So, it's been a week. That isn't too terribly bad. My only excuse is that I've been really sick this week and sleeping a lot. So sorry I've made you wait.
Anyway, thanks a lot for the amazing reviews. I hope you enjoy this chapter. Let me know your thoughts. I always love reading them. :)
They walked into the emergency room, Ed carrying Noah who had easily fallen back to sleep. They approached the check in desk, and he spoke softly, trying not to wake up the little boy. "Excuse me…" he called to the receptionist who was busy on her phone and ignoring the fact that there were patients. "Can you help us please?"
The woman looked up and gave a phony smile, "What are we seeing you for today?" she asked, pulling up something on the computer.
"I'm having contractions," Olivia answered. "They aren't too bad, but I'm only twenty-nine weeks. I need something to stop them."
The woman looked more serious then, telling her she was sure everything would be okay and filling out the paperwork. Finally a nurse came to take her back, helping Olivia into a wheelchair and she looked at Ed and Olivia and smiled, "Your son probably shouldn't come back," she said gently. "It's not a child-friendly place."
"Well we don't have a choice right now," Ed argued. "I'm going to find someone to come get him, but for now he's here."
"Can you find someone to pick him up before you come back?" the nurse asked.
"She's not going back there without me," Ed argued.
"It's okay, Ed," Olivia said softly. "Just stay out here with him until someone can come. I'll be okay."
"No," he refused. "No way. You are not going back there by yourself."
"I'll be fine," she promised. "I don't want Noah back there. It'll be scary for him. You stay here with him and call around to see if someone can come get him, okay? I'll have them come get you if I need you."
"You do need me," he glanced at the toddler who was sleeping with his head on his shoulder. "Allright…I'll call around. But if I can't find someone soon, we're going back." He looked at the nurse, "Can you at least come out and let me know what's going on?"
"Of course," she assured him. "Early contractions aren't uncommon. I'm sure everything will be fine."
Ed was a nervous wreck waiting for the nurse to come out and update him. Noah was sound asleep, across two chairs in the waiting room, but Ed was pacing back and forth, his anxiety getting worse by the minute. Sonny Carisi burst through the door, rushing over to him, "How's Lieu?" he asked, looking around as if he expected to see her in the waiting room. "Is she having the baby?"
Ed shook his head, "She's back with the doctor," he explained. "They haven't updated me. Thanks for coming to get Noah. I didn't know who else to call and you were closest."
"No problem," Sonny glanced at the toddler and then back at Ed. "You wanna wake him up first, or should I just take him?"
Ed knelt down and gently shook the little boy awake, "Noah," he whispered, until the boy opened his sleepy eyes. "Hey, sweetheart…Detective Carisi is here and he's going to take you to his house for a while."
"Where Mommy?" the little boy sat up and looked around the room, suddenly showing a sense of fear. "I want Mommy."
"Mommy isn't feeling well," Ed tried to explain, without worrying him more. "The doctors are taking good care of her, but I need to go be with her and they don't let little boys back there. So Detective Carisi…"
"Uncle Sonny, right No…" Sonny sat next to the boy and picked him up, sitting him in his lap. "We're buddies, right?"
"Uh huh…" Noah nodded sadly.
"What do you say we let your daddy go back with Mommy, and you and I can head back to my place and get some ice cream?" Carisi suggested, trying to appease the boy. Noah nodded reluctantly and Carisi stood up, holding him. "Tell Daddy you'll see him later," he suggested.
Ed looked into Noah's sad eyes, leaning forward and kissing him, tousling his dark hair and forcing a smile, "Be a good boy, Noah," he reminded him. "I'll come get you as soon as I can, okay?"
Noah nodded and Carisi walked with him out the door.
Ed walked up to the desk, "Excuse me," he said, trying to get the young woman's attention. "The nurse said I could go back once my son was picked up. I need to go back now."
"Let me check," the receptionist said, but before she could do anything, the nurse came through the door.
"I was just coming to update you," she said with a soft smile. "Did you find someone to take your son?"
"Yeah," Ed offered. "How's Olivia? Is she still having contractions, because they were getting pretty strong in the car."
"She's doing well," the nurse told him. "We gave her something to stop the contractions. The baby looks good on the monitor. We'll want to keep her for a while, just to make sure the medicine continues working, but things look good so far."
"Can I see her?" he asked. "Please…I need to be with her."
"Of course," she motioned for him to follow her and they walked down a long corridor. "We're going to move her to a regular room in a bit. We want to give the medication some time to work first though. She's tired. This particular medication causes drowsiness and nausea, so she won't be feeling great, but it should stop the contractions completely within a couple of hours."
"How long until she's released?" Ed asked.
The nurse shrugged, "Probably later today," she looked at her watch, noting the time as a little after midnight. "We want to make sure the contractions have completely stopped first." She sighed, "She won't be able to do all the things she was doing before. The doctor will likely recommend modified bed rest, at least until thirty-six weeks."
"Does she know that?" he asked, knowing it wouldn't go over well with her.
"Not yet," the nurse explained. "Right now, we're trying to keep her calm. She was getting very anxious about the contractions. So our first priority was to keep her settled and stop the contractions. She's calm now though, and you can tell her if you want…" she stopped in front of a door and pushed it open. "You can stay with her as long as you want. Call if you need anything."
Ed looked through the door. Olivia was in bed, monitors beeping all around her. He could hear his son's steady heartbeat echoing through the room on the baby monitor and another machine beeped with Olivia's heart-rate. He walked over to the bed, sitting in the plastic chair and while he was glad she was asleep he wished she could talk to him. She looked pale and weak and it worried him. He reached out, letting his hand rest on her stomach. The fabric from the hospital gown was tight against her skin and he could see the outines of wires that were attached to the monitors, so he was careful not to disturb those. Hearing his son's heartbeat was reassuring and suddenly he felt the baby kick beneath his hand and he let out a slight chuckle. "You're doing fine, aren't you little guy?" he whispered, but Olivia seemed to hear him and opened her eyes. "Liv…I'm sorry," he kept his voice as quiet as possible. "I didn't mean to wake you."
"You didn't…" her voice was raspy and weak. "Mikey did. The contractions have him all riled up."
"He's okay," Ed smiled, leaning forward and kissing her on the lips, but she turned her head and it surprised him. "What?" he asked.
"I don't feel very good," she replied, "Can you help me sit up?"
"Yeah," he found the controls for the bed and pushed the button until she was sitting. "Is that better?" he asked.
She nodded, "Where's Noah?"
"Carisi took him," he told her.
"Carisi?" she asked. "Why did you call him? I thought you were calling Fin."
"I couldn't reach him and besides, Carisi lives closer, Liv," he explained. "He was happy to take him. He promised him ice cream, so Noah was fine with it."
"Ice cream…" her face grimaced and she looked more pale than before.
"Honey…what's wrong?" he asked nervously.
"I don't know," she tried to swallow the bile that was rising in the back of her throat but she knew it was of no use. "I'm gonna be sick…" she mumbled and he grabbed a pink, plastic tub from beside her bed, putting in front of her just in time. She threw up, unable to hold back any longer, and watching the remnants of their dinner spew into the tub made him feel queasy too. The smell was rancid, and he had to turn away while she finished, attempting to hold his breath. This was far worse than her morning sickness had been and he was scared for her and their child.
"Are you done?" he asked anxiously, turning to see her face as pale as the white pillowcase she was resting her head upon. She nodded, but didn't speak and he pulled the tub away, trying not to look at it as he sat it aside. He put his hand on her stomach, "I'm so sorry, Liv."
"Why am I so sick?" she asked, closing her eyes. "My stomach hurts…I don't feel any contractions…but it hurts. It hurts a lot. I think something's wrong."
"It's from the medicine," he tried to explain, but he wasn't sure she was listening. She was exhausted. "Just try to sleep, honey. You need to sleep."
"Ed…" she opened her eyes and he could tell it was taking all her strength to keep them open. "I love you."
"I love you too, Olivia," he leaned forward, kissing her forehead and brushing her hair out of her face. "I love you more than anything."
They had spent most of the day at the hospital. Olivia had been in and out of consciousness, the medication making her sleep the majority of the time, but when she was awake, she was sicker than Ed had ever seen her before. She couldn't keep down anything, not even water, and they'd eventually decided to give her IV fluids. But finally it was determined that she was doing well enough to go home and Ed was relieved and worried at the same time. She hadn't had contractions in hours, but she was so weak and tired. He wasn't sure she was well enough to be home.
The nurse wheeled her out to the car and Ed helped Olivia stand and then situate herself in the passenger seat. "You doing allright?" he asked and she nodded, without speaking. He closed the car door and turned to the nurse, "Are you sure she's okay to come home? I'm worried…"
"She's tired," the nurse offered. "But the contractions have stopped, your baby boy is strong and healthy…" she smiled. "Just take care of her. Let her rest."
Ed nodded and thanked the nurse before taking his spot in the driver's seat. He started the car and looked at Olivia, "Do you want to go back to your apartment?" he asked. "I know you're not thrilled with the bed rest, but…"
"Michael needs me to stay off my feet," she opened her eyes and looked at him. "I'm fine. It's not about me. It's about him."
Ed nodded, "It's about you too, Liv. I want you to be as comfortable as possible. Seeing you so sick today…"
"I feel better now," she assured him. "I'm pretty sore from all the vomiting, but I feel better and I haven't had a contraction since this morning."
"Good," he forced a smile. "So…your apartment?"
"Let's go to the house," she looked seriously at him. "I'm gonna be in bed for a while. I might as well get used to the new place, right? And Noah loves his race car bed. You love having the space to play with him outside."
"I want you to be comfortable," he insisted. "You are my number one priority right now."
"And I want to go home," she gave a weak smile. "And to me, home is the place where my family is happiest. I'm gonna be stuck in bed anyway…so it doesn't matter where I'm at." She reached over and touched his hand. "Besides, your place is close to that bistro with the delicious pickles and our son loves pickles."
Ed laughed, "Okay…the house and the pickles win out." He looked at her and sighed, "Liv, I'm so glad Mikey's okay…and you're okay…but I'm sorry you can't go back to work. I know how much that means to you."
"Fin will keep things in line while I'm gone," she nodded. "And I don't really mind the bed rest." She looked serious, "I've been really tired, Ed. I've tried not to show it, but…I'm not twenty-five. Hell, I'm not even thirty-five. This is hard…harder than I thought it'd be. And I'm ready to take a break and just focus on the baby…and you and Noah. The doctor said I can move a little at home, and truthfully…I think a little is all I can handle anymore."
He was surprised by her admission, but relieved. "I'm going to take care of you," he promised. "I'm carrying you up those stairs. And I'll massage your feet and your back. I'll make your favorites for dinner every single night. I have some vacation time built up…and I think I should ask for time off until after the baby comes."
"You don't have to," she argued. "I know your job is important to you and you'll go crazy at home all day."
He shook his head, "No I won't. I'll be too busy spoiling you to even think about work."
She laughed, "You keep spoiling me like that and I might decide to hold this baby in a lot longer."
He leaned over and kissed her, softly on the lips, "Let's get you home," he offered. "And then I'll go get our son and we'll bring a delicious dinner home for you. Complete with all the pickles you can eat."
Olivia let her hand rest on her stomach, "I'm not sure I'm up to eating yet," she admitted. "But I'd love to cuddle up in bed with you and Noah and watch a movie or something."
"Anything you want," he agreed, as he pulled out onto the street. "Let's get you home."
More soon...