9am

Sam slowly opened her eyes and then closed them again as they stung from crying herself to sleep. She then quickly turned over to see if Tom was on the other side of the bed, but he wasn't. She then checked her bedside clock and realised that it was gone nine and she was supposed to have been into work half an hour ago. She quickly shot out of bed, only the exertion was too much as she found herself feeling dizzy and disorientated. She only just managed to stumble back towards her bed, before she blacked out...

"Tom..." Sam mumbled sleepily. "Tom..." She repeated as she slowly regained consciousness just seconds after passing out. "Tom? I... I need you..." Sam pleaded as she tried to move but it just took so much effort. She looked down and realised that she was lying on the bed, with her lower legs dangling over the side before she let her head fall back on the mattress as she remembered what had happened...

9:30am
Sam was just pulling her scrub top over her head, when she realised that it was much tighter than the day before. Maybe it was because she was feeling bloated, but there was no way she could walk around in a shirt that was that tight on her large 12 week bump without feeling uncomfortable or self conscious. And she didn't have any bigger scrubs and she knew that she'd have to put in a request with HR before she could start getting maternity sized ones so she pulled the shirt over her head and then booted the bottom of the lockers as hard as she could creating a loud bang.

"Oi, what you doing?" Fletch asked as he ran into the the staff room and held Sam back from doing it again. However, she was only in her bra and scrub bottoms so she remained facing away from him and put on arm across her chest and the other across her bump out of self consciousness. He looked down and saw her scrub shirt thrown on the floor, and understood. "Do you want to borrow one of mine? It's a medium." Fletch asked and Sam shook her head. She didn't want to wear turquoise trousers and a bright blue top; she'd look stupid. "How about one of Tom's?" He suggested. "It'll probably be too big but... Look Sam, have you and Tom had a argument?" Fletch asked softly.

"Why? What has he said?" Sam demanded as he she pulled her blue NHS hoodie on over her bra to cover up. She only just managed to zip it up because it was usually quite baggy.
"Nothing. It's just that I know you're in a mood, he's already working and you're an hour late." Fletch explained.
"Does Zoe know I'm late?" Sam asked.
"Yes, but thanks to yours truly, she thinks you've got morning sickness." Fletch stated smugly.
"Thanks."
"So c'mon, stop changing the subject, what did you and Tom argue about?" He asked.
"Promise you won't tell anyone."
"I promise." Fletch stated as he closed the staff room door to stop any eavesdroppers.
"There's a reason I'm growing do big." Sam stated.
"What? Twins?" Fletch queried.
"Try again."
"Triplets?"
"Keep going."
"Not quadruplets?"
"Double it."
"What?"
"What's two times four?" Sam huffed.
"No way are you... Eight?!"
"Mmhmm." Sam mumbled.
"Okay I know you're an overachiever but isn't this a bit much!" Fletch laughed.
"I didn't meant too!" Sam protested innocently.

"Well congrats." Fletch smiled. "So what were you arguing about specifically?"
"Selective abortion." Sam admitted quietly. "I wasn't sure because if five or six were terminated, the remaining ones would have such a higher chance to survive. I mean in history, there's only been one set of octuplets in history where all eight have survived. But Tom was a definite no... And... Well, he didn't come home last night." Sam explained.

"Oh Sam-"
"Don't." She ordered; she didn't want, or need, his sympathy.
"Well why don't I go and see Zoe for you? I'm sure she's got some spare scrubs for you to wear for today and I'll ask her to put an order in for some more for you." Fletch suggested.
"Fine. But don't tell Tom I'm in here please. I still need time to think."
"I won't, and I'll be back soon." Fletch smiled before he left the room.

4:45pm
It was nearly the end of Sam's shift and she had managed to avoid Tom all day. Not that she should have been avoiding him considering that he was her husband. Thankfully, Zoe had given Sam some scrubs that fitted but they were still pretty tight on her bump. She was absolutely exhausted and had been told by Zoe to deal with just one last patient before she could leave a little early so she was standing besides his bed with an unimpressed look on her face.
"All I'm saying Mr Tomlinson is that your weight is only making your condition worse and it's putting an added strain on your heart." Sam stated.

"You're telling me to loose weight!" He protested. "You wanna try looking a bit closer to home love!" He shouted as he pointed to her enlarged stomach - was it really not obvious that she was pregnant, and that she instead looked overweight, or even obese?
"Um, excuse me. You cannot talk to a member of staff like that." Tom stated as he came over from the nurses station.
"For gods sake! I don't need you to stick up for me." Sam shouted before she quickly walked to the staff room and slammed the door behind her. She was just beginning to calm down after a minute or two alone, when Tom entered.

"Sam, ignore him. He's not worth getting upset over." Tom said.
"It's not him." Sam scowled.
"Then what's wrong?" He asked.

"You Tom!" Sam laughed out of disbelief that he could be so ignorant. "I cried myself to sleep last night and I fainted this morning Tom! You weren't even there when I woke up and I didn't know where I was, I didn't know where you was and I needed you!" Sam shouted.
"You fainted? Are you okay?" He asked worriedly as he tried to put a comforting hand on her back but she shrugged him off.
"I'm fine." She muttered.

"Look I'm sorry about yesterday. And I've thought it through... It's your body Sam, so it's your choice. Whatever you decide, I'll support you no matter what." Tom explained because spending the night sleeping in his uncomfortable car had made him realise that Sam was only thinking logically - not erratically. He watched as he words made her smile a little.
"No, you were right. I can't have an abortion, not even for one of them. We're keeping all of them... All eight." Sam stated quietly. "Well... If all of them make it... And then there's the money side of things..." Sam mumbled and Tom pulled her into a hug as he rubbed her back soothingly.

"We'll manage." Tom whispered as he held her tightly. She was the perfect height for him becuase her head tucked under his chin perfectly. "We've dealt with everything that's been thrown at us so far and there's nothing stopping us from having eight healthy babies." Tom stated quietly. "And I'm sorry I didn't come home last night, I slept in the car because I didn't think that you'd want me there."
"I missed you." Sam croaked and Tom felt a couple of her tears drop onto his scrub top and dampen his skin.
"Don't cry, please." Tom pleaded, it broke his heart to see her like that. She never cried, and through her twelve weeks of pregnancy, well to the best of his knowledge anyway. "I'll be there tonight, I'm coming home." He added as he stroked her hair, but he worked out that it was just one of those situations where he was best just to let her cry for a while until she settled. "And I missed you too. But we're not going to be spending another night apart anytime soon so don't you worry." He whispered before he kissed her on the top of her head.

Thanks for reading, please let me know what you think and review :)