House of Paper and Wax

5

The next morning came before I even realized the night had passed, once again. I awoke to a loud horn coming from the driveway. My face was stuck to the surface of my journal, and ink had bled bright red all over my white bead spread. I couldn't believe I had fallen asleep like that again. And now my bed spread was ruined, and there was an obnoxious sound coming from outside. Great. This day is gonna be rough, I told myself as I got out of bed and ran to the living room to look out our front window.
There, in all his glory, Max grinned back at me, as he sprayed our garden hose onto a huge travel camper.
This was his surprise? He went and got a camper?!?
By now, I was fully awake. I was irritated about the ink on my bed. Irritated I'd slept so long. Irritated that I hadn't even set the alarm to be up before he got home. And most of all, livid at Max.
I looked a wreck. I was embarrassed to even go outside to the lawn to check out this dumb thing he decided to buy without my knowing. But the anger over ran my embarrassment, and I slipped on my flip flops and went out the door, anger flushing my cheeks.
"Hey baby!" Max said all in a cheer, "Well, here it is! What do you think?"
I couldn't get the words out fast enough without absolutely stammering and stuttering at all the chaos.
I was seeing spots. Again.
The spots got more intense, and I went completely quiet. More heart flashed to my face and I began to feel dizzy. This was not at all what I had expected. I thought maybe he was surprising me with a new car. Or maybe he got the new furniture I had been eyeing. But this? We rarely even went anywhere, and certainly had never been camping together. This was just too much. And the abrupt wake up to such a strange "surprise" combined with all the stress over the weekend finally got to me.
I opened my mouth to let out a few words, and next thing I knew, I was inside the house staring straight into a flashlight as an EMT began to ask me if I was ok, among other questions to make sure I was coherent.
"Oh no. What happened?" I asked weakly.
I already knew what happened before the EMT spoke again. "Kathryn, we believe you fainted in your front lawn. There are no sights of any damage, stroke, or danger as of right now. We are going to run a few tests on you just to be certain, however. Do I have your permission to take you to the hospital to run some lab work?"
This was unbelievable. I was mortified.
Max looked down at me with slight worry in his eyes.  "I think we'd better go, just in case."
I agreed. "Can my husband ride along?" 
The EMT agreed, and they sat me in a wheelchair and helped me get into the back of the ambulance.
"Kat, I am so sorry. I didn't meant to cause you to pass out! I was so worried you weren't ok. You just fell down in front of me. Oh my God, I'm so glad you are alright!" Max teared up as he explained.
"How did I get into the house?" I asked.
"Well," Max continued, "I was in a panic. I told the neighbor to call 911 and I didn't want you out on the lawn like that, so I carried you inside."
"Max! You shouldn't move someone if something like that happens!" I said.
The EMT nodded as she started taking my vital signs. "That's true." She said.
"I know that now," Max said in defense. "It was just my gut reaction. I'm so sorry. I'm just so glad you are alright."
The EMT cut in, "It is all ok. But remember in the future, if something like this occurs, you must wait for emergency services to arrive before you move someone. It can impair their condition worse, if it had been something else."
I felt bad for Max. I was still angry about the camper, but it wasn't the time or place to talk about it then. "Max, I said. "It's gonna be ok. I feel fine now." He smiled at me, half heartedly, and grabbed my hand as we rode quietly the rest of the way to the emergency room.
The EMT wheeled me into a room as soon as we arrived. A nurse was already inside the room, ready to take vitals and start and IV.
"I'm nurse Sandy. I'll be checking on you from time to time as we wait for your labs. I'm going to give you and IV of fluids. Are you in any pain?" She said as we entered the cold and incompatible hospital room.
"Just a little sore from the fall I think. Nothing major, I don't think." I replied.
"Ok sweetie," Nurse Sandy replied, "I'll be back with some ibuprofen in a moment."
She walked out of the door, and I looked over at Max. He was pale as a ghost, and I could tell he was possibly in worse shape then I was at the moment.
"You ok, Max?" I asked.
"I am now. Just a little shook up. How are you feeling?" Max replied as he walked over and grabbed my hand.
"I'm just a little confused." I said. "I can't believe you got a camper."
"Oh no! So it WAS my fault!" He exclaimed.
Just as I was about to deny his fault in this, Nurse Sandy walked back into the room with a tiny cup of water and another with my ibuprofen. I swallowed them both, and she began to rub an alcohol swab on my inner arm. "Big stick." she warned, as she pushed the needle into my arm and began to draw blood through my IV. Moments later, she started a bag of saline and it began to drip into the tube leading to my arm. "This will keep you hydrated. I will be back in a bit to check up on you. Let us know if you need anything at all."
Nurse Sandy disappeared back into the hallway and shut the door.
Now it was just Max and me. And I could feel his anxiety as he looked over at me once again.
I felt bad for being irritated. He looked so worried and upset. "It's ok honey." I began, "The camper just wasn't something I had even expected. I thought maybe you finally got me a new car. You know, I need one soon. I never even imagined this was what the surprise was. It really shocked me and caught me off guard, I guess."
"So you aren't upset with me?" He asked.
"Well I'm more worried and confused than angry." I responded.
"Well you see, that's the other surprise. A good friend of mine at work was selling it for a great deal, and I couldn't pass it up. I know we had been saving for your new car, but we still have some savings left for it."
"Ok?" I said as he continued to explain.
"So the same day I learned about the camper, Coach Roberts came and asked me something I have been waiting in for all of my career. Babe. Coach wants me to become the senior girl's basketball coach next year. He's finally ready to retire. And that not only means I get a huge raise, but I also get a bonus this year for training  alongside as assistant coach for his team this season." Max began to cheer up as he explained.
"Max that's just amazing news! I'm so proud of you! I know you have always wanted this! Wow!" I exclaimed.
"But I have to ask you, doesn't that mean you will be working more, and have less time off with me? We may never get to go camping in that thing..."
"I thought about that too." He explained. "But me and Coach R looked at the schedule I would take on and it actually won't affect much of my off time at all. It's really only 1 extra evening during season. Seniors practice one more day per week than my juniors, so I will just be at work  and extra 3 hours Tuesday and Thursday every week. And then during the season, I will have game day as usual. You know I'm there til both games end anyway."
"Yeah that's not bad at all. I think I can handle that." I said.
"I knew you wouldn't mind! And you definitely won't mind when You see my future paychecks!" Max replied. He was so very right.
"Oh I'm sure I won't mind at all!" I agreed.
"Now there is a chance we could be really good this season. So you know if we make regionals and state, it will stretch on a little longer. But even so, we will have many free weekends ahead after that." Max explained.
"Well it all almost sounds too good to be true!" I said happily.
"It's the real deal, babe." Max grinned, "so you like?"
"I'm still kind of confused about why you would get a camper though. We don't camp." I laughed "we've never even camped together. You really think we will do this?" I wondered.
"We don't go because you can be a little high maintenance when it comes to comfort. I figured this is how I could get you to go with me. We need to go out more and I think it'll relax us both." Max was right. I never really wanted to go camping because I didn't want to sleep outside in a tent on the ground. I liked to be outdoors though, so he got me.
"Max," I chided with a half smile "You must really think you've just got me all figured out, huh?"
"I do." Max smiled as he folded his arms over his chest.
"Ok. Then, I guess I kind of like it."
I smiled. "But please think of less nerve racking ways to surprise me next time, okay?" I pleaded.
"Haha yeah," Max chucked "I'm so sorry about that, but I promise it won't happen again."
"Good." I laughed.
Nurse Sandy returned with a chart in her hand.  She began, "So your labs are already in. The doctor will be in with you shortly and you will be discharged fairly soon."
"That's great" Max said relived. "So she is okay then?"
The nurse paused and smiled a peculiar smile. "Oh yes dear. She is MORE than ok. But I am not at liberty to reveal all your results, so the doctor will explain more in a moment."
Before I could respond, she quickly walked out the door, and I swear I heard her giggle. I looked back over at Max, who was looking back over at me, just as intrigued as I was. "What do you  think that was about?" I asked Max. "Don't you think she was acting a little strange?"
Before Max could reply, Nurse Sandy reappeared with the doctor. I was more than ready to go home.
The Doctor began to speak,"So you've had a little bit of a fainting episode today, Kathryn."
"Yes I suppose I did!" I laughed.
"Well Mrs. Kathryn, I want to assure you, you are going to be just fine. This fall was mainly due to surprise, I've been told. Is that correct?" He asked.
"Yep. It's all my husband's fault." I joked and pointed over at Max. He smiled and waved, slightly embarrassed.
"Well, that's probably more true than you know." The doctor grinned.
"What's that supposed to mean, Doc?" Max asked nervously.
"Kathryn, when was the first day of your last period?" The doctor questioned.
"Um," I thought to myself. "I think it was the second week of last month." I replied.
"So then, it seems you may be a little late this month?" The doctor asked again.
"Oh my God." I said as I placed my hand over my mouth. "Oh my---" I began again.
"That's right Mrs. Kathryn. It looks as though you are 6 weeks pregnant as of today."
I was in shock. I started seeing those damn spots again. Oh no, I better not faint again. I thought to myself. I looked over at Max, who undoubtedly looked as stunned as I was. I wondered if it was his turn to faint now.
"You've got to be kidding me, Doc! Really?!?" I said loudly.
"Yes! Really! Congratulations!" Nurse Sandy broke into the conversation.
"Oh my! Oh wow! I can't believe it! Finally!" I was so excited that I couldn't stop rambling in disbelief.
"Max! Can you believe this!?!" I said.
Max looked stranger, suddenly. He did not seem as overjoyed by the news as I was, right then. In fact, he looked as though he was trying to hold back tears with a fake smile in order to maybe hide some sort of secret or something. I wasn't sure. He and I had been trying for years to conceive, and this was big news for us. I couldn't read what the look on his face meant, but I'm certain it was not a look of excitement.
"Max, hun," I said again "were having a baby, isn't that the most exciting news!?!"
For a moment, Max didn't say a word. He looked over Nurse Sandy's shoulder and past the doorway.
"Um." He stammered, "uh I think I'm gonna throw up."
He took off running towards the restroom down the hall with his hand over his mouth.
"Max!!! Max!" I yelled after him "oh my  God! Is he going to be alright?" I turned to the doctor.
"Give him a little time. I'm sure he is just reacting like many men do when they get this sort of unexpected news." Nurse Sandy said, as she patted me on the shoulder for reassurance.
"Well it is definitely unexpected." I tried to smile.
"You are free to discharge, Kathryn. You need to set up an appointment with an OBGYN as soon as possible. Congratulations. Wishing you the best of luck." Said the doctor. Nurse Sandy gave another congratulations and handed over some papers. I was free to go.
Wow, I thought to myself. What a weekend. I walked towards the bathroom where Max had run, and waited outside for him to come out. After a few minutes, he appeared. His face was still as white as Paper.
"Babe, are you alright?" I asked again.
"Yeah. I'm fine." He said in a sharp tone.
"Lets go home." He said harshly.
I felt extreme anxiety cut through my gut. This didn't seem right at all.
"Okay." I said softly, and I followed behind Max as he headed towards the door at an abnormally quick pace. The uncertainty of knowing where his mind was at the moment made my shoulders tense.
I was dreading the ride home. And I knew, for some reason , after today, our lives would never be the same again.