in the morning light [g.r]

seven - recovery

Everything was, unsurprisingly, not fine.

Abi sat alone on the ward, visiting hours over for the day, and could do nothing but contemplate. Everything had changed a horrific amount over the last 24 hours and she was far from a fan of it. Her eyes were drawn to the drip that was going into her arm, yellow tinged fluid supposedly there to make her sickness go away and reduce her dehydration. But she needed more than that; she needed a total life reset.

All three of them had cried, sat staring at the doctor as he handed the piece of paper to Abi that confirmed her worst fear; a tiny human was beginning to form inside of her. It took Abi almost an hour to stop crying, knowing it was doing her hydration levels no good at all. She didn't even want to have the conversation about what came next because she was in no way ready to have a child, especially when she had absolutely no idea who the father was.

She looked at her phone from time to time, both men keen to see how she was getting along. She wasn't sure why George was suddenly so desperate to get back into her life after their catastrophic argument in Italy, but she was never going to refuse his help in a situation such as that she found herself in. And Alex was Alex; her new found best friend who should have stayed as that. They knew that from day one, from the day they met and had sex for the first time. It should have been the only time; accept the drunken kisses and late night cuddles as part of their friendship and never let it escalate.

She should have left both boys well alone.

The psychologist passed through just before dinner time, Abi telling her some very basic things that may have contributed to her anxiety; ten years since her mother's death, her new job, her new life away from her family and her creature comforts. While the psychologist agreed it was a hard time for her, it wasn't enough to lead to a stomach ulcer. Abi was sure if the woman knew that she was being blackmailed to the point she couldn't sleep at night then she would have a different response but what she didn't know couldn't hurt her.

She called her dad just before bed, trying not to stress him out but failing catastrophically. He was already planning on getting straight in the car and head to London to look after her. Abi managed to convince him otherwise, assuring him he was in safe hands. She glossed over the whole bit about her being pregnant, he didn't need to know just yet. Once she's managed to calm him down and convince him that everything was okay and it would just be an overnight stay, she hung up with the promise of letting him know any updates.

Sleeping was difficult, the nurses flitting in and out to check on the bleeping machines that were keeping Abi awake. A nurse checked on her when he noticed Abi was still awake, fiddling with the drip that was almost empty and finding her another pillow from one of the empty beds. She slept a little bit, though awoke just before 6 to be sick again. The neon shade of it was alarming, flecks of blood making her heart race. A nurse assisted her, taking the little cardboard bowl away and assuring her she had nothing to worry about and that it was just the last of the ulcer.

George arrived just just after ten, kitted up in full PPE, a cap and sunglasses making him almost unrecognisable. They sat in a comfortable silence for a while, just mulling over everything. Abi knew that the words she spoke three weeks ago, spitting at him that it wasn't sensible for them to still be friends, was untrue. And the moment they were in only proved it. Abi watched George play with her long fingers, his normally short and well kept hair longer than usual, drooping over his forehead a little. Bags were beginning to form under his eyes and Abi wondered if his flimsy blue mask was hiding a 5 o'clock shadow.

"Do you want me to go and get you a coffee?" George asked after a while, making Abi jump slightly, having been daydreaming.

"That would be really nice, yeah." She smiled, giving his hand a soft squeeze. "The doctor should be round at midday so I might be able to go home after that," She smiled, and George nodded, fiddling with the ring on Abi's middle finger.