"What can I do for you?" Edward asks as I'm hunched over the toilet. He rubs my back and keeps my hair out of my face as I hurl again. "Please, baby."
"Water."
I sit back on my haunches as he runs downstairs. I've been throwing up non-stop for like an hour, and there's nothing left in me at this point. But I can't stop gagging.
He's quick to get back and presses the bottle of water into my hands. I chug, but only moments later, it comes back up.
"We're going to the hospital. You're dehydrated, and you need stronger meds."
"People will find out."
"I don't care. Your wellbeing is all that matters to me. I'll set you up in a private room with a nurse I can trust."
As dizziness swirls, I finally nod. He helps me up, and I sway, so he carries me out of the bathroom. He helps me put on sweatpants and a hoodie, and then gets dressed himself in jeans and a jacket. He doesn't trust me walking down the stairs so he carries me out to his car, which is parked in my driveway. He runs back inside and comes out with a bowl so I don't throw up in his car.
He drives a little fast to the hospital and pulls up to the entrance. He quickly comes over to my door and opens it, lifting me out and rushing inside. He tosses his keys to a security guard, asking the gentlemen to move his car before taking me straight to the back.
"What room is open?" he asks a nurse.
"Five is ready, Dr. Cullen," she says, and he takes me straight to the room.
My stomach continues to protest the water I drank, but my sullied bowl is replaced by a bag, which I hurl into.
Edward looks out the door and calls out, "Hey, Charlotte? Mind giving me a hand?"
The nurse hurries in, and I recognize her from one of the many trips I've made here. She's nice and skilled. "What can I do for you, Dr. Cullen."
He asks her to start an IV with fluids and some nausea medicine, and then make a chart to order lab work. She works fast and takes a bunch of blood from me and says she'll be back with an ID bracelet. Edward paces.
"I should have noticed how bad this was getting," he says.
"Do you think … is the baby okay?"
He nods. "It's you I'm worried about, but we can do an ultrasound to be sure. I think she's fine though, gorgeous."
Charlotte comes back in with the bracelet and tells Edward the bloodwork is with the lab. He asks to borrow her stethoscope and listens to my heart and lungs while Charlotte gets my blood pressure and pulse ox.
"BP is a little high," she says.
"Let's put her on the monitor."
Edward carefully pulls off my hoodie, disconnecting the IV for a moment, and Charlotte works around my tank top to put the monitor stickers on me. It's all rather embarrassing because they have to stop twice so I can gag.
This kid is not being very nice to me.
"I'm going to need the ultrasound machine," he tells her.
Her brow quirks. "Sure. I'll go grab it."
"Thanks, Charlotte. And if you could keep this quiet, I'd appreciate it."
She nods. "My lips are sealed."
She leaves the room, and I look closely at Edward. I've never seen him panicked before—no matter what I've done to myself. But he's panicking now. He keeps running a hand through his hair and pinching the bridge of his nose.
It fucking scares me.
"Take my hand?" I ask, holding open my palm.
He sighs and kneels down beside the bed, holding my hand.
"I'm going to be okay because you're taking care of me."
He nods. "I won't let anything happen to you. To either of you." He presses his hand against my stomach and closes his eyes. "I love you both so much."
"We love you too."
We stay like that until Charlotte comes back with the ultrasound machine and a tablet. She passes him the tablet and tells him some of the labs are back.
"Shit, that's what I was afraid of," he says. "Get the fluids going wide open and call upstairs for a bed. Her kidneys are failing."
"What?"
"It's because of how dehydrated you are. If we can fix that fast enough, there should be no lasting damage. I'm glad I brought you in when I did. We need to push fluids into you nonstop until your values go down to normal."
"But they will go down, right?"
He nods. "We caught it before it got too bad. I'm going to do an ultrasound of your kidneys, and then we'll look at the baby. Is Dr. Reynolds on upstairs?"
"I can check," Charlotte says.
He fiddles with the ultrasound machine and has me turn on my side. He squirts the goop onto me, and then presses the transducer into my skin. He's meticulous and takes his time on both sides before having me roll back onto my back. I lower my pants some, he tucks a towel into them, and then lifts my tank top before placing the transducer on my lower stomach.
He turns the volume up on the machine, and I hear our baby's beautiful heartbeat.
He's finally smiling some. "She's perfect, Bella. Now she just needs you to relax and let the fluids work."
I nod as tears fill my eyes. "I can do that."
I don't own Twilight.
Thanks to Ashley, May, and Mary prereading and Sally for beta'ing.