Page 109 of Rebel Heart
He hesitated, and my heart felt like it was in my throat. “She’s okay,” he finally shared.
“And the baby?”
“Perfectly fine.”
I nearly collapsed. I probably would’ve if Marco hadn’t been there to catch me as I stumbled backward.
“What happened?”
“I would’ve been here sooner, but things were a little worse off than we initially thought,” he shared. “Jules had a blockage in her ureter from a kidney stone. Normally, we medicate to offer relief from the pain until the stone passes, but in her case, I’m glad we didn’t. We wound up taking her into surgery and placing a stent that I’d like her to keep in for the next week or so. The blockage was so bad, because it wasn’t just a single stone. Everything inside that ureter had turned to sludge, which is the kind of thing I’d expect to see in an eighty-year-old patient. If we had only medicated and not cleared that blockage, it’spossible her kidney could have burst. If that happened, she’d get septic, and that would’ve been life-threatening for both her and the baby. The baby likely wouldn’t have survived.”
I rubbed at my chest, attempting to soothe the ache that had formed there. “But she’s okay now?”
He chuckled. “Oh, she’s okay, alright. She woke up after that procedure and refused to answer anybody’s questions until we proved to her that the baby was still okay. She didn’t believe us when we told her, because she’d been under such immense pressure that once we relieved it, she thought the baby was no longer there. We had to have someone come down from the Labor and Delivery unit with a Doppler, so she could hear the baby’s heartbeat.”
Malcolm squeezed my shoulder. “That’s our girl. I told you she’s a fighter.”
“Can I see her?”
The doctor nodded. “Of course. You can follow me.”
I didn’t hesitate to fall into step beside him.
28
JULES
Beinga member of a family that owned a theme park, I would’ve thought I’d be better prepared to handle the roller coaster of emotions I’d experienced since my eyes shot open in the middle of the night.
I wasn’t.
But I didn’t care. Because every single emotion had been warranted.
And the one thing I was experiencing was relief. Such immense relief. All I wanted, all I needed, was to sit here, wait for Beau to arrive, and have him hold me. The only thing that could bring me comfort after everything I’d just endured would be my husband’s warm embrace.
Like he knew I needed him, Beau stepped into the room not more than a minute later.
His eyes swept over me, taking in every visible inch before he doubled over and rested his hands just above his knees. “Oh, thank God.”
For every emotion I felt, it was only fair to assume that Beau had experienced just as many. Maybe more.
At least I’d known what was happening to me not long after I’d arrived, and the doctors had evaluated me. It hadn’t even dawned on me that they wouldn’t let him know what was happening, but judging by his reaction now, I was beginning to think that hadn’t been the case.
He kept one hand firmly planted on his knee, the other going to his chest. The sight of him appearing to be so overwhelmed brought tears to my eyes.
“Beau,” I called quietly.
One word.
One word was all it took for him to audibly sob.
And in a flash, he was at my side, tears spilling down his cheeks as he held my face in his hands. Warmth spread through me while he kissed me all over—my forehead, my cheeks, my lips—while stroking his thumbs along my face.
Beau released my face, sliding his arms around my body and hugging me tightly to him. “I love you, Jules. I love you so much, and I thought you… I thought you were going to leave me. It’s so good to see you here.”
I wrapped my arms around him, savoring the warmth and affection in his hold, and hoped I gave him the same in return.
The two of us stayed like that a long time, neither uttering a single word. While there was so much to say, there was also no need to speak. At least, not yet.
