced premature labor pains. We were able to stop them but it's going to be touch and go until it is safe to take the baby."
Sonny felt his entire world tilt off its axis. He couldn't believe this was happening. "Uh…uh…What do we do now?"
Kayla squeezed Sonny's hand. "Before I was called to Will's room, I spoke to Dr. Hollander, the specialist from Chicago and he agreed to come here to check out Will. Victor sent his private jet there to pick him up." Kayla saw the relief in Sonny's eyes. "If everything goes according to plan, he should be here in the next couple of hours."
"Is there anything you can do before Dr. Hollander arrives?" Sonny asked.
"We've given Will Terbataline to help stop the labor and to be honest, we don't know if it will have the same effect on men as it does on women. That is all we can do at the moment." Kayla had never felt more helpless in her entire career.
Sonny nodded his head. "Can I see him?"
"Of course." Kayla stood up from the chair she was sitting in. "I'm going to check on the status of Dr. Hollander's arrival. Sonny, remember to keep Will relaxed. Any additional stress is not good for him."
Sonny nodded his head in understanding and stood up. "I'll try my best. Thank you Aunt Kayla." Sonny left the room and went straight to Will's room.
He stood outside the room and looked into Will's room. Will's eyes were closed but Sonny knew he wasn't asleep because Will's hand was rubbing around his abdomen in soothing circles. Sonny took a deep breath and softly opened the door. "Will?"
Will opened his eyes and looked toward the sound of the voice. He smiled at his husband. "Hi." Will reached his hand out toward Sonny. He wanted to feel Sonny's strength.
Sonny cautiously walked over to Will and took the outstretched hand. He sat down on the bed and brought Will's hand to his lips. He placed small kisses across Will's knuckles being very aware of the wires protruding from his skin. "Everything is going to be okay. Aunt Kayla arranged for the specialist to fly up here today to check you out."
Will just nodded his understanding. He didn't know what he could say to Sonny about what happened. "I'm sorry."
Sonny looked into the beautiful, blue eyes and smiled. "You have nothing to be sorry about."
Will nodded his head. "Yes, I do. I got worked up instead of relaxing like I was supposed to. I put the baby in danger because of my stupidity." Will's voice hitched with emotion.
Sonny squeezed Will's hand. "Hey. It doesn't matter now. They were able to stop the labor and the baby is safe."
"For now."
"For always." Sonny moved closer to Will so their foreheads were touching. "I love you and I will make sure everything will be okay." Sonny placed a small kiss on Will's trembling lips. "I promise."
Will couldn't speak. How did I get so lucky? This man loves me in spite of everything I've done. Will nodded his head in agreement and leaned toward Sonny and connected their lips. Will wanted to feel Sonny close before everything blows up.
For the next couple of hours, Sonny and Will sat in comfortable silence both contemplating what the future will bring. Sonny was thinking about the baby and the changes they are going to need to make. He thought about the possibility of buying a house to give them more room when the baby is born. Sonny thought about what the future would be like with the four of them. Regardless of what they are going through, it was going to be okay in the end. Will on the other was not experiencing those good thoughts. He kept thinking about the chaos that will ensue once Sonny finds out he cheated and that the baby may not be his.
Sonny looked over at Will and could see the stress on his face. "Baby, why don't you try to get some sleep?"
Will smiled. "I don't think I'll be able to get any rest until the doctor gets here."
Before Sonny can respond, the door opened and Kayla walked in with a man in his early fifties with black hair and green eyes. "Will, Sonny, this is Dr. Halbert Hollander, the male pregnancy specialist. Dr. Hollander, this is Will Horton and his husband, Sonny Kiriakis."
Dr. Hollander moved toward the men with is hand extended in greeting. "Hello, gentlemen." He had a slight Swiss accent and gentle demeanor.
Sonny and Will were too nervous to speak. They just shook the man's hand and nodded their heads as a response.
Dr. Hollander took Will's chart which Kayla's held out to him and opened it. "Let's see what we have here." His forehead scrunched up as he scanned the notes. He moved to Will's side and examined the fetal monitor and after making a couple of notes in the chart, he looked up and smiled. "It looks like you're experiencing what is known as Braxton Hicks contractions. In most cases the contractions are just uncomfortable and not painful but in your case, it seems that they are causing extreme pain."
Sonny listened intently to what the doctor was saying. "So what do we do?"
"I would like to do a full exam of Will before a decision is made. There might be something else causing this reaction."
"Like what?" Will finally spoke.
"There are multiple possibilities." The doctor put the chart down and gave the men his undivided attention. "I'm going to very direct with the two of you about everything. It could be as simple as stress to slightly less simple as abnormal blood levels to sever as in your body attacking the fetus as if it's a foreign object or virus."
"Oh my God." Will and Sonny said at the same time.
"What if my body is attacking the fetus?" Will squeaked out.
Dr. Hollander placed a comforting hand on Will's shoulder. "Let's take this one step at a time. First, we will give you a complete physical and then decide a course of action." He walked over to Kayla and spoke in a hushed tone.
Will couldn't breathe. This situation was getting more complicated by the second.
A half an hour later, Dr. Hollander began his examination of Will. Will was poked and prodded in places he never expected to be touched by another human being. Well except Sonny.
Sonny sat in Will's hospital room constantly glancing at his watch. What is taking so long? Sonny had texted his parents, Lucas and Marlena any updates that he received but there was very little information to share.
Kayla was assisting Dr. Hollander and remembered that Will wanted to have a paternity test. She discretely took a sample of Will's blood and put it aside so she can conduct the test later. She also realized she needed a sample of Sonny's DNA.
Will was so exhausted by the end of the exam that he fell asleep as they wheeled him back to his hospital room.
After Will was settled in bed, Kayla looked over at Sonny's worried face. "Sonny, he'll be asleep for a while. Why don't we go get some coffee and let him rest?" Kayla put her arm around Sonny's shoulder and guided him out of the room and toward the cafeteria. Twenty minutes later, Kayla had everything she needed to conduct the paternity test. The results will either save a marriage or destroy it.
