by Candy Crum
She nodded, immediately regretting the decision to move her head. “Yeah, I’m good. Thank you. I’ve just been a little dizzy here lately.”
Kay looked concerned. “You’re what, about six or seven months along?”
“Thirty-two weeks.”
“Honey, are you still working for your apartment manager and spending all those hours at the library?”
“I have to. I don’t want to be a student when she’s born and I need money. I need to make sure that I have everything I need for her. I can’t let her down.”
Kay sighed. She was thirty-three and had her first child at twenty-four and still didn’t think she was as responsible as Bri. She respected her for everything she was doing, most of the people she worked with did. The adults respected her, the teenagers knew her from school and either ignored her as much as possible or cracked ridiculous jokes. Bri found solace with the women older than her. They offered advice and other help when she needed it. She was grateful for their leadership both professionally and personally.
“Would you like to go home?” Kay asked.
“No, I need the money. I’ll be okay. Besides, I feel drunk or something. I don’t think it would be good for me to drive, I barely made it here. But if I run off the line, don’t think much of it.”
“Just let me know if you need anything, okay? Take care of yourself and don’t stress.”
Kay gently rubbed Bri’s back before walking off. Bri sat there a few moments more as she tried to calm herself. Her nausea subsided and her dizziness was settling down to a tolerable level, which it would probably remain at for a while longer, but a headache had set in. The headache she felt confident that she could handle. She took a couple of Tylenol and went to work.
She worked slowly and cautiously, trying not to aggravate the dizziness. She first worked on sweeping the floors, using small strides and light pressure. But it still wasn’t helping. Once she was finished, she went to work prepping food, hoping that standing in one place might help. Again, it was pointless.
Two hours went by and she still felt every bit as bad as she did when she’d first walked in, though she was beginning to feel even worse. Her nausea was back and she began cramping terribly. She opened her phone to send a text to Matt, but hesitated. She didn’t want to worry him over something silly. She made her way into the office to find Kay doing the schedule for the next two weeks.
Kay looked over and her eyes widened. “Oh, god. Are you alright?” She jumped up and went to stand in front of Bri.
“Is it normal to cramp? I mean, I read about Braxton Hicks contractions, but I thought I was still too early for those.”
“How badly are you cramping? If the cramping is just mild and feels like period cramps that’s sometimes normal. That can be caused from overexertion, like from all the work you’ve been doing. But if you’re having pain, then it’s something else. You are even paler than before and your eyes are red. You look absolutely terrible.”
Kay led Bri to sit in her chair. She rushed to get a cool washcloth and held it on her head.
“I think I’ll be okay,” Bri said. “There’s no need to worry about me so much.”
Bri hated it when people worried over her. She was worried enough for herself. She didn’t like others to suffer over her. Her head began to throb and the dizziness came back hard. She could feel her heart beating hard in her chest as she began to panic.
“That’s it, I’m calling 911,” Kay said, grabbing her phone.
“No!” Bri said. “I can’t lose my insurance and if my parents see an ambulance charge then I might. Call Matt. He’ll come.”
Bri already hated this, but Matt was far better than an ambulance ride. Kay didn’t waste any time finding his name and making the call.
Matt was playing a racing video game with his dad when his cell went off. He paused the game and checked his phone. As soon as he saw Bri’s name scroll across, he answered it.
“Hello?”
“Is this Matt?” Kay asked.
Matt immediately sat forward on the couch, worry and adrenaline burning through him like wildfire. He knew something was wrong.
“Yes. What’s wrong?”
“This is Kay, Bri’s manager. I have her in my office sitting down, but she doesn’t look good. She has a migraine, dizziness, and abdominal pain. I wanted to call an ambulance, but she said no. She said to call you.”
Matt was already up and grabbing his keys. He was about to tell her that he’d be right there, but Kay gasped, a small horrified sound escaping her.
“Oh, god,” she said.
“What? What happened?” Matt asked, fear seizing him.
“Hurry! She’s bleeding everywhere!”
“Call an ambulance! I’ll be right there.”
Matt ran upstairs and quickly grabbed a teddy bear that he had hidden in his closet. It was Bri’s when she was little and she had given it to him when Gabe died. It had seemed like a strange gesture to him then, but he still appreciated it. Now, he wanted to return the favor.
He bolted back downstairs, leaping down the last few, and his father stopped him. “Matt, what’s going on?” His father was visibly worried. He knew that his son didn’t act like that unless there was damn good reason.
Matt decided in only a second what he would say. “I’m done. I can’t do this anymore. Get mom. Go to the hospital and wait for me. I’ll explain everything. It’s Bri, Dad. I have to go.”
His dad nodded once and Matt tore out of the house.
Kay had someone help her get Bri onto the floor. Kay laid her own jacket on the floor for Bri to lay on, another girl offering her jacket as a pillow for her head. While Kay had been on the phone with Matt, Bri began bleeding terribly all over the chair. Now, though she was in a lot of pain, Bri seemed to be doing a bit better on the floor. Her head throbbed and her stomach ached, but she tried to remain calm, knowing that Matt would soon be there.
Within moments the Ambulance arrived. They rushed in and put Bri on a gurney. She was terrified, tears streaming down her face. She didn’t know what to think. All she could do was worry about the baby. She prayed that everything was okay and that the worst wasn’t happening. That thought scared her more than anything.
As they wheeled her out the door, Matt pulled in. He jumped out of the truck and ran to her side. “Bri! I got here as fast as I could. Are you okay?”
She nodded smiling. She grabbed his hand and squeezed. Looking down at her strapped to that gurney, her terrified and tear stained face looking up at him, he’d never been so scared. But he couldn’t let her see that.
“Everything is going to be okay. I promise,” he said. He fought back the urge to tear up, doing his best to stay strong for her.
“You riding?” the paramedic asked Matt.
“Yes! Yes, he is.” Bri nearly screamed the first “yes”. Hearing her so frantic, Matt couldn’t say no, not that he’d planned to anyway.
“Yes, I am.”
Matt climbed in the back and rode alongside Bri, hoping that he would be able to keep her calm. It was then that he remembered the teddy bear. He grabbed his cell and sent a quick text to his mom to grab the bear out of his truck at the restaurant. As he was about to put the phone away, he noticed that his hands were covered in blood. Bri’s blood. He looked at her and saw that both of her hands were covered in it. Her pants were black, so they easily hid the blood, but he could see the sheet that was beneath her staining red.
His heart fell, fearing the worst. There was no way that she could lose that much blood and still be pregnant. Bri closed her eyes and tried to focus on something happy. She thought of being a family; she and Matt playing with the baby on a warm day in the sun, lying on a blanket and looking up at the sky. She thought of many things. She began to grow very tired and soon fell asleep.
“She passed out,” the paramedic said.
Matt quickly turned. “Is that bad? Is she okay?”
“It’s not uncommon. She probably passed out fr
om the dizziness. It looks like she’s lost a lot of blood, but it’s not bad enough for her to pass out. Her blood pressure is through the roof and causing her dizziness. That’s more than likely why she passed out. We’ll know more when we get to the hospital. Just try to remain calm. She needs you right now.”
Matt took in his every word. He hoped for a miracle, though in the back of his mind he was thinking the worst. Tears began to streak his face. He had no idea what to do. The last time he’d felt this way was with Gabe, but even still he didn’t seem to worry quite like this. He realized that he’d already claimed this little girl as his own. This was his daughter, not just his goddaughter. He sighed to himself.
Though Matt had wondered if his intentions were that strong, he hadn’t completely known until he was tested. Now as he sat here, fearing for her life and the life of her mother, there was no doubt. The only doubt in his mind was how his little girl’s mother felt about him and if she’d even allow him to be the father.
The ride had been torturous, but the ER had been worse. They hooked her up to all kinds of machines and Matt hadn’t been allowed in. His parents came in and relief flooded through him. He had someone to help him through all that.
“Matthew, what’s going on? What’s wrong with my Bri-baby?” Shaelyn had worry all over her face.
Matt decided to be blunt, laying it all out. He didn’t want to sugarcoat anything. This had all gone on for far too long, and it may have just cost the baby’s life.
“Bri’s pregnant,” Matt said.
“Pregnant!” Excitement immediately crossed Shaelyn’s face before terror replaced it. “Oh no… Is it the baby? Are they okay?”
“I don’t know. Mom, I’m worried. She’s got high blood pressure, dizziness, and cramping. Then she started bleeding everywhere.”
“Just try to relax. Worrying and scaring yourself won’t fix it. It’s not going to magically make her any better. Try to stay calm; because once they get her up to OB she’s going to need you.”
“I know. It’s just…”
“She’s lucky to have you,” Matt’s father said. “You’ve always taken care of her.”
“Really?” Matt said, angry. He wasn’t mad at his father, but at himself. “Is she lucky? Have I really taken care of her?”
“Matt, talk to us. What’s going on?” Shaelyn was just as concerned for Matt as she was for Bri. “Are you the father?”
He looked into his mother’s eyes. He wanted to say yes, but he knew what she was asking. “Biologically, no. When her parents found out about her being pregnant they kicked her out. Mike Rhodes is the father. That’s who beat the shit out of her. She wouldn’t have an abortion, so he tried to beat her into a miscarriage. She was only with him one time and she didn’t even want to then. She was scared he’d force her if she didn’t.”
“So when she came to stay with us, it was because her parents abandoned her?” Shaelyn was furious. “How can someone abandon their child over something like that? That’s when she needed them most! Matt, why didn’t she tell us? How did I not know? I just thought her sitting around and not working out anymore because of the assault was allowing her to gain weight. She’s always been able to eat like a teenage boy, but she just worked it off. I feel kind of stupid.”
“She was terrified that you’d hate her like her parents did. I tried to tell her, but she was too scarred. I didn’t tell you because she made me promise.”
“Well where in the hell has she been if she hasn’t been with her parents?” Derek asked. “Why isn’t she still at the house? Please tell me she hasn’t been living on the street somewhere?”
“She got a job and I helped her get emancipated.”
“Emancipated? Good Lord, you guys have been busy. Apparently so have I to have missed a baby and everything else.”
Matt continued to fill them in on everything going on. They sat for more than an hour waiting for a doctor to let them know what was happening. Finally, someone took pity on them.
“Shaelyn,” Doctor Metcalf said.
Everyone turned to see the doctor standing there, face unreadable.
“What happened? Is she okay?” Matt asked.
“She’s stable. She has preeclampsia and placenta previa. The preeclampsia we are treating with medications to control her blood pressure. The bleeding was caused by the placenta previa. I’m putting her on strict bed rest once she goes home.”
“Is the baby okay?” Shaelyn asked.
“Yes, she’s just fine. Her heart rate was a little stressed, so we are monitoring them both, but everything seems to be okay for now.” Doctor Metcalf smiled. “You can see her now.”
“Thank you!” Matt said. “How long will she be here?”
She shrugged. “At this point, I can’t really say. It depends on how long it takes the baby’s heart rate to line out and how long it takes Bri to react to the medications. I’m going to say no less than three days. She’s only thirty-two weeks along so we need to make sure that they are both doing even better than good when she leaves. She’s at that point where the baby can survive, but it’s not a pretty road and it can cause a lot of complications for the little one. So we need to get her as close to thirty-seven weeks as possible. That’s the magic number we like to use.”
“Thank you, Maree,” Shaelyn said. “What room is she in?”
“She’s in 525. I’ll be up there in another hour or so to check on her. I’ve got to get back to the office. If there are any changes, call me directly, okay?”
“We will. Thank you for everything. I’m so glad that it’s you taking care of her.” Shaelyn was in tears at this point. Seeing Maree Metcalf reminded her of Gabe. Seeing her also reminded her of Matt and Tara. He’d convinced Tara to go to Maree before she decided to go to an abortion clinic. She didn’t know if Matt could handle going through another baby loss – even if the baby wasn’t biologically his, she knew he claimed her as his. She knew without a doubt how strongly he felt for Bri.
“You’re welcome. Just like any of you, I’ve adopted her as my own. I’ll do my best to make sure nothing happens to her or that little girl.” She smiled at the family she’d grown so close to before walking away.
Matt, Shaelyn, and Derek made their way up to the fifth floor once Jacqueline had arrived. Matt was nervous. He clutched tight the teddy bear that his mother had retrieved out of his truck. She’d been so worried that she’d left it in her car and had to go back out to get it after they finished getting the explanation for everything going on lately.
Matt inhaled deeply, trying to focus. He knew she was going to be alright, but he couldn’t imagine his life without her, or even the baby. He’d gotten so used to seeing his life with both of them in it, even if it was no more than just a friendly relationship.
When they got into the room, Bri was propped up, but still in a lying position. She had IVs, heart monitors, baby monitors, and inflatable boots around her feet and calves that inflated every so often to make sure she didn’t form blood clots. She looked like a research project. Matt swallowed hard when he walked in, doing his best not to allow himself to be overwhelmed. He didn’t want to tear up in front of her and possibly scare her.
Bri was all smiles when her family walked in. She’d never been so happy to see anyone in all her life. Though that happiness was immediately shaken when she realized that Shaelyn and Derek were both going to know everything very soon. Watching them now, all smiles, though worry clearly clutched at them, she realized that they weren’t surprised to see her almost eight months pregnant and hooked up to a fetal heart monitor.
They know… And they’re here anyway.
Matt was the first to her side. He leaned down and kissed her on top of her head, like he usually did. She smiled at the warm touch, but her smile grew when she felt something warm and fuzzy gently placed in her arms. She looked down to see that old teddy bear and her breath caught.
“You still have this?” she asked.
He smiled and clutched her
hand, silently thanking whoever listening that he’d been able to think enough about something other than Bri to remember to wash his hands earlier.
“It was from you. Of course I kept it.”
Her heart swelled with him near her. She wanted to pull him down to kiss her, but she couldn’t stand the rejection. She put it out of her mind. A sniffle pulled her away from Matt to lock eyes with Shaelyn. She’d been crying, Bri could tell. She looked back to Matt.
“You told them?” she asked. She wasn’t disappointed or upset. She felt bad for ever having asked Matt to be dishonest with his parents in the first place. He told them everything.
“Bri,” Shaelyn said, squeezing past Matt. “Yes, he told us. You should have told us.”
Bri began crying then. Shaelyn’s voice was stern, like a mother. It made Bri both happy and sad at the same time. “I’m so sorry,” she said.
“What exactly are you sorry for?” Shaelyn asked. “If you’re sorry for being a teenage mother, don’t be. Shit happens. I know it wasn’t exactly by choice. If you’re sorry for not telling me? Good. You should be.” Bri looked up and Shaelyn had a warm look on her face. She winked and Bri knew she was playing, though she also knew she was upset that Bri hadn’t said anything.
“I was just so scared that you’d think the baby was Matt’s and then you’d throw us both out. I couldn’t bear doing that to him after all he’s done for me.”
Derek took a step forward, placing his hand on Bri’s booted leg. “Bri. This isn’t exactly the best situation for anyone to be in at your age. We know that. We know that you know that. If you didn’t, you wouldn’t have tried so hard to hide it. But we also know that things happen. Kids are no different than adults. We all do stupid things that we wish we could take back. Sometimes we dig ourselves deep and need to call someone for a shovel. It can happen to anyone at any time. The sooner people realize that, the better off the world will be.”
Shaelyn then took over for her husband who she believed got a tiny bit off topic. “What I think he’s trying to say is that, yes. You are in a bad situation. But it’s nothing that can’t be fixed. You need help and you just so happen to have a family that loves you and wants to help you. You have no idea how excited I was when Matthew told me that you were pregnant, or how quickly terrified I became when I realized that you were pregnant and brought to the hospital in an ambulance.”
