Chapter Three- Hospital Hell
Jason supported Sam on the examination table as they sat in GH. He used his broad chest to hold her up as she swayed even when sitting down. Dr. Meadows was with them, after rushing in to the hospital in the middle of the night for their emergency.
"Alright Sam, tell me what hurts" she said.
Sam took a deep breath and with an encouraging hand squeeze and a kiss to her temple from Jason, she began to talk to Dr. Meadows in a scratchy voice.
"I have a fever I think, but I'm freezing and I can't stop shivering. I'm nauseous, my head hurts, and my neck is so stiff"
"Any cramping?"
"A little" she answered.
"Alright, we're going to take some blood and run some tests. I'm going to transfer you to a room. Until we figure out what's wrong, the best thing for you is just to stay calm and get some sleep. It'll be better for the baby" she said pointedly.
"Alright" she answered in a small voice.
A nurse came in with a wheel chair to wheel her to her room, but Jason took over the pushing. He vowed that he wouldn't leave his wife's side ever again.
When they got to her room, Jason lifted her from the chair and placed her gently in the bed, covering her with extra blankets to calm her chills and warm her up. He sat down next to her and held her hand as the nurse took some blood, cringing when he saw the pained expression on her face.
"Its ok baby" he told her, bending down to kiss her all over her beautiful face.
"Jack needs to be alright"
"He will be, and so will you" Jason assured her.
Sam had finally cried herself to sleep after about an hour. Jason was perched in a stool by her bed, holding both of her hands in his big ones. He wanted to crawl into bed with her, but he knew that it wasn't best for the baby. So he settled with being as close to her as possible and touching her hands, face, and hair.
"I see she's asleep" whispered Dr. Meadows as she walked into the room.
"Yeah, for about a half-hour now" whispered back Jason, the fear in his eyes evident. "Do you have any information about her or the baby?"
"Not yet. But I need to ask you a few questions"
"Sure, whatever you need" whispered Jason.
"Let's go outside" she said. "We don't want to wake her"
Jason reluctantly got up and kissed Sam's forehead before telling her that he loved her, then followed Dr. Meadows outside.
"Did Sam have anything unusual…" she started, but she was cut off by Jason.
"Unusual? Oh my god! We had sex. I didn't want to; I thought it would hurt the baby. But she assured me that it was ok. She said that it was good for the baby, which I didn't quite get. But she said it was, so we did it, we haven't done it in so long, and we couldn't even use the usual positions, so I kinda had to maneuver myself so that I was…"
Dr. Meadows suppressed a laugh and held up a hand to stop Jason's babble.
"…And it was weird at first, but I got used to…what?" he asked as he saw her looking like she was about to crack up.
"If you let me finish my sentence, I was about to ask if she had anything unusual to eat" said Dr. Meadows with a smile as she saw the clearly embarrassed and flustered mobster in front of her.
"Right, to eat" said Jason, his face turning bright red at telling his wife's doctor about his sexual positions. "Umm, not that I could think of"
"What about over the past few days?"
"Nope, it's been the usual. Either sandwiches, pizza, or Chinese food. But sometimes I can force some vegetables down her throat. Why?"
"Sam has the symptoms of food poisoning. It could very possibly be from the sandwiches, deli meats carry a high threat of food poisoning. Of course, the Chinese food and pizza are not so good either" she scolded.
"I really do try to get her to eat right. But neither of us can really cook and…"
Once again, Dr. Meadows held up her hand to stop him from continuing.
"It could have happened with any type of food" she assured him. "I'm just going to run a few more tests and then I should have a final answer for you"
"But wait, Dr. Meadows, what does this mean for the baby?" he asked.
"Jason, I'm not going to sugar coat this for you. Food poisoning is extremely dangerous in any pregnancy, but in this one, its worse. This is high risk, with a high chance of Sam having another stillborn. In a regular pregnancy, it can result in a stillborn anyway if the illness is transferred from mother to child. Or, the child could end up being born very, very sick. But in this case, these outcomes are more likely to occur, and it's more likely to be the first one"
"What can I do to save my son?" asked Jason as he was on the verge of tears.
"Keep Sam calm, she doesn't need stress on top of everything. Lie to her about what could happen to the baby if you need to. We are going to just double check that this is food poisoning, and then we can immediately administer antibiotics"
"And the antibiotics will save both her and Jack?" asked Jason.
"The antibiotics will increase the chance of having a healthy baby" Dr. Meadows said. "Jason, I know that this isn't the answer you were looking for. But at this point, there is no sure thing. Go in and sit with your wife. She needs you now"
"Jason?" asked Sam as she slowly came to.
"I'm right here baby" he said as he lifted her frail hand to his lips and gently kissed it.
"Do the doctors know what's wrong?" she asked, her voice cracked and dry.
Jason avoided her question and instead told her that she needed to drink some water. He filled a cup from the pitcher and slowly brought it to her lips, letting her drink the cool liquid.
"Thanks" she said. "Now tell me, what's wrong with…oh my god" said Sam as she stopped short and closed her mouth, covering it with one hand.
Jason immediately knew what was wrong. Grabbing a bed pan, he held it for her and Sam let it out. Her whole body shook and Jason gently rubbed her hair with one hand and held her hair back with his other, letting the bedpan rest on the bed. When she was done, she leaned back and wiped a tear from the corner of her eye. Jason got a damp towel and helped her to wash off her face, gently soothing her as he did.
"Jason, what's wrong with me?" she asked him tearfully.
Knowing that he couldn't keep the truth from her any longer, he regretfully sat down on the bed and took her hands in his.
"Sam, the doctors think you have food poisoning" he told her.
"How does that affect Jack?" she asked in what she hoped was a stable voice.
"The doctors need to get you antibiotics right away, and then he will most likely be fine" said Jason, unable to lie to her, but able to not tell the whole truth.
"So, what's taking them so long!"
"Baby, they need to make sure that it really is food poisoning and not something else"
"Jason, this wasn't an accident" she said determinedly.
"What do you mean?" he asked.
"The threats against me and Jack? Remember them? Whoever wrote that message on the bathroom mirror poisoned me"
"It's just a bad reaction to some food, that's it Sam" he reassured me.
"Jason, my instincts are telling me that this is anything but. I was poisoned, please believe me. I could feel it. I was able to feel that something was off"
"Why didn't you say anything?" he asked her.
"Because. I thought I was just a crazy pregnant woman and I didn't want to ruin our night with my paranoia. I dunno, for all I know now I'm just being a crazy paranoid prego again"
"You're not a 'crazy paranoid prego'" he said with a smile. "You're my wife, and I love you. And I trust you. If you say that you were poisoned, then I believe you. But how?"
"The Chinese food. I had that shrimp dish that you said you wouldn't touch with a ten foot pole. That was the only time in the past few days that I ate something that you didn't. If something was poisoned that we both ate, we both would be in hospital beds right now"
"It does make sense. It's like whoever poisoned you knew that you would be the one who ate that, and not me. It was as though they knew that I hate shrimp. Sam, I'm going to find out who this sicko is. I swear I will. He's not going to hurt you anymore" said Jason.
"So, we all think it's some sort of conspiracy" came a voice from the door.
Both Sam and Jason looked towards the door and were surprised to see Sonny standing there.
"Sonny? What are you doing back so soon?" said Jason as he stood from Sam's bedside.
"Yeah, you're supposed to be on your honeymoon. Where's Reese?"
"She's home unpacking. But she promised she would come and see you as soon as she could" Sonny told her.
"You shouldn't have cut your honeymoon short for this" scolded Sam.
"It's ok, really. You and this baby are much more important than an extra week on the island. We can always go back" he assured her. "How you feeling?" he asked.
"Like a big blob" she said in a groaning voice.
"I'm sorry" he told her sincerely. "So tell me this all now, you think someone poisoned you"
"Yeah, I do. After the threats at your wedding, it just all matches up"
"Sonny, I want to find this guy. I want to find out just who is messing with my family" said Jason angrily, only calming when Sam laid a gentle hand on his arm.
"And you will Jason, I promise you. Just give it time"
Dr. Meadows walked in before anything else could be said, and announced that it was in fact food poisoning. She set Sam up with an IV to get the antibiotic down.
"We can do a sonogram as early as tomorrow morning to check on the baby" she told them.
"We can't look now?" asked Sam.
"It won't make a difference now. We need to see how he is after some time on the antibiotics. But don't worry Sam, you caught this early. There's a good chance that the baby will be just fine"
"But there's also a chance that he won't be" she sighed.
"You can't think like that" said Dr. Meadows softly. "Now, get some sleep" she instructed before leaving them alone again.
"I'm gonna head out now. Listen to Dr. Meadows Sam; get some sleep" instructed Sonny.
"Alright" she said with a sigh as Sonny walked out.
Jason turned off the lights and helped her to fix the blankets before taking his place on the stool.
"That stool doesn't look too comfortable" she told him.
"It's not" he agreed.
"Go home Jase, I'll be fine" she assured him.
"Sam, nothing is tearing me away from your side. And that's a promise" he told her, and she could see the fear in his eyes.
"Alright, so do you think you can just hold me then?" she asked.
"It won't hurt the baby?" he questioned.
"Nope" she said with a smile.
Jason smiled back and obliged, climbing into bed with her, trying to get some sleep as he worried about both her and their baby.