Ross captured Blake in his arms. "Are you sure?" He asked, still trying to come awake.
"Yes, I am sure. That was Mom."
Just then the doctor for Roger came out. "Mrs. Marler"
"What now?" She asked hurriedly, wanting to be with her mother.
"Your father is coming around, I thought you may want to see him. Then I suggest that you go home and get some rest. As we advised you earlier, his recovery is going to be a long arduous one."
Blake looked longingly at Ross. She was conflicted. She wanted to see Holly, but she needed to see Roger too.
Ross kissed her gently. "You see to Roger. I will see what I can find out about Holly."
"Are you sure?"
He kissed her again. "I'm sure, now go"
Blake followed the doctor to Roger's room while Ross went to the desk.
"It appears that my mother-in-law, Holly Bauer was just brought into the ER by ambulance. My wife is with her father, and I was wondering if I could go back and see Holly."
The secretary shrugged. "I do not see why not. She will be in bay 2."
"Thank you" Ross hurried to the doors of the ER and waited for her to buzz him in. He followed the color-coded maze. Blake would have been ushered down the red line while he followed the white. Cedars had undergone a massive renovation, so each room was now private with a glass sliding door as opposed to a hanging curtain. When he arrived, he knocked gently.
Holly looked up from her bed and stretched her hands out to him. "Ross, what are you still doing here? Where's Blake?" She asked, having forgotten about Roger.
"Never mind that right now. What are you doing here?" He took her hands in his.
Tears sprung to her eyes. "I'm not doing so well I'm afraid." She indicated her belly. "I think my miracle is about to become a tragedy"
Ross flopped into the chair beside her bed. "Oh Holly, I am so sorry." He closed his eyes and inhaled deeply. "When this is all over, I'm going to need to take Blake on around the world cruise to unwind her."
"What's going on with Roger?" Holly asked, suddenly remembering why Ross was in the ER and not on a cruise ship with his wife. A monitor began beeping loudly indicating that her blood pressure had risen dramatically.
Ross looked at it, his eyes widening. "Calm down or you're going to have a heart attack on top of everything else."
Holly closed her eyes and breathed rhythmically and deeply. "Ok, ok. Now tell me about Roger."
"He is alive. He has a broken ankle, leg, and skull fracture as well as several busted ribs among some less severe injuries, I think. Blake is in with him now"
There was another knock on the door. "Hello, I'm Doctor Sloane, I am the resident on call for obstetrics this very early morning" She was young and pretty and had a smile that was relaxed. She looked over Holly's chart before coming fully into the room.
"It says here you are having some cramping. EMT says your vitals are normal apart from your blood pressure. That is a bit high, but the fetal heart tones are normal. All right let us have a look and see what is going on" She smiled again.
"You must be Mrs. Bauer's husband." Dr. Sloane said as she washed her hands.
Ross immediately blushed. "No, I'm not."
"Oh, I am sorry, the form said Mrs. Bauer. Are you the baby's father then?"
"Absolutely not" He stammered. Holly had to place a hand over her mouth to stifle her giggles. "I am her son in law!"
Dr. Sloane dried her hands. "My apologies. Given that, Mr.?"
"Marler, Ross Marler" He stood and reached out a hand.
"I just washed, Mr. Marler. At any rate, given that you are not Mrs. Bauer's husband, or the father to the fetus I am going to have to ask you to wait outside. I will get you as soon as I am done examining her."
Ross looked to Holly who was pink from laughing silently. "Holly, I'll try to send Blake in when you're done" Quickly Ross vacated the room.
In Roger's room Blake stood on one side of the bed as his doctor used a pen light to check his pupils.
"Mrs. Marler, you can talk to him, but please do not stay too long. I need him well rested for his surgery"
"Isn't that ironic. You are going to sedate him anyway"
The doctor cleared his throat and left the room. Blake felt for the arm of the chair and sat in it still holding Roger's hand.
"Daddy" she said.
"Chrissy" His voice was hoarse. He laid his opposite hand over his chest and winced from the pain of his ribs.
"I'm right here Daddy" She assured him.
"Jenna." He said, his eyes becoming less focused.
"I have not called her Daddy. I wanted to wait until you were stable. As soon as I check on Mom, I will call Jenna. Is she at home?"
Roger lulled his head towards her. "Jenna" he said again before closing his eyes.
"Ok Daddy, I'll get you Jenna" She stood and kissed his forehead.
She slid open the door and saw Ross coming down the hall. Like the Titanic to the iceberg, she raced towards him. "How is Mom?" She asked breathlessly.
"The doctor is with her now. How is Roger?"
"He was awake for a minute. He asked for Jenna. I think I should go call her."
Ross leaned his forehead on hers and kissed the tip of her nose. Blake melted into him.
"I have a better idea." He whispered. "You see to your mother. I will call Jenna. If while you are with Holly, there is any change to Roger I will come find you."
"Are you sure?" Blake asked. "Ross, this isn't how either of us imagined our marriage would start."
"No, it isn't, but when I stood in front of the priest and said for better or worse, I knew there was the potential for a lot of worse, but Blake, I know there will be a lot of better too"
"Oh Ross" She murmured. "I love you"
"I love you too. I will call Jenna; you go be with your mother."
Blake walked slowly to her mothers cubical. The light was off when she arrived, but a small computer or tv screen illuminated the corner of the space. She knocked softly.
"Excuse me, is it alright if I come sit with my mother?" Blake asked.
Dr. Sloane looked at Holly who nodded.
"Yes, you're right in time for the ultrasound."
Blake took the chair beside her mother and gently took her hand in hers. She brought it to her lips and kissed the back of it gently.
"As I was explaining to your mother, I've concluded my examination of her, now I want to have a look at the fetus." Immediately the screen illuminated further with swirls of white and gray. The doctor moved the probe through a jelly like substance on Holly's stomach.
"Oh wow, would you look at that" Blake exclaimed, forgetting the necessity of the exam.
Holly tucked an arm under her head and turned it towards the wall, away from the image. Her lip quivered, her nose became runny, and her eyes brimmed with tears. Finally, Dr. Sloane pulled the wand from her belly.
"Mrs. Bauer, everything appears to be fine in regard to your fetal health"
Holly turned her head towards the frozen image on the screen.
"I am sure you felt the movement while I was conducting the examination. The contractions of the uterus were caused by a combination of high blood pressure and dehydration. When is the last time you consumed any liquids?"
"Probably when dinner was being served at my daughter's wedding." Holly admitted
"And before that? Dehydration can sneak up on you, but in your case, it had been a bit longer than dinner."
Holly as sheepish. "I know I had tea at breakfast, but I was so busy I really didn't notice"
Dr. Sloane smiled. "Ok, I am going to hydrate you with a saline IV, that will take about half an hour. After that I am going to check your blood pressure again, and if it is normal, I will release you. I want you to follow up with your regular OB next week. I am going to get a nurse to come in and get the IV started.
Blake sat with her mother until her bag ran dry. When she was discharged, she asked to see Roger.
"Oh Mom, do you think that is a promising idea? The doctor said she wanted you to rest. You have not slept all night, you had quite the fright when you thought you were losing your baby. Besides, Dad is not even awake." Blake tried to reason. "Let me have Ross take you home. Get some sleep, get a shower, then you can come back later."
"No" Holly protested. "I need to see your father now!"
"Fine, just calm down."
Blake took Holly to Roger's room. She did not bother to knock, she knew no one would be with him. She guided Holly to the chair next to him.
"Daddy" She whispered. "Mom's here."
Blake stood and laid a hand on her mother's shoulder. "I'm going to go see if Ross got in touch with Jenna"
Holly sat quietly until Blake left the room. Once she had she leaned forward and stroked Roger's hand.
"Oh Roger, I am so sorry this happened to you. Ed must pay for what he did to you."
She felt Roger's hand move. "Jenna, get her" He croaked.
"Blake is calling her. She will be here soon."
Holly picked up his hand and brushed the back of it along her cheek. "Oh Roger, why did you have to come to the Cliffhouse?" She sighed and then kissed the back of his hand. She laid it back on the white sheet. Suddenly monitors began to shriek, the electronic pulses were erratic. The once darkened room was now shrouded in a harsh light as two doctors and several nurses came running in.
"You're going to have to leave." One of them pointed at Holly "You can't be in here; you need to go!"
