June~
She sits on the couch, staring at the ceiling, trying not to think at the situation at hand. Without any warning her hand moves, stopping on her stomach. Just the thought sends shivers down her spine. She tries to deny it, but knows that it's real.
Days later she lays on an exam table, numbly staring a screen. She tries not to cry as she stares at the image on the screen. She closes her eyes as the sound of a rapid heartbeat fills the room.
"Can I buy you lunch?"
"I should get back to work."
"You've got to eat," he reminds her.
"Not with you," she points out.
"Wil, I just want to talk.."
"Later," she tells him as she carefully gives her son to him. She kisses the baby on the back of the head, and leaves the room.
She returns to work, but her thoughts never leave the hospital. After work she goes to visit Chance, luckily she finds that Daniel isn't there. After she leaves the hospital she sinks into her bathtub for some quality time with a bar of soap, and some hot water. She's just slipped into her robe when there is a knock at the door. She pulls the belt of the fuzzy robe tight, and slips into her slippers. She goes to the door, and looks through the peephole. She reluctantly opens the door, and lets Daniel in.
She takes a seat on the couch, and he sits down at the other end. She stares at him, with no make-up on, wearing a robe, with her hair in a clip.
"What?" she questions as he smiles at her.
"Nothing," he shakes his head.
"What do you want to talk about?"
"I don't know... our son."
"What about him?"
"When he comes home am I still going to get to see him?"
"That's sort of up to you."
"What do you mean?"
"I won't stop you."
"But..."
"If you hurt him..."
"I'm not going to hurt him."
"If you disappoint him, even once, that's it, you're done."
"No offense, but when did you become mother of the year?"
"I've made a lot of mistakes, but I'm trying to make up for them."
"Is this for real? Did you really have him?"
"You don't believe me?"
"I just find it hard to...picture."
"Maybe I can help," she answers as she gets up off the couch. She leaves the living room, and returns with a book. She tosses it on his lap.
"What's this?"
"What's it look like?"
"A book."
"It's a picture album."
He flips it open. He thumbs through the pictures. "This doesn't prove anything, you can have picture's photo shopped."
"Yes because I have so much spare time on my hands," she rolls her eyes.
"Sorry."
She flips to the back of the book and pulls out a disk. She grabs her laptop off the kitchen counter and hands it to Daniel. She clicks play.
"What am I watching?"
"Just watch," she tells him.
He watches the video carefully. The first thing he sees is a nurse reaching for the camera. Then the nurse turns the camera on Wilhelmina. She then pans out to a monitor nearby. The nurse begins narrating, "It's three oh six a.m. on September tenth, two-thousand-and-ten. We are about to take her to the O.R. because her blood pressure is... dangerously high. So we should be meeting the little guy in just a few minutes." Daniel watches quietly. The video ends abruptly when a monitor starts beeping.
"Why did it stop?"
"The room had to be cleared of all unnecessary personnel."
"Why?"
"That's what happens when someone flat-lines."
"He flat-lined?"
"No."
"You flat-lined?"
"The stress of everything was too much on my heart. It could have been worse."
"How?"
"I could have had a stroke, or died."
"How long were you in the hospital?"
"Before or after he was born?"
"What do you mean?"
"I was on bedrest for five weeks. Then I was in the hospital recovering for a week after he was born."
"I didn't know."
"Because you weren't there."
"That's not my fault."
"Not entirely."
"Are you ok?"
"What do you mean am I ok?"
"Physically?"
"I'm fine now that he's out."
"Why did you decide to have him?"
"What?"
"You're pro-choice aren't you?"
"What's your point?"
"I can't imagine that the odds are great for a woman your age. It's got to be risky."
"There are a lot of risk factors."
"So why would you jeopardize your health for him."
"You're really asking me that?"
"I'm glad you did, but I just don't understand. It would have been easier not to have him."
"According to who?"
"I don't know."