AN: I have no medical background so everything I know about medicine is learned from TV shows and some internet sites. I try to be as accurate as possible so if something's wrong, I'm sorry! Here is the next chapter, hope you all enjoy!

Chapter twenty-five: Hospital and cuddles.

They arrived at the hospital ten minutes later and Matt got a team of nurses and took Ruthie back to an exam room while sending the others to the waiting room. Most of the family took seats around the room but Martin and Simon started pacing after only five minutes, the others watched as the two men skillfully avoided colliding with each other without really watching where they were going.

It was twenty minutes later when Matt finally returned. Martin was the first to see him and stopped pacing instantly. "Are they ok?" he asked worriedly and everyone else looked up and stood when they saw Matt.

"They're all going to be fine," he assured and they all sighed in relief.

"What happened?" Annie asked concerned.

"Ruthie is suffering from a condition called preeclampsia, in other words pregnancy induced hypertension. It can be managed and treated however it will not go away until the babies are born and it's a progressive disorder, it will get worse. We want to keep the progression as slow as possible and make sure that no other complications arise," he explained.

"What other kind of complications? What does it do?" Martin asked.

"I won't lie to you, it's a dangerous disease if not monitored closely, it can be life threatening to all of them," He answered.

"How?" Simon asked.

"Preeclampsia can lead to premature detachment of the placenta from the uterus wall and she'd need an immediate C-section and if it's bad enough they could all bleed to death, with premature birth there's a low birth weight for the girls and other development issues. As far as Ruthie it can lead to kidney and liver problems as well as seizures that can lead to coma and maybe even death," he answered

"Ok so how do we stop that from happening?" Martin asked.

"She'll be put on medicine for her blood pressure, she's to have no stress and lots of bed rest for the rest of her pregnancy," he stated.

"No stress are you kidding? Her rapist is on trial right now, she's going to be stressed," Simon stated.

"I know that Simon but we need to try and keep her stress as low as possible. If this happens again, it could send Ruthie into premature labor or worse. My concern right now is their health and safety, if she gets called to testify again, I'll tell them she can't do it. I know having no stress is impossible but we need to minimize it as much as possible," he stated, the family all nodded.

"We'll do what we can. When can she go home?" Lucy asked.

"She needs to stay here for the night but she can go home in the morning," he answered.

"Can we see her?" Annie asked.

"Right this way," Matt said and they all followed him from the room.

Five minutes later they walked into a room on the third floor. Ruthie was the only one in the room, she laid in a slightly elevated hospital bed, dressed in a hospital gown and the blankets and sheets covered her from her stomach down, there was wires coming out from under the sheets going to a fetal monitor and Ruthie was hooked up to a heart monitor.

"Hey," she said with a smile as she looked over at them but her eyes instantly locked on Martin's sky blues and she almost forgot anyone else was there as he walked over to her.

"Hey, you scared me," he said walking over to her, ignoring everyone else around them as his eyes stayed locked on her coffee colored eyes. He sat down on the edge of the bed taking her hand in his, his other hand went to her stomach and he could feel one of the twins moving beneath it.

"I was pretty scared myself," she admitted looking down at her stomach, her free hand moving to rest over his that was on her stomach.

"I don't know what I would do if I lost you, any of you," he stated and she smiled softly.

"You don't have to worry about that, we're all fine and I'm going to do everything I can to make sure it stays that way," she assured.

"Good but you do know that means staying away from the trial?" he asked, she took a deep breath and nodded.

"It's fine, I gave my testimony. I don't need to hear everyone else's," she returned.

"That means staying away from it period Ruthie, even the verdict," Matt stated walking over to them, she shook her head.

"I can't agree to that Matt," she stated looking up at her older brother. "I need to be there, I need to hear it with my own ears," she stated.

"Ruthie your body and your babies can not handle the stress. You could have lost them both today. We can't risk that happening again," he argued firmly, she sighed.

"Matt either way, whether I'm at home waiting for the verdict or at the court house I'm going to be stressed so why does it matter where I am?" she returned.

"Seeing Coach Madison again will be more stress you do not need," he answered, she took a deep breath trying to calm herself down, reminding herself not to get stressed.

"Matt you don't understand. That man tortured me, he made my life hell, it wasn't just at school and it wasn't just that one day, it was every minute of every hour of every single day for months. I need to hear it for myself that he won't be able to hurt me or my daughters or anyone else ever again. I need to be there," she stated, he sighed.

"I'm not agreeing to this but we'll see how you're doing when it comes time for that ok? Until then, you're at home resting and taking it easy," he stated, she nodded.

"Ok," she agreed easily. "When can I go home?" she inquired.

"You have to stay until morning to make sure no more problems arise and then if your tests are good in the morning you can go at about noon," he stated, she nodded.

"Ok" she said just as Kevin's cell rang, he took it as he stepped out into the hall. The room fell into a silence and they all just stared at each other until Kevin returned a few minutes later.

"That was Mrs. Miller; trial has been recessed for an hour. They still need to get to Captain Michaels and they want me right after him so I need to get headed back," he stated and they all nodded. Kevin walked over to Ruthie and kissed the top of her head. "He'll get what he deserves, I promise," he assured her, she nodded.

"Thanks Kevin, I love you," she said pulling him into a hug that he easily returned.

"I love you too," he said before stepping back and then leaving the room.

Soon the rest of the clan either filtered out or settled around the room. Martin continued to sit beside Ruthie, his hand still resting on her stomach.

"Come here," she said pulling on his free arm while scooting a bit over in the bed.

"What?" he asked moving a bit closer.

"Lay with me, over the sheets of course," she returned and he smiled before laying down beside her, careful of the wires, when he was settled she cuddled to him and soon they were both drifting off to sleep, not minding that her parents, Simon and Lucy were still there but the other four didn't seem to mind and didn't say a word as the teens cuddled up and went to sleep. As long as Ruthie was comfortable and relaxed that's what mattered.

AN2: There you go, hope you all enjoyed!

Review shoutouts:

AndreaElizabeth94- Thank you, not yet, but soon, promise!

countryfan4life- Welcome to the story! I'm really glad you're enjoying it. I love GH too! Thank you!

Eryn1993- Yep, it's back again, I know I suck at updating. Thank you!

Promising love 625- I'm glad you're still with it, I love reviews, they keep me going :D. I know I just felt like I'd done a lot of flashbacks already. It hasn't been six months, yay! Promise to try and keep updating more often!

Emsoreoangel- Thank you so much! I'm glad you've stuck with me for so long! I can not believe I started this four years ago! Thank you again!

Sapphire242- I am trying to update more, it's just hard cause I don't have internet all the time. Thank you!

Kay- Thank you! I know I suck at updating! Glad you think it's still staying true to the show. I would show more hospital stuff but I really want to move the story along more quickly. Thank you, I'm glad you're enjoying it!

Smurfanator- Thank you!

Lizzytish- Lol I like it when people get really involved cause I do too! Nothing will happen to the babies, I love them too much! Thank you!

Blondiee01- I'm sorry I made you cry. Thank you for the review!

JustLikeBrookDavis- Welcome to the story! I'm glad you are enjoying it! Thank you!

Sweetchocolate26- Glad you're loving the story! Thank you!

Sampopular- Lol, you sound like me staying up that late! Sorry I left you with a cliffhanger. I'm not sure it'll reach a million chapters but here's chapter 25, hope you enjoy! Thank you!