CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO
The first person Martha saw when she woke up was Macca.
"Hey," he smiled and picked up her hand.
"What happened?" she asked him in a whispered voice.
"You had a panic attack, but you're okay now," Macca reassured her. Martha then noticed that Alf and Jack were also in the room.
"Don't you frighten us like that again," Alf said.
Martha went to apologise but then she remembered what it was that triggered the attack. "Dad," she sighed. She knew he was gone.
"He's gone bug," Macca's voice wavered. "But you need to think about yourself right now," he insisted.
"Oh my god. The baby," Martha started to panic. "Did I hurt the baby?" she cried.
"Hey, calm down," Jack soothed as he moved in beside her. "The baby is going to be fine. And your Doctor is coming down soon; she's going to do an ultrasound," he told her.
Martha felt a tear slide down her cheek. She couldn't hold them in; so she just let them flow freely. She cried for her dad, and for her baby. She'd hate herself if she had hurt the baby. She would never be able to forgive herself.
"Have you called Greg and Davie yet?" Martha then asked Macca.
Macca nodded. "Yeah, about half an hour ago," he replied.
"How were they?" Martha sniffed. She could only imagine how they reacted.
"Ah, not too good," Macca told her. His eyes were starting to get teary again, and this only upset Martha more.
"What are we going to do Macca?" Martha gasped. "What are we supposed to do without him?" she cried.
"We just need to stick together, and help each other out. Exactly what we did when we lost mum," Macca explained.
"But we had dad when we lost mum. It's going to be different now," Martha sobbed.
"Yes, maybe it will be," Macca started. "But look at all the new people that have come into our lives since then. They are all going to be there to help us," he continued.
"That's right love. You have me and everybody else here in Summer Bay to help. There's always going to be someone around," Alf added.
"And as long as we have each other; we'll be fine," Macca kissed her hand.
8888888888888888888888888888888888888
"Maybe you and I should wait outside while Martha has the ultrasound," Macca suggested to Alf, as Doctor Morgan prepped Martha.
"Yeah, we'll leave you and Jack to it. But we'll be right outside in the hall," Alf told Martha.
"No, I want you both to stay," Martha insisted.
They both just nodded their agreement, and moved closer to the bed.
"Ok, so this is really just to make sure that the baby is okay," Doctor Morgan started to say. "Like Dr Armstrong already told you earlier, it's likely that the baby was just feeling a little distressed due to your panic attack, and that's what caused the sharp cramp in your stomach. But it's better to be safe than sorry," she explained.
Martha nodded and grasped tighter onto Jack's hand. He was sitting right up next to her, and she could tell from the little smile that kept creeping up into his face; that he was excited about seeing this. He'd missed out on the first one, so she knew that this was important to him.
Martha closed her eyes as Dr Morgan started moving the probe across her stomach. She wouldn't open her eyes until she heard a heartbeat; until she knew that her baby was safe.
And then she heard it; the steady rhythm of one tiny little heartbeat. Her eyes shot open and she glanced towards the screen. There it was; her little baby. It was alive, and it looked okay. And it had grown so much since the first ultrasound.
"Everything looks fine to me. Heartbeat is normal, so I'd say that the baby is fine," Dr Morgan smiled. "You've got a healthy kid in there".
Martha turned her head to look at Jack; his eyes were glued to the screen. "That's amazing," he exclaimed. Jack was suddenly feeling something inside of him that he'd never felt before. It was so new and different, that he couldn't even explain it. He was in total awe of what he could see and hear right in front of him.
"See, I told you that the baby bug would be fine," Macca said to her.
Martha smiled at him and nodded. She then looked towards Alf, and she was so sure that she could see a tear in his eye.
"So Martha, do you want to know the sex of your baby?" Dr Morgan asked.
"No," both Martha and Jack exclaimed at the same time. Martha looked at Jack, and then back at the Doctor. "We want it to be a surprise," she told her.
Martha looked back at Jack and smiled shyly at him. "Thanks for being here," she said.
"I wouldn't want to be anywhere else," Jack squeezed her hand.
88888888888888888888888888888888888888
Martha looked up at the ceiling; she was alone in her hospital room. It was late, but she couldn't get to sleep. She'd had a long day. A long day full of sadness and pain. A long day that would be etched in her mind forever.
She'd lost her dad, and had almost lost her baby. Could it get any worse?
Jack, Macca and Alf had stayed with her until a nurse had kicked them out. She'd also received a visit from Flynn and Ric later on in the evening. Tony and Beth had also popped in. Martha had been left alone with Beth for a short while; and she had ended crying in the older woman's arms.
But now she was alone; and she felt empty and scared. She didn't want to be there; she wanted to go home. Home to her nice warm bed. But the Doctors wanted to keep her in for a couple days, so her warm bed had to wait.
Martha slightly rolled to the side, and placed her hand over her stomach. She closed her eyes and a few tears rolled down her face. She lay that way until she finally cried herself to sleep.
88888888888888888888888888888888888
PLEASE REVIEW