A Family At Last

Calm Down

It's about an hour and a half before she wakes up. I am in the bathroom washing my hands when I hear something. Crying. I dry my hands quick and jog out there. She is hunched over, her hands covering her face. "It's all my fault. It's my fault." She mumbled over and over. "Hey, hey it's not your fault, I should have called 9-1-1 earlier, if anything it's my fault." I take her hands off her face and bring her into a hug. "It's not your fault." I whisper.

"It's not your fault either..." She whispers while kissing my cheek. "I love you, thank you for always being there for me, and the baby. You'll be an amazing father." I smile, "And you'll be an amazing mother." I stand up, her in my arms, "Can you walk?" She nods and walks toward the door. "I'm going to use the bathroom and clean myself up... again. Go talk to Jerome, okay?" I nod and she walks out.

How am I going to tell Jerome that his girlfriend only has a 10-20% chance of living? I stop in front of his door and take a deep breath. I close my eyes and knock on the door. "Come in." I hear from the other side, but it's not Jerome's voice. I open the door and walk in.

Jerome is in tears; crying softly into his blanket. Dr. Koopman is trying to calm him down. "Do you mind if Jerome and I have some time alone?" I say while looking at the doctor. He sighs, "Sure, just try to calm him down please. If he keeps crying he could break his ribs." He gets up and leaves.

I sit down next to Jerome and I rub his back. "She's going to be okay. I promise. It would have been better if I told you, I'm sorry you had to hear it from your doctor." He brings me into a hug and I hug him back. "I... I know she'll be okay. She's strong." I smile, Jerome is that type of guy that cheers everyone up. "What's wrong then?" I mumble.

"I just want to see her again." He pulls back and I hand him a tissue. He smiles, "Thanks." I nod. He finally calmed down. "We want to see her too." I frown remembering something, "Hey... didn't your doctor say you could leave after one night?"

I look at the clock, it's 10:00 in the morning. He understands and looks at the clock. "Woah, how is it already 10 in the morning? Never mind, does that mean I can leave?" He smiles and looks at me, "I can go ask your doctor, I'll be right back." I smile and leave.