Page 119 of Twisted Bonds
Ryan hasn't woken up yet, but the doctor's initial check is that she should be fine. They are still waiting for a few more tests to come back, and then he will be back in with the results. The cuts on her neck are only superficial, and he thinks that the stress of the events that took place may have caused the fainting.
They did use the salts on Ryan at the house, but since then, they've had to sedate her, because she couldn’t calm down and was hyperventilating. The doctor says that she should be waking up at any time. I don't want her waking up alone, so my mother is taking care of things with my father.
Movement from the bed draws my attention, and I see Ryan start to wake up. I take her hand and brush my lips across the top of it, and once her eyes open, I ask, "Hey, baby. How are you feeling?"
"Hm, where am I?"
Hearing her croaky voice is music to my ears, but I grab the cup of water on the bedside table for her. "Here, take a sip first."
I hold the straw for her while she takes a long drink and then pulls back. "Thank you."
"Of course. To answer your question, you're in the hospital. You fainted at the house and then freaked out when you came to, and they had to sedate you."
Ryan stares at the ceiling, looking a million miles away briefly, before she gasps. "Bain! How is he? How is your father?"
She's already working herself up, and I tell her as much, "Baby, you need to calm down before they sedate you again."
"Just tell me how he is, Beau!"
I gaze at her and then shake my head. "He didn't make it, baby. My father died in the ambulance, and they couldn't bring him back. There was too much internal bleeding. The knife nicked an artery. Had it only gotten the kidney or liver, he most likely would have made it."
"No…" she shakes her head vigorously, her eyes filling.
I crawl into the bed, not caring what the staff will say, and I pull her into my arms. We cry together for our loss. I know I should be strong for her, but we need each other now, and I need to get this out, too.
"Beau—it hurts—it hurts so bad."
"I know, baby, I know." I kiss her head and hold her even tighter. "We will get through this; he wouldn't want us mourning over him too long." I say this more for me than anything.
"I knew, you know. I knew he wouldn't make it the moment I kissed him…"
"He tried telling us because he knew, too. That's why he made peace with us, and now, we need to celebrate him once we give ourselves a chance to grieve."
"You're right," Ryan agrees and wipes her eyes. "He wouldn't want this…"
The door opens, and the doctor walks in with a nurse. After giving me a disapproving look for being in the bed, like I give a shit, he starts by telling us the test results. The nurse walks to the other side of the bed and checks Ryan's blood pressure while the doctor talks.
"Everything is looking good, Miss Hendricks. Your iron is a bit low, but everything else looks perfect. Have you started your prenatal vitamins yet?" The doctor flips the top page of the clipboard up.
I furrow my brows and look at Ryan, but she's just as confused, so I ask, "Uh, prenatal vitamins? What are those?"
"Oh, I'm sorry. I just assumed you knew you were expecting," the doctor says.
"Expecting?"
"A baby. Miss Hendricks is seven weeks pregnant," the doctor says as if we should already know.
My eyes widen as I meet Ryan's caramel ones, which mirror my own shock. She places her hand over her flat stomach and looks at the doctor again. "Are you sure?"
He chuckles, "Yes, Miss Hendricks, we ran it twice just to be sure. In fact, that is most likely what contributed to your fainting spell, well, along with the stress, of course."
"Wow," I say, running my hand through my hair. "A baby."
Ryan looks at me, concern etched on her face as she asks, "Are you okay with that?"
"What?" I ask incredulously, not believing she would even ask me this. I've wanted a baby with her for years. "Of course, it's okay. I just wasn't expecting to hear this, not today of all days." It then hits me—is it mine or my father's?
"Well, I guess we had better get you set up with the OB/GYN before you leave," the doctor says, scribbling something down in Ryan's chart. He then hands it to his nurse, who immediately goes to the computer in the room to input information. "I will have the nurse send all this to your family doctor. For now, there is no reason to keep you here, so I will start the discharge papers for you to sign. I highly suggest you start on those vitamins as soon as possible."
