"Adrian Boykewich?" the nurse asked out loud into the crowd waiting.
"Here I am." Adrian said as she and Ben got up from their seats and went over to where the nurse was waiting.
"If you would both follow me back." the nurse led them through the office until she showed them into one of the medical rooms.
"If you would undress and put the gown on. I will be back in just a few minutes when you have changed." the nurse instructed and left the room so Adrian could change.
Fifteen minutes later Adrian was seated on the examining table and the nurse had taken her vitals and asked her some questions all the while documenting everything she was checking and that Adrian told her. Then she finished with a few more notes on her chart and then she picked up the chart and she let Adrian know that the doctor would be in shortly. Adrian sat there and waited a few minutes. She looked around the room. Everything on the walls had to with pregnancy, babies, and the physical being of women. She looked over at Ben and gave him an encouraging smile. Ben was still seated so he wouldn't feel the urge to faint as he had in the past. Finally Adrian saw the door open and a young woman of about thirty seven or so walked into the room.
"Hi Adrian and Ben, I am Dr. Andrews. I am sorry you couldn't see your regular obgyn, he is out of town for a family reunion. So I am seeing all of his patients in the meantime until her returns." Dr. Andrews said with a genuine smile.
"Hi, Dr Andrews. I am Adrian and this is my husband Ben." Adrian said as she shook the doctors hand. Then the doctor reached her hand out to Ben who shook it with a weak nervous grasp.
"Nice to meet you Dr. Andrews." Ben managed to choke out from somewhere.
"It's nice to meet you as well Ben. Alright Adrian what brings you here today?" Dr. Andrews said as she took a seat on her stool and moved it next to the examining table where Adrian was seated.
"I have been feeling sick and I took a home pregnancy test and it came back positive." Adrian said with a bit of a nervous voice.
"Alright. First we will draw some blood and run a test and I will examine you and see what we have." Dr. Andrews said and then she went over and opened one of the locked cabinets. She grabbed a needle. Then she rubbed a disinfectant wipe on Adrian arm. Then she found a vein and inserted the needle and drew some blood. Then she labeled it with Adrian's name and handed it off to the nurse who left the room to test the blood. Then she asked Adrian several questions and wrote them down on Adrian's chart.
Next Adrian laid down on the table. Dr. Andrews gently pressed on her lower abdomen and made some notes on Adrian's chart. Then she put Adrian's feet up in stirrups and did an internal exam. Adrian focussed on Ben's face as the doctor finished her exam. She helped Adrian sit up on the table and then Dr. Andrews sat down on her stool again and faced Adrian.
"I am going to do a ultrasound and see if we can see anything. So just sit for a few more minutes while we get the equipment ready. I will be back in just a few minutes." Dr. Andrews said and picked up Adrian's chart and then left the room leaving Adrian and Ben alone in the room.
"Isn't this fun?" Ben said as he took in Adrian's face and mood.
"Yeah." Adrian said as she wiped away a tear from her face.
Ben got up and he embraced Adrian in his arms and held her close. "I love you Adrian. I know that this wonderful and hard all at the same time. We will make it work this time. I just have a feeling it will be okay this time around." Ben said and then he gently cupped her face with his hands and kissed her deeply with passion.
Then they heard the door open and Ben sat down and Dr. Andrews came in with a few people who set up the equipment and then they all left the room except Dr. Andrews stayed. She had Adrian lay down as she had before. Then she got ready and started to do the ultrasound. She stared at the machine for a while and made some notes then she turned to Adrian and Ben who was now standing by Adrian's head.
"Ok look right there. There is your baby. And there is the baby's heartbeat. It is nice and strong. Here listen." Dr. Andrews said and then she did something to the machine. Then a strong, steady beat of a heart filled the small medical room. Adrian and Ben were filled with love and awe at the sound of their baby's heart.
"The baby looks good and is growing normally. I would say your about eleven weeks along already. Congragulations." Dr. Andrews said to Adrian and Ben. Then Ben leaned in and gave Adrian a gentle kiss on the lips.
"Thank you very much."
A few more minutes later Dr. Andrews had given Adrian some information regarding the first few months of pregnancy, and went over concerns and scheduled several appointments with her. Then she left the room again and wished them a good day. Then Adrian changed back into her shorts and camisole that she had worn that day. Then she and Ben left he doctor's office and went out to Adrian's car. Ben got in the drivers seat and and Adrian got into the passenger's seat and Ben leaned over and held onto her as Adrian let her emotions go and let her tears flow freely.
"I am happy about the baby. I guess it just hurts still so much from the loss of Mercy. I still long for her all the time. But I am happy and I will love this child if we are given the chance so much. It just hurts so much." Adrian said between the tears.
"I know Adrian. I know." Ben said as they held onto one another and let their tears of joy and sorrow fall all at once.
At the same time Ricky sat near Amy's bedside still waiting for a sign for something. Ricky heard a knock on the door and when he turned to see who it was George walked into Amy's ICU room. He pulled up another chair next Ricky and sat down in it. Then he turned toward Ricky and he cleared his throat. His thoughts had been weighing heavy on his mind for a few days since everything had happened. Between losing Mimzy, Mimzy's funeral, losing Anne, and then her own funeral, and then the thought of his liitle Amy fighting for every breath that she took had broken him.
"Ricky there is something I need to say to you. I know your hurting like hell. God knows I am too. But it hurts me to see you sitting here day in and day out waiting for something that might now come. I understand you want to be near Amy, I do to. But we cannot shut ourselves away from life. Your only going to hurt yourself more in the end. I wish you would leave here even if it just for the night. I feel like your slipping away like Amy is, only your here and your alive Ricky. You are among the living but you act as if you aren't." George said with great pain in his voice.
"I don't want to miss seeing her wake up. I need her so much that it hurts me to see her like this, but I would rather be here in each moment than not at all. She has to wake up and come back to me she just has to." Ricky said as he kept his eyes on Amy.
"I understand. You wanna either join her or for her to wake up. But Ricky have you thought about that she might not. Amy might remain in this state for the rest of her life, or she could die tomorrow, then again miracles happen and she could recover and come out of it any moment. But Ricky you have to keep living. Because your only sinking farther from this life each day you stay here waiting for something that is against all the odds. John should be your focus now. He is alive and he is waiting for you. He is always asking for you and Amy. It breaks my heart to see him so sad waiting for one of you to walk through the door. He needs you Ricky, he really does. He doesn't understand all of this and if Amy cannot be there then you should be. Because I know Amy would want you to live your life, take care of John, and be happy. She wouldn't want to see you like this." George said and he saw Ricky look at him finally and he knew he had reached him somewhere when mentioning what Amy would want and his son John.
"I get that. But I just can't." Ricky said with a lot of pain in his voice and sadness in his eyes.
"Ricky I can't see you sit here and watch Amy die too day and day again. I can't take it. I really can't. I have seen enough death and funerals to last the rest of my life. And I know it hurts like hell. Because I am hurting and I have so many regrets right now. But I have to get up and start each day and take care of Robbie, Ashley, and John because they are my life now. And they are all that I have left of Anne and Amy. And I won't give up a single moment with them for anything. I just want to see you happy and see you smile and see John happy. I know that I might not know what your going through. My love is gone and there is no chance she is coming back. I know yours is still fighting but I am not like you Ricky. I don't have the courage to sit and wait for Amy to either die or wake up. I just can't." George told him.
"I understand all that you say. But John is in good hands with you and my parents right now. I am in no shape to take care of him. I know that Amy's wouldn't want this. But life is worth almost nothing to me without her in it. She is the one who makes me laugh, she makes me want to get up each morning to face the day. She sets my heart alive and full. And right now I cannot leave her. I will come see John for a liitle while later tonight though. I do miss him and he is one of the only other people who can make me smile next to Amy. I understand what your saying and I appreciate what your saying but this is what I need right now at this moment in time." Ricky said and then turned his attention back to George.
"Well that's a start. I will have dinner ready round seven if you want to come by and you can eat a decent meal for once and spend some time with John. I know he will be very happy to see you. I will see you later. I have to get back Ashley is watching both boys now. We all care about you a lot Ricky. We all need you too. Remember that." George said and gave Ricky a hug and then left the room quietly leaving Ricky in the same spot as he had been when he came in.