Story of my Life

2016- February

"It's half ten, we have an hour and until new year and we've finished work. Now what do you propose we do?" Jacob asked as they stepped out of Holby ED hand in hand.

"I'm exhausted, maybe just curl up in bed and sleep." Connie suggested, but the slight grin creeping onto her face gave her away.

"You're a tease Mrs Beauchamp. What do you usually do on New Years Eve?" He asked as they walked towards her car, as she had decided that ice and motorbikes were not a sensible mix.

"Watch the fireworks on TV with Grace. A bottle of wine for me and lemonade in a wine glass for her." Connie told him, as she realised what a sad existence she lived.

"Well a bottle on wine sounds good, but I can think of better things we could be doing as we bring in the new year."

....

"Con?" Jacob called up the stairs of Connie's house, the house that he seemed to spend the majority of his non-working hours in.

"Yeah?" Came the reply seconds later before he heard the sound of her running down the stairs.

"I was just wondering how long you were going to be, I know you've got a big meeting today and I happen to think that a big breakfast is the way to get through these things." He spoke a little louder than usual as he could hear her padding around in the living room. "Oh my god Connie, you look...I don't even know if words could cover how you look."

"Thanks, now did you say breakfast because I'm starving?" Connie laughed before she moved closer to kiss him.

"When you said breakfast, I thought you meant of the food kind." Jacob teased, knowing that his partner had in fact meant food. "Eggs, toast and ketchup with a coffee." He told her as he handed her a plate. "All done just the way you like it." But it was a mere second or two before the plate that he'd just handed to her, was thrust back into his hands and Connie had disappeared out of the room. The sound of vomiting was unmistakable as he followed the same path that Connie had just made. "Connie darling? Are you alright?"

"Could you get me some water please?" She asked quietly, causing Jacob to immediately grab the item that his sick girlfriend was after. As he gently pushed open the bathroom door, he wasn't surprised to find Connie sat on the bathroom floor in front of the toilet. Carefully he handed her the glass of water and watched as she slowly sipped at the colourless liquid. As once again Connie went to vomit, he quickly placed the glass on the floor before bending down and holding Connie's hair back. 

"All better?" Jacob asked as he rubbed her back soothingly. No words were shared as he helped her back to her feet and directed her towards the living room. "I'll call in sick for you, you can rearrange that meeting for when you're feeling better."

"I'm fine darling, I felt a little sick and now I'm okay." Connie tried to reassure him but as she walked back into the kitchen to refill her water, she suddenly wasn't so sure.

"Really? Because your face and pale complexion suggests otherwise. It's alright to be vulnerable baby, I have a day off, now let me look after you."

...

After another week of throwing up at various mealtimes, it was becoming clear that this was not something that was just going to go away. The smell of various foods seemed to make the nausea worse.

"What times your appointment?" Jacob asked as he entered Connie's office, without having knocked first.

"1." Connie answered without looking up from the email which she was replying to.

"Are you eating before you go? Do you want me to come with you?" He asked fussing as he walked closer to her and kissed her neck while she tried to concentrate on her email. Eventually, she gave up and began to pay her partner attention.

"No I'm not eating before I go, otherwise I risk not actually getting there and secondly, no. You're on shift this afternoon and I'm capable of going, they're probably run a few tests and then tell me that it's a bug and then I'll be okay in a few days."

For the thousandth time she regretted not bringing Jacob, as she sat alone in the waiting room which was beginning to get overcrowded the more the GPs were delayed.

"Mrs Beauchamp?" A woman who appeared only slightly older than Connie, asked as she appeared at the door. Since returning to Holby, Connie could only remember visiting her GP once and even that had only been for a general check up. "So what's the problem?" The doctor asked as the two women settled down into an office, not much smaller than Connie's own office.

"I don't really want to waste your time, but I seem to be feeling nauseous a lot of the time. The smell of some foods make me vomit."

"I see, and when did this start?"

"About a week ago."

"And is there any chance you could be pregnant?" The doctor asked.

"No, we always use protection."

"Okay, well could you provide a urine sample and we'll do a quick dip test for any sign of infection? If that comes back clear then we'll take some blood and have that checked." The doctor told her as she handed the clinical lead a small sample pot and pointed her towards the nearest toilet.

"Well?" Connie asked, her patience wearing thin as she watched a younger nurse process her urine sample.

"The test shows no infection, everything came back negative, except for the pregnancy test." As Connie went to stand up, she almost missed the last few words that had come from the nurses' mouth. Almost.

"I'm pregnant?" Connie asked as she tried to process this new information, and instantly her mind fell upon the one time they hadn't used protection, New Year's Eve.

"The tests certainly seem to suggest so."

"Tests?"

"I ran two just to make sure. Congratulations Mrs Beauchamp."

...

Jacob's worry levels had steadily increased through the day as Connie had failed to come back to work. Images of the worst case scenario plagued him all day, as she failed to even send a text to her partner.

"Sweetcheeks?" Jacob called through the house, but felt his chest tighten as he received no response. The sight of her heels kicked off at the bottom of the stairs, and her handbag discarded on the sofa eased him a little but he couldn't relax until his eyes had set on Connie. He made his way to their bedroom, having already ascertained that the remainder of the house was empty. There he found Connie laying silently in bed, her eyes wide open and occasionally blinking, the only sign that she was alive. "What is it?" He asked softly as he removed his shoes and lay down behind her, wrapping his arms around her middle so she knew he was there. Silence was all that greeted him, in the lack of any indication of what could be wrong with her, he managed to convince himself that the woman he loved was slowly dying. "I love you no matter what, we can face any illness together."

"And what if it's not an illness?" She asked, her vulnerability exuding from her.

"We can face anything Con, you don't ever have to do anything alone because I'm here."

"Can we face a baby?"