I'm In Trouble Deep

Waiting

The EMTs were busy cleaning Linda's head wound (Danny had deduced she hit her head on the edge of the railing post), when she swatted their hands away. "I don't care about me! I care about our baby! He has to be okay! He has to be!" She started crying again, and Danny felt absolutely helpless sitting there.

The ambulance didn't have the equipment needed to check if the baby was okay, so the father did the next logical thing. He leaned forward and placed a hand on Linda's stomach. He held his breath as he waited for any sort of sign everything was okay. He visibly relaxed as he said, "he moved. He's alive."

Linda still cried, worried for the baby. The blaring sirens were not helping her headache, either. She was praying- praying her hardest that the baby would be okay. She couldn't lose another child, especially one so close to being welcomed into the cruel, cruel world.

Danny's phone had been ringing every five minutes, and until the nurses ushered him out of Linda's room and shoved him in a chair, he ignored it. Now that he had no other choice but to wait, he figured he'd answer whoever it was. "Reagan."

"Danny! What happened? We were so worried! We still are! Were are you? Is Linda okay?" It was Mary.

"Linda fell down the stairs. She hit her head, and... oh gosh." He rubbed at his eye, refusing to cry. It was only a bump on the head; he had felt the baby move. The baby was okay; the baby was okay.

"Oh my gosh! Do you know why she fell? How's the baby? Are they okay?"

"I, uh, I don't know. I don't know. I'm waiting for a verdict. They kicked me out."

"Call us when you hear anything. We'll be praying."

"I will, thanks, Mom." He hung up, continuing to tell himself everything was okay. All the fake reassurance he had built cam crumbling down when a nurse walked out. He immediately jumped to his feet, "is she okay? And the baby? How about the baby?"

"Both are fine, however-"

"F***." The curse slipped from his lips. A 'however' in any hospital situation was not good.

"She fell because the baby was lying on one of her nerves. It cut off circulation, basically, and that's why she tumbled."

"But?"

"But because she fell from pretty high up, and hit that many obstacles going down, we've had to induce labor."

Danny knew what she was saying to him, but it was not making any sense. "She's in labor?"

"Yes, and she's desperately asking for you. We've moved her up to maternity, so if you'll follow me."

He followed to the elevator, and once inside realized how fast and how loudly his heart was beating. It wasn't everyday his wife fell down the stairs and was forced into labor. He suddenly remembered something- he was supposed to keep her stress free, and falling down the stairs was definitely not a stress free activity. What if this birth was a repeat of the last one? That would turn Linda off of kids for forever.

"Right this way," the nurse interrupted his thoughts as she walked out of the elevator. He followed her in silence. She opened the door to Linda's room, letting him walk in.

"Honey," he was soon by her beside, holding her hand. "Honey, are you okay?" He kissed her cheek.

"They've started labor. I haven't had any real contractions yet, I don't think." Linda leaned her head against his, "I'm glad you're here. I don't think I could do this without you."

He kissed her temple again, and they waited in silence for a few minutes. "When does it start?"

"When does what start?"

"Labor."

"Soon I guess... oh!"

"What? What?"

"A contraction. My period cramps are more painful than that!" Looking to the side, Linda mumbled, "why do I remember this being more painful?"

Before he could answer her, she squeezed his hand as she grunted, muttering 'ow' over and over again. "How long will it take?"

"It depends," she answered, blowing out a slow breath.

"Are you okay?"

"I'm a little scared," Linda admitted quietly. "I don't want a repeat of last time."

Danny kissed her forehead, not sure what else he could do at this moment. "It won't."

"How come?"

"Do you think you would've gotten pregnant again, only to lose the baby again? Life's cruel, but not that cruel."

She smirked, "you sound like Mary."

"She's worried about you. I was talking to her when you- when you fell. She was the one calling in the ambulance."

"I didn't mean to worry her."

"You didn't. Well, you did, but it wasn't your fault."

***********

Jamie looked at the clock on the wall- it was 6:30, nearly dinner time. He was hungry, but also excited to be getting a nephew- a boy nephew. Hi stomach growled loudly and Joe looked at him.

"I'm hungry."

"Me too. I had to skip lunch," he sat down next to him. "At least it's not one in the morning."

"True."

"What exactly happened?" Erin turned her attention to her Mom.

"Linda fell down the stairs, because the baby was sitting on a nerve in her leg." Mary accepted the coffee Frank had brought from the vending machines. "My understanding is that she was pretty much at the top of the stairs-"

"Oh no!"

"And because of that, the many obstacles she hit, including gashing her head- they had to induce labor."

"That was six hours ago, almost seven," Frank said. "I don't remember your labor being that long."

"That's because the more children you have, the faster the labor is. But she could be having complications, like excessive bleeding or the baby is breached, or any number of things. She fell... onto her stomach, so complications happened that otherwise wouldn't have happened."

"I just hope they're both okay," Joe moved to stand by the window. "It'd be devastating if we lost one or both of them."

"Especially for Danny, since Linda keeps him grounded." Erin picked up her coffee cup.