Affliction

“What the hell is going on?” Sy turns back to the nurse, demanding an answer.

“I've already asked you to calm down. I will escort you out of the room if need be,” she

scolds him and moves next to the bed.

“I'm not going anywhere.” Sy stands, looking down at the small nurse.

“Can you tell me what happened?” she asks, picking up my wrist and finding my pulse point.

“She fell. I already told you this,” Sy answers for me. I don't know what's happened, but things feel tense in here.

“I’m not asking you, Mr. Dean. I’m asking your wife.”

“Wife?” I ask, starting to freak out. How much has happened that I don’t remember?

“Do you know what day it is?” She places my arm back down and fills out something on her clipboard.

“Saturday,” I answer, knowing today is Jesse's party.

“Okay, dear. The doctor will be in shortly. Everything looks fine. Sit tight,” she states, smiling gently before turning a hard stare in Sy’s direction.

“Thank God, you’re okay, baby. I was so fucking worried.” He leans toward me and kisses my forehead.

“We’re married?” I ask, freaking out that I don’t remember.

“No, baby. I just said that to get back here.” He looks down at me sheepishly.

“I’m confused. So we’re not married?”

“No, but by the sound of your disappointment, it makes me question if I should just ask you now, and not later when I can have you under me,” he says, shocking me for a moment.

“Sy, don’t joke around like that.” I ignore my rapidly beating heart.

“No one’s joking right now.” He leans down in my face again. “When I saw you fall, fuck, baby, I swear to God, I felt my heart stop in my chest. You’re not allowed to do that again,” he says, kissing me softly.

“Oh, my gosh, I remember that guy,” I explain as the memories wash over me. My hand goes to my neck, and I feel the small bandage covering my injury.

“Just a small cut, no stiches,” Sy grumbles, watching me process it all.

“What happened to the guy?” My first question comes out, needing to know if everyone is safe.

“He's been taken in. The fucker screwed up big time, and after that stunt, Jackson has something to pin on him.

“Jesse?” I ask, hoping he is okay. I remember just before I fell he had stepped in on the side as the mayor’s son pushed me.

“He's in the room down the hall. Just some stitches, nothing serious, but he hurt his foot in the fall. I didn't see it, too busy trying to catch you, but I heard it. Fucker screamed so loud.”

“Oh, God.” My hands go to my mouth.

“It's an old injury so he’ll be fine. I think they're just waiting to get a scan of it to rule out any damage.” I knew Jesse had an old injury which stopped him from going back to work as a firefighter, but I don’t know exactly what happened.

“Am I interrupting?” a female voice asks.

“What’s the verdict, Doc?” Sy asks, getting straight to the point.

“Now first thing’s first; I need to ask you, Holly, are you okay if Mr. Dean stays in the room while we chat?” she inquires.

“Of course,” I answer, wondering what is going on.

“Good. Okay, the CT scan came back negative for any internal bleeding, which is good, but you do have a nasty concussion and we'd like to keep you in for the night,” she goes on, explaining the process of a concussion.

“Whatever you need,” Sy answers for me. I have to hold in a laugh at his good boy act.

“Now, I’m not sure if the next bit of news will come as a shock, but your blood work came back positive for pregnancy,” she enlightens us, watching carefully for a response.

“What?” Sy and I say at the same time.

“We’d like to do an ultrasound to determine how far along gestation is and check on the baby of course, considering your fall down the stairs,” she offers, but my mind still can’t get around what she’s saying.

“Are you sure?” I ask, shock ru

“We’d like to confirm with an ultrasound, but by the HCG levels, then yes, I’m sure.”

“Do you think the baby has been hurt from the fall?” Sy asks the question that I don’t want to think about.

“Oh, God.” I begin to freak out. What if something has happened? I can’t handle more loss. Not again.

“Let’s not get ahead of ourselves. We will get you in for a scan and then we can see what is going on in there,” she tries to reassure us, but my panic rises as I think back to the last hospital visit I had.

“Holly, it’s going to be fine.” Sy comes to me, taking my hand in his.

“I’m so sorry. I had no idea,” I rush out, hoping he doesn’t lose it. Not sure why he would, but my heart and my mind are somewhat unstable at this moment, making it hard to co

“Nothing to be sorry about, baby.” He kisses me again.

“Okay, let's get this gown up so we can see what’s happening,” she says as the nurse wheels in a machine, ready to start.

“Now? Here?” Sy asks, watching them get the ultrasound machine going.

“Yes, it's very easy and simple these days,” she smiles, coming to stand next to us. “Now, Holly, when was your last menstrual cycle?”

“Umm…” I try to count in my head when the last time I had a period was but can’t think of one. “I’m not sure. I’ve been all over the place the last few months.” The doctor nods, picking up the wand and smearing gel all over it.

“Okay, let’s see if we can pick anything up this way first, and if not, we’ll do an internal.” She moves to my belly. Lifting up my hospital gown, she squirts the cold gel onto my stomach. This all seems so surreal that we are here right now. I know we’ve been having unprotected sex, so it shouldn’t come as a shock. I just didn’t think we would find out like this. She moves the small rounded wand around on my belly and starts flicking buttons on the machine, letting it light up with a picture. I struggle to see the dark screen, but then she presses a button and the room fills with the soft sound of a beating heart.

“That’s the baby’s—”

“Heartbeat,” I finish for her. She smiles down at me. “Looks like you’re about nine weeks along and everything looks fine,” she confirms, chasing my fear away.

“Are you sure?”

“We will monitor you for the next twenty-four hours, but everything looks good.” She grabs a tissue to wipe away the sticky gel.

“I’m going to be a mom,” I whisper, watching the screen and seeing the small image of our child. A healthy child. I look up at Sy, afraid this is going to ruin whatever it is we have, but instead of fear or rejection, I’m met with a look of pure joy.

“You’re going to be a daddy,” I a

“Marry me?” he asks as a way of replying to the news.

“W-what?” I stammer, looking between Sy and the smiling doctor.

“You heard me. Marry me.” He looks down at me, his expression full of hope and excitement.

“Yes,” I rush out, not needing to give it a second thought. “Yes,” I cry as he kisses me.

“Yes?” he asks again, obviously unsure he heard me correctly.

“Yeah, Sunshine. I’ll marry you.” I kiss him fiercely this time, knowing I wouldn’t want it any other way.

“I love you, baby,” he whispers softly.

“I love you, too,” I reply, resting my hand over my belly.

“I promise you, Holly, I’m going to be the best dad there is,” he assures me, covering my hand with his.

“I know you will, Sy,” I agree, and he will. From just listening to the way he speaks about Keira, I know what sort of father he will be.

“I’m going to be a mom.” I smile again at the unexpected news.

“We’re going to be a family,” he states, filling me with hope. Our journey has come full circle. There have been moments filling me with despair and heartbreak. Some days, I thought I could never move past it, but then a small moment of hope appears. It’s so magical, so life-affirming that it makes it all worthwhile.