Now that he knew she was pregnant, Henrik found that he became extremely protective of her, wanting to wrap her in a blanket and just tell her to slow down. But she didn't see things that way, insisting she was perfectly healthy, and just incubating their child until her appearance in the world. A part of him understood that drive, it was the same thing that kept him going, learning, striving to know more, do more, be more.

Shaking himself from his thoughts, Henrik finished up with his meal and then pulled out his book, continuing to read until the end of his break. He had almost finished his chapter when his pager began to buzz against his hip. Frowning, he pulled it off his belt to stare at the number. It wasn't a familiar one, but it was close enough to tug at his memory, and he went out to the nurses' station to call whomever was paging him.

"Oh, thank God you were free, Henrik!" The sound of Roxanna's worried voice instantly caused his heart to leap up in his throat, choking his breath as he fought to keep from panicking. "I know, you're just in the middle of your shift, but is there anyway that you could possibly come up to the maternity ward?"

"You, you're here, darling?"

"Yes. And I'm a little scared, and I want my husband by my side. Please?"

He knew that he could refuse her nothing in that moment, and so he took a few deep breaths, placing his stony mask on his face, knowing that he couldn't panic her as well. He had to tamp down all his emotions so that he could focus on his wife and whatever might possibly be wrong with Roxanna. "I will be there as soon as I can, Roxanna. I love you."

"I love you, too, Henrik."

He hung up the phone and took another deep breath before clipping his pager back onto his belt and making his way out onto his ward. Making a beeline for his consultant, Henrik steadied himself as he cleared his throat softly. "Yes, Doctor Hanssen?"

"My wife has just called, and she's currently up on the maternity ward, and has requested that I come up and be with her. We've already had issues with a previous pregnancy…"

"Go, be with her. Come back when you know more about her condition." His consultant gave him a warm smile before patting his arm gently. "I know that it's frightening when you get a call like that, so make certain she knows that you're there to support her."

Henrik nodded as he turned on his heel and made his way over to the lift. It was only then that he realized he had no idea which floor the maternity ward was on. Giving a panicky look at his consultant, he was grateful to see her raise five fingers, and he nodded as he stepped into the car and pressed the appropriate button. It was a struggle to keep from tapping his foot anxiously as the lift moved too slowly for his liking in that moment. Finally, the doors slid open on the correct floor, and he stepped out, hurriedly walking over to the nurses' station, trying not to sound breathless as he waited for the nurse to acknowledge him.

"May I help you, doctor?"

"My wife is here somewhere, Roxanna Hanssen? She paged me, and asked for me to get here as soon as I could."

The nurse looked through her charts and nodded, getting to her feet and beckoning for him to follow after her. He nodded as he did so, feeling his nerves start to fray as they continued on deeper into the ward. Finally, he heard Roxanna's voice, high pitched and quick, indicating her tension, and he brushed past the nurse to enter her room, crossing the small distance between them in two great strides. "Henrik!"

She practically threw herself at him, burying her face into his chest as she burst into tears. The doctor who had been speaking with her gave him an understanding look. "I didn't realise that you worked for our hospital, Doctor Hanssen."

"Yes, that's why I was able to get up here so quickly. What is the problem with my wife's pregnancy?"

"I was trying to tell her that it is completely normal for some women to have some spotting during the duration of their pregnancy, but with the previous miscarriage, I want to take a more cautious approach to how we deal with the final trimester of her pregnancy."

"He wants me to quit my job!" Roxanna wailed, her fingers tightening in the fabric of his scrubs. "If I back out now, my career will suffer as a result!"

Henrik knew that hormones were definitely playing a part in her strong reaction, and he stroked her hair lightly as he looked steadily at her doctor. "I'm certain that he doesn't want you to be a stay at home mother, darling."

"No, but I still have to take a lot of time off work now!"

Sighing lightly, Henrik raised an eyebrow, hoping the doctor would take this as his opportunity to talk. "I do want Roxanna to take the rest of her pregnancy off work and to avoid any unnecessary stress. Her current position with the neurology department at St James' is fast paced and high stress, which might, and I stress the word might here, exacerbate her spotting. From this point onwards, I want to consider this to be a high-risk pregnancy. Roxanna will be able to take time off work without repercussions, and we will be able to stave off anything more dire happening to the fetus."

"That does sound like a good idea, Roxy," he said lowly, still running his fingers through her hair. "And I know that your career means so much to you, but I also know that our daughter means the world to you. We're at twenty-seven weeks, and while that does translate to roughly ninety percent viability, if she were born now, that ten percent is nothing that I want to risk. The longer we keep her incubating, the better for her health. Isn't that correct, Doctor?"

"You are correct, yes, Doctor Hanssen. Please, Roxanna, give some thought to my proposal. You are free to leave after we monitor you for another hour or so, and I want you to at least take the rest of the day off." Her doctor reached out and shook their hands before leaving the room, and then Roxanna was scooting over so that Henrik could sit on the bed alongside her. She let her head thump down on his chest as he stroked her head and arm softly.

"I don't want to give up my job, Henrik."

"I know you don't, Roxanna. How about, when we're released, we go talk to your consultant, and see what we can do about modifying your workload until you go on maternity leave? Would that be suitable?"

"I, I suppose," she sniffled before rubbing her cheek against his chest. "I think that the more I feel like I'm failing, the harder I have to work at everything else in my life. I was so terrified that I was going to be told I needed to deliver her now, that there wouldn't be time for you to arrive and be here, and that she would be too small to live, and you would never get to meet her, that I just dug my heels in when he said that I would be fine but needed to quit work."

"I understand, darling. It must have been so hard to hear those words. But I'm here now, and I'll protect you and our daughter as best I can." She nodded as he pressed his lips to her head, wondering how he would get her to slow down and maybe come around to taking more time off until the baby was born.