Here Comes The Bride

by Sadie Grubor

  ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

  Aidan

  As soon as I touched down, I went straight to the hospital. On the way my phone cell phone rang. I grabbed it from the seat next to me, Dixon.

  "I should be there in—."

  "Aidan, there's been an accident." He sounded like he was going to break down at any minute.

  "What happened, Dixon? Is Don—?"

  "It's Lilli." Dixon choked.

  "What happened, Dixon?" I shouted into the phone and accelerated the car dramatically.

  "She was in a car accident on the way to the hospital," that was it, Dixon couldn't take anymore, he broke down. I heard shuffling on the other end of his phone.

  "Dixon! Dixon?"

  "Aidan, she's alive...but just hurry here, okay?" Phoebe had taken over the phone.

  "I'll be there in less than twenty minutes." Hanging up, I sped to the hospital.

  I had Phoebe back on the phone before I arrived. She was waiting for me at the entrance.

  "Oh, Aidan," Phoebe threw her arms around me. I could feel the sobs ripping through her.

  "Where is she, Phoebe?" I pulled back, holding Phoebe by her shoulders so I could see her face.

  She sniffed.

  "Come on," she grabbed my hand and pulled me through the hospital and to the elevator. When we stepped off, I realized that it was the intensive care floor. My heart dropped.

  "Phoebe—"

  "She's okay," before I knew it, Phoebe was in front of me holding me by my face. I looked down at her grief stricken face. "She’s alive. They are watching her closely due to the head injury. Come on."

  "Head injury?" She didn't respond. Phoebe pulled me through some double doors and past the nurses' station.

  "Excuse me?" the nurse stood, but Phoebe kept moving with me.

  "She is in there, room 425." Phoebe motioned.

  "Excuse me!" The nurse was now at my side and grabbing my arm.

  "He's her husband," Phoebe pulled the nurses hand from my arm.

  I moved quickly into the glass room and saw a much paler Lilli, lying lifeless on the hospital bed. Machines beeped and blipped around me as I moved closer to her. If it weren't for the rise and fall of her chest, I would’ve never believed that she were alive.

  As I got closer the scratch on her cheek became more evident and I could see the hint of brownish red seeping through the white gauze wrapped around her head. I took in a sharp breath and swallowed the large lump in my throat.

  Placing my hand on her arm, she felt cool, not like her normal warm self. Without thinking twice, I slid into the bed next to her and laid my head on her chest. As her heart beat filled my ears I finally broke down. Sobs ripped through my chest as I wrapped my arm around her waist and held her tightly.

  "Sir?" "Mr. Iverson?" I woke up with blurry vision from having cried myself to sleep next to Lilli.

  "Yes?" I croaked out.

  "Visiting hours are over and—"

  "I’m not leaving." I said sternly.

  "I'm sorry, sir, but the rules for the intensive care..."

  "I don't give a shit about your rules." I snapped at her and stood from the bed. "If need be, I will have my wife moved to a private care center where I can be with her. But I will not leave her until she wakes up." I glared at the nurse, daring her to attempt to send me away again.

  "I understand your circumstances, but we have other patients as well to consider—"

  "I have made myself clear. Call security, if necessary, and I will call the board for the hospital!"

  "Whoa, what is going on here?" A large man in a white coat entered the room with a heavy set nurse on one side and Dixon on the other.

  "Doctor Sherman," the nurse sighed in relief, "I was simply explaining to Mr. Iverson our policy of visiting hours for intensive care." She turned to eye me smugly.

  "And I, was simply stating, that I could buy the hospital by tomorrow morning if need be, which would make it no longer her concern that I was here with my wife." I spat back in her direction.

  "Okay..." Dixon pushed into the room, "Aidan, calm down." Dixon put an arm on my shoulder in attempt to relax me, but I shrugged him off.

  "Nancy, I think we can make a small exception for tonight. Mr. Iverson only got here a few moments ago and has two family members on this floor." The nurse, who was clearly Nancy, looked from him to me and then left the room.

  "Thank you," I sighed out and sat in a chair closest to Lilli.

  The doctor went about his routine of checking her over.

  "Doctor..."

  "Sherman," he smiled.

  "Doctor Sherman, is she going to be okay? What happened? What's wrong with—?"

  "Dixon, could you please give us a moment to talk privately?" He looked at Dixon. Dixon seemed to hesitate. "I know you are like family; however, I do need to follow some rules tonight." He smiled and Dixon nodded in understanding as he left the room.

  He took a large breath and I stood to look straight at him over Lilli's still body.

  "Mr. Iverson, your wife was side swiped by a large road construction vehicle. He did not see her in the lane as he attempted to move over too quickly, which resulted in the left front end of the vehicle being crushed into itself." He paused. "Now, her ankle is bruised with a slight fracture, but should be fine in a couple of weeks. The major injury is her head which hit the driver's side window and lashed back against the headrest. Thankfully, the airbag prevented her from the front windshield or the steering wheel. Though, the jolt to her head has caused some swelling around her brain." He saw my face tense up. "It isn't anything to be too concerned about." He reassured.

  "Is she in a coma?"

  "Medically induced. This is to allow her brain to heal. Tomorrow I will run her through another scan to see if the swelling is improving on its own." He smiled and then joined me on the side of the bed I was standing on. "Rest assured that we are doing everything we can and being very mindful of the baby."

  "Thank you, doctor. I.....wait...what?" I turned. I had to have heard him wrong.

  "What?" He seemed as confused as I felt.

  "Did you say the baby?"

  He nodded slowly.

  "You were unaware." It wasn't a question. He could clearly tell I'd had no idea.

  "She's pregnant?" I swallowed hard.

  "Yes...uh...her blood work came back positive. Her uterus is measuring far enough along I would have thought for sure that you knew."

  "Far enough along?" I looked at Lilli. "She doesn't look far along." I motioned to her stomach. "Are you sure the test is accurate? She is on birth control pills."

  He looked at me confused.

  "Mr. Iverson, I assure you that it's accurate. The emergency room did a scan and found the fetus and the heartbeat. Your wife is pregnant." Then he looked over her chart and seemed perplexed. "I also don’t see any signs of birth control medication in her system." He looked up at me. "Are you sure she's taking something?"

  Had she stopped? No, Lilli was so unsure about having a baby there was no way she would just stop taking them. Wasn't there? I mean, she would have no reason to hide that she stopped. She knew that I would be more than happy that she was going to provide the last condition of my inheritance. Hell, I would hope she realized that her agreeing to have my child, children, would make me the happiest man alive.

  "Mr. Iverson?"

  I'd taken way too long to respond.

  "I'm sure doctor. She was adamant about taking the pill."

  "Hmm...well, the OB/GYN will be coming to visit her after the last of her blood work is complete, as well as her scan." He smiled halfheartedly. "Do you have any questions?"

  "When will you take her out of the coma?"

  "Hopefully we can let her regain consciousness tomorrow after her scan in the morning."

  "And you are sure that the drugs aren’t hurting the baby?"

  "I assure you that we are taking all the precautionary measures." He patted my back and then cleared his throat. "Um...congratulations."
He left the room quickly.

  I climbed back into bed with Lilli and placed my hand over her stomach.

  Lilli was having my baby. We are having a baby. I am going to be a father. The woman I love is going to give birth to a child that we created together.

  I stayed lost in my thoughts until I finally reconciled that Lilli would know that I was in love with her before we left. I drifted off to dreams filled with a small girl that looked exactly like Lilli, but with my hair color.

  ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

  Lilli

  Beeping. More Beeping. Muffled voices. What the hell was going...ow, my head. I groaned.

  "Lilli? Lilli, love?" Was that Aidan?

  "Lil?" Dixon?

  "Oh, Lilli, please be awake." That was definitely Phoebe.

  I groaned again, though I had meant to speak.

  Damp warmth spread on my forehead and I pried my eyes apart to blaring white light. I squinted and cringed back from the brightness.

  "W-where..?"

  "The hospital. Shh...take your time, love." I smiled slightly at the new little name Aidan seemed to have developed for me.

  "W-what..?"

  "You were in a car accident, everything is fine," Phoebe spoke and I could tell that it was her squeezing my hand.

  My mind was spinning, finally catching up with everything.

  "Donald!" I shouted and tried to sit up.

  Aidan held me down.

  "He's fine, Lilli, he is in recovery. Everything went perfectly."

  I sighed in relief.

  "My head," I groaned out.

  "You hit your head hard, but you will be fine." Dixon was patting my leg as he spoke.

  "I want to sit up."

  I felt movement around me and then my bed was slowly moving up.

  I rubbed my eyes and looked around the room. Celia, Phoebe, Aidan, Dixon, Viola, Liam, Maggie, and my mother were all standing around me with smiles on their faces.

  "Oh, baby," Sarah moved quickly to me and leaned over, kissing my cheek.

  "Mom?" I questioned.

  "Yes, baby."

  "You're here?"

  "Of course I am. Did you really think I wouldn't be?" She sounded shocked.

  "Thank you." I said.

  "Oh, baby, don't thank me. I am so happy that you’re okay." I could see the tears slipping down her cheeks.

  "Don't cry, I'm fine."

  "She is beyond fine. She is doing extremely well!" I saw a large dark haired man enter the room, the white coat and scrubs declaring him a doctor. "I hate to break up the reunion. However, I do need to check over our patient now that she is awake and speaking." Everyone groaned. "I promise that you can all return once we finish up in here."

  Everyone patted me on some part of my body and told me that they would be back, only Aidan stayed.

  "So, how are you feeling?"

  "Groggy and my head hurts," I answered.

  "The grogginess is the medicine still working its way out of your system, now the head pain, scale of one to ten?"

  "Five," I answered.

  "I'll get some Ibuprofen brought in soon." He looked down to his clipboard. "Well, you have my clearance, though you will have to keep your ankle wrapped and stay off of it as much as possible." When he saw my confusion he explained. "You suffered bruising and a fracture to your ankle during the car accident."

  Then I remembered.

  "The construction truck," I whispered. The doctor nodded.

  "We also need to discuss another matter; however, I would like to wait for Doctor Munthers to join us before we go any further. She should be along shortly. I will go get the ibuprofen while we wait." He smiled and quickly left the room.

  I turned to Aidan.

  "Other matter? What's wrong with me?"

  Aidan stiffened. That made me more nervous.

  "It's nothing...wrong."

  "Aidan?" I knew I was starting to panic.

  "Lilli, do you still take—?"

  "Here we go." The familiar doctor walked in with a small white cup and a tall woman with auburn hair and a white coat. He handed me the pills and poured me some water. "Take these for the headache." He then turned to the other doctor. "This is Doctor Munthers. She is our head OB/GYN at the hospital."

  I furrowed my brow.

  "OB/GYN? Why do I need..?"

  "Mrs. Iverson, we were made aware by your husband that you did not know at the time of the accident; however, you are pregnant." My mouth fell open as the shock set in. "Dr. Munthers is here to perform a few tests before we officially discharge you from the hospital."

  "Wait, wait, wait! I am on birth control" I argued.

  "Birth control is only 99% effective." The auburn haired doctor stated. "However, we found no traces of birth control in your system." She eyed me curiously, almost as if I were lying.

  "Where's my purse? I am not lying. I carry it with me." I slammed my hands to my sides. I glared at Aidan, but he simply looked down at the bed, not speaking. "Did you know about this?" I hissed.

  Aidan looked at me guiltily.

  "Not until I arrived here and Dr. Sherman mentioned a baby. I told him about you being on the pill and they started to explain the same..."

  "Where is my purse?" Aidan moved to a closet and pulled it out, handing it to me.

  I pulled out the small purple pouch and tossed it on the bed in their direction. The doctor's looked at each other and then Dr. Munthers picked the pack up.

  "Do you mind if I test these?" She turned the pack over in her hands.

  "Of course not." She walked out of the room and then returned a few moments later.

  "I am having the lab look at those immediately." She half smiled and then moved to my side. "I want to do a couple of tests while we wait." I nodded that she could continue.

  "Lilli, love, we will figure this out, okay?" I looked at Aidan, the look on his face was making warnings go off in my mind.

  "Okay, first, I want to tell you that your HcG levels are very high and we want to get a better ultrasound than the ER can offer to find out why. Plus it will let us know about how far along you are."

  "My what levels?" I furrowed my brow.

  "HcG. It's a hormone produced during pregnancy. The higher the level, the further along you are, typically." She turned to a machine that had been pushed in by a nurse, raised my gown to reveal my bare abdomen, and squeezed a clear-blue gel on me. "This is warmed up so it will be comfortable." Then she took a small hand piece and pressed it to my stomach. "Okay, let's have a look."

  Slowly she moved around my abdomen, her fingers clicking buttons, and rolled around a large ball, sort of like those golf arcade machines. I swallowed hard when I saw the wide grin spread on her face.

  "Well, well..."

  "What?" Aidan and I asked in unison.

  She pointed to a black area with a white bundle.

  "Here is your baby." I squinted to get a better look. "And this little flutter is the heartbeat." Then my eyes went wide. I was pregnant. How the hell? "And you see right here?"

  "Yes." Aidan answered.

  "This is your other baby and there is the heartbeat." She turned to look at us both. I was pregnant with twins. Holy...

  "I don't understand." I shook my head, my chest tightening, breath evading me.

  "Take a deep breath, Lilli." Dr. Munthers removed the hand piece and looked into my face with her hand on my shoulder. "I know it's a lot to take in, but calm down."

  I took deep breaths and slowly calmed myself.

  "Dr. Munthers?" A small nurse appeared with a large white folder. "The test results that you asked for." She handed her the folder.

  "Thanks, Abby." Dr. Munthers said as Abby left the room.

  She looked over the folder and flipped some papers, repeating the same action three times.

  "What is it?" I asked nervously.

  "Lilli, you weren't taking birth control pills." She looked up to me with a shocked expression. "Those were Clomid pills." She looked confused.

&n
bsp; "What the hell is Clomid?" I exclaimed. "And how the hell did that get replaced with my pills?"

  "I-I don't know how, but Clomid is given to women with fertility issues who are trying to have a baby." She shook her head. "It’s impossible to mix them up like this. Clomid doesn't come in a pack like birth control does."

  "What? Why? Who—?" It was as if pieces were starting to fall into place.

  I was remembering different things all at once, but they all seemed to relate to each other. 'It's been taken care of', 'Dr. Johnson, the family doctor', 'Hell, Aidan Sr. put the doctor through college practically as well as his daughter, Becca', 'Oh, she is a pharmacist'. Aidan needed an heir, he was close family friends to the doctor that he asked me to go to and then his daughter was a pharmacist! Could that be how I knew her? The pharmacy?

  Aidan seemed to see the expression on my face because he looked terrified.

  "What did you do to me?" I shouted so loud that even Dr. Munthers jumped back from my bed.

  "Lilli, I didn't do—"

  "Don't lie to me!" I exclaimed. "You're the one who wanted me to go to your family doctor and you are the only one who would have access to my birth control pills!" He tried to speak again, but I cut him off. "And, if you think for one minute that I didn't feel your tense reaction to Becca at the ball, you are sadly mistaken!" I knew hurtful words were spewing from my mouth and daggers were shooting from my eyes. "You drugged me? Are you insane?"

  "I didn't do any such thing," Aidan hissed and stood quickly beside me. "I would never do that to you!"

  "That's a bit hard to believe right now! Here I am, after having been drugged for however long, pregnant with your children! How convenient for you." I crossed my arms over my chest.

  "I swear to you that I didn't have anything to do with this, Lilli. I promise you that I will find out who did, but I don't know anything about this," He was pleading, but I just couldn't ignore everything that I had pieced together.

  "What about your call a week ago, Aidan? Was this…" I motioned to my stomach "what you have taken care of'? Huh?

  He seemed to go pale and speechless.

  "That's what I fucking thought! Get out!" I screamed.