Chapter 14: The Baby
Danny ran into the hospital without a thought but for his sister and her baby. He knew that he should have taken her home earlier in the day when he had spotted her in her office, sound asleep. But, he didn't, and now there would be hell to pay.
He ran up to the desk and hit the bell a few times. A woman came to the desk.
" Can I help you, sir?", she asked.
" Yes. Nicole Messer. She was brought in an hour or so ago", Danny answered.
The woman typed the name into the computer and then looked up at him. " She's in surgery right now. May I ask your name?", she asked.
" Daniel Messer. I'm her brother", he answered gruffly.
" Ok, Mr. Messer. If you'll wait in the waiting room for a little bit, the doctor will update you soon", she replied.
" Thanks", he mumbled, then turned for the waiting room.
Lindsay and Stella showed up about a half an hour later. When Danny seen her, he stood up and walked over to her.
" Is Nikki going to be ok?", Lindsay asked, as she was wrapped into a hug.
" I don't know. The doctor hasn't come out yet. She's in surgery", Danny answered into her neck.
" It's okay. I'm sure she'll be fine", Lindsay soothed. She could feel Danny's fine trembling, and she knew that he was scared.
" Where's Don?", Danny asked, pulling away from Lindsay.
" We thought that you called him", Lindsay and Stella answered together.
" You mean no one's told Don yet?", Danny asked.
Lindsay and Stella looked at each other. " We weren't sure if we should", Stella answered.
" Wonderful. Just great. Nikki's in there, possibly losing that baby, and the father doesn't even know", Danny replied.
" We would've. But, Danny, maybe you should", Lindsay suggested.
" Why me?", Danny asked, shocked.
" You know him better", they answered in unison.
" Thanks. Leave the dirty work to me, right?", Danny replied. " It's ok, I'll get to it, right now. He deserves to know. Even if Nikki's pissed, he has a right." And then Danny took off to go phone Don.
" She's what?!", Don yelled.
" She's in the hospital, Don", Danny replied.
" What happened?", Don demanded. Don felt his heartbeat start to accelerate at the thought of harm coming to Nikki.
" Something to do with the baby, Don. It's not good", Danny answered.
Don felt panic start to seize him. " The baby?", he asked.
" Yeah. I don't know all the details. The doctor hasn't come out yet", Danny replied.
" Which hospital? I'll be there as soon as I can", Don replied.
" Mercy General", Danny answered.
" I'll be there", Don replied. Then he hung up.
Don felt the strains of panic and fear start to creep all through him. He couldn't lose Nikki. Or the baby. He never realized until that moment just how much he wanted that baby with Nikki.
It scared him to realize that he could just lose both of them in a heartbeat. If she lost the baby, Don would lose his connection with Nikki, and he didn't want that. He got up and grabbed his keys, then headed for Mercy General.
Danny waited outside of Mercy General for Don and hoped to God that Nikki didn't lose that baby. Nikki might not admit out loud, but he knew that what Nikki had always wanted was a family.
He seen Don walking towards the entrance to the hospital and wondered exactly how fast Don drove. They greeted each other before Don asked, " How is she?"
" I don't know. I haven't been back up there since I phoned you. Stell and Lindsay are up there, let's go find out", Danny replied.
They got up to the waiting room and the women were still there, talking quietly it looked like.
The guys walked over and greeted them.
" Any word?", Don asked.
" Not one. Still in surgery, though. That's about it", Stella answered.
Don sat down in the chair and breathed deeply. At least she was still in surgery. That was enough. Stella, Lindsay, and Danny all sat down beside him and didn't say a word.
Another hour went by before a doctor walked into the room. He walked straight up to the group and looked at them wearily. " Mr. Messer?", the doctor began.
Danny stood up and so did the other three. " Yes. That's me", Danny announced.
" Come with me", the doctor told them. They followed him out into the hall.
The doctor stopped and turned around. " Who are the rest of you?", he asked.
" Doctor, this is my wife, Lindsay, my friend Stella, and my sister's baby's father, Don", Danny announced.
" Oh. Okay. Well, first of all, my name is Dr. Williamson. It's nice to meet you all", the doctor started.
" About my sister?", Danny asked.
" Yes, she was brought in, unconscious. On the phone she had said something about pain in her lower abdomen. After some examination, we concluded that she was going to miscarry", the doctor explained.
" Yes, yes. We figured that out. Is she alright?", Danny interrupted.
" She is, yes. And, so is the baby. We were able to prevent her from miscarrying. She's in recovery right now, still out of it from the anaesthesia. She should remain that way for the next couple of hours", the doctor concluded.
" Can we see her?", Don asked.
" Yes. One at a time, though. Who would like to see her first?", the doctor asked.
Everyone looked at Don. He looked at everyone else.
" Danny, you can go first. I'll go after", Don suggested.
" No. Don, you go first. You need to. Baby's father before uncle. It's okay", Danny replied.
Don looked at him and Danny nodded. Then Don turned to the doctor and said, " I guess I'm up."
The doctor nodded and led him to the recovery room. They walked up to her bed, where Nikki was laying there sleeping.
" We have her on watch for the next twenty-four hours", the doctor said.
" Why?", Don asked, looking at Nikki.
" We might have stopped this miscarriage, but another one could start up. Right now, she's under special care of the nurses for the next twenty-four hours before we can move her to a separate room", Dr. Williamson explained.
" Okay. Thanks", Don replied as he moved to the bed.
" I'll leave you two now", the doctor replied, turning to leave.
Don stared down at the sleeping woman and was brought back to after Jeremy had kidnapped her. He had stood there beside her bed and watched her. This time, she had no bruises on her face and no cuts on her hands.
Her right hand was placed over her abdomen in an almost protective gesture. He took her left hand and kissed it. Then he leaned down to her forehead and kissed her there. " I'll be right here, Nikki. I won't let go", Don whispered. Then he pulled up a chair and sat there with her left hand is his.