Could It Be?

Chapter 13 ~ Healed by Love

Sniff. Sniff. I felt strong hands wrapped around mine and heard faint sounds of someone crying. I slowly opened my eyes. My vision was fuzzy. I felt like I was in the desert, as my throat was so dry. I moved my head in the direction of the crying to see Johnny holding my hand tightly with his head down on my bed. I gently squeezed his hand, I felt so weak. "Julie! You're awake!" He kissed my forehead with ten thousand kisses it seemed. I smiled. "What happened?" "You had to go back to surgery, the doctors had to fix your heart." I brought my hand up to the bandage that was wrapped around my chest. I must look like hell, but Johnny never left my side. "Wa...water." Johnny hurried to get me a cup of water and helped me sit up. It hurt, my heart hurt, both physically and emotionally. This was not fair to Johnny. But here he was, sticking by me. Maybe this is the love we both wanted for so long. I smiled to myself. "I'll be right back!" Johnny came back in with a doctor and a nurse who checked over me in depth. "Doctor, what happened? All I remember is darkness surrounding me then I woke up here with more bandages around me."

"It turns out there was a minor tear in the heart muscle that became worse when your blood pressure went high. It ruptured causing you to lose blood internally." I looked up at Johnny who had a look of guilt on his face and tears in his eyes. "We went in and repaired the torn piece of your heart and gave you a blood transfusion. You will feel weak for a while but it's imperative that you rest. You must remain calm as you heal from the surgery." I nodded my head. "What about our baby?" The doctor smiled. "The baby is perfectly healthy. We had obstetrics examine you during post-op. All is well." "Our baby is strong like its mother." Johnny looked over at me with a huge smile on his face which caused me to shake my head in amusement. "I will make sure she rests!" "Please see that you do. I don't want to see you in my operating room again. You will be here for a few more days then be released home on strict rest until your follow up appointment" the doctor said as he smiled and nodded his head as he left the room with the nurse. I looked over at Johnny who was back at my bedside holding my hand. "Strong, huh?" "You're the strongest woman I know, and our baby is the strongest kid I know." I smiled as I shook my head.

"Come lay with me please." "No." "No?" "The last time I laid with you in that bed I set the monitor off and caused all this." "No, you did not. Nobody knew this would happen. It's not your fault." "I can't lose you both, I would never forgive myself." "You didn't lose us, and you won't. Remember, we are the strongest people you know!" I said as I winked at him. Johnny let out a big laugh. I loved seeing him smile and happy. I patted the bed. "Please?" Johnny reluctantly laid in the bed next to me. He was gentle and slow as to not upset anything. "I'm not a fragile piece of glass you know." He smiled as he wrapped his arms around me and kissed the top of my head. "No, but you're one of the most precious things to me and I will be handling you with care." I shook my head as I laid my head against his chest. He always made me react with his words whether it was with laughter, sadness, happiness, emotion. It was one of the things I loved about him. THUMP. THUMP. The sound of his heartbeat lulled me to sleep. I loved it here, right here. I was safe and protected.

A few days later, it was finally discharge day! I awoke to a room full of flowers, stuffed animals, and get-well cards. As I got out of bed to take my daily walk as required by the hospital staff, I walked around my room to look at all these gifts. Some I recognized. Alex and Mark sent a huge bouquet of tulips, Grace and Stephen sent a huge stuffed teddy bear holding a baby bear, but there were tons of cards that I had no clue who they were from. Johnny walked into the room and ran over to me. "You shouldn't be walking without someone with you!" "Oh stop! I'm a big girl and I'm being careful." Truthfully, I was antsy sitting in that bed, I wanted to move, to be somewhat free again. Not that I didn't mind the help, but it was annoying sometimes. I knew he meant well though. "These cards. I don't recognize the names." Johnny smiled. "Relatives." Wait, relatives? Fans? No....it couldn't be. I looked at him with a curious look and he smiled. "Yes, it's those relatives you are thinking about." "How? How do they know?" "Well, it was kind of a big fiasco." Oh no! I remember the press and people taking videos as the situation occurred with Melissa. I closed my eyes. "It was all over the media and hard to cover up. People have been asking me constantly how you are." "Do they know about the baby?" "No. I want that to stay between us for as long as possible." I nodded. Whew! I was glad we still had that to ourselves. "Oh no, you must be getting bombarded by the press!" Johnny brushed his hair back with his hand. "I am but it's okay. Nothing for you to worry about. All you need to worry about is getting better right now. I can handle that stuff." Normally, I would disagree with him on this, but he was right. I did need to focus on myself getting better for me and our baby. He came over and embraced me in a hug, making sure to not squeeze too tight. "I will make sure from here on out, nothing bad ever happens to you or our baby." I looked up at him as he brushed my hair away and kissed me gently on the lips. "I look like hell." Johnny laughed and smiled and hugged me more. "You're always beautiful to me."