All the Money in the World

Chapter 35

A little less than two hours later one of the nurses on duty quietly interrupted Happy in his little corner. He was growing sleepy and, honestly, slightly bored. He'd been hoping his son would open his eyes or make some kind of movement or sound other than the tiniest snores ever but he was peaceful.

"The doctor would like to speak with you," she said with a sweet smile. "I can take the baby, he needs his hearing test anyway."

"Uh okay," Happy grumbled.

The nurse pointed to the hall where a doctor he didn't recognize stood waiting for him. Happy expected to see Tara, he had hoped to, but she'd been gone since he got to the nursery.

"Mr. Lowman," the doctor greeted Happy with a firm handshake. "I wanted to let you know Ms. Feldstein is stable now, we've set her up in the ICU, probably for the next day or so."

"ICU?" He scoffed. "Why?"

"Dr. Knowles said she spoke with you," he said with a puzzled expression.

Happy's jaw dropped a few centimeters when the realization that she lied to him landed in his brain. "Uhh she did."

"Your girlfr," he hesitated, unsure of their exact status.

"My wife," he said angrily.

"Your wife is lucky to be alive," he said in a somber tone. "Incredibly lucky."

"What happened? Tara she was bleeding but she-"

"More than bleeding, she suffered a massive hemorrhage."

Happy's hand brushed across his mouth roughly and came to rest on his chin. "I didn't know," he said, his voice cracking.

"I'm sorry, I thought you knew the severity of her condition."

Happy just nodded, his brain running miles ahead of him. "Can I talk to her?"

"She's not awake yet," he said apologetically. "But you're more than welcome to sit with her, if you like. Your son can't though, ICU has some pretty nasty cases sometimes and it's too dangerous for him."

"Oh," Happy glanced back at the nursery. "I dunno, I guess I'll stay with him, she'll he mad when she wakes up if she knew I left him alone."

The doctor chuckled and nodded. "I'll let the nurses know to come get you as soon as she's awake."

"Thanks," Happy shook his hand again. "Uh, where is Dr. Knowles?"

"She was sent home," he said with a grimace. "She was very upset, kept trying to intervene. We thought it was better for everyone if she took a step back, Dr Knowles herself agreed."

"Okay," he sighed before heading back into the nursery with tears in his eyes.

--

"Jesus Christ," Jax hissed as Tara recounted the evening to him and Gemma. "She's gonna be okay, right?"

"Yeah," Tara nodded. "Extra time in the hospital, just a few days, but other than that everything should be pretty routine."

"Now I feel even worse," Gemma sighed heavily. "I'm going to check on the sheets," she said, clearly upset as she left the kitchen table.

Tara smiled a bit as Gemma disappeared. "I think Katie's grown on Gem."

"Ya think?" Jax chuckled. "She's washing their bloody sheets, I'd say that's a good thing."

"If anyone can get those stains out, it's Gem," Tara said confidently.

"She's got the practice," Jax wanted to keep their conversation light. "We gotta uhh help them out."