Jamie was packing his duffle while Eddie pumped. He glanced at her.
"Don't forget i'll have my phone on so if you need me just call. I can be at the hospital in five minutes if I have to be."
She smiled slightly. "I'll be fine."
He nodded. "Okay but still..."
"You will be my first call if something goes wrong."
He smiled and kissed her. "I'll meet you at the hospital tonight."
"Have a good shift."
He left and Eddie finished pumping. She then packed the bottles into a cooler and packed her diaper bag before getting in her car and driving to the hospital. She walked in and stepped onto the elevator. It was her first time being in the hospital without Jamie. It felt so big. When she entered the NICU she went through the process of washing her hands and checking herself for a temperature before going inside. Carlie smiled.
"Morning Eddie."
"Morning. How are they today?"
"Pretty good. The respiratory therapist was just in here working with Josie. She seems to be doing well on the breathing treatments."
Eddie nodded and sat down and set her bags down. She handed Carlie the cooler.
"I pumped eight ounces on both sides."
Carlie looked at her impressed. "How do you do that?"
Eddie shrugged. "I swear I'm like part cow."
Carlie laughed and stepped into the sterile kitchen. Eddie lifted the blanket on he girl's incubators and smiled. Josie and Brooklyn were fast asleep. Addie was awake and seemed excited to see someone she knew. Eddie grabbed her gently and laid her on her chest. Carlie came back out and smiled.
"She did really well last night. She only stopped breathing twice and they're getting to be shorter."
Eddie smiled and kissed her daughter's forehead. "Good girl Addie Bear. How did Josie do last night?"
"She only stopped breathing once and it was short. She's also starting to eat all two ounces."
"Wow."
"Addie can eat two as well but Brooklyn really seems to be struggling with it. I weighed her when I first got in and she is not gaining weight like she should be."
"What do we do for that?"
"The nutritionist will be up this evening to see her and see if she may need to switch to formula."
Eddie nodded. Everytime she felt like she was getting a handle on everything something else happened to throw her off.
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Jamie was anxious. He wanted the elevator to move faster. When the doors finally opened he smiled and walked to the NICU. He sanitized his hands before entering. Eddie was holding one of the girls and was talking to her quietly. He put his hand on her shoulder. She looked up at him smiling.
"Josie just woke up from her nap."
He smiled and sat down next to her before she handed him the baby. He stroked Josie's cheek and marveled at her. She had strawberry blonde hair and light blue eyes. Her face was all Eddie. The twins had golden blonde hair and deep blue eyes. The eyes were the only thing on them that looked like Eddie. They looked like Jamie. After a while Eddie smiled at him.
"How was your first tour back?"
He sighed. "I'm riding with Tate."
Eddie raised her brows. "Seriously?"
He nodded. "Renzulli says it is so I can leave at a moments notice but I don't know."
"The guy is a dinosaur."
He chuckled. "He's my dad's age."
She looked at him in disbelief. "No way."
"Yes way. They went through the academy together."
"Woah."
"Word of advice don't tell my dad he's old."
"Why would I he is just starting to like me."
He smiled. "My dad has always liked you."
"No he hasn't. Do you not remember the whole ticket fixing thing? If I hadn't been your partner I would have been in major trouble."
He rolled his eyes and spoke to Josie. "I think Mommy is paranoid."
Josie almost smiled.
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Sunday dinner was a little quieter then normal. No one seemed to know what to ask or to say to Jamie and Eddie. It helped that Danny had a difficult case on his hands and was trying to talk through it with Henry. Linda looked at Jamie and spoke casually.
"So Jamie how was your first week back?"
He shrugged. "I can't complain."
"That's good."
Jamie smiled. "No I mean I really can't complain. The commissioner would hear about it."
Frank smiled. "You're riding with Tate?"
"Yup."
"How has that been going?"
He shrugged. "Honestly I feel like a rookie all over again."
"Well you need to be able to leave if necessary and Tate is use to riding alone."
He nodded. "I know. It's just..."
Danny finished for him. "He's a dinosaur."
Frank looked at Danny. "Excuse me?"
"Well he is. The guy mainly writes tickets and responds to the calls no one else wants to handle."
Eddie stifled a laugh. Henry smiled.
"Is he that bad?"
Jamie shrugged and busied himself with his chicken. Frank looked at his youngest.
"Speak freely Officer Reagan. What is your opinion of Officer Tate?"
Jamie sighed. "He's slow, he wants to do things the old school way, he calls me sonny, oh and he smells like boiled cabbage and is constantly sweating."
Eddie, Erin and Danny all busted out laughing. Frank even chuckled a bit. It was the first time in a while Eddie and Jamie didn't have to stress about the babies.
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Their happiness was short lived. A couple nights later Eddie was woken out of a deep sleep due to her phone ringing. She groaned and grabbed it before it vibrated off the nightstand.
"Hello?"
"Miss. Janko? It's Tara from the NICU?"
Eddie was suddenly wide awake. "Are the girls okay?"
"Addelyn is having trouble breathing. I think you need to get down here."
Eddie flipped on her lamp. "We're on our way."
Jamie had woken when her voice got louder. He sat up and rubbed his eyes.
"What's going on?"
"Something's wrong with Addie."
Jamie climbed out of bed and started pulling on his clothes. It took Eddie a minute to find her legs. Then she simply slipped a tracksuit on over her pajama tank. Soon Jamie was speeding to the hospital. Eddie tried to make a joke.
"You know the cop in me is cringing."
He glanced at her. "Why?"
"You don't make this many traffic violations in the squad cars."
He cracked a small smile but kept up the speed he was going. When they reached the hospital they both were shaking. The elevator finally opened and they were met by Tara at the NICU entrance. She spoke quickly as they washed their hands.
"She has been having issues breathing all night and her lips started to turn blue."
Eddie felt like her heart had fallen into her stomach. Jamie led her into the room. There were a couple of doctors around Addelyn's incubator. Eddie caught a glimpse of her. She looked so scared and so fragile. Dr. McClain walked over and spoke to them.
"Her right lung has collapsed."
Jamie spoke quickly. "What do we do?"
"I can reflate it but you two might want to step out."
Eddie shook her head. "I'm not leaving her."
He nodded. "Then stand back and trust me."
They reluctantly nodded. He opened the incubator and started feeling around Addie's chest. Then to their horror he stabbed her with a big needle. Eddie couldn't feel her legs. Jamie grabbed her and held her tight. She cried into his chest and felt a few of his tears fall into her hair. After a few minutes he nudged her and had her look. Addie's color was returning and it looked like she could breath a lot easier. Dr. McClain walked over.
"I did warn you. Her lung is back up. Hopefully she'll recover quickly."
Jamie nodded and wiped his face. "What caused it to collapse?"
"She had a pneumothorax. It's caused when some of the air sacs in a baby's lungs become too large and burst. The air was leaking between the lung and chest wall. We just needed to get the air out."
Eddie nodded. "Can we see her?"
"Of course but leave her in the incubator."
They sat down and Eddie stuck her hand in. Addie looked at her and Eddie saw that she looked much more at ease. Eddie wiped her face and spoke to her quietly.
"You just had to scare us like that didn't you?"
She seemed to smile. Jamie rubbed Eddie's back soothingly. She glanced at him.
"My heart was in my stomach."
He chuckled. "Mine too."
She laid her head on his shoulder and sighed. She wanted to know when things would get easier.
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