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Becca sat on the side of the examining table. She swung her legs back and forth and tugged nervously at her hospital gown. She was anxiously awaiting what her doctor was going to tell her in regards to her preeclampsia. All this waiting for making her very upset. Something was up.
The doctor looked down at Becca's chart and then back at Becca. "Your blood pressure is still climbing. Not a lot, but enough to still be concerned."
"OK, so what do we do? More meds? Different meds?"
"No. Actually, I want you off of the medication. It doesn't seem to be helping and I don't want to be medicating you unnecessarily."
"OK. Then-"
"I want you to limit your activity, your motion. You are still in school, correct?' Becca nodded. "OK. I want you to go straight to school and back, and I want you in bed the rest of the time. No moving around, no getting up, nothing until you need to get ready for school."
"What! That's torture."
"No," her doctor clarified, "it's partial bed rest. I'll give you a note to get you out of gym, from now until you deliver, and no strenuous activity. You can start resting tomorrow after school, though, so then you have tonight. Get everything set up your going to need to be in bed."
"What do you suggest?"
"Books, magazines, blankets, pillows, that sort of thing."
She sighed. "OK."
"And I want to see you back in a week again to see how that's going."
"C-can I still drive? I need to get myself and my husband to school."
"Yes, but not a lot. To and from school is fine. No more than that."
Becca nodded. "Can I sit in a chair?"
"For now, yes. This is pretty liberal. I just don't want you standing or moving around too much."
"OK. Can I be carried?"
"I guess. Just don't get dropped." Both women laughed. "So what are you doing when you get home from school tomorrow?"
"Getting into bed and not getting up until the next morning."
Becca grumbled.
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Becca thanked the receptionist for making her next appointment and got out her car keys. She turned to leave when the nice lady behind the window called her back.
"I almost forgot. The doctor wanted me to give these to you. They might shed a little more light on things."
Becca nodded mutely and took the pamphlets from the woman. She had to admit that she only had limited knowledge about preeclampsia and welcome the literature provided. At the very least, she could always tell Wilson she brought them home for him. He seemed a lot more interested in these things than she was.
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Becca walked right into the house and plopped down on the couch. She heaved a sigh and glanced around for Wilson. He must not be home from practice yet. It would probably be a while, too, since he had those three miles to run. In the confusion that was her life, Becca almost forgot about Wilson's running that he had to do now.
Mrs. West walked into the living room and looked down at Becca. "Everything all right dear?"
Becca straightened up. "Yeah, kind of."
"Is something wrong?"
She shrugged her shoulder, not really knowing what to make of it. "My blood pressure is still rising so now I've been put on partial bed rest effective tomorrow morning."
"What does that mean?"
"That means school and back, the rest of the time I'm in bed or sitting down."
Mrs. West sighed. "Oh dear that's awful."
"Maybe not totally." Becca smiled. "I can make Wilson carry me around."
"Well, he does have all those muscles from swimming. He might as well put them to good use."
Becca smiled. "My thoughts exactly."
The front door opened and Wilson hung up his jacket. He placed his backpack on the floor and went into the living room, where he could hear his mother and Becca talking. He smiled at Mrs. West Sr. and Mrs. West Jr. and took a spot on the couch next to his wife. He kissed her cheek and Becca blushed.
"That was fast," Becca said. "How was your run?"
"Torture, but if it works it'll be worth it."
"Speaking of torture…"
Wilson's mother stood up. "That's my cue to leave."
Wilson furrowed his brow. "Ooook." He turned to Becca. "What's going on?"
"My-my appointment today…"
He picked up her hand. "Yes?"
"I'm on partial bed rest now. My blood pressure is still going up, so I have to stay in bed or sit while I'm not in school. I can't get around unless you carry me."
"Um, OK."
Now Becca furrowed her brow. "OK? That's all you have to say? OK?"
"Yeah. What else do you say to something like that?"
"I don't know." She stood up dramatically. "God Wilson. Show some sympathy. I'm bedridden!" Becca stormed off and went for the bedroom, slamming the door behind her. Through the walls of the house, Wilson could hear her stomping around the bedroom.
After taking a second to regroup, Wilson went after her. He went to open the door, only to find that it was locked. He knocked and pleaded with her to open it, but with no such luck.
"Becca! Open the door please." Silence. "Becca!" Still nothing. "Rebecca, open the stupid door!"
Frustrated and frazzled, Wilson found a small screwdriver. He inserted that into the doorknob and was able to successfully pick the lock to their room.
"Get out!" Becca screamed. "I don't want to talk to you right now. I'm mad." She was pacing around the room not looking at him.
"Fine," Wilson said approaching her calmly, "just-" He sighed. "Can I do something, please?"
"What?" she still sounded mad, but at least she turned around.
Wilson reached out and put his hand on Becca's chest, over where her heart was. "Do you feel what I feel? I feel your heart, beating very fast because you're getting yourself all worked up. That's not good for you since you have a high blood pressure condition. People who are going on bed rest shouldn't be running around screaming." She half-smiled at him. He was adorable, but still annoying. "Now what did I do?"
"You didn't care about me."
"I care. Of course I care."
"Well you didn't act like it." Her lips formed a distinct pout.
He kissed her softly and held her cheeks with his hands. "I'm sorry. It won't happen again."
"You're right, it won't." Becca released herself from his grasp and went over to her purse. "I got these for you." She handed him the pamphlets. "Maybe you'd want to read them."
"I'd love to." He kissed her again. "Besides all this hoopla, everything is fine?"
"I guess so." She sighed. "But this isn't just 'hoopla'. This is a big deal."
"I know." He rubbed her sides of her arms. "You're not getting scared, are you?"
She scoffed at his remark. "Of course not. Everything is fine. What's there to be scared about?"
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A/N: Oh, the bed rest was coming. That whole thing was more trouble than it was worth, let me tell you. When you take away the power for you character to do everyday things, like walk or stand up, you kind of rule a lot of things out automatically.
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Bedrest Becca to the rescue! Review.
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