Chapter 151
Tegan only got an hour or two of sleep before waking up startled from a dream. She couldn't recall what the dream was about but she knew it wasn't a good one. She sat up and looked over at Lindsey's monitors. Everything seemed fine. She took her phone lying on the night stand and switched it on. She lay back down looking at the screen and ignored the hundreds of text messages. She stared at a photo of her babies and smiled. A few minutes later the door opened and Kate walked in. "You should be sleeping" she whispered. "I had a nightmare... is everything okay? Are the babies okay?" whispered Tegan. "I just went to visit them in the NICU and everything is just fine Tee. They're stable and sleeping well" whispered Kate. She turned to Lindsey and studied the monitors. "Looks as if mom here is doing okay too... go back to sleep" she said before leaving the room again.
Tegan closed her eyes and tried her best to go back to sleep but couldn't. The events of the day kept running through her mind. She got up and sat down in a chair next to Lindsey's bed. She took her hand in hers and kissed it softly staring at her face. "I never thought it could be possible to love so much... my heart is so full of love for you Linds, it's overflowing. I didn't think that there would be space for more but every day... every day I love you more. And now... Casey and Ryan, they found a spot in there too... a massive spot... I love you Boo. Please be okay" she whispered. Tegan rested her head on her arm on Lindsey's bed, still holding her hand. She slowly stared to drift away again.
Tegan woke up and was greeted with some commotion around Lindsey's bed. Somebody turned the lights up. "Her pressure's down to 90 over 50. She's slightly bradycardic. Pulse down to 52, sats dropping as a result... 92" reported a nurse. "Open the saline wide, start a dopamine bolus, titrate to a systolic of 110. Up her oxygen" said Kate. "What's going on? Is she okay?" said Tegan jumping up. "We're taking care of it Tee... she's okay" said Kate. Sara was next to Tegan the next second. "I want to do a CT scan to be safe" said Addison. "Kate?" cried Tegan. "Tegan it's just a precaution" said Kate before they wheeled Lindsey out of the room.
"I can't take this anymore Sar... I can't" cried Tegan. "It's okay Tee... they're just making sure she's okay" said Sara holding Tegan in her arms. Tegan started wheezing, the stress getting to her. Sara sat her down in a chair and grabbed her inhaler. "Deep breath Tegan... there we go" she said calmly while helping Tegan use her inhaler. Tegan leaned back in the chair. "I think I'm going to be sick" complained Tegan. "Do you want to throw up Tegan? Let's get you to the toilet" said Sara. Tegan sighed, shoulders slumped. "No... I'm okay" she said and put her head in her hands. Sara kept comforting Tegan until Lindsey was wheeled back into the room. "Good news. CT came back clean. She's okay... her BP is back to normal. She's stable" said Kate. Tegan just let out a sigh of relief.
Tegan was awake for most of the night, refusing to let go of Lindsey's hand and get back into bed. She got a few minutes at a time of restless sleep in a seated position with her head on Lindsey's bed. It was four in the morning when Sara and Kate finally convinced Tegan to get back into bed, only after moving the cot close enough to Lindsey's bed that Tegan could hold her hand. Kate pulled the blinds closed and dimmed the lights. "I'm going to give her something that's going to knock her out for a few hours" she said to Sara. "I don't know if that's a good idea. She's going to be livid" said Sara. "She'll thank me later" said Kate. She plunged a needle into Tegan's bicep. Tegan moved her head with a small moan. "What are you... whaaa... why... Linds" she mumbled before closing her eyes.
Tegan opened her eyes a few hours later. The room was still quite dark but she saw light creeping in from behind the blinds. She sat up and looked over at Lindsey. The tube in her mouth was gone and replaced by a nasal oxygen line. Tegan let out a sob of relief. The sound woke Sara up who was sleeping in a seated position next to Lindsey's bed. "Tee... you're awake" said Sara. "Where's Kate?" said Tegan sounding confused. Sara pressed the call button next to Lindsey's bed. Kate came rushing in a few seconds later. She looked tired. "Good morning" she smiled and walked over to the windows to open the blinds. Tegan grunted and rubbed her eyes as bright sunshine flooded her pupils.
"How are you feeling?" asked Kate. "I'm fine... is Lindsey okay? Are my babies okay" asked Tegan sounding groggy. "They're all just fine Tegan. Lindsey is doing so well. We removed the ET tube an hour or so ago. She's just still sleeping off the meds. She's doing great" said Kate. "Thank God" sighed Tegan. "She should be waking up in the next hour or so. Why don't you go and take a shower and change your clothes" said Kate. "I don't want to leave her" said Tegan. "Tee... please... she's fine. She won't want a stinky wife when she wakes up" joked Kate. "Are you sure she's not going to wake up when I'm gone" said Tegan. "I'm sure!" said Kate. Tegan considered it for a minute, she did feel kind of grubby and sticky. "Okay... I'm going to be super quick. Can you stay with her please... and come get me if she shows any signs of waking up" said Tegan. "Of course Tee... off you go. We'll have breakfast ready for you when you come back" said Kate sitting down in Sara's recliner. She sighed and closed her eyes hoping for a few minutes of quiet time.
Tegan came back into the room wearing fresh clothes, her hair still wet. "You should have dried your hair... I don't want you sick again" sighed Kate, still in the recliner with one eye open. "Meh... it's so warm in here it will be dry in a few minutes" said Tegan right back in her spot next to Lindsey's bed. "Any movement yet?" she asked. "Not yet" said Kate closing her eyes again and giving a yawn. "I can't wait to see my babies again" said Tegan. "Have your breakfast Tegan" said Kate pointing at a tray of food. "Hmmm" grunted Tegan.
Sonia walked into the room smiling. "Hey pumpkin... your babies are doing well. Doctor said they had a good night. Sara's with them" said Sonia. "Thanks mom... Thanks for staying with them. Did you manage to get any sleep?" asked Tegan. "Yeah... a little" smiled Sonia looking tired. "Did you? You have dark circles under your eyes and your ptosis is back" said Sonia holding Tegan's face in both her hands. Tegan looked tired, her one eye drooping. "I got a bit of sleep yes... thanks to sooomebody drugging me up. Think I wouldn't remember?" said Tegan rolling her eyes. "Oh come on... you needed it. I should have done it way earlier so you could get more than three hours of sleep" said Kate. "Yeah I guess... You should give yourself a shot... looks as if you didn't get any sleep at all" said Tegan looking at Kate. "It's fine... I'll go take a nap in my office a bit later" said Kate.
Tegan sat back down next to Lindsey's bed staring at her face, holding her hand. "It's taking too long Kate... why isn't she waking up?" asked Tegan. "Just... give it time... she's going to wake up when she's ready" said Kate. Tegan sat in silence for a few minutes. "Linds... wake up now babe... come on... wake up" said Tegan. "Tegan... leave her" said Kate still in her recliner with her eyes closed. Tegan shot her a dirty look. She squeezed Lindsey's hand. A few seconds later she felt Lindsey's fingers move. "Linds" she said jumping up. "Lindsey wake up... open your eyes... Kate she's waking up" said Tegan smiling wide. Lindsey grunted and moved her head. "Come on babe... I'm right here... you're okay... wake up sweetie" urged Tegan.
Lindsey slowly opened her eyes and looked straight at Tegan's smiling face. She gave a soft moan when she tried to move. "Stay still honey" said Tegan kissing her cheek. "Are they okay?" whispered Lindsey. "Yeah... they're okay... they're fine. They're in the NICU in an incubator" smiled Tegan. "I want to see them" said Lindsey softly. "And you will... soon okay" smiled Kate examining Lindsey. "I love you Tegan" said Lindsey and gave Tegan a weak smile. "I love you so much it hurts... and I'm so proud of you I can burst" smiled Tegan. "You're doing great Linds. You're going to have a bit of pain for a few days but we'll manage that with some medication" said Kate. Addison walked in rubbing some sanitiser into her hands. "Good morning mommy! Firstly, congratulations!" she smiled. "Thank you" Lindsey smiled. "How are you feeling?" Addison asked. "I'm okay... I just want to see my babies" said Lindsey still sounding weak. "Okay... we can do that... we're just going to run a few tests while Tegan has some breakfast and then we'll take you to see them" said Addison.
Tegan gobbled her breakfast up in record speed waiting for Lindsey to come back from her CT scan. "Hey hot mama" she joked when they rolled Lindsey back into the room. "Docs will be back in a few minutes" said a nurse before leaving the room. "You did it Linds... you did it... we're parents" smiled Tegan. "We did it Tee... I couldn't have done it without you. WE did it" said Lindsey. "Are they gorgeous?" asked Lindsey. "They are amazing" smiled Tegan. She started blabbering in an animated way about her babies. A tear rolled down Lindsey's cheek. "Hey don't cry" said Tegan wiping away the tear. "I'm just so happy... it's so great seeing you this happy" said Lindsey.
"Good news... CT still clear. We're probably going to keep you in ICU for another day or two for observation before moving you to the maternity ward but everything looks fine" said Addison. "I want to know what happened but first... I really, really want to see my babies" said Lindsey. "Okay... you deserve to" smiled Kate. Lindsey started to sit up and let out a soft whimper but Kate pushed her back down. "Where do you think you're going?" she asked. "To... um... to see my babies" said Lindsey. "You're nowhere near ready to get out of bed. We'll give you a free ride over there" said Kate putting a portable heart monitor at the foot of the bed. "Lie back and relax" said Kate. "Good... because it hurts like hell" breathed Lindsey.
Tegan held Lindsey's hand as they wheeled her to the NICU. They stopped before going in so everybody could get into their surgical covers. "Here we go" smiled Addison. "We'll wait outside" said Sonia. "You can come in" said Tegan. "In a few minutes honey... we want you to have this special moment alone" said Sonia smiling.