Loving You

Chapter Sixteen

September 1, 1956 1PM

*Elvis POV*

I watch as Jessica passes out. What the hell? I crouch down and pull her into my arms. I walk her over to the couch, lay her down, then go and get a cold compress. I lay it gently over her forehead. She wakes a moment later, then immediately starts pushing me away, "Go away!" I stand and move back away from her, giving her the space she wanted. "I don't want you near me! Go get Joe, and stay away from me!" Tears erupt from her eyes as she looks up at me. Solemnly, I head into the bedroom. I dress in a shirt, a pair of jeans, and a pair of loafers. I walk back out and leave the suite.

Joe answers the door after a moment and stares into my eyes. "What do you want?" He asks as he scans my face.

My cheeks flush, "Uhm... Jessica wants you with her, and not me..." I sigh and look down at the ground.

He grabs my shirt, "What the hell did you do to her? Never mind I'll go find out. Get bent or something!" He releases me and goes across the hall. He enters the suite and closes the door with a slam.

I wander down the hall and go to Colonel's room. He lets me in, and I stay with him for a few hours. Around five, a knock sounds at Colonel's door. I walk over and open it up. Joe pushes the door open and shoves me out of the way. "Colonel, I need your keys." A frantic look is spread across his face.

Colonel furrows his brow, "Why? What about your car?"

Joe shakes his head, "It won't start. Please, I need your keys quickly."

Colonel tosses him the keys to his Lincoln. I look at him, "Why do you need the keys so bad? Where's Jessica?"

Joe shakes his head, "She left a couple minutes ago in an ambulance."

Fear wracks me, and I'm suddenly reminded of the conversation we had in the car before I left, and part of her letter. "W-what happened? Is she alright?"

He shrugs, "I'm not sure. One minute she was perfectly fine, and then suddenly she spiked a fever and started getting sick. She was complaining that her stomach hurt really bad..."

My eyes widen. Shit. "Joe, I need to go with you. I don't care how mad at me either of you are. I just need to be with her. We'll take my car." He tosses the keys back at Colonel and turns, leaving the room. I follow him down the hall to the elevators, then quickly out to the parking lot. I jump in my car, wait for him to get in, then drive off towards the hospital.

"Do you think she'll be okay?" He asks as I take a curve going faster than I should be.

I shrug, "I-I really don't know... Jessica had said somethin' to me before about how when she lost her first baby, the risk of dyin' from losin' a second was much greater."

Joe freezes and looks at me, "She's pregnant?"

I glance over at Joe, "You mean this whole time you've sat with her and talked to her, she never mentioned she was pregnant?"

He shakes his head, "No. It didn't come up." He rubs his face with his hands, "How long has she been pregnant? And, it is yours right?"

As he poses his second question, I look at him, "Of course it's mine! Who else's would it be? And it ain't been very long. A couple of weeks, I think."

He nods, then thinks for a moment, "She got pregnant the first time from the prick that attacked her, right?" He waits for me to nod before continuing. "How did she lose the baby?"

I shrug, "The doctors weren't really sure, but they knew enough to say that there was a strong chance it could happen again, and that it would be much more serious if it did."

Joe looks at me, "How serious?"

I grip the steering wheel tight in my hands, so much so that my knuckles turn white, "Th-that she most likely wouldn't make it i-if it happened..." I stare out at the road, the sound of Joe's jaw unhinging resonating within me. I press down on the accelerator, going well above the speed limit at this point. I didn't care. I needed to be with Jessica...

I pull into the hospital parking lot and jolt the car to a stop in any spot I could find. Yanking the keys from the ignition, I run towards the hospital at full speed. A nurse stops me from crashing into the station, "Woah, what's the matter?"

Tears erupt from my eyes, I couldn't lose her. "M-my girlfriend. Sh-she, uhm..."

The nurse rubs my arms gently, "Did she come in on an ambulance?" I nod slowly. She sighs, "She's in an emergency surgery right now. She came in losing a lot of blood."

I start to shake as I stand there, "Will she be okay?" I glance back as Joe comes up behind me, "He didn't say anythin' about her bleedin'." I turn to Joe, "W-was she bleedin' when she was complainin' of pain?"

Joe shakes his head, "No. At least I don't think so. I didn't see any."

The nurse eyes the both of us, "The EMTs said she started bleeding in the ambulance. They aren't sure what the problem is." She scans my face, noticing a slight shift, "But something tells me you do."

I nod and glance around, "She's pregnant."

A horrid expression reaches her face, and she takes off through closed doors. I stand there with Joe, suddenly very scared. I started to feel weak, so Joe sat me in the nearest chair. I wanted to be with Jessica, even if she was in surgery.

The nurse returns after a few moments and taps my shoulder, "Sir, I can't have you waiting out here. If anyone comes in and sees you, it would be a disruption to the hospital." I nod and follow as she leads me through the doors she came from and down that hall. She opens a door and looks up at me, "This is where your girlfriend will be brought when her surgery is over. You can wait in here." With that, she leaves Joe and I to sit in silence until Jessica returned from surgery.

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Short again, but I promise the next one will be longer!
-Katelyn