Lightning woke up and opened his eyes. Yawning as he turned over in bed and saw Sally asleep still. Fuck… He hurt her good with denying her any child ever again. But he was done. He would not ever feel comfortable getting her pregnant. He didn't mean it to come across selfish, if it did. He sighed. Sally then turning and facing him in bed. Opening her eyes, she smiled. "Good morning." She greeted softly. Closing her eyes again. Lightning smiled, "Good morning." Just staring at her. "You're not angry at me? Are you?" He had to ask already.
He didn't want her to be. He needed her understand why he felt this way. Sally opened her eyes again answering, "I'm not mad.. A little sad, but.. I know deep down that you're right.. My body can't do it… It hurts, but… I guess it is what it is.." At least she wasn't angry with him. Lightning sat up a little just to kiss her on the head. "I love you." He cooed.
Sally smiling with her reply, "Love you too. Have you thought about going back? To the track?" She asked. Lightning looked into her eyes before answering, "I have.. I'm not going back. I don't want to." "Lightning.." "No, I'm serious. I want to stay here. I'll find something eventually to keep me occupied. Don't worry, Sal." "I don't want you to be miserable because of me.." "I'm not. It's not you. It's… I'm not miserable. Just not fitting in with this life yet. But I'm getting there. I'm trying." He assured.
Sally snickered then scooted closer and kissed his lips softly. Lightning wrapping his arm around her and pulling her close to him. Her scent filling his nose and lungs. She smelled amazing. He just loved her to much to risk going back and losing this….
Lightning stood outside at the entrance of the drive in. Taking money and handing people their tickets. This was agonizingly boring. He sighed. "Next.." He muttered as he motioned for the car to go ahead. "Next…. Next, thanks…. Enjoy the show… Next…" god he really was miserable.
The next day, Lightning tried cleaning up Lizzie's shop. Lizzie showing Lightning where everything was in the back for stock. "Just put the stuff away on the shelves. Take the expired or old ones out and toss them in the can out back. Mater usually takes the scraps off." Lizzie said. Lightning sighed. This place was a disaster. The room barely lit by a single bulb hanging from the ceiling. Dust and cobwebs and the smell of old musk…..
Lightning closed the door as he returned home. Covered in dust and such. He sighed and leaned against the door. He hated this. He hated this so much! This isn't what he wanted. "Lightning?" He heard Sally call. Lightning quickly regained his composure. He didn't want Sally knowing how miserable he was. He had to be and look happy for her. Sally came around the corner and stared at him. "Wow. Lizzie really put you to work." She teased. Lightning chuckled a bit, "Yeah, it wasn't too bad though." "Find something you like?" Asked Sally.
Lightning shook his head answering, "Not really, but I think I've decided to just help you with the motels. I did invest in them after all. Might as well start doing something." "Great. You want to manage the cozy cone for me tomorrow?" "Sure." "Think you can handle it?" Sally asked as she crossed her arms. Lightning smiled, "Of course." Then he wrapped his arms around his wife. Hugging her. Sally smiling and wrapping her arms around him as well. Just happy he was home and he was hers….
Lightning woke up in the middle of the night with his head throbbing and feeling completely overheated. Feeling like someone was squeezing his head firmly and he was sweating. Lightning rubbed his eyes. Where did this headache come from? Fuck, it was really hot in here. Lightning sat up and tossed the blanket off of him in an attempt to cool down. The air just felt thick because of the heat. Lightning began feeling nauseas and dizzy. Crap. He realized this was one of those episodes. He closed his eyes, trying to not focus on the headache and dizziness, but doing so only made the dizziness worse!
Lightning was a tired of this. But he set his feet to the floor. He looked down at his hands and couldn't tell if this was the dizziness or if his hands were really shaking. Lightning sat there and tried flexing his arms, chest, just not working. He sighed. He was feeling like he was about to pass out. He grabbed the oximeter from his bed side table and put it on his finger.. Letting the device read. The dizziness was not letting up. He could hear his heart beat in his head and it hurt so bad."Sally…" He called as he gave up. He couldn't do this. He was way to dizzy. He lay a hand over her side, "Sally.. I"m sorry.. I need you to get up.."
Sally turned over and in a tired voice asked, "What's wring?" Lightning sighed in defeat, "I'm not doing okay.. I'm dizzy and it's getting harder to breathe." Sally shot up and looked at the oximeter. Pulse 47, O2 89. So Sally grabbed the cuff and wrapped it around Lightning's arm, "You're gonna be okay, Lightning.' She assured. He just nodded as the dizziness let up some, but he was taking shallow breaths. Sally waited for automatic cuff to do its job. Taking what seemed like forever. "I'm gonna pass out.." Lightning warned. Sally sighed and grabbed her phone. Calling the doctor instead of 911 this time.
Hello?…
"I'm sorry to call at this time, but Lightning is having one of those episodes. His pulse is forty.."" She paused and glanced at the meter again before continuing, "Forty seven and oxygen is 88.. It went down."
What's his blood pressure?..
"Um.. 60/40"
Chrysler.. Just take him to the ER. Have him lay down and knees up. Tell him to take one breath at a time. Just focus on breathing until you get help there. Go ahead and have him take his blood pressure medications once he's able.
"Okay, thanks.. I'm so sorry to call.." Sally said then hung up and dialed 911. Lightning feeling just completely depressed over this. His health was taking a turn for the worse. Why months later? Why now?……
A few hours in the emergency room, and Lightning was back to normal. As if nothing had happened. Told to follow up with his doctor in two days. Lightning and Sally walked out and waited for Sheriff to come and pick them up. Lightning crossed his arms and was thinking over some things. Sally placed a hand on his shoulder and assured, "It's going to be okay. We just got to figure out what's going on.. Once the doctor figures it out, he can treat it." "Yeah, with more pills.." Lightning growled. Sally frowned and tried reminding, "It will be for your health. The medications are the only thing keeping you alive at this point, Lightning." "Yeah, I know that.. It's fine. I'll take whatever he gives me.. You don't have to worry." He assured. Sheriff pulled up and the couple got into the back….
"McQueen." The nurse called in the small clinic. Lightning sighed and stood up. Walking back with her. Getting his weight.. Sitting in the room.. Getting his pulse, oxygen, blood pressure and temp before leaving the room. Lightning sat on the exam bed. Just done. He felt do defeated and down over this last episode. The doctor walked in and closed the door. He and Lightning staring at each other as the man sat down on his little swivel stool. Silence at first. Lightning finally saying, "Could you figure out what happened?.." The doctor sighed and asked, "What were your symptoms when this episode happened?" "UH.. I felt hot.. Dizziness, a horrible headache, it kind of felt hard to breathe.."
The doctor nodded replying, "Yeah.. It sounds to me like we have two separate problems. Good news is I don't think you have a progressive stage as we spoke of before. Usually, when someone has a low pulse rate, the blood pressure is higher. Yours is dropping, which i find strange.. It's definitely something to do with the accident injuries. I'm starting you on a medication to elevate your pulse first, this should fix the low oxygen levels. Also, I'm increasing the dosage on your blood pressure medications. I think this is going to make you feel a big difference in your health. We get these numbers up and you will be feeling like yourself again." He assured. Lightning sighed and nodded. Thankful, I guess, that he didn't any surgeries…..
Lightning returned home and found into the living room to find Sally on the couch reading one of her books. He walked over and sat down, wrapping an arm around her. "Porn?" He asked. Sally closed her book and glared at him playfully with a smile then leaned over and kissed him on his cheek. "How did the check up go?" She asked. Lightning sighed, "More pills.." "I'm sorry, Stickers.. But it's for your health." "Yeah, I know…" but he hated it. Sally placed her hand on his knee and closed her eyes as she leaned into his shoulder. "Thank you." She said, "For choosing to stay." "You're welcome.." Lightning hummed. For a moment, they both sat together. Enjoying being near and with one another.
Feeling the breath of each other, the warmth. Sally then asking, "So.. We can adopt?," "What?" Asked Lightning as he pulled away enough he could look at her. Sally looked at him and repeated, "We can adopt at least.. Right? You said you don't want to have a baby with me.." "Oh, right. Yeah. Yeah, I think it'd be great. I can always call Mom and talk to her more about. She'd know a lot more." He answered. Sally nodded, "That's true. We should go down and see her once we're ready to look into it more and surprise her with that. She'd be thrilled." Sally exclaimed. Lightning nodded agreeing, "Yeah, I bet that would make her day."
Sally happily nestled back up under Lightning's arm and leaning on his chest. "I cant wait for that." Sally said softly as she closed her eyes. Lightning smiled as her began to play with her a little. Kissing the top of her head. She'd be such a great Mom. And they were headed down the right path. Things between them were great. His health was not in best shape right now, but he was determined to do better for Sally. So they can get to the point they were ready to become parents. He wanted this for Sally. She deserved to be a mother at this point. He was not going to be speed bump in the way of that….
So the for the next couple of days, Lightning stayed in the office of the cone. Checking guest in and out, taking complaints and trying to deal with them, taking breakfast orders, etc.. He sat in the chair at the desk. Fiddling with a pen as he leaned in the chair. This was boring. These last couple of days, we're boring. His life was so boring right now. Lightning sighed and tossed the pen onto the desk and stared at Sally's cone collection. Dam, she had a weird hobby. Lightning stood up and walked over to the shelf. Staring at the little caution cone figurines. "Where does she even get these?.." He whispered aloud to himself. He picked up one and Ew, it was pretty dusty. Did he seriously find the one thing Sally didn't try to keep spotless.?…..
Sally pulled up to the cozy cone motel a little after 6. Getting out and walking in and up to Lightning, greeting, "Hey. Stickers. How was work?" She asked as she leaned forward on the desk some. Lightning snickered, "Alright. Better now." He said as he stood up and leaned over the desk to kiss her lips. Sally smiled as his lips touched hers. When she pulled away, she took a deep breath in then out. Just happy and satisfied. Sally then asked, "What did you do today?" Trying to be enthusiastic about it. Lightning sighed as he slipped his hands on his pockets, "The normal routine here. Oh, I did clean the little cone collection you had. Don't know if you had them in any special order though. So I kind of just put them all back up when I was done."
Sally immediately looked at the little figure collection. Clean, sure… But completely disorganized. "Oh…" She muttered. She put on a smile and thanked him. She had to be happy about the little ocd of hers kicking in. "It looks great." She complimented. Oh how this was going to get on her nerves every time she sat in her office. But.. She smiled and hugged her husband. At least he was home and trying to do something. Lightning wrapped his arms around her. Embracing her hug. Happy that they were doing so well….
Three weeks. Sally and Lightning took the early morning to head out to Sally's Obgyn about four and half hours away. That's something that really sucked about living in a small time out in the middle of no where.
The couple finally made it to the hospital. Lightning parked the vette, shutting it off. He looked at Sally. She was upset. Over thinking about the possibility of being pregnant and that if she was.. Hopefully she wasn't. "Sal?.." He called quietly. Sally looked at Lightning with such sorrow. Her eyes filling with tears. Lightning sighed. If she was pregnant, this was bad. They would fight, she would win, she'd keep the baby and great of the pregnancy could be healthy, but.. With her history and her body.. That was very unlikely.
"Sally… I know.. It's going to be okay, thought. I'm here. I won't leave your side, alright?" Sally nodded. Wiping her eyes a bit as Lightning gout out, walked around and opened Sally's door, taking her hand as he helped her out of the low car. Sally took one last deep breath to calm herself before they walked into the clinic….
"Sally." Called a nurse. Lightning and Sally then walking and following the nurse. They took a Sally's weight, then handed her a cup and pointed to the bathroom, "Wright name and date of birth. Leave it in the silver door next to the sink." The nurse instructed then pointed at Lightning, "You. Come with me, I'll take you to the room to wait." Lightning kissed Sally on the cheek before following the nurse. Sally stared at the cup in her hands. There's no way she'd be pregnant anyway. They tried for months before the accident with nothing…
Lightning sat in the room. Staring at all the weird posters on the wall. One was a graphic internal layout of how a fetus sits in the womb. Another showed the pelvic bone and had something about health written next to it, the door opened. Sally walked in and sat beside Lightning. She was afraid. Afraid and anxious. Lightning noticed and assured, "It's going to be okay.. You can do this. You will still be a mom one day, okay?" Sally nodded, but it broke her heart. The woman doctor walked in and smiled, "Hey! How are we doing!?" She asked as she sat down across from the couple. Sally answering, "I think we're doing pretty well." "Yeah? So what brings you in today, Sally?" She asked.
Sally glanced at Lightning then back to her doctor, "Um.." she began, "I did have a few questions before making any final decisions.. But.. I think we are done.. Trying and.. I want to look into some sort of birth control." The woman nodded, "Okay. Alright, we'll the pregnancy test was negative. Which is good than. So, what kind of questions you got for me?" Sally frowned before starting, "Is it possible for my body to hold a pregnancy? Like.. Is there anything we can do? If I were?" She asked. Lightning sighed, but decided to remain silent and just listen.
The doctor nodded, "I do. I know estrogen was a big thing with the first time and this last one was a bit if the estrogen, sure. But.. Looks like it was a genetic thing. That the fetus was draining you and your body sort of treated that like an infection. That could not be avoided.. I know when we spoke before, Lightning, you said you were adopted?" Lightning's brows raised as he answered? "What, me? Yeah." "Have you thought of having genetic testing done? A full panel? That way we'd know the risk of anything that could possible be transferred to the baby."
Lightning glanced at Sally. She just wanted her own baby so badly. "I… No. it's not needed. We don't want to keep trying. It's too risky for Sally. Sure, she could hold a pregnancy if you guys actually did your job and monitored her and the baby. But it's to risky. We are not taking that chance." Lightning said firmly. Sally placed a hand on his knee. He noticed that and sighed. Letting her continue with her questions. Sally looked at the doctor. The woman more speaking to Lightning, but Sally. "If during the last pregnancy, the fetus didn't have that defect, I think it would have made it full term with little health risk." She assured. "I know Lightning spoke with one of my nurses a few weeks ago. He said that you two wanted to look into precautions to avoid pregnancy."
Sally frowned answering, "Yeah… We did, but.. If there is a chance? How?.. What are my chances? Of keeping a healthy pregnancy?" The woman thought a moment before answering, "I think I could honestly say as right now, your chances are good. Long as the baby itself is healthy. I can take care of you. Honestly, I think it's the getting pregnant part that is the hardest for you. Let me ask, are you two done trying permanently?" Sally and Lightning looked at each other. Lightning answering, "Yes. We can't take the risk." Sally frowned and answered, "I don't know.. I'd like to try.. One more time at some point." Lightning stared at Sally. Really?
The woman nodded and went on to explain, "I think you two need to talk this over. Because, Sally.. If I put you back on birth control, at your age? There will be no other chance. By the time you come off it, and begin trying.. Your chances of getting pregnant are the problem.. And they'll be even lower after that. You two think about this for a few weeks. Call me once you two have made a final decision. There is always other ways for us to set the pregnancy quicker if you want to look into other ways of 'getting pregnant'." Sally frowned. Thinking about that. "When could we start trying?" Sally asked. Lightning then answered, "The doctor at the hospital said six months. Sally, we aren't going through that again." He said.
Sally frowned with such sadness. The doctor then answered, "I could always do a quick pelvic exam and if everything checks out, you two could start today." Lightning's eyes widened, "What?.." Sally with, "Really?" Lightning then had to ask, "Why are you supporting this. You have her records. She is at high risk of something happening to her." "Um.. The last one did, yes. But looking at the previous two. It was something with hormones. I think we can balance those out during the pregnancy. We can have bi weekly labs drawn and weekly urine tests, monthly ultrasounds. We can do more, if you two are willing to do the drive out here weekly."
Lightning looked at Sally. She desperately wanted this, but she also wasn't going to just say they had to have one. Sally knew that she couldn't make him want kids. The doctor smiled and said, "You two go home. think it over. Come back when you're ready with a decision." Then guided the couple out of the room to the lobby..
The couple made their way back to the car where they sat in silence for a few seconds. Sally breaking the silence, "I'm sorry. I just.. I just want to try one last time. Once chance." "I don't want to risk that!" Lightning snapped! Sally then with, "But she said it in there! She can make sure I'm okay, as long as this baby doesn't have any genetic problems which it won't because this one will be yours!" She assured Lightning scoffed, "You don't know that! I was adopted! Who knows what my parents had!" "Please, just one more chance." She pleaded.
Lightning stared at her a moment. He knew how badly she wanted this, but "No." "Lightning"-"I said no! You don't get it! I came home and you could have died. I almost lost you. If I hadn't had decided to come home, you would not be here! I will not risk losing you for this…" Sally shook her head and replied, "Why can't you be supportive for me like I am for you?" "I am supportive. I support you, but I'm also trying to protect you." Lightning explained. Sally frowned and sighed, "How do you think I felt when you wanted to go back into racing after the accident?.. Hmm?" Lightning's expression changed. Fuck.
Sally whimpered a bit, "After everything that happened in the hospital, the therapy, back home in your depression.. When you decided to go back? I supported it. Did I like it? Not entirely. Was I afraid that something could happen again? Of course! But I supported you and your decisions.. Can't I ask you give me the same?…" She asked as tears filled her eyes. Lightning leaned back in the seat and looked at the ceiling of his car. "Fuck.." He quietly growled. Sally placed a hand on his knee, grabbing his attention before speaking, "I really want to have your baby, Stickers.. I want us to have a family together." "Yeah, but.. Can't you just want to adopt?.. It's safer.." "I'll be okay. We just have to take it day by day. You are home now too, so I won't be alone." She reminded with a smile.
True.
Lightning sighed and asked, "Can we please just.. Look into the adoption thing and maybe even talk to my Mom about it before we make any decisions?" Lightning asked. Sally nodded, "Okay. I'll do that for you, but in the end, it's my choice. Okay?" She asked. Sort of. Lightning stared at her. It hurt. He was afraid. He didn't want her to make the wrong choice and something happen to her. Whether she lost her life or the pregnancy didn't make it.
Sally would never be the same. But.. She was so supportive. She was right. He hated that, but she was definitely right. Lightning nodded, "Okay.. Just.. please think about it. Really think about it." "I will." She assured. Lightning sighed. A bit shakily like. He was terrified of this. He knew she was going to choose having her own baby over adopting. Maybe somehow his Mother could convince her….