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Chapter 27

"I'm sorry." Elizabeth said after they had been lying still for several hours now.

"You didn't do anything wrong." Jason said brushing his lips across her forehead.

"I'm a nurse. I should have known about the problems breastfeeding could cause." She could feel the tears gathering again.

"I've been reading baby books for the last few days, and I never saw anything on this." Jason wasn't going to let her blame herself. "We know now. Any more cramps?"

"No." Elizabeth said softly. "How long?" They were timing the length between them. Per instructions someone was in every fifteen minutes to look at the read out.

"Ninety minutes." Jason said smiling. That was the longest stretch so far.

"Good." Elizabeth said closing her eyes. "They are slowing down, and there wasn't any bleeding so that is good." She was relaxing and starting to believe that the baby would be fine. "I can't breastfeed anymore."

"Jake is healthy. He'll be fine." Jason gathered her close. "You fed him for a year. Isn't the same amount of time you fed Cameron?"

"The guidelines were different then." Elizabeth was in a guilt spiral. She was beating herself up for the choices she had made.

"Cameron is bright, and healthy. Jake will be fine." Jason tilted her head up and placed a kiss on her lips. "Everyone is going to be fine." His voice shook as he let himself believe that. Jason looked up and saw Milo standing in the doorway. The younger man held up a brown paper bag.

"Is that lunch?" Elizabeth said looking over and smiling at her friend.

"I didn't send for anything." Jason said sitting up.

"Your sister dropped it off." Milo said coming in the room. He was hoping that everything worked out well. "She said to make sure you ate."

Jason took the bag and looked inside. "One sandwich?"

"I can't eat anything solid." Elizabeth told Jason. "Em's probably getting me some soup." Sure enough the young doctor walked into the room followed by Matt.

"Come on we'll go eat lunch." Matt said to Jason.

"I can't eat up here?" Jason said frowning. He didn't want to leave Elizabeth.

"Go with Matt." Emily told her brother, putting the bowl of soup down. "I'll stay with Liz. Take a breather." When they went home in the morning Jason was going to be hovering so he needed a break now.

"It's okay." Elizabeth told her husband. She couldn't count the number of times she's advised a loved one to take a few minutes for themselves. It really did help, but from a patient standpoint it sucked because she didn't want him to leave. He was holding her together.

"You'll stay with her?" Jason didn't want to come back up and find Elizabeth alone.

"Until you return." Emily promised.

"I'll be back up as soon as I'm done." Jason said kissing Elizabeth. "I love you. Both of you."

"We love you too." Elizabeth told him before watching him walk out with Matt.

"How are you doing?" Emily asked reaching for Liz's hand.

"I'm terrified." Elizabeth needed to let this go. She couldn't spend the rest of her pregnancy like this. "He's going to freak when Joyce says I'm now high risk." Elizabeth knew it was coming.

"Yeah, he will." Emily grinned at her sister. "Be ready to get duck taped to the couch."

Elizabeth giggled and it felt really good. "I know. I have a feeling Milo will be just as bad."

"Yup." The guard said from out in the hallway.

That made both ladies laugh. "I need to make some calls."

"I know, that's why I brought lunch up now. I'll take mom, and Aunt Tracy." Emily volunteered. They weren't going to be able to keep this quiet.

"Sure leave me with Johnny and Francis. I'm the sick one. Milo will you help?" Elizabeth called out.

"Sure thing." The younger man said sticking his head in. "You want me to call Francis?"

Elizabeth grinned. "I want you to call Carly."

"Not gonna happen." Milo said happy to see her looking better. "I'll call Palermo." He said pulling out his phone.

Elizabeth reached for the room extension.

"O'Brien." Johnny said putting his feet up as he answered the phone.

"I'm in the hospital." Elizabeth started there.

"Why?" Johnny was already reaching for his coat.

"Uterine contractions. We are okay right now, but Emily, Milo and I are just letting everyone know." Elizabeth figured he'd be here in about twenty minutes.

"I'm on my way now. You need me to bring you anything? Lunch?" He asked looking at the clock.

"Covered." She told him. "See you when you get here." Hanging up Elizabeth took a deep breath and started dialing.

"Hello?" Carly said barely awake.

"Hi." Elizabeth hadn't factored in the time difference.

"Liz?" Carly said sitting up. Jax was sitting up too.

"I'm pregnant!" Elizabeth said trying not to start crying. "And in the hospital."

"What's wrong?" Carly reached for Jax's hand and listened as Elizabeth explained everything. "We will be home as soon as we can."

"There is no need, I just know you will pout if no one calls you." Elizabeth told her friend.

"Is this Gia's fault? Because we can stop off in California and I can kick her ass." Carly would be happy to do so. She owed Elizabeth at least that much, as well as the apology she would give when they got home.

"No, the doctor's really do think it was the breastfeeding." Elizabeth promised. The labs all came back clear. "You don't have to come."

"That's my godchild of course we are coming home." Carly said getting out of bed.

"You already have one." Elizabeth pointed out.

"I'm greedy." Carly responded. "Rest and tell Jason to take care of you until I return." When she hung up she took a shaky breath before explaining the situation to Jax. He immediately called for the plane. Carly knew the pain of losing a child, and she was going to pray her friend didn't have to go through that nightmare again.

With her calls done Elizabeth hung up the phone only for it to ring. "Hello."

"How are you?" Monica wanted to know.

"Scared." Elizabeth told her mother. "Jason is eating lunch."

"Howie is making arrangements for us to come back." Monica would be there to help keep Liz from killing Jason when he hovered. Or patch him up whichever was necessary. If she went home then Edward could come back to the mansion. They didn't need houseguests right now. Liz would need to rest.

"You don't need to. Joyce is feeling optimistic that this will pass." Elizabeth didn't need to tell Monica that. Even though babies were not her specialty as Chief of Staff she knew a great deal of general medical knowledge. "I'll give her permission to brief you."

"Has anyone told Jason that you are now high risk?" Monica asked her daughter.

"No, I'm hoping Joyce won't mention it until tomorrow." Elizabeth just wanted to get through the night without her husband having a panic attack. "You don't want to come back right now, you're in a bit of trouble."

"Emily already told me that Jason is upset with my asking you to pull the guards." Monica chuckled. "We'll see you in a few hours."

Milo walked into the room and handed Elizabeth his phone. "Francis." Was all he said.

"I'm okay." Elizabeth started before he said a word. "Don't come home."

"I already called the plane." Francis said ignoring her. "Diane will kill me if we stay in Italy. Where is Jason?"

"Eating lunch." Elizabeth explained.

"The take a walk thing." Francis had been in the hospital as a patient and family member more times than he could count. He knew the drill.

"Exactly. He should be back up momentarily." Elizabeth told her friend. "I'm sorry your visit is being cut short."

"It's fine." Francis promised her. "My sister showed up so leaving is not an issue." His sister specialized in drama. She had been irritating their mother, and Diane, since her arrival. There was a reason she hadn't been invited to come visit this year. "We'll come to the hospital when we land."

"Visiting hours will be over then." Elizabeth pointed out.

"See you then." Francis said ending the call to get ready.

"Aunt Tracy is freaking out. She can't leave at the moment." Emily was holding the phone away from her ear as her aunt shouted. "They all have food poisoning."

Elizabeth had to cover her mouth to keep from laughing as she handed Milo back his phone. Not that everyone was sick, but Tracy was using a steady stream of profanity. She used the F-bomb six times in one sentence. It was fairly impressive.

"Okay I'll tell her." Em said hanging up. "When Tracy can fly she'll be home. It doesn't sound like they had a good trip."

The trio looked to the door at the sound of running footsteps. Jason appeared slightly winded. "Why didn't you tell me you are now high risk?" He asked looking at his wife in what could only be described as contained terror.

Matt slowly followed his brother in-law into the room as his wife and sister in-law shot him dirty looks. "I thought he knew."

"Come sit down." Elizabeth patted the bed.

"We are going to go." Emily was giving her husband the hairy eyeball. "Eat your soup."

"You haven't eaten?" Jason said looking at the bowl.

Elizabeth pulled the rolling tray over to her and picked up the spoon. She really hoped Johnny got here soon. "I was calling the family."

"Oh. That didn't even occur to me. Did you call Edward?" Jason asked picking up the spoon before she could and loading it with the warm broth.

"Not yet. I'm guessing Em will." Elizabeth opened her mouth and let him feed her. "You can check after we talk." She needed to calm him down.

"High risk means what exactly?" Jason could have asked Matt if he had stayed at the table. The minute the words were out of the other man's mouth Jason was up and running from the cafeteria.

"In my case it will mean more doctor's visits. I don't foresee Joyce curtailing any of my activities at this point. With the exception of the contractions nothing else is presenting as abnormal." Elizabeth said holding his free hand. "If it is the breastfeeding I may not be labeled high risk." Given her history that was a long shot.

"Could it have been the sex?" Jason wanted to know. That had been in the back of his mind all morning.

"I don't think so. Sex would most likely cause pelvic pain, but we can ask." Elizabeth wouldn't ever stop Jason from asking. "We may be put on general restriction for the next week or so as a precaution which would mean no sex." She really hoped not.

"I will do whatever is necessary to keep the both of you safe." Jason told her. "I have never been so scared in my life. Even when the plane was going down I wasn't as scared as I was this morning."

"I know." Elizabeth squeezed his hand. "You were amazing. When I go into labor I don't have to worry about you melting down." She was going to think positive. "Two hours." She said smiling.

"Yeah." Jason pushed the table aside since the soup was gone and took her in his arms. "I love you."

"I love you." Elizabeth repeated leaning against him. "Johnny should be here shortly. I couldn't stop him from coming."

"That's fine." Jason kicked off his shoes and stretched out next to her. "He'll have coffee. I can use some."

"Make sure Milo gets another day off since he is working today." Elizabeth requested.

"Yeah, Sabrina is at the house." Jason told Elizabeth.

"Okay. We need to talk about getting a nanny soon." She wasn't even going to argue that would make Jason feel better.

"And a house keeper." Jason added on. They weren't messy so between the two of them they kept the house clean. He didn't want her doing anything strenuous.

"Okay." Elizabeth responded settling in.

"Do you want a cook?" Jason offered.

"No. Mostly because I have a feeling our freezer is about to become pretty well stocked." Too many of their friends cooked for that not to happen. "It's nice to be loved."

"Yeah, it is." Jason said running his hands down her back. Milo knocked just as Johnny walked in. "Is that for me?"

"Yeah." He handed over the coffee cup. "What happened?"

"Pumping out milk caused uterine contractions." Elizabeth explained.

"Have they stopped?" Both his friends looked tired, but calm.

"Yes." Elizabeth told Johnny.

"What can I do?" He wanted to help. "Besides light a candle." That was a given.

Elizabeth smiled. "Jason needs to run home and see the boys. Cameron is probably scared." There had been a lot of yelling as they were leaving. "Could you sit with me?"

"Absolutely." Johnny said taking off his coat.

Jason slipped his shoes back on. "I shouldn't be too long." He didn't want to go at all, but he did need to make sure Cameron was okay. He didn't think Jake understood what was happening. "I'll walk the dogs too." He leaned over and kissed her. "Call me right away if anything happens."

"I promise." Honestly she didn't want him to go, but this was important. When he walked out with one last look back she turned to Johnny. "So how did things go with Maya?" Some gossip would keep her from worrying.

"Really well. We are having dinner this weekend." Johnny said smiling. They had talked some as he walked her to the door of the house. That was when he asked her out. Why wait? She had smiled wide as she accepted. "Where should we go?" He'd let Liz help him plan the date while they waited for Jason to return.

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