Chapter 5
Christmas came and went in a flurry of green and red paper and shimmery ribbon. Before we knew it, New Year's Eve was upon us. Shawn had something planned, but he refused to tell me what it was. All I knew was that it was black tie and we were leaving the house at 6:00pm. Mimi and I discovered that our guys we working together because neither would tell us what was being planned and Meems had been given the same information that I had.
At 6pm, Shawn and I walked out of our house to see a white stretch limousine sitting out front. He offered me his arm. "Your chariot awaits Mrs. Brady." He escorted me to the door, which the driver opened for us. We drove down to Rex and Mimi's house where we picked our friends up as well. After a quick spin around Salem, we arrived at the Penthouse Grill. The restaurant was decorated with black and silver for the festivities. We danced, and ate, and had a wonderful evening. At midnight we rang in the New Year and Rex made a toast. We all raised our glasses, all filled with sparkling cider to "New beginnings and a better New Year."
At about 1:30am I started to fell a little weary. "Shawn, can we head home? I'm worn out." I put a hand on my forehead seemingly to keep it from spinning. "Of course Honey. Meems, will you stay here with Belle while I get our coats?" Mimi nodded her head and hooked arms with me. Rex said, "Ok, I'll call the chauffeur and tell him we're leaving now." I started, "Oh guys, don't cut your evening short on my account. Have a blast. We'll just send the limo back when we get h . . ." I never finished my sentence. Apparently I passed out. The next thing I remember was Shawn kneeling over me telling Rex, "forget the limo, call the paramedics."
Before I knew it, we were at the University Hospital ER. I had nurses taking my blood pressure, pulse, and putting an IV in. I looked to my left and there was my husband, holding my hand and looking at me with concern in his eyes. "Shawn, what happened? One minute I was feeling fine and the next I was on the floor." "I don't know Sweetheart; the doctors are running some tests. We should know what happened soon. How are you feeling?" I thought for a second and said, "I'm feeling OK. Still a little woozy, but not as bad as before." Maybe I partied a little to hearty tonight. I didn't get enough sleep last night to be up as late as I was." Then my heart sank, "Oh God Shawn, what if there's something wrong with the baby?" Shawn stroked my head and said, "I'm sure everything is fine. Let's just give the doctors a chance to figure out what's up and then we'll deal with it." Just then Lexie came in. "Well Belle, how are you feeling? You gave you husband here quite a scare." "I'm feeling OK Lexie, I'm just worried about the baby." Lexie took a look at my chart and then asked, "are you having any cramps or anything like that?" "Nope" was all I said. "I'm going to order an ultrasound to check on the baby while we wait for your blood work to come back. Don't worry Belle, we're going to take really good care of you." She left as Mimi and Rex came in. "Hey Belle, how are you?" Questioned Mimi. Before I could answer, Shawn spoke up, "Hey while you guys are here, I'm going to go call my parents and John, I don't want to leave Belle alone. Is that OK my Perfect Girl?" I nodded and he left.
Lexie came in with the ultrasound machine just after Hope arrived at the hospital. Bo had stayed home with Zack. "Ok Belle, let's check out what's going on with your baby." Lexie said. Hope declared, "I'll just go wait outside" and turned to leave. "No Hope wait, could you stay in here? I need all the support I can get." "Of course." Lexie started the ultrasound. I got butterflies in my stomach. This was the first time I was going to see my baby. I then saw the black and white image on the screen. Lexie pointed out where the baby was. I couldn't decipher the image on the screen, but it was still an amazing sight. All of a sudden, Lexie's face changed. She looked deep in thought. She was searching the image on the screen for something. "Excuse me for just one second." She said before getting up and leaving. A minute or two later, she came in with Dr. Bader. She greeted Hope, Shawn and me before starting up the machine again. She also was studying the image of my baby really closely. What felt like an eternity passed before Dr Bader looked at Shawn and then at me before saying, "I'm sorry, there's no heartbeat." Shawn took my hand, but I yanked it away. "What do you mean there's no heartbeat? What happened? I was fine last week and now you're telling me my baby is dead!" Dr. Bader said, "I'm sorry Belle, we don't always know why something like this happens. I'd like you to stay here overnight for observation and then we can schedule an appointment for you to come and see me next week." With that, she turned and left. I just started to cry. I had been thinking and dreaming about this baby since the day I found out I was pregnant and now it was gone. I then exclaimed, "Oh no, we told everyone about the baby. Now I've got to tell them I lost it. How can I do that?" Hope spoke up, "don't worry about it. I'll tell the family. I know how hard a miscarriage can be. OK?" I managed a faint smile, "Thank you Hope." With that, she smiled back, gave my hand a squeeze, hugged Shawn and left us alone. "Oh Shawn . . ." I didn't need to say anything else, he knew. He sat on the bed next to me and held me until I cried myself to sleep.
Christmas came and went in a flurry of green and red paper and shimmery ribbon. Before we knew it, New Year's Eve was upon us. Shawn had something planned, but he refused to tell me what it was. All I knew was that it was black tie and we were leaving the house at 6:00pm. Mimi and I discovered that our guys we working together because neither would tell us what was being planned and Meems had been given the same information that I had.
At 6pm, Shawn and I walked out of our house to see a white stretch limousine sitting out front. He offered me his arm. "Your chariot awaits Mrs. Brady." He escorted me to the door, which the driver opened for us. We drove down to Rex and Mimi's house where we picked our friends up as well. After a quick spin around Salem, we arrived at the Penthouse Grill. The restaurant was decorated with black and silver for the festivities. We danced, and ate, and had a wonderful evening. At midnight we rang in the New Year and Rex made a toast. We all raised our glasses, all filled with sparkling cider to "New beginnings and a better New Year."
At about 1:30am I started to fell a little weary. "Shawn, can we head home? I'm worn out." I put a hand on my forehead seemingly to keep it from spinning. "Of course Honey. Meems, will you stay here with Belle while I get our coats?" Mimi nodded her head and hooked arms with me. Rex said, "Ok, I'll call the chauffeur and tell him we're leaving now." I started, "Oh guys, don't cut your evening short on my account. Have a blast. We'll just send the limo back when we get h . . ." I never finished my sentence. Apparently I passed out. The next thing I remember was Shawn kneeling over me telling Rex, "forget the limo, call the paramedics."
Before I knew it, we were at the University Hospital ER. I had nurses taking my blood pressure, pulse, and putting an IV in. I looked to my left and there was my husband, holding my hand and looking at me with concern in his eyes. "Shawn, what happened? One minute I was feeling fine and the next I was on the floor." "I don't know Sweetheart; the doctors are running some tests. We should know what happened soon. How are you feeling?" I thought for a second and said, "I'm feeling OK. Still a little woozy, but not as bad as before." Maybe I partied a little to hearty tonight. I didn't get enough sleep last night to be up as late as I was." Then my heart sank, "Oh God Shawn, what if there's something wrong with the baby?" Shawn stroked my head and said, "I'm sure everything is fine. Let's just give the doctors a chance to figure out what's up and then we'll deal with it." Just then Lexie came in. "Well Belle, how are you feeling? You gave you husband here quite a scare." "I'm feeling OK Lexie, I'm just worried about the baby." Lexie took a look at my chart and then asked, "are you having any cramps or anything like that?" "Nope" was all I said. "I'm going to order an ultrasound to check on the baby while we wait for your blood work to come back. Don't worry Belle, we're going to take really good care of you." She left as Mimi and Rex came in. "Hey Belle, how are you?" Questioned Mimi. Before I could answer, Shawn spoke up, "Hey while you guys are here, I'm going to go call my parents and John, I don't want to leave Belle alone. Is that OK my Perfect Girl?" I nodded and he left.
Lexie came in with the ultrasound machine just after Hope arrived at the hospital. Bo had stayed home with Zack. "Ok Belle, let's check out what's going on with your baby." Lexie said. Hope declared, "I'll just go wait outside" and turned to leave. "No Hope wait, could you stay in here? I need all the support I can get." "Of course." Lexie started the ultrasound. I got butterflies in my stomach. This was the first time I was going to see my baby. I then saw the black and white image on the screen. Lexie pointed out where the baby was. I couldn't decipher the image on the screen, but it was still an amazing sight. All of a sudden, Lexie's face changed. She looked deep in thought. She was searching the image on the screen for something. "Excuse me for just one second." She said before getting up and leaving. A minute or two later, she came in with Dr. Bader. She greeted Hope, Shawn and me before starting up the machine again. She also was studying the image of my baby really closely. What felt like an eternity passed before Dr Bader looked at Shawn and then at me before saying, "I'm sorry, there's no heartbeat." Shawn took my hand, but I yanked it away. "What do you mean there's no heartbeat? What happened? I was fine last week and now you're telling me my baby is dead!" Dr. Bader said, "I'm sorry Belle, we don't always know why something like this happens. I'd like you to stay here overnight for observation and then we can schedule an appointment for you to come and see me next week." With that, she turned and left. I just started to cry. I had been thinking and dreaming about this baby since the day I found out I was pregnant and now it was gone. I then exclaimed, "Oh no, we told everyone about the baby. Now I've got to tell them I lost it. How can I do that?" Hope spoke up, "don't worry about it. I'll tell the family. I know how hard a miscarriage can be. OK?" I managed a faint smile, "Thank you Hope." With that, she smiled back, gave my hand a squeeze, hugged Shawn and left us alone. "Oh Shawn . . ." I didn't need to say anything else, he knew. He sat on the bed next to me and held me until I cried myself to sleep.