Chapter 14

Two weeks later, Rita could tell Shane hadn't been feeling well most of the day. Towards the end of the day Rita approached Oliver, "The letter we've been working on, I know you two were going to Dillon tomorrow to hand deliver. Why don't you let Norman and I deliver the letter? Shane doesn't seem to be feeling well."

Oliver looked over and noticed she did look paler than she had when they left the house in the morning. "Thanks Rita. She hasn't said anything, but she hasn't seemed herself today."

As Rita and Norman left, Oliver approached Shane brushing her hair back over her shoulder asking, "Mrs. O'Toole, how are you feeling?"

She frowned slightly, "Not very well. It's been gradually getting worse all day."

He went to pick up her bag, "Let's get you home. Do you think you caught the flu again?"

"I don't think so."

Halfway to the parking lot, Shane grabbed his arm bending over in pain. "Oliver, I think we may need to go to the ER not home." He helped her to the car and drove straight to the emergency room.

"Shane, when did you start bleeding?" He asked glancing at her starting to panic inside.

"In the parking lot."

The nurse in the ER got her checked in, changed into a gown and an IV started. "When did the bleeding start?"

Oliver answered, "Right before the drive over here. I don't think she's felt well most of the day though."

"What about the pain?"

Shane answered weakly, "Late this morning. It got worse throughout the afternoon."

They gave her something to manage the pain while taking blood. The nurse returned with a bag of fluids. "You're dehydrated and we don't want it getting worse."

Oliver was holding her hand when the ER doctor finally arrived. After introducing himself, he asked a couple questions and paused before, "I'm sorry it looks like you're having a miscarriage."

Both Shane and Oliver looked at him in disbelief, "Miscarriage?"

"It's early. I take it you didn't know."

"But I take the pill," Shane responded.

"Did you miss any about 8 weeks ago?"

"She had the flu and couldn't keep anything down for several days. She lost some weight that week and has been tired on and off since then. We just thought she hadn't recovered well from being sick." Oliver said.

The doctor responded, "You're on a low dose and that's enough missed doses. With being run down from the flu, it might not have been the best time to maintain a healthy pregnancy. The body makes these decisions on its own. The next couple hours may be difficult with pain and bleeding. We'll keep you here to monitor you and help with pain management. If it looks like there's no infection, no fever, you may be able to go home later tonight. We'll have to see how the next couple hours go. The nurse will be checking in on your pain level. Let her know if there's any changes with that or the bleeding. I'll be back in to check on you later."

They were both still in shock when the nurse returned. "The pain medication may make you drowsy. Try to sleep if you can."

Later when the nurse came back, Shane was dozing. Oliver had his face in his hands praying. "Mr. O'Toole?"

"Yes."

"You may want to go by your home to get her another set of clothes at some point. Something comfortable. She's not going to want to wear hers home. They have a fair amount of blood on them."

He flinched at the image. "I don't want to leave her. I'll call a friend." He found Shane's phone in her purse and stepped outside to call Rita. "Have you left for Dillon yet? Good, can I ask you to go by the house, let the dogs out and pick up a full change of clothes for Shane. Something comfortable with shoes. We're at Denver Mercy. She'll be ok but she'll need something to wear home. I'll update you when you get here." He couldn't bring himself to say it yet. Shane was still sleeping when he returned. Before going into the room, he turned to the nurse at her station, "What should I expect if I'm able to take her home tonight?"

"There may be continued bleeding over the next week although lighter than what we're seeing now. She'll need to rest over the next several days and take things easy for a week. Her hormones will be fluctuating. It's not uncommon to see moodiness and some depression."

Oliver noticed Shane stirring and joined her. "Oliver?"

"I'm here. I just stepped out to call Rita. She's going to bring some clothes for later."

"It really hurts." She said gripping his hand.

"I'll go let the nurse know." He stepped back out to alert the nurse. Sitting by her bed he felt helpless not knowing what to do except hold her hand and pray. He asked God to watch over her and to help her heal.

The nurse came back to check her bleeding and pain level. "It's gotten a lot heavier and the painkiller we gave earlier was a light dose because we were still determining what was happening. I'll go see about getting something stronger."

It was about 9 by the time Norman and Rita made it to the hospital. The nurse had administered more pain medication and Shane was sleeping again. Oliver stepped out to talk to them.

"How is she?" Rita asked handing him a bag for Shane.

"She…," Oliver stopped clearing his throat. "The pain medication is making her rather drowsy. She's been sleeping on and off. We didn't know and now it's gone," he said looking through the window at Shane.

Rita looked at Norman before looking back at Oliver. "Gone?"

"The baby," he said softly.

"Oh, Oliver." Rita gave him a hug. "I'm so sorry. Have they said how long she'll be here?"

"As long as there's no infection and things go as expected, I can take her home later tonight."

Norman put a hand on Oliver's shoulder. "What can we do?"

Oliver closed his eyes briefly. "I don't know."

"Oliver have you had anything to eat?" Rita asked.

"No. I'm not hungry."

She turned to Norman, "Go to the cafeteria, see if you can get something light. You need to eat something, even if it's a snack. Oliver, you need to take care of yourself to be there for Shane. Have you called either of your parents?"

"No. It happened so fast."

"Why don't you go sit with Shane and I'll take care of calling them." Oliver let Rita gently steer him back towards the room while she took over. She called both their parents to update them. By the time she was off the phone, Norman had returned with soup and sandwiches and worked on getting Oliver to eat something.

Shane woke briefly. Rita gave her a hug. "Your mom wants to know if she should come out early?"

Oliver could tell Shane was still groggy. "I think that would be a good," Oliver answered.

"I'll call her back Oliver. If you need anything let us know. We'll be outside so you can rest Shane."