Author's Note: Tati, about your suggestion to have the baby in danger, I have something similar to that planned in the upcoming chapters as Lily gets closer to her due date. Just be patient with me and I'll turn out the chapters as fast as I can. I promise.
Chapter 6
For the next week I sat by Lilly as she lay in the hospital bed, in her coma. I sat by her side in a nightly vigil praying. I was raised in the Catholic Church but it seems that I've strayed since then and now I am throwing myself back into my faith full force. I've found myself in the church praying after I've eating lunch hoping that there wasn't a crisis in Lilly's room while I was gone.
I can't remember a time that I've prayed so hard in my life. I retreat to her room every night and pray as my eyes travel from her face, to the monitor, to her abdomen, to the fetal monitor and back to her face.
The presence of the ventilator scars me, I keep thinking that she is only here because of the ventilator and that she won't make it through the next night. Most of all I am scared for our baby. What if there is something wrong? What if the bullet did harm the baby or what if the baby's dead and Lilly has to go through a stillbirth when she wakes up?
Then I remind myself that the fetal monitor has not stopped beeping since the moment it was hooked up and that Lil and the baby are fine and that eventually Lilly and I will be a happy couple.
Her OB/GYN wants to do an ultrasound just to make sure that the baby is okay, but I want to wait for Lilly to wake up. She's the one that has the connection to the baby, not I.
There are days that I wake up and wish that this was all a dream. That Lily would wake up and smile at me with that goofy smile she gives at the station when we're solving a cold job.
I'd begun praying really hard, I went to the chapel for an hour every night and just sat there praying to God for Lily's health, for a baby's health, and for our lives together.
It was on the evening of the second day that I awoke to the sound of an almost inaudible moan. I looked up to see that my prayers had been answered. Lily's eyelids were starting to flutter and soon they opened. I moved up into her line of sight as she glanced around the room with an almost confused look I in her eyes.
"Lily!" Scotty said. "It's okay. I'm going to get a doctor. I'll be right back." As I pulled away I felt a sudden pressure around my hand. I looked back to see Lily had tightened her grasp. "Lily, its okay." I bent down and kissed her on the forehead. "I'll be right back, I just need to get your doctor. I promise. Okay?" Lily nodded her head as a tear dripped down her cheek. "It's okay to be scared Lilly, but I'm not leaving."
I left the room and found her doctor. I briefed him about Lily's condition and told him that she was awake before going back into the room. She looked like she wanted to speak, but the ventilator prevented her from doing so.
"Lil," Scotty said. "I have to tell you something." Lily looked at me with squinted eyes. "Did you know you were pregnant Lily?" Lily shook her head and made a motion for a pen. I handed her a pen and paper and she scribbled a note.
Why?
"The doctors found a second heartbeat when they examined you in the ER a week ago," I said. "Did you see a doctor when you thought you had the stomach flu?" Lily shook her head. "Well the doctors said that you are about a month along."
Before Lily could respond the doctor entered the room, "Miss Rush, I'm glad to see that you decided to join the land of the living." The doctors eyes moved to the monitors, everything looks fine. Your heartbeat looks strong, and you lungs look great. I think we can take the tube out. Does that sound good?" Lily nodded her head. "Okay," the doctor said disconnecting the ventilator from the oxygen tank. "Breath in deeply and hold it," I watched as Lily took a deep breath and held it. "Okay, now when I tell you to, blow it out." Lily nodded. "Ready? Blow." Lily released the air in her lungs as the doctor pulled the tube out of airway.
Lily leaned up coughing and I offered her some water. I supported her back as she leaned up and I tilted the cup so that she could take a sip of water. She nodded to me when she was done and I set the cup back on the table.
"Thank you," Lily said her voice scratchy.
"I'll send gynecology in to do an ultrasound," the doctor said. "Lily, just relax and try not to move around so much right now." Lily nodded her head and the doctor turned to leave.
"I'm pregnant?" Lily questioned. "This is unbelievable."
"What are we going to tell our coworkers?"
"The truth. What else can we tell them?"
"We could tell them that you met a guy and had a one night stand."
"Oh, yeah, give me the image of a slut why don't you?"
"Bad idea," Scotty said. "I was tired of sneaky around anyway. I wanted them to know."
"So when are we going to tell them?"
"Soon."
A knock on the door interrupted the conversation. "I'm sorry to interrupt you. I'm Dr. Trinity Maxwell, the OB/GYN, I've been monitoring your pregnancy for the past few days. I wanted to do an ultrasound to make sure that everything's okay."
"Go ahead," Lily said.
"Okay, please pull your gown back and I'll set up the ultrasound machine," Dr. Maxwell said.
I assisted Lily in pulling her hospital gown up pat her abdomen. There was a small scar in her upper abdomen where the bullet entered but Lily didn't look down. Dr. Maxwell prepared the probe by putting some gel on it and then positioned it on Lily's abdomen. She turned on the machine but the image was empty.
"Let me try it again. Sometimes we have to try a few different positions." Dr. Maxwell repositioned the probe and suddenly a steady beat resonated through the air.
"That's…?" Lily asked speechlessly.
"Yep…that's your baby's heartbeat."
"Oh, my god," Lily said with tears forming in her eyes.
"The baby seems healthy." Dr. Maxwell said. Lily stared at the image on the screen before Dr. Maxwell turned the machine off. "I'll make you a sonogram from your tape so that you can have it on file." She handed Lily a paper towel to wipe off her stomach.
"Thank you," Lily said as she accepted the towel and wiped the gel off of her stomach. Dr. Maxwell left the room and Lily started to cry.
"Hey what's wrong?" I asked. "Our baby's healthy."
"I know," Lily said through the tears. "I just can't believe that I'm going to be a mom."
I took Lily into a hug. "We're going to have a baby," I said.
TBC
