Fire And Ice

16

"Mama's gonna be so excited to see you, bud." Parker told Logan as they pulled into the driveway of the house. "Can't believe she was asleep last night when we called and wouldn't answer the phone."

Parker and Logan were both excited to be back home, and a day earlier than Parker had planned. He was happy that Layla would be surprised and happy. He carried Logan in tow to the door, knocking once he reached it. After about five minutes and she didn't come to the door, he pulled out his key and unlocked it himself. Yelling for Layla, he walked in carrying Logan. There was no answer.

"Sleeping like a log." Parker said to himself as he walked up the stairs.

But when he opened the bedroom door where he was sure Layla was, he saw what he definitely was not expecting. Layla was sitting on the floor with her head laying against the bed, and she didn't even raise her head when they came in. Parker rushed over to her, setting Logan on the bed before kneeling down and placing his hand on her back. He said her name worriedly over and over, almost shaking her with his hand.

After what seemed like forever to him but was only a few seconds, she slowly lifted her head up, her eyes straining to open.

"Parker..." she mumbled slowly and weakly. "I just feel so dizzy, I had just took a shower and..."

Layla's head went limp onto the bed again as she let her eyes close.

"Okay, we're going to the hospital." Parker said as he proceeded to pick up the small fragile woman.

"But Logan..." Layla mumbled sleepily as she laid her head on his shoulder.

"Shhh." Parker whispered. "Don't waste your strength, okay? I'm going to come back and get Logan once you're in the truck and we'll drop him off at mom and dads before we go to the hospital."

Parker hurried in the truck to drop Logan off with little to no explanation to his parents, and he sped to the hospital. It worried him to see Layla act like she was falling asleep, because she couldn't even keep her head up or move. She wouldn't talk other than a grunt here and there, but she had told him in mumbles that her stomach and head hurt. When they had gotten to the hospital, Parker carried her in the emergency room and demanded a room, and they rushed in a gurney and wheeled her back.

An hour later, Layla was dressed in a hospital gown laying in the hospital bed covered up, stable and alert with Parker sitting beside her, an arm over his laid back head feeling relieved that she was okay. She had scared him to death again. She seemed to be good at that.

The doctor walked in, looking at the clipboard before standing at the end of the bed and sighing.

"Well, Mrs. Schnabel, seems like you gave your husband quite a scare. I didn't know whether to check him in along with you, he was white as a ghost when he carried you in." The doctor began.

Layla glanced over at Parker; she felt bad for scaring him like that. She didn't mean to. Parker saw her looking at him and moved his hand over to hers, squeezing it to let her know that it was alright.

"Seems to me like you were malnourished, your blood pressure was through the roof, and you were obviously out of it and dizzy. It's a wonder that you hadn't passed out." The doctor went on.

"I—I might have." Layla said quietly. "I don't really remember."

"You need to eat more, Mrs. Schnabel. And be sure to take your prenatal vitamins." The doctor continued. "Not eating while pregnant will only—"

"But wait." Layla chuckled slightly. "I'm not pregnant."

The doctor looked up from his clipboard at her and said simply, "Yes you are. We saw the baby while we were doing an ultrasound of your stomach to make sure nothing was wrong in there. Did you not know you were pregnant, Mrs. Schnabel?"

"No, I—I didn't." Layla said haltingly as she lowered her head. "If I did I never would have—"

"Hey." Parker said as he looked over at her. "It's okay. You and the baby are fine. Right, doc?"

"Yes, right now they are fine. But you need to make sure that she eats and takes care of herself and the baby." The doctor said. "It could have been a lot worse. When you don't eat, the baby still needs nourishment, so it gets it from its mother, which makes you feel so weak. It could have been fatal for either one of you if it had progressed further."

"I'll make sure that I stay with her and she takes care of herself." Parker said. "Obviously she can't be left alone, I've known that since the beginning, I should've known better."

Layla looked over at him meekly.

"She's going to have to stay with us for a few days while we monitor her and she gains some of the weight she should have. She's about six weeks along." The doctor said.

Parker and the doctor exchanged a few more words before the doctor walked out of the room. Parker then sighed as he kept hold of Layla's hand as he leaned back in the chair he was in.

"Why are you not as surprised as I am that I'm pregnant?" Layla asked.

Parker shrugged. "Before I left with Logan I noticed you were gaining weight. I mean, I didn't know, but I hoped."

"So you wanted to have knocked me up before everything happened?" Layla said.

"You were the one wanting another kid, Layla. You know we were starting to try. It's not my fault that my stuff works." Parker said.

Layla sighed as she looked towards the television in the room.

"You should know now that I'm going to be staying in the house with you again." Parker stated. "You obviously can't be by yourself."

"I won't be alone, I'll have Logan. And now I have another baby. I have reason to take care of myself now." Layla stated.

"I'm still not leaving you again. I don't care what you say, I'm staying with you and Logan and that's that. You're not going to scare me like that anymore, everything bad happens when we're not together."

"Like what?" Layla crossed her arms and glared at him.

"You left the house, Paul tried to rape you and would've probably killed you. You went back to California, you got with some dick that would hurt you. You went to the store without me and got in a wreck and almost died. I leave you alone for three weeks and you about kill yourself from not eating. Hell, Lays, you can't even go to the damn store and be left at home by yourself!"

Layla realized he was right and sunk down in the bed, feeling ashamed of herself.

"It's okay though, baby." Parker said comfortingly as he sat up before moving to wrap his arms around her. "It's just that you and I both know that we're no good without each other."

Layla sighed as she wrapped her arms around her husband for the first time in over a month. "You know you've always been my hero." She whispered quietly.

"Please be mine again, Lays." Parker said. "I can't do life without you."

Layla sighed again as she ran her hand over his back. "It's not just gonna go back to how it was before. I'm still hurt."

"Just give me a chance. That's all I'm asking is a chance to show you that we still belong together."

"Oh I have no doubt that we were meant to be together but you went off and—"

Parker shushed her by covering her mouth with his hand before she could finish the sentence. "How bout we don't talk about the past anymore?"

Layla rolled her eyes before pulling him closer to her again, and he wrapped her in a hug once more. She did want her husband back, and she loved him despite everything, but she didn't know if she could get past it enough to be able to love and trust him completely like she had before. She didn't worry about that at the moment however; she was just glad to be alive and in his arms.

She smiled as she said, "We're having another baby."