Ecie & Esme III: Forever and a Day

Two

'What happened?' Esme burst into Sofie's private room. 'Are you okay? How's the baby?'

'Everything is fine,' Sofie smiled. 'It's nice to have you home Ross.'

'Hey mom,' Ross smiled. 'Are you okay?'

'I'm fine,' Sofie smiled. 'Eric'll be back in a minute. It's nice to see you again Lauren. How are you?'

'I'm good,' Lauren nodded. 'You're looking good, aside from being in a hospital bed.'

Eric came into the room carrying a polystyrene cup of coffee and plastic cup of water.

'Hey guys,' he greeted. 'Sorry to rush you all out so early in the morning.'

'It's fine,' Ross said as Eric passed Sofie the plastic cup of water, then started sipping on the polystyrene cup. 'What happened?'

'Your mom was complaining of stomach pains,' Eric replied looking down on Sofie lovingly and stroking her head. He kissed her hair then looked at Ross. 'She had a temperature and the doctor told her to rest.'

'Did you rest mom?'

'I did,' Sofie replied.

'You did not,' Eric replied. 'She was going about the house like she was three months pregnant.'

'He hid my passport so I couldn't get to a meeting with Jonathon,' Sofie said. 'I was resting.'

'Anyway,' Eric said. 'Early this morning she was still complaining of stomach pains and went she went to the toilet, she peed some blood.'

'That's gross,' Esme said. 'Are you okay mom?'

'I am fine,' Sofie said. 'The doctor said it's probably an infection, but they're running some tests. The baby and I are fine. We would appreciate it if you left us alone and returned my passport.'

'You actually hid her passport?' Verde laughed. 'That's pretty bold.'

'I thought so too,' Sofie said. 'My passport is my life.'

'I'll give it back to you when you're nine months pregnant and can't fly anymore,' Eric replied. 'You've really got to rest.'

Sofie rolled her eyes. 'Ecie, honey, how are the auditions going?'

'Good,' Ecie nodded. 'But we should be focusing on you and the baby right now. We don't want anything bad to happen.'

'We're going to be fine,' Sofie said. A doctor walked into the room with a blue folder and smiled. 'See. We're going to be fine. Yes doctor?'

'Well its good news,' the doctor smiled. 'The baby is going to be fine, you've just got a little infection but that will clear in a couple of days with some antibiotics we're going to prescribe...'

'Will they affect the baby in any way?' Eric asked.

'Not at all,' the doctor replied. 'The antibiotics will help to remove the infection so you shouldn't feel anymore discomfort apart from the baby moving around trying to get comfortable.

Eric nodded. 'So what can we do?'

'Just plenty of rest,' the doctor replied. 'We'll keep you in for a day or two under close observation and we'll get the gynecologist down to take a look at you and the baby. We'll be pumping you with plenty of fluids.'

'Thank you so much doctor,' Eric nodded.

'That is no problem at all,' he smiled. 'I'll be back in a couple of hours, so I'll leave you here for now with your family.'

'Thank you,' Sofie said as the doctor left the room. 'See, I told you. There was nothing to worry about.'

Eric kissed Sofie's forehead and stroked her head.

'Mom you should really listen to Eric,' Ross said. 'You need to stop working.'

'I am not an invalid,' Sofie replied. 'As long as I can still walk and move around, I can take care of myself. I am resting.'

'By your standards,' Eric said. 'You need to learn to take it slow.'

Sofie rolled her eyes.

Eric sighed and continued stroking her head.

'Ross,' she said. 'Tell me about your South American travels. How was it?'

'It was really good,' Ross replied. 'We just did loads of stuff while we were out in Argentina. We built shelters, gave out shoes and helped feed the little kids. It was pretty cool.'

Sofie nodded. 'I'm going to need you to do me a really big favor.'

'Sure,' Ross nodded. 'What is it?'

'Well since Mr. I'm-Going-To-Hide-Your-Passport has forbade me from travelling, I'm going to need you to head out to Michigan for three days to officially begin the Summer Read. Would you be able to do that?'

'Yeah, definitely,' Ross replied. 'When do you want me to go? I'm supposed to be flying out to Europe next week.'

'I'm sure you'll be able to miss out on getting completely drunk for a day or two,' Sofie replied. 'I need you out there for Friday.'

'Okay,' Ross nodded. 'I'll see if I can make that work.'

'You'll be doing me the biggest favor and I don't imagine they'll want to be looking at a pregnant lady all day,' Sofie replied. 'I'm sure your handsome face is something they'd rather look at.'

'Thanks mom,' Ross laughed. 'I'll do it. It'll be fine.'

'Thank you,' Sofie smiled. She looked around the room at the others. 'You guys don't have to stay here if you've got other stuff going on.'

'We'll stay here for a bit,' Ecie nodded. 'Just until you've fallen asleep at least.'

Sofie laughed. 'Okay.'

'Is Ross just going to stay there all day?' Lauren asked she left the hospital a few hours later with Esme, Ecie and Verde.

'Yep,' Esme nodded. 'He is such a mommy's boy.'

'I thought he was going to go to the spa,' Lauren said. 'How is he supposed to get home?'

'Who cares?' Ecie said as they walked through the parking lot and climbed into her car. 'I don't know how long it's going to take to get back to LA.'

'What are you doing today?' Verde asked.

'I'm supposed to be at the gym this afternoon because we've got a new squad coming in,' Ecie replied. 'I wanted to do a short work out as well and practice some more for the next round of auditions next week.'

'Are you working tonight Verd?' Esme asked.

'Yeah,' Verde scratched his head. 'I've taken on some more shifts recently.'

Lauren looked at Verde in the rear view mirror.

'And what about you, Lauren?' Verd said. 'Do you have any more hot dates tonight?'

'I was thinking of having a quiet night in with a book,' Lauren replied. 'I'm too exhausted.'

'Maybe I'll join you,' Verde replied sarcastically.

'No need to stretch yourself,' Lauren replied. 'Besides, it's your apartment too.'

'Yeah,' Verde rolled his eyes.

'Get a life.'