Chapter 8

Martin didn't exactly like hospitals. Most people didn't, but in his case the dislike went beyond the usual discomfort.

Ever since he had been shot about a year ago he couldn't enter a hospital without fear. He knew that it was absurd, but he always felt trapped once he was inside.

The smell of sterile instruments, sickness and death only added to this feeling.

But he knew that he could control it so he took a deep breath and made his way to the information.

"Can I help you, Sir?" The young man sitting behind the counter asked.

"I'm looking for Samantha Spade. She was brought here a couple of hours ago."

The man entered something into his computer and turned back to Martin.

"You take the elevator to the third floor and follow the signs showing a 5. It's not said here to which room they brought her, but one of the nurses up there will know."

"Thanks." Martin nodded and made his way towards the elevators.

As he was waiting for it to come down he thought about Sam. If the woman in the drugstore was right and she had suffered a circulatory collapse from a low blood sugar level and a mild concussion they would probably not even want to keep her overnight. Especially because she had somebody to take care of her. Still he couldn't think of a reason why nobody had called him. Maybe Sam's condition was more severe than he had been told so far.

He really had to stop thinking about that. It would only take a couple more minutes before he got to see her and know exactly about her condition. There was no use in worrying himself with speculations.

There was a ring and the doors of the elevator opened so he could step in.

An old woman sitting in a wheelchair gave him a smile and he smiled back, but didn't know what to say.

The old lady on the contrary instantly began to chat with him.

"And whom have you come to visit, my dear?"

Martin would never get used to people calling him "my dear".

"My girlfriend." He answered and the ring of that word sounded strange, but good in connection with Sam.

"Oh," the old lady stopped smiling for a second, "is she okay?"

"I hope so. I was at work when it happened and didn't have the chance to see her yet."

"Are congratulations appropriate?" The lady started smiling again.

Martin just then realized what this was about.

"Erm...no. She didn't..." He didn't need to finish the sentence before the old lady nodded again. She obviously seemed to think Sam had got a baby.

The elevator stopped and Martin had to get out.

"I'm sorry this is the floor I have to be. I have to go. Bye." He said before the typical hospital smell and the glaring light greeted him again.

He followed the number 5 until he came to a door on which big red letters denied access to unauthorized personnel.

He looked around and could see a nurse approaching him. She was very small and had short, dark hair.

"Hey, my name is Jen. Can I help you?" She asked so cheerful that Martin almost forgot all of his worries.

"Hey, yeah, I'm looking for Samantha Spade." He could see her cheerfulness fading and he suddenly felt worse than he had before. "Is she okay?"

Jen slowly nodded. "Are you family?" She asked the standard question everyone who was asked and couldn't answer with a yes hated so much.

"Well, no, I'm her boyfriend." He said afraid that now they wouldn't tell him anything.

Jen seemed to consider that for a second.

"We'll make an exception tonight as long as you promise not to tell anyone."

Martin was relieved. "I won't."

"Okay, Samantha has suffered a mild concussion. It's nothing serious, but..."

Martin knew that there had to be a but coming.

Jen continued. "She is pretty shaken. You probably know that she fainted in a drugstore..." She waited for Martin's reaction and he nodded.

"Yeah, I've been looking for her, because nobody called me or anything."

"She barely talked to us..." Jen sighed. " I usually wouldn't tell you this, but in this case it would probably be better if you knew before you saw her."

Martin felt a mixture of anger and fear rising in him. Why couldn't they just tell him what was going on?

"We took a blood sample from her. That's standard procedure in cases such as this. She fainted, because of a low level blood sugar, but we also found traces of the hormone human chorionic gonadotropin, or better known as hCG in her blood."

Martin waited for her to elaborate, but Jen didn't say anything.

"Meaning?" He couldn't hide his annoyance about always having to ask for an explanation.

"Meaning you're girlfriend is pregnant."

Now Martin had the feeling that he was the one about to faint. If somebody would ask him what he thought now, he didn't know what he could possibly answer. This was a real surprise.

The first moment of speechlessness was instantly replaced by a thousand thoughts that came to his mind.

"I... I mean..." He couldn't form a sentence, because he always began to stutter.

Jen smiled at him.

"You better talk about this with Samantha, but I'm not sure she took it so well. That's why I wanted you to know before you meet her. She has had a tough couple of hours and she barely talked to anyone."

Now Martin understood why she hadn't called him. This must have come to her as a real shock. He himself wasn't really sure what to think of it, but Sam was very sensitive in this respect.

Suddenly he started wondering if this child really was his. She could only be three weeks pregnant if it was.

"If you like you can also take her home. She is okay, we just didn't want her to leave alone. But if she has somebody to care for her... I'll call for the doctor to sign the papers." Jen said.

Martin nodded. This was probably something to discuss at home.

"I just want to see her before, if that's okay."

"Sure, just take your time and call me when you're ready. I'll show you to her room now."

"Thanks."

-------------------

He carefully opened the door and tried to step into the room as quietly as possible. The light on the inside was dim and he could see Sam lying in a bed. The other beds were empty.

Sam was just staring at her own hands. She hadn't heard him yet.

But when he closed the door she looked up and he could see that she was holding her breath.

"I..." She wanted to begin, but the tears had already begun falling.

"I..." She tried again. Sobs interrupted her and the only thing she could do was shrug.

"Hey..." Martin tried to comfort her while he took a chair to sit down next to her.

Sam let her head fall back on the white pillow and buried her face in her hands.

The nurse had been right. It was obvious that Sam hadn't taken the news very well and Martin was glad that he already knew what this was about. All of this had been a real surprise for him too, but maybe it hadn't really sunk in yet. Sam on the other hand had had the time to think about this.

It just made him feel so helpless to see her like that.

He reached for her right hand and gently pulled it from her face to take it in his.

Both of them said nothing for a while. Finally Sam took the other hand from her face so she could look at him. She was still sobbing, but the tears had ceased falling. He could sense that she didn't know what to say so he took the opportunity.

"I know. The nurse told me." It wasn't hard to see that she felt relieved. She wouldn't have had any idea how he could have told him that.

"I'm so sorry!" Her voice was feeble and as soon as those words were out the tears began streaming down her cheeks again.

Martin got up from his chair and sat down on the edge of her bed.

"Come here!" He helped her sit up to hug her and she didn't resist.

"You have nothing to be sorry about, okay? Nothing!" He whispered his cheek pressed against her hair as he gently caressed her back.

They sat like that for quite a while. The only sound Martin could hear was Sam's breath against his chest which was interrupted by a sob every now and then.

He looked out of the window. It was dark already which was not surprising at this time of the day.

He couldn't help a sigh. This must all be a dream, he thought. Anything else wouldn't make much sense. They had just got back together and now they were already expecting an addition to their "family"? This sounded like an episode from a soap opera... one that was really badly written.

Not that he didn't want children, but this was like being pushed into the cold water. He suddenly realized what it would mean if he messed this up. They couldn't take everything as slow as they intended anymore. That was if the child really was his.

If it wasn't Sam could have other plans which might not even include him.

He pushed these thoughts aside. They would have enough time to talk about that later. This wasn't the right moment.

He felt Sam's breath going more steady than before.

"You feeling better?" He asked.

Sam nodded. "A little."

She could feel him kissing the top of her head.

"The nurse said I could take you home. Would you like that?"

She nodded again.

"Okay, I go and see if I can find her." He placed another kiss on her forehead and then stood up to find Jen.

-------------------

"There are two things I want you to do, Miss Spade." The doctor said while he signed the leave papers. "Rest once you're at home and go to see a gynecologist as soon as possible. And then I hope I won't see you around for another eight months."

Sam knew that this was supposed to be funny, but she wasn't in the mood for jokes. A simple "okay" was all she could say.

"And you take good care of her." He said to Martin while he shook his hand goodbye.

Martin nodded and smiled not very convincingly.

"Good night and good luck with everything that's coming." Jen called after them when they were heading for the elevator.

Martin turned around to wave and yell a thanks across the whole floor.

Sam was to preoccupied with her own thoughts. She knew that there was a conversation to come. That would make two conversations she really feared in two days. Definitely too much.

End Chapter 8...

A/N:...There it is out...Hope I haven't disappointed anyone! What do you think?