Page 56 of Not Your Romeo
“Congratulations are in order.”
“Yeah. She woke up. That’s good news, right?” I nodded.
“That, Mr. Nash, is excellent news. You’re also pregnant, Mrs. Nash.” He glanced from me to her, and Ro’s grip on my hand turned vise-like.
“What?” She leaned toward him.
My brain hiccupped, too, but my question came out with a little more bass behind it, “What the fuck do you mean she’s pregnant? You’ve been dragging her ass down for x-rays and surgery while she’s pregnant?”
Her free hand shot to blanket mine.
“Wha– what do you mean I woke up? Everyone wakes up. What happened to me earlier?”
The doctor calmly raised his hands, a soft smile lingering on his face.
“Apologies, Mrs. Nash. You were admitted from the Emergency Room the night before last with a diagnosis of a small brain bleed, or what we would call a subdural hematoma. Your condition is being very closely monitored. It is not uncommon for people with brain bleeds to initially be unconscious for a day or two. Also, there may be seizure activity, which is what I suspect has happened this morning. The scan we just did shortly after the seizure ended shows no increase in the bleeding. It is stable by all appearances. The neurologist concurred. There was a small increase in blood pressure which we would like to monitor further. As to the pregnancy, it was detected by the presence of HCG, a hormone that essentially doubles every day in the initial stages of pregnancy. Upon admission, your levels were normal in blood and urine. Yesterday they were questionable, which is why they drew twice. The results were similar. The obstetrician on duty suggested waiting until morning and repeating. Each time the results were higher than the last as one would anticipate in a confirmed pregnancy. Now, as to the question of x-rays and surgery; we did a CT when she was first brought in which confirmed the bleed. The obstetrician agrees that a CT of the brain is generally believed to be relatively safe in the first few weeks of pregnancy. As the field of imaging is the head, and not the lower abdomen. However, it is not the first option when an MRI is available, and it is safe to await the results. For this reason, if there is no acute change we would prefer the MRI, if there were signs or any question toward active bleeding, increasing pressure or a need for surgery, the CT can provide results faster.”
He paused and seemed to be waiting for some sign that we were all on the same page.
Ro laughed, and my attention whipped toward her.
“I’m not pregnant. Your tests are bullshit.”
“We’ve compared blood and urine for–”
“I don’t care what you’ve compared. My period isn’t even late, and I’m not weeks pregnant. I married him not even two weeks ago, and I don’t care how messed up you say my head is, I’d know if I was sleeping with anyone before that, and I wasn’t.”
The doctor exhaled a nervous laugh, “Well, that– was a conversation—”
“My past sexual history was your conversation with who?” Ro snapped, drawing a snort from me.
“I’m sorry,” I quietly offered, trying to fix my gaze on the clock while she ball-busted. It really wasn’t funny, but she wasn’t this confrontational usually.
“Wha– No! No, ma’am. That was not the conversation. My apologies, let me reword myself. The figures– T-the results on the HCG test, you’ll recall I said it doubles. Yours were unremarkable two days ago, and now– They’re pretty high. The lab and obstetrician say this happens sometimes with multiples. Do either of you have a history of twins in the family?”
I rubbed my face and groaned, causing them both to look at me. I flipped my fingers guiltily in the air and decided to be a little more careful of what I asked for when speaking to my maker.
Fucking Greyhound, indeed.
“I have twin sons,” I volunteered.
“Interesting.” The doctor nodded, “Should I schedule a follow up with the obstetrician or will you be finding your own upon discharge, Mrs. Nash?”
“A follow up would be great,” Ro conceded.
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Do It Right
Ziggy
They came just before the night shift left and drew her blood again. When Dr. Franklin made his morning rounds, he confirmed another jump in her levels.
“Twins then?” I pressed him.
“It’s too early to say. The levels are highly suspicious, but it is generally confirmed with ultrasound, and such things aren’t usually visualized all that well until around seven or so weeks, I think the obstetrician explained.”
My phone vibrated against my chest. I slid it from my pocket and glanced at the screen.
