Overjoyed

Chapter 40 - All that remains

Right, from here on out we'll be back to Eliza's point of view. Just by the way, you guys are amazing J! 10K reads? I just. I can't even. Your comments never fail to make me smile. Thank you all so much.

Exhaustion. It's dark, so dark, and it's comforting. I could stay like this forever if I wasn't so damn thirsty. My throat feels like the Sahara. I need to get something to drink. I can't open my eyes. Shit, I need to open my eyes.

"Ughh" I groaned as I blinked my tired eyes open. The sunshine streaming in from the window burnt my eyes. As my vision adjusted, I made out that I was in a hospital. My body hurt all over, most of the pain coming from my lower abdomen. My heart lurched as I caught sight of Dan asleep in the chair across the room. Christ, I was glad to see him. "Dan" I tried to say, my voice nothing more than a soft croak. His eyes fluttered open and he looked dazed momentarily before his brain kicked in and he was at my side in seconds. "Lize, oh thank God you're awake. How are you feeling?" he asked, concerned. Now that he was close to me, I could see how tired he looked. He had bags under his eyes and his stubble was thick from days of not shaving. "I'm a little sore and very thirsty" I whispered. "Hold on, I'll get the nurse" he said, and ran out of the room. I took the time to take in my surroundings, there were flowers and cards at the foot of my bed and Dan's teal sweater was draped over the back of one of the chairs. I vaguely remembered what happened, being in the cab, crying, thinking about... My thoughts were cut off by Dan rushing in with a nurse at his side. "It's good to see you're awake, Miss James" said the cheery, fifty-something year old nurse, "Doctor Morton will be in to check on you momentarily. You may have some water if you're thirsty" she said, nodding at Dan before leaving us alone. Dan poured some water from the jug and brought it over to me, helping me sit up to sip some. A slight groan of pain escaped my lips as I sat up and Dan tensed, his expression pained, "Did I hurt you? Are you okay?" he asked, his hand supporting my back. "It's fine" I mumbled and he looked relieved, bringing the cup to my lips. The cool water was amazing gliding down my parched throat and I instantly felt better. Just as I placed my hand over Dan's to take the cup from him, the man I assumed was Doctor Morton walked in. "It's good to see you're sitting up" he said with a smile and introduced himself, "you took quite a knock, I must admit it was touch and go for a while there." I looked at him, wide-eyed and asked, "What exactly happened, Doctor?" He walked over to examine me as he explained the details of the accident. "We put you under for a couple of days, just to give you some time to heal" he finished, as he gently pressed against my lower abdomen. I yelped in pain and Dan's face went pale. "The pain will subside shortly, you just need some time to recover. You'll be able to go home in a week or two" he said kindly and walked outside, Dan in tow. I strained my ears to hear what they were saying and I could just about make out a few snippets of conversation. "I didn't think it wise to upset her so soon. Also, I think it's best she hears it from someone she's close to, son" I heard Doctor Morton say. "I can't do that Doctor, I can't" Dan mumbled, clearly upset.

"What happened?" I asked as soon as Dan walked back into the room, angered that they saw fit not to inform me about something regarding ME. Dan sighed deeply and came to sit beside me on the bed, taking my surprisingly small hand in his. "In the accident, you uh, you lost the baby" he said, his voice shaky. "What baby? That's impossible, I wasn't pregnant!" I exclaimed. "You were. About five weeks" Dan said and I could tell he was fighting to keep his composure. "No!" I yelled, refusing to believe, my entire being numb with the thought of losing my child, a little piece of both Dan and I, gone. We hadn't even known it was there, we could've protected it, could've saved our baby! Anguish snuck up on me and wrapped its cold fingers around my heart as sobs began to uncontrollably flow out of me. "Oh baby, I'm so sorry" Dan said softly, shifting to lie next to me on the bed, his arms around me. I could feel the tears streaming down his own cheeks as he held me tightly to him.