Nikki's entire body ached, she didn't think there was one part of her that hurt, all the way down to her heart. Laying in the hospital bed staring up at the ceiling, she counted the tiles on the ceiling as she waited for Leo to get back into the room, the whirring and beeping sounds of the machines next to the bed just helped her to concentrate, closing her eyes for a few seconds to push some more tears away. She heard the door open, turning her head to see who it was and giving Leo a small smile as he walked back in, shutting the door quietly behind him and walking over to the bed. Taking her hand gently in his, Leo stroked her hair gently with his other hand.
"How do you feel?"
"I ache" Nikki sighed, gripping his hand and swallowing the lump in her throat, she was tired but her body wouldn't let her sleep "Did you contact Harry?"
"He's on his way"
Nikki bit her lip and nodded, willing herself not to cry but she couldn't help the tears that dripped down her face. Leo continued to stroke her hair, sitting on the chair next to the bed and rubbing her knuckles with his thumb, letting her cry as much as she wanted. The last few hours must have been traumatising for her since the shootings had started, and he was going to make sure that at least the next days were as easy as they could be.
"How is he?"
"Worried for you..."
"No I mean, he's not hurt?" Nikki interrupted, turning her head on the pillow and biting her lip, gripping Leo's hand "He's okay?"
"He's fine, he was looking after someone who was shot" Leo informed her, waving his other hand vaguely and looking to the door when it opened and a doctor stepped inside with a nurse following her.
"Hi Nikki, how are you feeling? Any more pains?"
"Not for a while" Nikki responded, reaching up to wipe her face again as she sniffed "I can't feel the baby moving, they were so active today and now there's nothing"
"You've been through a traumatic event, and I don't need to explain to you as a doctor that the baby goes through almost the same as you do so they might just be resting now that you've had a chance to relax" the nurse smiled at her, Nikki forcing a smile onto her face as she nodded quickly and wiped her eyes again "We'll do another scan for you though"
"And we want to keep you in for a few days" Doctor Gregory added as she looked through the notes at the end of the bed "To keep an eye on this bleeding and to monitor you both"
"You'll have to ask my boss" Nikki tried to lighten the mood, clearing her throat and looking to Leo who rolled his eyes.
"I'll see what I can do"
Nikki smiled at him, squeezing his hand tightly and clearing her throat, leaning her head back on the pillows at the nurse and doctor spoke amongst themselves for a bit.
"We were meant to have a meeting this afternoon with Social Services about starting the adoption process for Niall, what are they going to think of us now that we've missed it?"
"Leave it to me, I'll get it sorted, phone them up and explain what is happening" Leo assured her, needing her to worry about as little as possible while she was in hospital, and after "I'm sure they will understand, it's been all over the news, and I'll keep an eye on Niall too while you are in here"
"Thank you Leo"
Nikki assumed that she must have dropped off a little bit later, because the next thing she knew she could hear voices outside the room, slowly opening her eyes and seeing the blinds closed at the windows that faced the main hallway outside, the ones on the outside windows still open though and the sky already starting to darken. She closed her eyes for a few more seconds when everything from the day came flooding back, and she took a few deep breaths to try and steady herself before she opened her eyes and glanced at the machines around the bed. The voices outside became clearer as she lay there, and her heart sped up when she heard Harry's voice amongst them. The door opened a bit and light flooded the room from the crack.
"Harry?" she murmured, holding her hand out towards him when she recognised her partner's outline.
"Nikki"
Harry rushed to her side, taking her hand and putting his other on her forehead, stroking her hair gently and giving her a watery smile. Moving her hand to his lips to kiss it firmly, feeling himself shaking.
"Harry I'm..the baby. I don't.."
"They're still monitoring you and the baby" Harry whispered, leaning down to kiss her forehead, closing his eyes and sighing "But the baby's heartbeat is strong still, so that's something"
Nikki nodded, remembering now the scan that they had done before she had fallen asleep, the baby's heartbeat had sounded so good to her and the nurse had praised her for having a baby with such a strong heartbeat. Now she assumed that they said that to every pregnant person that they scanned, but she was going to take the compliment for herself and keep it.
"Where's Niall?"
"He's at home still, Leo has gone home to tell him what's been going on and to stay with him tonight"
Nikki closed her eyes and sighed and nodded again, gripping his hand hard as Harry continued to stroke her hair.
"They want to keep me in for a few days"
"Yes they do, to make sure you and the baby are okay" Harry nodded, kissing her hand again and forcing himself to not cry, he had done that enough on Leo's shoulder when he had got to the hospital and Nikki was passed out asleep. "I'm sorry I wasn't there"
"You were doing your job and I was doing mine" Nikki whispered, clearing her throat and gripping his hand tightly "They said the baby exhausted themselves with all the movement they were doing today"
"That makes a change, usually they're awake at all hours of the night like a hooligan, takes after their big brother, awake half the night on his computer"
Nikki smiled at the teasing and the lopsided grin on Harry's face as he kissed her hand again, nodding and humming thoughtfully.
"Niall phoned me while I was trying to keep Matthew alive" Nikki murmured, it still took a lot of energy to talk loudly and she didn't want to waste what she had left "He was at home for a study period and he found your note on the table about the meeting with the social services"
"The one time he can read my writing"
"Yes" Nikki laughed quietly "I think he was worried we were changing our minds about fostering him, so I had to tell him that we were going to try and adopt him"
"That's okay"
"I know we wanted to make it special when we told him. I'm sorry"
"Hey, you have nothing to be sorry for" Harry told her when he saw her getting upset, stroking her forehead and her hair and kissing her nose, then her lips softly "Nothing at all, and I doubt Niall will mind either way how we tell him"
"What if they don't let us now we've missed a meeting?"
"Ssh, Leo mentioned that he will sort it out, you need to worry about nothing but growing our daughter, okay?"
"Daughter?"
"I have a feeling"
"Of course you do" Nikki smiled, unable to keep her eyes open but kept her hand firmly in Harry's "Will you stay?"
"Nothing would take me away"
Two days in hospital turned into three, that then turned into four, and by the fifth day of looking at the same four walls Nikki was about to start climbing them. Of course she knew that she was there for the safety of her baby, the bleeding she had experienced hadn't stopped enough for them to be happy, but the scans they did three times a day were all looking good so she wasn't worrying, and they told her that the pains she felt occasionally was her body's natural reactions. She knew that treating doctors was a pain, but she enjoyed the ones who were in charge of her care, and the nurses were lovely as well. The third day had included an amusing interaction that she had watched eagerly from the bed through the open door of a student doctor telling a senior nurse that 'she was just a nurse', and the nurse attending to her scan at the time had scolded her for leaning forward to get a better look at the drama unfolding.
"I'm going to have to extend your stay a few more days, Nikki"
Nikki sighed at the doctor's words, the woman giving her a smile as she leaned her head back against the pillows she was propped up against and looked down at her belly, running her hand over her bump and frowning.
"Why?"
"You're still bleeding too much for our liking, we're trying to work out if you're just experiencing a period at this point, or if it's something else. The baby is still looking well on every scan though, but the timing of what you went through and the bleeding is too much of a coincidence for us to send you home"
"I had a friend back in university who had a period every month while she was pregnant" Nikki told the doctor with a nod "In fact her periods while pregnant were more on time than when she wasn't"
"And how is the pain?"
"Still in my lower back, but I have been stuck in a bed and a chair for the past few days" she rolled her eyes, that was a whole lie, she was allowed to get up and walk around as much as she wanted as long as she told a doctor or a nurse beforehand but the principle was still there that she was stuck in the hospital. She saw her doctor smirking into her notes as she wrote some things down, the woman had been an amazing doctor to her, had made sure to not treat her like she didn't know the medical terms that were being used around her. "I just want to go home"
"We'll get you there Nikki" Dr Gregory told her softly, putting the notes at the end of the bed and giving Nikki a smile. She liked the woman, usually she hated treating doctors, but Nikki was lovely.
A knock at the already open door made them look over, Nikki smiling when she saw Niall standing in the doorway in his school uniform, bag slung over his shoulder.
"Niall"
"Hi"
The teenager dropped his bag on the chair next to the bed as he walked over, leaning down to gently hug Nikki, smiling when she kissed his head.
"You're meant to be in school, and don't give me anything about free periods" Nikki told him sternly and he gave her a sheepish look as she put her hands on his cheeks and kissed his forehead before he perched on the edge of the chair and held her hand "Does Harry know you're here?"
"No, he dropped me off at school and said he was going into the lab for a few hours before coming here. I went to first lesson and then ditched to come here"
"Niall.."
"I know, I know" Niall shrugged, fiddling with the zip of his jacket as he undid it "I won't get into medical school if I don't go to lessons, like you and Harry never skipped school when you were there"
He had them there. Nikki sighed and smiled at him, squeezing his hand and looking at the time
"Come on, lets go for a walk. I can't stay in this room for much longer today, they want to keep me a few more days"
"Still?" Niall asked, looking around for Nikki's dressing gown and going to pick it up, holding his foster mum's arm gently as he helped her to stand from the bed, holding out the dressing gown so she could slip it on and tie it up "Is the baby okay?"
"They're still running a few tests that's all" Nikki nodded, not wanting to worry him too much, he had had enough worries in his life up until then, he didn't need more "I should be home in a few days, then we can arrange another meeting to start talking about adopting you, if you still want that"
"Of course I do" Niall nodded quickly, he knew that he had been difficult for them in the past year and a bit, but they were wonderful to him and he was trying to be better "Niall Cunningham-Alexander sounds amazing" he grinned, rubbing the back of his neck "Be a bit weird when I'm a doctor though, a bit long"
Nikki just smiled proudly at him.
