Jessica had to stay over night at the hospital, but Danny was able to stay with her.
"Why won't they let me leave?" She whines.
"Because you need fluids... and things."
"I've got fluids." Jessica says in an irritated tone.
"This is why you need to eat and take care of yourself. Thank God it's something they can fix with an IV, but Jessica, next time you might not be so lucky."
"I know.."
"Tomorrow you'll be all better, and you can see the baby."
"Yeah. Are you sure she's okay? I just had.. I don't know, I felt like there was something wrong."
"No, everything's fine."
"You're lying, Danny."
"I'm not!" He laughs.
"Ugh! I just hate this!" She hits her fists on the bed.
"So do I, baby... But the one good thing out of all of this, is that it's made us stronger. "
A small smile appears on her face, and she says, "Yeah... Danny?"
"Yes, baby?"
"Will you hold me?"
"Of course." He smiles and walks over to her bed.
Jessica lays on her side, and Danny laid behind her, with his hand wrapped around her stomach.
He kissed the crook of her neck and mumbled, "I love you so much, Jessie."
"I love you too." She taps his hand.
Danny and Jessica try their hardest to get some sleep, even though they both knew that tomorrow might be the hardest day they'll ever face.
***
The next day, Jessica's blood pressure was back to normal, and she felt a lot better.
By this time, Arabella was having her third round of treatment to help close her valve.
"Hi baby girl! Oh my goodness, mommy missed you so much! I'm so so sorry I couldn't be here yesterday.. But I promise you that I won't leave your side again!" She rubs her hand.
"Can I hold her?" She asks a nurse that passes by her.
"Sure!"
Jessica gets excited and sits in the rocking chair.
The young nurse hands her to Jessica and Jessica brings her to her warm chest.
"Why is her IV back in?" She asks as she gently caresses the skin around it with her finger.
"Oh um.. The doctor said she needed some fluid.." Danny gives the nurse a look not to say why her IV is in.
"Oh.. Okay.."
Arabella lets out the tiniest cry and Jessica gasps.
"Oh my gosh! She's never cried before! She's never cried before, Danny! Her lungs were too weak."
The nurse smiles and says, "You have a little fighter on your hands!"
"Yes we do!" She smiles and kisses her head.
Jessica closes her eyes and cries as she rocks her.
She gently rubs her back with her fingers tips and says, "We can't do this Danny. We can't take her off, she's fighting."
"I know, we're not doing anything... She'll pull through. I know she will, baby."
"Maybe me getting sick wasn't horrible. If I hadn't, we would have unplugged her and.. who knows what would've happened."
Danny sighs and closes his eyes, "I don't even wanna think about it."
Jessica looks back down at the baby and says, "You're gonna be okay, my perfect little angel."
***
A few hours pass and one of the doctors walks in.
"Hello, Mr. And Mrs. Huston."
"Hello." Jessica smiles.
"I just wanted you to know that Arabella's treatment is over, and we should have her results back soon."
"What treatment?" Jessica looks at him with concerned eyes, then looks over at Danny.
"Doctor Phillips said he discussed it with your husband."
"What?" Jessica says in almost a whisper as she looks over to Danny with disappointment.
"You knew?"
"Yes, but-"
"Why didn't you tell me?"
Danny gives the doctor a signal to leave, then says, "Because the doctor told me not to! He said it would make you sick, and Jessica, I just couldn't take that chance."
"What kind of treatment were they doing? What's wrong?"
"She has a heart murmur, they had to give her three rounds of medicine twelve hours apart. That's why she's on an IV, they had to take her off of the breast milk."
"She has a heart murmur?" Jessica's eyes fill with tears.
"Yes, but hopefully after these treatments, they'll be able to get the valve closed, and can continue feeding her your milk."
"And if they can't?"
"Then they'll talk about the possibility of surgery."
Jessica looks away and puckers her lips.
"I'm sorry I didn't tell you, Jessica, but you have to understand why I didn't."
"No, I understand.. *Sighs* I just don't see why this little girl has to go through so much."
"I know. It sucks.. But I know she can get through it."
Jessica pauses then whispers, "I hope so."
"Jessica, she will!"
"But what if she doesn't, Danny?!" She looks at him and cries.
"How will I live?"
"We're not even gonna talk like that! She WILL make it! Okay? She's has Huston and Lange blood running through her veins.. She's a badass by nature, you know that."
Jessica chuckles and rolls her eyes.
"Thank you for being so amazing..I wouldn't have be able to get through these past two weeks without you."
"You're my strength, Jessie. Without you, I'm nothing. I would never let you go through this alone."
"Thanks." She says quietly with a small tired smile.
***
"Mr. And Mrs. Huston, the results are in."
"What is it?!" Jessica jumps up.
"There's no surgery in sight for this little girl." He smiles.
"It closed?!" Danny asks with wide eyes.
"Yes, sir. She responded great to the treatment."
"Thank you, Jesus!" Jessica places both hands on her chest and looks up with her eyes closed.
"That's great! Thank you.. Thank you so much." He says with a teary smile, before he pulls Jessica to his chest.
Her hands were still glued to her body, and her face was buried in his chest.
Danny held her back and kissed her head, "I told you... She's got this!" His voice shakes.
***
The next few days they would go in and perform a spontaneous breathing trial on Arabella, which meant they would let her breathe independently on her own, while still connected to a ventilator, just in case.
The first two days Arabella didn't do so well, which was hard on Jessica.
She cried seeing her baby suffer.
For the rest of the tests, she had to leave the room and let Danny stay with her. It was just too hard to see.
But the third day was much much better, and on the forth day, something completely magical happened.
"Mrs. Huston, I have some good news for you."
"What?" Her eyes widen.
"Arabella has been working her little hiney off, and she's breathing on her own, with only the help of nasal prong oxygen. What that will do is give her a little extra oxygen, just to maintain high oxygen levels."
"She's breathing on her own?" Jessica smiles with tears in her eyes.
"Yes ma'am!"
"Oh my baby!" She says in a cute voice as she walks back to her.
The nurse follows and says, "Mrs. Huston-"
"I said call me Jessica, remember?!" She turns to her and smiles.
"Yes, I'm sorry!" She laughs then says, "Jessica! Since she's breathing on her own, I was going to ask if you would like to try nursing her."
Jessica's eyes widen and her mouth drops.
"Nurse her?"
"Yes, if you'd like to, we can try it right after she rests a little, so we don't tire her out."
"Oh my gosh, yes! I'd love to."
"Great! Just remember, that she is still very small, and she may not latch on right away."
"I understand."
"You nursing her will definitely benefit her. It's great to give her your milk through the tube, but she'll get more nutrients nursing straight from you."
"Really? Well that's good..." She sighs and smiles. Jessica was happy, but she knew not to get too excited. Anything can happen to NICU babies.
***
Jessica and Danny went to the cafeteria for lunch while Arabella was sleeping.
They talked about the kids, and about how crazy everything's been, but then Jessica decided to talk about something that's been weighing on her heart.
"Danny.."
"Yeah?"
"Danny... *Sighs* I've been thinking, and... Danny, I think you need to call Trisha and at least tell her that you'll be there for the baby."
"Jessica, don't think about that right now, sweetie." He rubs the top of her hand.
"No Danny, it's been bothering me, and I think this is right... I know this is right. We've been at this hospital from morning till night for the past three weeks... I've been thinking.. A lot, and this is what you need to do. You messed up, and you have to deal with the consequences."
"But Jessica, I don't to."
"Well that's too bad!" She giggles.
"Why do you seem so okay with this?"
Jessica looks down at the table, shrugs her shoulders and tilts her head before she says, "God has given us hope.. Hope that our baby will beat all of the odds.. I think you need to make the best out of a horrible situation. It's not like you're going to be with her. Just say you're there for the baby."
"Are you sure?"
".. Yes. Now I'm not saying I'll jump up and down when it's here, but... It's your baby, Danny." She says in a low voice as she brings her glossy eyes up to meet his.
"Yeah..." He looks down as his mind wanders.
***
Hey! I really really really want to do a Wild Oats book with Maddie and Chip, would y'all like that?
