by Holly Rayner
But then, she felt a warm presence grasp onto her hand. She felt her fingers close over it, and felt something tugging her to the surface. Suddenly, she was opening her eyes to reality—and it wasn’t a reality she’d seen before.
Mia was splayed out in an ambulance, beneath a white sheet and still in her SNO News blazer. Off to the side, she saw that they’d stored her heels in a small locker, alongside her purse. Her mind began to piece together the events of the previous few hours, before she’d woken up. It wasn’t often she found herself without memory.
To her left, where someone or something seemed to have grasped her hand, she heard a person arise. Knees creaked. After a moment, she found herself staring into one of the most handsome faces she’d ever seen.
She blinked several times, her brain still not completely conscious, before allowing an audible “Oh” to escape her lips. “It’s you,” she whispered.
James Chance emitted a soft laugh. “Well, there you are, sleepy head,” he said. He gripped her hand tighter, with more certainty. “I have to tell you. You really scared all of us in the studio.”
“I really know how to put on a show. Isn’t that why you hired me?” Mia joked. Her tongue felt like sandpaper. “Do you have any water?”
James turned toward the EMT, who was sat in the corner. He leafed through a small cooler and struck gold with a water bottle. “Don’t let her sit up yet,” he said sternly. “Her vital signs aren’t quite there yet.”
Mia accepted the chilled water bottle and took tiny sips, careful not to spill any. She looked away from James, suddenly feeling silly. “I’m sorry I collapsed like that.”
“Rumor has it you’re not taking care of yourself properly,” James said, his voice kind. “You know, I hear that when you’re pregnant, you need to eat a lot. ‘For two,’ I think the saying goes…”
Mia gave him a smirk. “So. You called the ambulance? It was that bad?”
“Nah. You know Jeff. He freaked out, as usual, and had someone call. But it’s only a precaution. We thought you just needed a rest. And now, here you are. Almost as good as new.”
“Not quite,” the EMT said from the back of the ambulance. He made brief eye contact with them. “Don’t even think about bailing on us when we get to the hospital. You’re stuck in that gurney till we get there, miss.”
Mia gave James a humorous glance. For a moment, despite the circumstances, she felt complete, happy that she had a moment him, alone. There weren’t secrets between them anymore, and they weren’t states and states apart, like usual.
“I’ve never seen anyone go down like that,” James began, his voice dry. “One minute, you were the subject of a news station witch-hunt, and the next, you’d put yourself out of the running by proving your own mortality. It was quite clever, really.”
“You’re remembering why you hired me again, aren’t you?” Mia joked.
“Some quick thinking, I’d say,” James teased. “Drink some more water. I want to get you out of the hospital as quickly as possible, but you’re really dehydrated.”
Mia sipped gratefully. “Have you spoken with Charles or Theresa?”
“They walked you to the ambulance. Theresa was sobbing, but she’s always just a moment away from too much emotion, I think. She’s yelled at me far too many times to count. I appreciate her ready access to her feelings.”
“She’s a lifesaver, that one,” Mia said.
“And Charles. The moment you hit the floor, he grew panicked about his wife at home and drove back to check on her. He said he didn’t realize how easy it was for pregnant women to just pass out like that.” James laughed, shaking his head amicably. “So in essence, the entire station broke down for today. Jeff’s panicking. He’s actually on the air right now, reading from the teleprompter you wrote. Look. Watch.”
James brought up his cellphone and revealed a stream of the news, which was just a sweaty Jeff sputtering into the microphone.
“He’s really not very good,” Mia offered, biting her lip. For a moment, she felt nervous about the people of Portland. What would they think?
“I think it’s hilarious. We’ll be back to our top ranks very soon, don’t worry,” James laughed. “I know you. You’re always thinking too much about work, like me. But right now, I think you might have something a bit more important to worry about.”
Mia turned her face downward, toward her stomach. She laced her fingers over it. “You can’t feel anything yet. It just looks like I’ve packed on a few pounds.”
James winked at her. “Beach bodies are overrated anyway.”
Mia allowed the moment to fill her with pleasure. She’d sensed the emotion between them, had felt it pulsing in her veins.
She wiped her free hand over her eyes, feeling the dried tears. “I need to apologize for what happened back there,” she began. Outside, she heard a police siren blaring. The ambulance crept along slowly, not incredibly anxious to get her to the hospital. “It was unprofessional of me.”
“Fainting? I don’t think that has anything to do with being unprofessional,” James said.
“That’s not what I mean,” Mia spoke weakly. “I wanted to tell you the truth about my pregnancy in your office, but I panicked. I sensed you were done with me, and I didn’t want to push you into anything.” She swallowed, straining to find the right words. “Wow. Speaking is generally so easy for me. I don’t understand why I’m struggling with it right now,” she laughed, her eyes coming back to life, slowly but surely.
“I think you’re doing a fine job. And don’t worry about it. You just found out yourself, and you’re just processing it. I get it.” James tugged at her hand. “And now that I know, there’s no going back. It’s all out there. The news has been delivered, and it will not be forgotten.”
“Finally, my news was something more than cats wearing sweaters,” Mia said, giggling.
“That segment you did on the children’s home was genuinely incredible,” James said then. “I was telling you that with sincerity, earlier. Not just because I think you’re hot.”
“And now that I’m the mother of your baby?”
“I guess I’ll be forced to shower you with compliments constantly, no matter what,” James laughed. He knelt down beside her and wrapped his arms around her shoulders in a warm embrace. Inside this cocoon, Mia felt herself sigh and release all tension from her muscles. Her bones felt like jelly.
Mid-embrace, James spoke again. “I want you to know something, Mia: I’m here for you. I’m completely, one hundred percent by your side. I know I disappeared on you after we slept together, and I’m sorry for that. Truly. Sometimes, when I feel too many things at once, I run away from those feelings. I’ve been married to my work for eight years—obsessed with it, really. Maybe it’s time that I find something new to do. I’m getting older now…”
“You’re only 30,” Mia teased.
“Sure. Only 30,” he winked, and Mia rolled her eyes. “What I mean is, my work-obsessed lifestyle isn’t satisfying me the way it used to. I think being by your side, being a good father to this child, might be just what I’ve been looking for.”
Mia searched his face, sensing he was being sincere. She waited for a kiss from him, to affirm what he’d just said, but another hug came, and then another. She bowed her head and thanked him, her stomach beginning to turn once more. What exactly did he mean by being “by her side”?
The ambulance whizzed toward the hospital. It swept into the emergency entrance, and the EMT got to his feet unhurriedly. “All your vitals have stabilized, Miss Daniels,” he explained. “But we need to get you checked out, just in case.”
James gave Mia a final, earnest hug, telling her that he’d be waiting in the hospital waiting room until he was allowed to see her.
“They’ll tell you when they’re ready for you,” the EMT added.
“No matter how long it takes, I’ll be waiting,” James assured her.
Mia gave him a weak smile before watching him clomp fro
m the ambulance and into the nondescript building. She wondered absently why they never put any architectural design into hospitals—it was necessarily where you were born, and often where you died, but no pomp met you neither coming nor going.
Another EMT snuck his hands around the base of the gurney, and the pair of them chit-chatted as they moved Mia from the ambulance and into the hospital. They discussed her “vital signs” and her “condition,” but Mia tuned out, focusing instead on the fact that James was waiting for her in the waiting room. She hoped she didn’t look too much of a mess.
Finally, the EMTs pushed her into a private room, and the nurses hooked her up to an IV and took a blood sample. “You’re dehydrated. This will help,” they told her. “The doctor will see you soon.”
Mia splayed out on the bed alone, machines beeping to her right. For perhaps the first time, she thought of her baby as a real, tiny human. Inside of her, the baby was aching for water, for food—and he or she had only one person on the planet to rely on.
Mia thought of her life at the children’s home, then. It seemed so obvious, now, that she’d been yearning for familial love, the kind of love that shook you to your very core; the kind of love that wasn’t broad strokes. She had been one of many in the children’s home, but at one time, she’d been exactly one cell in her mother’s much larger body. But her mother had never given her that kind of one-on-one love. Her mother had given her up.
Mia knew almost nothing about her birth mother. The only thing she knew, in reality, was what it must have felt like for her to learn about Mia’s existence. Mia knew she’d absolutely felt fear. She’d absolutely felt loneliness. And she probably hadn’t had the kind of support that James offered her with each firm and sturdy hug.
There, in the hospital room, Mia promised herself she’d care for her baby with that kind of personal, earnest love that she’d so needed as a child. Success and love had greeted her on the other side of the children’s home. The only thing she knew to do, truly, was to affirm that her baby had this commitment for his or her entire life.
After a while, the doctor arrived in the hospital room, with James Chance beside him. The doctor was speaking with him amicably, bouncing slightly on his toes.
“Mia. This is Dr. Earl Bar. We went to college together in Seattle. He’s the best of the best.” James’ voice was warm, assuring.
“Wonderful to meet you, Miss Mia,” the doctor said, shaking Mia’s hand. “So we’ve analyzed your test results, and we’ve come to the conclusion that the fainting episode was a one-off. As long as you promise me you’ll feed and hydrate yourself well, I think we can let you go in just a little while.”
“Feed and water myself? Like a plant?” Mia joked, her eyes dancing.
“Something like that. But maybe with a few more nutrients, if that’s all right with you,” he laughed. He gave James a brief glance. “You’ve got yourself a lively one, I see.”
“She’s entirely too clever for her own good,” James agreed.
“Well. Let’s have the nurses come in and take out that IV, and you can get dressed,” Dr. Earl said, rubbing his hands together. “And I’ve already given James the name of a highly recommended gynecologist in Portland. You can set up an appointment next week. But as far as I can tell, at this point, you and your baby are doing just fine.”
Mia’s heart pitter-pattered with nerves. “Thank you, doctor,” she said. “And thanks for meeting with me today. This is all very new to me.”
“It’s new to everyone the first time,” the doctor said kindly. “Now. Let’s give her a bit of peace, James. Lord knows she’ll need it from you soon.”
The men strode from the hospital room then, bouncing stories from their college years back and forth as the nurses tended to Mia. She tried to sit up straighter in her bed, but felt far too weak. She hoped James wouldn’t have to wheel her out of there.
The nurses were like ghosts, swirling around her. They unhooked her IV and the monitor before helping her into her blazer and skirt, not bothering with her tights. Mia was grateful that she’d bothered to shave her legs on this most fateful day, given that so many people were currently privy to her flushed body.
Finally, after a great gulp of water, Mia found the energy to stand on wobbly legs. She tiptoed to the waiting room, where James stood patiently, untouched by the hubbub of hospital activity going on around him, his eyes only on her. He opened his arms wide, accepting her into him. And there, like some epic portrait of a family, the two of them, plus their microscopic baby, absorbed into a great, long overdue hug.
THIRTEEN
“I’ve called my driver,” James said, offering an arm to support Mia as they walked into the May sunshine. “He said he’ll be here in about five minutes. I’m moderately certain he was in the drive-thru line. I’ve caught him in the act before—I suppose, like all of us, he has his vices.”
Mia grinned. The warmth of the sun on her face seemed to bring her back to life. “I forgot you have a driver.”
“I like to drive most days, but the driver comes in handy sometimes. When I’m in New York or Chicago, he can do whatever he wants. I pay him well enough that he doesn’t need to get a second job to fill his time, because when I am in town, I require much of his energy. My time is precious.”
Mia felt her smile faltering, but she didn’t give into the graying feeling, changing the subject instead. “Well. I’ve never been in a limo before. So I’m quite excited.”
A few moments later, a black limousine ghosted up to the curb, and the driver rushed around to greet them. “Sorry for my tardiness, James,” he stammered.
“It’s fine, John,” James said, waving it away. “I can smell the McDonald’s breath from all the way over here, though,” he laughed.
John chuckled and smiled at Mia, offering his hand. “I don’t think we’ve had the pleasure.”
Mia shook his hand gratefully. “Mia Daniels. Thank you for coming. I’ve taken a little spill.”
“Put yourself in the hospital, I see,” he said. “James is always finding the dramatic ones.” He winked at her, opening the door. “Make yourself comfortable in there. Never a more comfortable space, I can promise you that.”
Mia slid herself inside the limo and watched as James followed suit, wrapping his arm around her shoulders. She snuggled into him, giggling. “He’s quite a character, isn’t he?”
“He always wants to make a scene, wherever he goes,” James agreed. “I met John at college, actually, studying journalism. I’ve tried to hire him to be an anchor many times, but he says he prefers this job. He’ll probably talk your ear off on our way to—wherever we’re going. Wait. Where are we going?”
“Maybe my place?” Mia asked, uncertain. She didn’t want to invite herself to his mansion, but as she spoke the question, she felt a strange sense of fear. She didn’t want to reveal so much of herself, so soon, and taking him to her apartment meant so much.
But before she could retract her request, James told her that was a fine idea. He squeezed her hand and directed his face towards the front of the limo. “We’re heading to Mia’s place, then, James.”
“You want to tell me the address?”
“549 West Prospect Street. Apartment 4C,” Mia called out, summoning the energy from deep within her. She felt shaken. Her nerves brought tension to the back of the vehicle, and James cleared his throat. Perhaps he sensed they were moving too quickly, as well.
Finally, after the limo had struck an easy pace down the highway, James found his voice again. “Back there, in the hospital, I was thinking about that night again.”
“That night?”
“You know. The night we spent together.”
Of course she knew.
She felt her cheeks grow red. Why did he want to discuss this?
“It was Christmas—or our own version of Christmas, at least. So what does this make the pregnancy? A kind of Christmas miracle? I mean, Christmas was the birth of Jesus, right?”
“
That would be correct,” Mia laughed. “Amazing you know that.”
“Don’t be mean! Hear me out. It’s the birth of Jesus, so maybe that makes women extra fertile.”
“Even Christmases held on April 10th, I suppose?” Mia said.
“I am not ruling it out. As a journalist, I must be open to many different ideas. Christmas fertility, in April. Why not?” He nudged her.
“What’s gotten into you,” Mia grinned, mock-exasperated. But inwardly, she felt pleasure riddle through her. She hadn’t pegged James for the silly type. She hadn’t imagined she’d be sitting in the back of his limousine, chatting and joking as they rushed toward her apartment, and yet here they were. Maybe, on some incredible level, this was another of her life’s many Christmas miracles. She hadn’t known how much she’d really needed this one.
