Loved By You

Eighty-three

Angelo

I sat in the waiting room with Sami and Dem hugged up against me. I sighed having a flashback to the night I lost Eva. I closed my eyes when I heard a commotion. My eyes snapped open and I saw my family and friends rushing in. Dimitri saw first letting them know I was here. They all rushed over to me crowding me. Dimitri held his arms open and Sami climbed into his arms as Dem clung to me. "What happened?" MJ's mom asked. "I don't know she was in a lot of pain, so I just brought her here. They took her back 15 minutes ago, so I'm just waiting." I said looking at the large group in front of me. They all took their seats and waited with me. "Is mama going to be okay?" Dem whispered. "Of course, she is. You know how strong your mama is." I said.

We waited for what felt like hours when a Latino woman came out. "Family of Maja Rossi?" She called. I scooped Dem up and shot up. "That's us," I said as my huge group surrounded me. The doctor looked at us wide-eyed. "Alright, so Mrs. Rossi is anemic which is common in women and very common in pregnant women." She said. "Her iron got low and her muscles strained and began to cramp which caused the severe pain she felt." The doctor continued.

"We've given her some iron supplement to gradually raise it and I'm going to prescribe her some to take, so this doesn't happen again." The doctor explained. "I'm surprised that she didn't mention it to her OB." The doctor said. "What do you mean?" Dimitri asked. "Low iron happens gradually and there are warning signs. Cold hands. Lightheadedness. Chest pain. For her symptoms to be this bad her iron had to be pretty low." I stared at her unable to speak for a moment. "How are the babies?" I asked. "Are they okay?" Jackie added. "They're perfect. I'll send the OB in to check on her again before I decided if I want to keep her overnight." She said.

I felt the tension leave my body only for anger to replace it. "Can we see her?" I asked. "I'll show you all to the waiting area on her floor only two of you at a time." She said. "Can we take the kids first?" Dimitri asked. "That's fine." She said.

--

I held the door open letting Sami in first. "Hey mamas," Mj said holding her arms out. "Hi, bubba." She said as Dem followed his sister. "Mommy, are you okay?" Sami asked crawling on the bed laying with Mj. "You know how I tell you to eat your veggies?" Mj asked as Dimitri and I leaned on the wall near the door watching silently. "Uh-huh," Sami said. "Well, I wasn't eating enough. Your brothers take a lot of energy, so I need to eat more, and I wasn't getting enough." Mj explained. "I'll tell nana to get you some vegetables," Sami said shimmying out of the hospital bed. "Come on Dem!" She yelled. Dem climbed down before running after his sister. I poked my head out watching as they ran to the waiting area. I watched as they met up with Tae before I closed the door turning to look at Mj. She looked from me to Dimitri.

"I'm sorry for the—" "How long did you know something was wrong?" I asked. She said up looking at me. "What?" she asked. "You heard him." Dimitri chimed in. "How long?" We said in unison. "A couple of weeks." She whispered looking at her hands. I gave her a dry chuckle. "How could you be so irresponsible?" Dimitri asked. "I had all the same symptoms with Sami and that turned out fine." She tried to justify. "That was eight years ago. Things are different now. Your body is different now," I snapped. "Don't yell at me." Mj countered. "How can you expect me not to yell at you when you're being reckless with not only your life but our sons," I said. "I'm sorry, okay?" She snapped at me. "You're sorry, that's it?" I questioned. "What if it had been something more serious, hmm? And you waited. If I would have lost, you or the twins after everything—" I paused taking a seat in one of the chairs. "Angelo, I said I was sorry," I repeated.

"Maj, what were you thinking?" Dimitri asked. "I wasn't okay." She said. I huffed shaking my head standing from my seat. "I need some air." I said walking out the room. I headed out of the room and down the hall to the elevator. I got downstairs and walked outside taking a deep breath. I walked over to my car taking a seat and just thinking. I don't know how long I was sitting in my car before there was a knock on my window. I looked to see Arnell and Tae. I motioned them in and Tae got in the back and Arnell in the front. "So—" Arnell trailed. I sat quiet. "We can sit here all night." Tae said. I sighed. "She had been feeling sick for weeks and didn't say anything." I said.