Blainsville

11) Blood on the Tile

John

"I have to go to James place, Diana sounded scared shit less something about Jimmy puking up blood. That'd be a first in a pregnancy considering its first pregnant man." I add getting dressed after our bath. I had to be quick didn't even get a chance to dry off. I grabbed the keys off the table and bolted out the back door not explaining much to Jess. I drove as fast as I could to the other side of town hopefully he wasn't near death due to my fucking commute. I park on the lawn totally ignoring the fact I ran over Diana's violets. I banged on the front door, "Hurry up! Get in here!" Diana yells. I throw open the door where I'm met with a frightened woman she drags me by my arm, "Help him, Johnny! Please!" She begs. The man I see before me is more than just basic sick; he's pale almost see thru, his lips have blood painted on them and his usually vibrant blue eyes are bloodshot and gray. "Ok how long ago did this start?" I ask taking Jimmy's pulse it feels weak. "About twenty minutes now I don't know why its happening! Is he going to be ok?!" I couldn't think straight with Diana freaking out beside me. I have her help me move Jimmy to the bed, "I'm going to need a trash can for him to throw up in. Jimmy are you in any kind of pain?" He motions toward his middle, "Cramps, stomach hurts... Feels like someone is squeezing my guts." Jimmy leans over to puke again. I have him lay back on the bed and raise his shirt. I feel around the area he's pointing at and I realize its not necessarily bad but pretty common for his condition, "The cramps you're having are actually round ligament pain. Its usually common in the second trimester." Diana is sitting beside him on the bed as he dry heaves, "Looks like the nausea is coming to an end. I'm still going to give you some medication for it. Since you're carrying twins its somewhat normal to have cramps. Its just the muscles around your hips and pelvis expanding to make room for the fetuses. Now the vomiting will probably end around 16 weeks, if you're lucky. Sometimes it will continue the entire pregnancy." Jimmy's eyes grow wide, "You're telling me that I might be doing this 24/7?! Are you fucking kidding me?!" I try to hold back a chuckle. It takes me back to when Jessica was pregnant with Lindsey. All she could manage to eat were cheeseburgers and milk the remainder of the time was bitch fits and vomiting. "Unfortunately no... If its HG this could happen every time you get sick I'm thinking that the blood is coming from the twins interfering with your stomach. I'm not certain cause this is the first time I've come across this. I'm going to give you something to settle your stomach; try eating crackers or something light with it helps with the sickness. I'm also going to give you a sedative so you'll relax and get some much needed sleep." I open up my back up medic bag and pull out a needle with the small bottle of Demerol. "This should put you right to sleep. You're going to need a lot of rest carrying twins which means bad news..." Jimmy's eyes begin to get heavy and finally settles down, "... I want you on bed rest for a month. At least till you're 16 weeks just to monitor the babies and it will help lower stress which will stop the morning sickness." He barely makes a thumbs up motion, "I don't know what you gave me but I feel freaking outstanding... I can feel my fingertips." He laughs. That is why sedatives are a pregnant woman's best friend, "Alright. Get some sleep, buddy. I'll check on you in the morning." I chuckle back patting his arm. As I head out toward the door Diana pulls me aside, "Did you mean what you said about bed rest?"
"Well Diana this already is dangerous for him and the twins. If he has intense vomiting and that much pain he's going to end up spending most of the time in the ER. He needs to stay off his feet for a period of time because by now he may have swollen ankles even calves. Its only going to get worse as the pregnancy progresses so I'll need him to be in my office once a week not for just the ultrasound but to monitor his symptoms." I can tell she seems worried she has a right to be. I've never dealt with a pregnant man before but Jimmy's severity in symptoms gives me an excuse to track of them so I know what I'm up against. "I ask because it's been so long since I've went back to work... I don't even know where to begin." That notion gives me a great idea, "Can you type? Like bookkeeping, records that stuff?" Diana's face lights up, "I'm pretty sure I can. I went to college for engineering I think I can do that. Why?" She's pressing, "It's not much but how about we help each other? You can be my temporary assistant. I need someone who's organized, efficient and good with numbers. I mean it's only a few months we'll see." I'm instantly hugged not your ordinary hug either; one of those bone crushing hugs, "Thank You, thank you, thank you! Oh I love you so much! Thank you! When do I start?!" Shes so excited its similar to a child who just got what they wanted for Christmas, "Come in tomorrow morning nine sharp. Don't worry, Diana its gonna be ok." She smiles at me, "Thank You." She whispers. I head out the door I place my bag in first on the passenger seat I take a moment and sit there. I know I'm lying to myself the whole Jimmy being ok thing. There's a part of me that believes he's going to overcome this and they're going to love those babies more than anything. Another part of me believes its all going to backfire in the end. None of them are going to make it out alive I could sense it. But I had to say something reassuring to Diana the hardest thing about being in any medical profession is lying.