Ghosts (A Christian Yelich Story)

Chapter Eighty-Six: Façade

My mom entered the hospital room shortly after Annie fell asleep. I sat up in bed and beckoned her to take a seat next to me. We hadn't really talked in a while and now seemed like as good of a time as any to do so.

"How are you two?" she asked me. "It looks like you're doing a bit better."

"Much better," I said with a small smile. "Much better than I really deserve."

"You got that right. What were you thinking?"

"I wasn't thinking," I muttered while looking over at my sleeping girlfriend. "That was the problem."

"You need to be here for her from this point forward. No more knee-jerk reactions when things don't go your way. You're never going to find a person more suited to you than her."

"Mom, I know. Seriously, I know."

"Better be careful or Collin might take a chance."

I laughed. "Good luck, little bro."

"I have a feeling she's going to get prescribed bed rest, so she might not be able to travel to Milwaukee to see you. How are you going to handle that?"

I hadn't considered bed rest, and the idea of Annie not being around me late in her pregnancy was crushing. "I won't take it out on her."

"You better not," my mom said sternly.

Our discussion was interrupted by Doctor Frey. "Mr. Yelich, I have your test results if you'd like to discuss them."

I wasn't expecting to get results so quickly, and I didn't know whether or not I should wake Annie up, so I asked my mom for advice.

"No, just let her sleep. I'll step out." She grabbed her purse and left the room.

"So, Mr. Yelich, you are definitely the father of Annie's baby."

"Oh, thank fucking God," I said without thinking. "I mean, I didn't really doubt it, but it's a relief to hear that."

"Usually when we run a paternity test the biological father has a very different reaction," Doctor Frey chuckled. "As for your STD panel, everything looks good. Clean bill of health."

"Thank you," I muttered. "Can Annie leave the hospital soon?" I figured I'd ask before he left.

"We'll have that conversation when she wakes up. Just let the nurse know when she's awake, okay? She'll come get me."

"Is she okay?" I asked, a little concerned by Doctor Frey's response.

"We'll all talk together when's she's awake."

"It's not cancer or anything, right?"

"No cancer, Mr. Yelich, but that's all I can say without her consent."

Well, I didn't necessarily like that response either.

***

Annie woke up a couple of hours later. "You hungry yet?" I asked her immediately. "You should eat."

Annie laughed. "Sheesh, let me wake up first. It always takes me about fifteen minutes to get hungry after waking up."

"Well, I'm going to place an order for you now."

"I'll eat, Christian. Calm down."

"The doctor told me to call him as soon as you woke up. Do you mind?"

"No, I don't mind. Is my mom here yet?"

"She is. She's napping. Long, bad flight. She was delayed in Denver for a while." I was nervous about talking to the doctor, but I hoped Annie couldn't hear the nerves in my voice. She didn't need anything extra to worry about.

"I'm actually really glad she's here. She'll help me not drown in tears when you leave."

"I'm sorry I have to leave so quickly, baby."

"Don't be. I'm glad you have baseball to make you happy."

"You make me just as happy," I whispered. This was a big thing for me to admit. Up to this point, baseball really was the love of my life. Now it was baseball, Annie, and Eloise.

Annie smiled. "I have a feeling that wasn't an easy thing for you to say."

"It wasn't," I laughed. "Oh, I almost forgot, but, believe it or not, I'm Eloise's actual father."

"I'm very shocked by this revelation. There were so many contenders – all with higher probabilities than you."

"Oh, yeah? Tell me all about these contenders."

She touched my nose with her fingertip. "No. Let me have my deep, dark secrets."

***

"Ms. Delaney, Mr. Yelich," Doctor Frey greeted us before plopping into the chair next to the hospital bed. "How are you both feeling?"

"Fine," I said.

"Ready to go home," Annie added.

"I bet. Unfortunately, I can't send you home yet. I did find some abnormalities in your labs. You have a rare blood disease called Thalassemia. It's perfectly treatable, but I think you have a fairly severe case of it. Essentially, your body carries less hemoglobin and fewer red blood cells than normal. I'm surprised it didn't show up during your childhood, or at least, it didn't show up more aggressively. Were you anemic and fatigued as a kid?"

Annie pondered his question for a moment. "Yeah, actually, but my mom just figured I didn't eat enough iron or protein."

Doctor Frey nodded. "That would be a logical explanation for it. It was actually probably your Thalassemia causing you issues, though."

"What can we do about this?" I asked. "How is it going to impact her pregnancy?"

"It's not curable, but, as I mentioned before, we can treat it with blood transfusions – just red blood cells – to keep your blood healthier. I'd like to do one before you check out tomorrow."

I was tightly squeezing Annie's hand now, but I felt more worried than she looked.

"As for the baby, I do advise you to see a genetic counselor. It's a genetic disease, and if the child carries enough mutations, it can result in a stillbirth. Please note the occurrence is very, very rare, but I still think it's worthwhile to take precautions. With that being said, I think you need to take it easy until the baby is born. You don't need to just lie in bed, but no intense physical activity – just light cardio to keep your heart in check, okay? We're also going to want to monitor your heart a little more closely now; the disorder can cause heart issues."

"This is a lot to process," Annie said softly.

"I know. You'll be able to manage all of this, though," Doctor Frey replied, his voice kind and sincere. "Life expectancy is normal. No worries there."

"Can she travel to Milwaukee?" I selfishly asked.

"Yes, but limit the amount of time you're on a plane, okay? If you're going to go to Milwaukee, stay there for a while. Don't take multiple short trips. Does that make sense?"

"Perfect sense," Annie confirmed.

"Do you have any additional questions for me? With your approval, I'd like to book you appointments with a specialist and a genetic counselor. I'd also like to check on your spleen to make sure it's not enlarged."

"Okay," Annie agreed. "As long as I can go home tomorrow."

"We will definitely get you out of here tomorrow," the doctor finished. "I'll check in on you one last time before my shift ends at 5:00 pm."

"Thank you," Annie and I said in unison.

When he left, I looked at Anna and tenderly moved a strand of her hair that was out of place. She sighed in frustration. "I'm fine," she said, before I could ask.

"You sure?"

"No," she whispered, her strong façade starting to crumble a bit. "I don't want to make her sick. I'm going to make her sick. She could die."

"She won't, Annie. He's just being careful." I ran my thumb across her lips before kissing her cheek.

"We've got this," I said with more confidence than I felt.