John's own hand was beginning to feel slippery and sweaty from holding such a tight grip on Harry's hand, she was clinging onto him just as much.
"John…" Harry's voice was breaking. "I'm scared." She whispered; her face was clearly set in abject terror. "I don't want to lose my baby."
"It's alright Harry, we're nearly there, it's going to be alright – I promise." John heard the words coming out of his mouth in an attempt to comfort her, but he couldn't quite muster the belief in what he was saying. The siren was loud inside the cavity of the ambulance, and John felt as though his heart was droning in time with the wailing of it. The ambulance screeched to a halt and John could hear the driver's door slam, before the back doors were flung apart. It was all happening so quickly, as they unloaded Harriet and wheeled her in through the doors. He could hear the paramedic debriefing the meeting doctor at the doors of the accident and emergency department:
"She needs to be taken straight to obstetrics." John heard the end of the sentence as he raced after them. "She began bleeding heavily around twenty five minutes ago, this is John her brother – he came with her in the ambulance."
"Can you ask for Dr. Ferris to see her, please?" John hurriedly asked the doctor who was leading them towards the lift which led to the maternity unit. "I know him; I want him to see her."
"Alright, alright." The doctor agreed with John's request.
"Please, don't let me lose the baby." Harry sobbed frenetically.
"We're going to do our best to look after you and baby." She wheeled Harry into an empty room. "Right, let's just get you up onto this bed and we can get you checked out thoroughly." Harriet was incredibly shaky and her legs looked as though they were about to give way underneath her as the doctor and a present nurse helped her onto the bed. Her breathing was erratic, panicked – somewhat on the verge of hyperventilation. "Alright Harriet – I want you to take some deep breaths in, we need to calm your breathing down. Just like this: in, out, that's it! In, out – well done!" Harry's breathing became quieter and calmer in accordance with what the doctor was advising her to do.
"It's Harry…" She corrected.
"Alright. Could you wait outside for a few minutes, please? Just while we get Harry ready for the consultant." The nurse asked, looking at John.
"Oh, oh… alright, yeah – just outside?" He stammered, watching both of them attending to Harry; he stumbled backwards and exited the room. He leant his back against the wall, his heart was racing, he could tell that something was seriously wrong – despite a lack of knowledge about obstetrics and gynaecology. He knew that pregnant women weren't meant to bleed and that anyone with blood pressure that high must have something going have something going on inside them. Footsteps reverberated around the corridor as they came closer, John looked up to see someone who had once been a student alongside him.
"Kevin!" John exclaimed as the man proceeded towards him.
"John?" His eyebrow raised in a flicker of recognition. "Why are you here?"
"I called for you, it's my sister…" John gushed, following behind him into the room where his sister lay. She was bedecked in a hospital gown, her face flushed red and she was still breathing heavily. The attending doctor gave a brief, hurried explanation of what was happening.
"Hello Harry, I'm Dr. Ferris. Can you tell me if you're in any pain at the moment?" He asked her calmly.
"Not real pain…" She replied, pushing herself upright on the bed. "Just like cramps."
"Right, I'm going to examine you quickly – are you alright with John staying in the room?" He asked her, she nodded. He began to press his hands gently along her bump, asking how it felt where he pressed. "Have you experienced any cramping or bleeding in the past couple of days?"
"I've been getting Braxton hicks, but my midwife said that was perfectly normal." Harry answered.
"How long has this been occurring?"
"About a week now." She placed her hand protectively upon the top of her belly – the tears had stopped now but her voice was still ringing with fear.
"That long?" She nodded. "Thank you for letting us know that Nurse McGee I need full bloods, U's and E's and a urine sample – I want you to get it rushed through the labs, tell them we're testing for proteinuria. I also want stats monitored frequently, blood pressure, pulse, everything." He commanded, the nurse nodded and busied herself immediately. "I'll be back shortly." He told Harriet, John watched as he began to leave and then he chased him out of the room into the corridor.
"Kevin… Kevin!" John called after him, he stopped abruptly and turned round. "What are you thinking?" He asked pleadingly, not wanting to be left out of the lip as he knew so many patients often were. "Pre eclampsia?"
"That's what it looks like at the moment…" He admitted, nodding. "That's why I'm anxious to get a urine sample and get it tested – then we'll have a better chance of knowing what's going on and how to combat it. I'm going to get the head midwife from maternity to come along and take a look at Harry; if we get the answer that I think we're to, then we might have to consider delivering the baby sooner than planned."
"But she's only seven and a half months pregnant!" John protested, his insides curling up inside him at the thought that they potentially might have to deliver the baby very early – and the risk that that would have.
"That's why I'm going to get a midwife John, we need to know the best course of action for mum and baby – if we can delay then we'll do our best to do so." He knew there was no point in sugar coating it with John, as he would see right through it instantly. "I'll be back soon." John watched him charging along the corridor away from him standing; the hairs on the back of John's neck had stood on end – briefly he had thought it might be pre eclampsia, but he had dismissed that thought from his mind as he knew how serious a medical condition that was. Now with the confirmation that it possibly could be something so serious, his head was sent into a whirlwind of worry.
"John? John!" Harry's voice was calling from inside the room that she was occupying, John composed his exterior from the state of shocked confirmation that he was feeling and turned back into the room.
"Sorry Harry… I was seeing what Kevin is planning to do." He apologised, she was sat up with her back against the headboard of the bed looking more and more uncomfortable by the second.
"What is it? What's wrong?" She asked, there was a waver present in her voice that made John's guts turn to lead at the thought of what he was about to say.
"Nothing." He lied, pulling the seat nearer to the side of Harry's bed and grabbing onto Harry's hand. "It's nothing, he was just telling me he wants to get a couple of tests completed before he does anything."
"Don't lie to me Johnny." Harry's voice suddenly reminded him of when they were kids. "I can tell when you're lying, I always know."
"I'm not lying, I don't know anything. Kevin won't tell me until the tests are done." He replied quickly. The nurse who had been drawing blood from Harry finished her job and, vials in hand, left the room leaving Harry and John on their own. There was a silence that neither Harry or John felt comfortable to break, so John maintained his grip upon her hand as though using that as his symbol of his support.
"What's proteinuria?" Harry finally asked.
"It's too much protein in the urine; it's normally a sign that the kidneys aren't working too well." John told her.
"What would that have to do with the baby?" She shook her head in slight confusion.
"I… I don't know Harry – I never did enough training in obstetrics to know about anything in this field – and I'm sorry, but that's the truth!" John answered.
"Okay... it's just – ah!" She stopped and her face contorted into an expression of pain.
"What? What is it?" John hurriedly quizzed her.
"Nothing… it's just the same as before John – don't fuss." She batted him down, but her voice didn't sound convincing.
"I wish Kevin would hurry up!" He exclaimed in some impatience; there came a knock at that moment and John whipped round in expectation. Unfortunately it was not exactly who he desired to see – standing in the doorway was Sherlock.
"Am I interrupting?" He asked rather briskly, obviously noticing John's look of disappointment.
"No, no…" John shook his head, "I was just hoping that it was Kevin coming back or the midwife…"
"Sorry, I was wondering if I could get you anything?" Sherlock had remained at the doorway, sensing the air that it was not his place to intrude. "Clothes? Something to drink?"
"Well… uh…" John glanced at Harry. "Harry will need some clothes and toiletries and things."
"Would you like me to collect some things from your flat?"
"That would be great." Harry smiled, looking from John to Sherlock. "If it's not too much trouble – the keys to my flat are in my coat pocket." She told him; John sprang to his feet and rummaged in Harry's pocket and produced a set of keys.
"I'll be two minutes Harry." John said, and followed Sherlock out of the room. Once in the corridor Sherlock turned to John:
"How is she?" He asked, John was slightly taken aback at this concern for his sister coming from Sherlock.
"I don't know, we've got to wait for the tests to come back – they might have to deliver the baby early." John replied in a low pitch.
"Pre eclampsia?" John stared at Sherlock in disbelief.
"How did you-"
Just a suspicion." Sherlock casted off casually.
"It adds up." John nodded and fell silent.
"Well… I'll collect those things for her." Sherlock began. "Do you need anything brought in?" John shook his head. "Very well… I shan't be too long." He turned to leave again.
"Sherlock?" John called. "Thank you."