Broken

Broken Part 6

Meghan

It was her first full week on the job and she was really loving it. The mundane task of stocking shelves and dusting the books gave her plenty of time to day dream about the future. She would imagine laying in the park on a quilt with Flo and their baby. Their baby. The thought made her smile. The tinkle of the bell on the door made her look up. It was Flo and her Mom. "Last day of work before Christmas!" Flo cheered, handing Meghan a hot chocolate. "Mmm, thank you." She wrapped her fingers around the warm cup and resisted the urge to kiss Flo. They had decided they would tell their families at Christmas dinner. It may seem dramatic, but what better time than when they are all together and everyone is in the holiday spirit? "We're just out finishing some shopping. Do you need anything?" Flo's mother went on to ask the girls about their wine preference for dinner the following day and the girls eyes met in a brief moment of realization. They had talked about how they would break the news of being a couple to their families but hadn't thought about how to explain the baby. Meghan took a deep breath and raised her brows. "Well I'd better get finished up here. We close early today. Maybe we could meet for dinner later Flo?" Flo smiled and nodded, looking distracted. Later that night they sat in the apartment eating nachos and sipping mulled cider. Both had been too tired to cook anything substantial for dinner. "So, about the baby." Flo broached the subject cautiously. "How do you want to tell everyone?" Meghan groaned and pulled a blanket over her head. "This is supposed to be a happy thing to share with your family. I hate that we are going to be judged about this for the rest of our lives!" Flo reached out and pulled down the blanket, then leaning in kissed the small round of Meghan's belly. "It's fine. You can say you had a stupid one night stand. No one will ever question us about it again! It's no one's business but ours anyway Meg." Meghan knew she was right but still felt hurt at her words. "Well in a way it was sort of a one nightstand, but you don't have to call it stupid." Her words had sharp edges she'd never intended. Flo stood up, looking irritated. "Let's call a spade a spade here. You went ahead and slept with your boss – a married man. Did you think that was going to end in sunshine and rainbows? Come on Meg. We need to be realistic in how we talk about this. I mean, we need to seriously start looking for another place and you haven't even opened the emails I sent you with the ads for two bedroom apartments." "What are you checking my emails now?" Meghan stood to face her. "I'm not a child. I know what we are up against here and I am fully aware of the effects of my actions. But if you are going to love this child as your own, you can't keep talking about the situation as if it was a great big fuck up! You don't get to have it both ways Flo." With that she marched into the bedroom and slammed the door. 

Richard 

 He woke to the beep of the alarm clock on his cell phone. He must have dozed off. He looked around the waiting room to see that Jess and Deirdre were still there, sprawled across a few chairs. He found only one nurse at the desk this time as he asked about an update. "It's Christmas eve Mr. Fitzpatrick, I'm afraid we are short staffed in all departments today. I will go and ask if morning reports have taken place. I'll be right back." Not wanting to miss her, he quickly went into the washroom and splashed cold water into his face. On his way back to the desk he stopped at the vending machines and counted out enough change for a coffee. "Sir, she's actually been moved to the ICU step down unit." The nurse gave him directions. "When those two women wake up will you please tell them where to find me? I don't want to disturb them. We've all had a long night." The nurse smiled and nodded. On the eighth floor Richard found the darkened Intensive Care wing with its glassed in rooms. A male nurse offered to show him the way. "She's in number four. The doctor is in there right now – I'm sure he'll want to update you." Richard turned the corner to find the doctor reviewing papers and Alice's bedside. Alice looked the same as she had the night before. He tried not to focus on the tubes coming from her body and instead cleared his throat to notify the doctor of his presence. "Ah, you must be the husband. I'm glad you're here." He set down the chart and shook Richards's hand. "Scans look good. CT scan showed a slight reduction in swelling of her brain. An improvement from last night. We performed an ultrasound as soon as the techs arrived this morning and there is no internal bleeding. Baby looked fine. Nice strong heartbeat. A miracle really given the nature of her trauma." Richard squinted at the doctor asking him to please repeat what he's just said. "I'm sorry, were you not aware that your wife was pregnant? Well what a time to be telling you! She is about seven weeks – early days yet, but everything looks fine. That's one tough baby in there." Richard smiled and nodded, unable to find the words. The doctor excused himself, patting Richard on the shoulder on his way out the door. Richard found a chair and sat dazed for a moment before doing the math. He and Alice hadn't been together, like that, since before Halloween. There was no way she could be pregnant. He looked up at her, perplexed. Oh my God. If she were truly pregnant, it wasn't his. He laughed, unable to control himself. The irony of it all was too much to process, so he just laughed. A few passersby looked in at him through the thick glass wall of the room, obviously curious what could be so funny in the ICU. He realized he may have been the first person to ever laugh this loud on this floor, and this made him laugh even louder. Just as he was able to catch his breath Jess and Deirdre came down the hall, peering into each room in search of Alice. He waved his hand out the door to get their attention. "How is she?" they both asked at once. "Good, well better actually. The doctor said the swelling as starting to go down already. He seemed pleased." Jess nervously approached Alice's bedside, tears filling her eyes. "I can't believe this happened." The grief on her face tore at his insides. He was responsible for this – all of it. Desperate to bring comfort to someone he stood and put a hand on her shoulder. "She's pregnant Jess. The doctor just told me." He heard his mother gasp behind him, reciting a small prayer of thanks. Jess turned to him, eyes wide with disbelief. "But how? You were told the two of you could never conceive on your own." Richard looked down at Alice shrugging his shoulders. "My question exactly."