Chapter 16
"Dehydration," Doctor Amman announced as he wrapped his stethoscope around his neck. "exacerbated by exhaustion." He leaned over and adjusted the oxygen mask over Lexi's nose and mouth. "I'm gonna run an IV for while and get you rehydrated, then lots of rest and the less stress the better."
She nodded, then glanced at Roman. He gave her hand a reassuring squeeze "So the baby is okay?"
Doctor Amman nodded. "The baby is great. Strong heartbeat. No signs of distress. Usually in situations like this, the mother is the one who takes the hits and the baby ends up unscathed. After all, a woman's body is designed to protect the unborn child, so it only makes sense that the little one is thriving while Lexi is the one falling apart."
With her free hand, Lexi pulled the oxygen mask off and frowned. "I am not falling apart," she argued.
Roman grabbed the mask and returned it to her face. "You lost the right to protest when you stopped taking care of yourself. So just hush before I decide to act on my desire to beat your ass."
She frowned at him and earned an arched brow in return that didn't seem to intimate her in the slightest. Brat!
"In all seriousness," Doctor Amman began. "I don't think you have anything to worry about, Roman. The baby is thriving and as long as Lexi does a better job of taking care of herself, they'll both be fine." He turned to face Lexi. "Consider this your wakeup call, young lady," he scolded. "As much as you might like to be, you are not superwoman. Believe it or not, being pregnant does take a toll on your body. It does have limitations and you cannot take on all the tasks and stresses that you normally would."
Lexi stared at him for a moment before glancing at Roman. "I get it," she mumbled through the mask, then reached for Roman. "I'm sorry."
He smiled a he squeezed her hand. "You're forgiven, but be prepared to be hovered over, because from this point forward I'm not letting you out of my sight."
"That goes for me too," Dean said from where he stood near the door and Seth nodded in agreement. Inside, Roman was grinning from ear to ear. Dean and Seth loved Lexi like a sister and knowing his boys had his back felt great. Knowing it would eventually piss Lexi off to be watched and doted over 24/7 made him feel even better. She was about to find out just how much she was really loved and not just by him.
She looked from him to Dean and Seth, then over to Doctor Amman and nodded. "I understand."
Roman's inner smile faltered as his worry returned. The fact that she didn't even try to protest bothered him. Her temperament, he realized, was a double-edged sword. On one hand, he loved that spitfire personality that appeared to find joy in testing his patience and pushing his buttons. It made life with her interesting and fun. However, it was that same lack of personality right now that caused him concern.
"I'm gonna start the IV and monitor her for the next hour or two," Doctor Amman stated.
Roman nodded. "Good." He lifted her hand, pressed a kiss to it. "I have some business to take care of. You rest. I'll be back." Then glanced over his shoulder at Seth and Dean. "Stay with her. I'll be back soon."
"Bro? Where you going?" Seth called after him.
"Just stay with Lexi for me," Roman called as he flung open the door and walked out of the infirmary. It was time he did what he'd been wanting to do for weeks. It was time he protect his family.
It didn't take long for him to make his way to Hunter and Stephanie's office. Doing his best to remember his manners, Roman held his impatience in check as he raised a hand and knocked on the steel. He desperately wanted this over with so he could get back to Lexi. "Come," Hunter's muffled voice carried through the barrier and Roman opened the door.
Stephanie sat behind her desk with Hunter standing next to her, looking over her shoulder. She looked up and Roman noted the quick expression of shock that lit in her eyes before she schooled her expression into a more neutral tone. "Roman. What can I do for you?"
"You really want to know what you can do for me?" He snarled as his temper began peeking through the cracks in his armor. "You can kill this cheater storyline."
His reply earned a sigh from Stephanie. "Look, I know you guys aren't happy about this situation, but from time to time we all have to do things we don't like."
"This isn't just about not liking your suck ass storyline," Roman shot back.
"Hey," Hunter raised a hand. "Watch your attitude."
Frustrated and fighting to maintain his control, Roman raked a hand through his hair. "Sorry," he managed. "No disrespect meant, but even you have to admit that what happened to Lexi before should have some bearing on this situation. You need to cut this story."
Stephanie shook her head. "I understand what you're saying, but why in the world would we do axe this angle when creative believes it will be a big hit?"
"Because it's wrong," Roman replied. "And the stress of knowing what she'll face when it finally happens is taking a toll on Lexi."
Hunter made a face that said he thought Roman was over exaggerating. "Please. Lexi has to be one of the toughest, smartest diva's we have. She understands the way things work here. Even if she doesn't like it, she'll go along because she knows it's what's best for business."
Stephanie nodded. "Besides, we wouldn't have agreed to move forward with this, if we didn't think she could handle it."
"Really?" Roman leaned forward and placed his hands on the desk and let just a little more of his temper show. "Well let me tell you exactly how well Lexi is handling the stress. She's doing so well that she just collapsed in catering and had to be carried to the infirmary. She'd doing so well that Doctor Amman is treating her for dehydration and exhaustion. Now, do you still want to sit there and claim she can handle this?"
Shock crossed over Stephanie's face and she turned to look at Hunter then back to Roman. "The baby?"
"Is fine," Roman replied. "Thank God, but if this situations continues it may not stay that way."
"Is Lexi alright?" Hunter asked, his face a mask of concern.
Roman nodded. "Doctor Amman said she will be if she loses the extra stress and gets lots of rest." His gaze shifted between the power couple. "This pressure she's feeling from the cheater storyline ends now," he said. "You can fire me if you want. Fire Lexi if you want, but this angle is not moving forward." He shook his head. "Not when it's putting her and the baby jeopardy."
"No, of course not," Stephanie agreed."We don't want to make Lexi sick, and we'd never do anything to intentionally put your baby in danger, Roman."
Hunter nodded. "I agree. I know we're willing to do a lot of unsavory and questionable things for this company, but risking the life of an unborn child isn't one of them." He scraped a hand over his military short hair, glanced at Stephanie, then over to Roman. "I'll let creative know that the cheater storyline is off the table and they have to come up with something else, okay?"
Roman could feel the tension drain from his shoulders as he sank into the chair and nodded. "Thank you," he replied and was a little shocked by the amount of emotion in his voice. Hunter rounded the desk and placed a hand on Roman's shoulder. "I know what it feels like to worry about your wife and children, Roman. You're welcome."
Roman smirked as he thought about Lexi and how convinced she was that they'd fire him or both of them. "You know, Lexi has spent the better part of the last month trying to keep me out of your office. She had it in her head that if I came storming in here demanding that you drop the storyline you'd fire us."
Hunter gave him a small smile. "After what Vince did to her father and then the fallout with the whole kidnapping storyline I can understand why she might think that. However, we're not Vince." He motioned to Stephanie. "And we of all people understand the need to protect family." Hunter shook his head. "I'll be the first one to admit that we'll stoop to some pretty low levels in order to grab ratings, but even we have our limits."
"Please tell Lexi I hope she feels better soon," Stephanie said. "And we'll let you know when we come up with an alternative story line for you guys.