As always, you are the best! Enjoy!
Chapter 18
Not the baby, John thought. Please, not the baby.
He rushed through the hospital doors and to the floor where Elsie had texted him to go. When he got there, he saw Elsie and Charles standing and about to walk back with a nurse. Upon seeing John, the two paused.
"John," Elsie said to him, breathless. "You follow the nurse, go see Anna. We'll stay here."
John shook his head, "No, you two should go."
"She wants you," Charles said to him. "Go to her. We'll be here. Tell her we love her."
John didn't have to be told again. The nurse motioned for him to follow her down the hallway.
"How's the baby," he asked her. "Anna? Are they okay?"
"I don't know, Mr….."
"Bates."
"She was just brought to a room from triage. They'll start the testing soon."
The nurse opened the door. There laying in the hospital bed was Anna with her head in her hands. At the sound of the door opening, Anna glanced up. Seeing John, she started to cry.
"John…." John hurried to her side. He sat down on the edge of the bed and pressed his hand against her belly. Anna's hand came over his and she shook her head.
"The baby…what if I lose the baby?" She sobbed. John brought his free hand up to her cheek and pulled her closer to him, making their foreheads touch. He rubbed the top of her cheek with the pad of his thumb in calming circles.
"You won't," he promised her. "This baby is strong like its mother."
"I'm not strong," Anna cried. "I'm not strong at all."
"You are, my darling," John promised. He lifted Anna's chin up so he could press a chaste kiss to her lips.
As the two pulled away from their kiss, Anna met his eyes and began to search his face. Her lower lip began to tremble. With his thumb, John brushed along the shaking lip.
"I'm sorry," Anna said, her body still shaking. "You…you have done so much for me and I just…I….I'm so sorry."
"Shh, you have nothing to apologize for," John replied. "You had every right to be angry at me."
"No….no I didn't, John. I wasn't being fair. It was my fault he followed us out there in the first place. I….I am just so angry and I took it out on you. That…that wasn't right."
"I still shouldn't have punched him," John said. "I should have shown more self-restraint."
"But….but…." Anna sobbed.
"Shh," he attempted to soothe.
Before either could say anything else, Sybil walked into the room. She held her clipboard in her hands and sighed.
"Your blood pressure is really high, Anna," she began. "It was higher than I would have liked at our last appointment too, but not nearly as high as it is today."
"What does that mean?" John asked. "Preeclampsia?"
Sybil's head shook. "While high blood pressure is usually one of the signs for that, no, I don't believe that's the case here. There's no protein in her urine and there are no other signs. I believe this is stress induced."
"Stress?" Anna asked.
"Yes, with everything going on right now, I'm not surprised. You were also a little dehydrated, which could have contributed to the cramps. I am going to have them place an IV to get some fluids in you and do an examination to determine the bleeding. They are going to put a monitor over your belly to check on the baby."
"O..okay," Anna meekly replied. It all sounded like so much and was overwhelming.
"Since I'm already in here, I'd like to go ahead and do your examination, if that's alright with you."
Anna nodded.
Knowing this would be invading Anna's privacy, John stood and backed up.
"I'll go and get your mum to be with you during this," he offered. But Anna grabbed his hand and shook her head.
"No, please stay with me, please," she begged.
"Alright, my darling, whatever you wish."
-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-
He was almost asleep, but a sound beeped, waking him once more. His head popped up and he readjusted himself in the small make-shift bed next to Anna. Sybil's assessment had been correct. As Anna's blood pressure went back to normal, she began to feel more and more like herself. She had determined the bleeding was spotting from irritated scar tissue that had been aggravated at her appointment a few days before. It was completely coincidental to the other symptoms Anna had experienced hours earlier.
Because her blood pressure had been so high, Sybil wanted to monitor Anna and the baby for about thirty-six hours. The baby's heartbeat monitor filled the air and it made John smile. The baby was going to be okay.
After they knew what was going on, Elsie and Charles went home for the rest of the night with promises to be back in the morning.
Anna was thankfully asleep. Sybil seemed concerned about Anna's blood pressure. She suggested Anna needed more rest, more sleep, and possibly a therapist to work through the stressors in her life. John noticed the resistance in Anna's features about speaking to someone, but he hoped between the two of them they could change her mind. Her mental struggles were now also affecting her and the baby physically. It wasn't something she could ignore anymore.
A groan came from the bed and John sat up. He saw Anna yawning and turning to face him.
"Hi," she whispered. "What time is it?"
John glanced at the clock on the wall and answered, "4:30. Go back to sleep."
"I can't. It's hard to sleep in here. It's loud and they keep coming in to check my blood pressure."
John slid off the small bed and made his way over to Anna.
"I'm sorry, my darling," he murmured. "How are you feeling?"
"Tired," Anna honestly replied. "Anxious," she added.
"I think you should take Sybil's advice about talking to someone, Anna." She opened her mouth to protest, but John continued, "If not for you, for the baby. You don't want to end up back in here before the birth, do you? Your mental health is as important as your physical health."
Anna sighed, caught without a way to argue. "Fine. I'll try it."
"Good," John said, bending over and kissing her forehead.
Anna tangled their fingers together and brought John's hand closer to her chest.
"After this is all over and Sybil says I'm clear for normal life again, can we go back to the car? Have another day like that one?" At her question, John couldn't help but to smile.
"Absolutely," he promised. "Now, try to get some sleep."
-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-
John stepped out of Anna's room. Elsie had brought Anna some lunch from her favorite place. She had offered to bring John something as well, but he said he was fine grabbing something from the cafeteria.
Walking down the hallway, he found Charles standing in front of one of the windows, staring out at the parking lot below. John debated on sneaking past so he wouldn't have to speak to Charles. He knew Charles didn't hate him anymore. Anna confessed to him that morning that it had been her father that pointed out to her how unreasonable she had been. But he wasn't sure Charles was still that fond of him.
However, before he could decide, Charles turned and met eyes with John.
"How's Anna?" He asked. John nodded, anxiously stuffing his hands into his pockets.
"Well. She's tired, but Sybil says her blood pressure is looking much better. She should be able to go home tomorrow," John answered. Thinking of home, John realized he didn't know where Anna would choose to go back to. Would she come back to their flat or stay with her parents? Right now, he wanted her to choose whichever would be the less stressful environment, even if it meant she didn't come home to him.
"Good, that's good," Charles gruffly responded. In his time with Charles Carson, he realized that gruffly was just his everyday nature.
"Yes," John awkwardly replied, trying to turn so he could head toward the cafeteria.
"I…." Charles started. John paused. "You're a good man, John. I judged you wrong. You are good for my daughter. She is lucky to have someone who would sacrifice so much for her."
"I love her. I can promise you that I love her and will love her child, as my own, Mr. Carson," John sincerely stated.
"I know, and please, call me Charles," he said, sticking his hand out for John to shake. John's body filled with a great warmth, knowing what an honor this was. He gave Charles a warm smile and nodded.
"Thank you, Charles. Do you need anything from the cafeteria?"
"No, no. I am fine. Elsie brought me a sandwich, but I'm afraid I won't be able to eat until our Anna is back home."
Again the word home. John took in a deep breath and decided not to ask Charles where he thought Anna's home was. The two were getting along and he didn't want to mess that up right away. So he nodded and skirted off down the cafeteria to grab a quick bite to eat.
-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-
"Alright," Sybil said, entering the room with a bright smile. Behind her, she was pulling an ultrasound machine behind her.
Anna had been in the hospital for a day and a half now. It was almost time for her to go home. Sybil said she wanted to do an ultrasound to check on the baby's positon and fluids, before allowing Anna to leave.
"Let's look at that baby," Sybil happily stated. Anna lifted her gown and pushed down her sweat pants slightly.
Soon, the baby's heartbeat was wafting through the room.
"Sybil, can….can I found out the sex of the baby now?" Anna questioned. "I'm ready. Before, I was scared. I guess I thought knowing would make it all more real, but now I really want to know."
"Sure," Sybil warmly replied. "You're having a girl."
Tears prickled behind Anna's eyes. "A girl?" She turned to John, who had a bright, goofy grin on his face.
"A girl, my darling! How wonderful!" He replied, bending down and pressing a kiss against Anna's lips.
"A girl," Anna said, her breath hitching in her throat. It seemed surreal. A baby girl, her baby girl.
"Everything looks great, Anna," Sybil told her. "But I want you to come back to my office in two days. Then we will likely see you every two weeks to watch your blood pressure. If you start feeling like you did the other day, I need you to come back in, okay?"
"Alright. I will. Thanks, Sybil."
Soon the paper work to sign out was brought to Anna and she was able to start packing up her things to go home. She realized in that moment that she hadn't spoken to her parents or John about where she would be going this afternoon. She wanted to go back to her and John's flat, but what if her parents wanted her back there?
Her parents walked into the room as she was debating this question and she noticed her dad had her bag in his hand.
"We brought your stuff from our house, Anna," Charles told her, handing it over to John. "If we missed anything, you can grab it next time you're over."
"Yes, your father and I were thinking it might be nice if we all got together once a week for dinner."
Anna smiled. "Yes, that would be nice."
-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-
Being back at the flat was nice, Anna thought to herself. But it still didn't feel like hers. It was a nice flat, in a nice neighborhood. However, she really wanted a home. A home for her, John, and the baby.
She didn't know how to bring that up to John. This was closer to his job and he wasn't one for a large commute.
Anna sighed. At that, John's hand came to rest on her lower back and he gave it a gentle rub.
"Is everything alright? Do we need to go back to the hospital?"
"No, we do not," Anna quickly stated. "I'm fine. Just tired."
"Why don't you go take a nap, my darling? You and baby girl need your rest," he said with a happy smile. Anna's lips curled into her own smile.
"I thought I was having a boy," Anna confessed to John.
"Really? Are you disappointed it's a girl?"
"No," Anna replied. "But I would have been happy with a boy too. I just had a name picked out and I'm not sure I can use it for a girl."
"What's the name?" John asked. Anna chewed on her lower lip and placed her hand over her belly where the baby had kicked.
"Carson, after my parents. They didn't give me the name to honor my biological parents, so I thought I'd honor them by naming the baby after them."
"Hum," John mused, stepping closer to Anna. "Carson Bates." He brought his hands over Anna's bump and gave it a gentle rub. Bending over, he whispered, "What do you think little one? Do you like the name Carson?"
A hard kick went against John's hand. He glanced up and winked, "I think she likes it."
"Alright, Mr. Bates," Anna teased, bringing him up to her. "We can think on it. It might grow on me as a girl name. But do you like it?"
"I like whatever makes you happy, my darling," he answered.
"I want you to feel like you get to make decisions too," Anna said. Then she realized John had given the baby his last name and tears filled her eyes.
"What? What's the matter?"
"You said, Carson Bates," she said.
"Oh, I'm sorry for assuming. I….I understand if you'd want your last name," he stated quickly. Anna's head shook.
"No….no I want the baby to have your name," she earnestly stated. She wanted to add that she wanted that name, as well, but now was not the time to bring that up. Neither brought up the fact that Alex Green could end up having some say on the last name. And for just a little while, the two pretended he didn't exist and enjoyed being back home together.
To be continued...
A little reprieve with the drama. More soon. Thank you!