95 - Girls Girls Girls

It was a long and sleepless night for both Jon and Ari. With the nurses coming in every hour to either draw her blood, check her vitals, or just to shut off those annoying alarms that kept going off every time Ariana tried to get comfortable. They had brought in one of those reclining lounger chairs for him to sleep in, but it was uncomfortable, so he just climbed in next to Ariana.

This time when Betty, nurse Ratchet’s actual name, came in, she knew not to chase him out. He could tell from her mannerisms that she knew who he was and maybe that is why she had the attitude she did. Maybe she didn’t approve, but he could give two flying fucks what she thought. It was none of her business. 

 

She was, in many times as well, to check Ari’s blood pressure. A few of those times, she had her doing a series of movements. Ari would start in a sitting position, then she would have to stand up, sit down again and finally lie down. She would have to repeat the movements two or three times, while the nurse recorded her blood pressure. When they inquired what the purpose of the exercises were, she explained that Dr. Laurent wanted to monitor the rise and/or drop in her pressure when she moved around.

 

They were waiting for the technician to come and do the ultrasound that was order. Jon sat in the recliner chair sipping his coffee, busy working on some foundation business, while she was propped up on the bed eating her favorite Ben and Jerry’s ice cream from the container and playing one of those silly games on her phone.

 

“Dang it, you little fucker.” Ari cursed aloud at her phone.

 

Jon let out a little chortle. “Crash, are you an angry bird?”

 

“Shut it, you. You wouldn't understand.”

 

“Nope, I don’t. What is the purpose of that stupid game, anyway? The kids play it all the time too.”

 

“Why should I explain it to you, you’ll just make fun of it? You stick to your contracts or business proposals over there and let me be.”

 

He looked up at her just in time to see her shoving a spoonful of ice cream into her mouth. When she texted him to pick up some yesterday, he picked up extra. The nurses were kind enough to let him keep it in their freezer. Though he wished it was something more like a protein smoothie, he wasn’t about to complain. She was eating.

 

“Got any left?” he asked her.

 

“Yeah, you want some?” She held out the ice cream covered spoon and fed it to him.  

 

Taking the spoon between his lips, Jon slowly withdrew the plastic utensil, removing its contents.

 

“What’s in that again?”

 

“Chocolate and vanilla ice cream mixed with heath bar chunks, white chocolate chunks, peanut butter cups...” She stuck another bite in her mouth. “Mmm... and chocolate-covered almonds. Decadent heaven.” She held out the container towards him. “See, everything but... it’s the perfect name.”

 

“Whatever happened to plain old vanilla or chocolate?” he licked his lips.

 

“That’s for old boring people, like you!”

 

“Oh, really!”

 

Standing, he placed his laptop on the chair and sat on the edge of her bed, removed the ice cream from he hands and planted his arms on either side of her head. A devilish grin crept across his face as he inched in closer to her. Nose to nose, he inhaled her in. Even in this place, she still smelled like candied apples.

 

“Do boring old people do this?”

 

He slid his tongue between her lips, engulfing her mouth. Massaging her tongue with his, he relished in her taste of peanut butter and toffee. The kiss was both sensual and passionate, causing a small whimper to escape her. The soft knock on the door and the sound of a male voice interrupted them.

 

“Ahem!” he cleared his throat. “Ms. Moretti? We’re ready for you now.” A tall, young male dressed in green scrubs and a white lab coat appeared in the doorway, pushing a cart containing what looked to be an ultrasound machine.

 

“Okay.” Ariana answered as she ran her thumb and forefinger along the curve of her mouth, removing the remnants of their kiss.

 

“Hello. I’m Dr. De Luca, one of Dr. Laurent’s residents. I will assist him with the ultrasound today.”

 

“A fellow Pisano.” The two men exchanged handshakes. “I’m Jon. Nice to meet you.” 

 

“Yes, and I know who you are, sir. Pleasure to meet you as well.”

 

Ari and Jon sat quietly while Dr. De Luca prepared the machine while they waited for Dr. Laurent. Retrieving Ariana’s information from her chart, he keyed it into the machine. Nurse Betty came in next and took her blood pressure once again, before helping Ariana get situated.

 

“I’m going to have to ask you to move for a moment, Mr. Bongiovi.” Actually, using his name this time, she spoke without looking at him.

 

“Anything for you, beautiful.”  

 

Jon stood and moved to the corner so they could work. Moments later, Dr. Laurent appeared and greeted everyone. When all was set up, Jon returned to his spot next to Ari and held her hand. Although this wasn’t the first time, she had this done, this one was a little more nerve-wracking.  

 

“Remember, you might feel a bit of discomfort, but it’s normal." He said, reaching over adjusting the monitor to face them.

 

Closing her eyes, Ari winced and took in a deep breath at the sensation she felt. “Trust me, nothing about this is normal.”

 

“There’s your baby.” Dr. Laurent pointed as the images on the screen flashed. “Everything appears to everything appears to be alright.” He rotated his hand and pressed a few buttons. “I still only see one.”

 

“Still?” she questioned. “Do you mean there could be a chance of another?” 

 

“Usually, not this late in the game, but you can never be too sure.” He held the probe still, pressing the buttons once again.

 

Ari bit at her lower lip. One baby was all she wanted or could handle at the moment. The thought of anything more than that would definitely send her blood pressure skyrocketing.

 

“Can you see her little arms and legs? There’s her fingers and toes, and they all look perfectly formed, and,” he paused, “and look,  she’s rubbing her eyes”

 

Jon’s smile reached his eyes at the sound of Dr. Laurent calling their baby a ‘she’ “She?” Jon asked both excitedly and proudly. “You can tell she’s a she?”

 

“Technically, not exactly. By this stage, a baby’s external genitals, a nub as we call it, are formed.”

 

“English doc, please.” Jon joked.

 

There was a small chuckle amongst those in the room, Ariana included. Patting Jon’s hand, she looked at him.

 

“What he is trying to say, Jon, is that right now our baby could be a he too.”

 

“Actually, Ariana... I have been doing this for many years," he moved the transducer, causing Ari to wince a little. “Sorry. I want to measure you again. You seem to measure correctly, give or take a day or two." He pressed one last button, and an image printed. He removed the instrument and handed it to his resident. “Now I can’t be one hundred percent sure, but as of now your he is looking like a she.”

 

“Yes!” Jon said emphatically.

 

“Now, don’t get too happy. It’s still too soon. So, I would hold off on buying pink frilly things right now.”

 

“Oh, Dr. Laurent, even if you are right, our little girl will be anything but frilly and pink. If her mother has anything to do with it, trust me.”

 

Jon moved quickly just as Ariana’s hand was about to slap him, jokingly, of course.

 

“I see. Well then, everything looks good. Your blood tests are normal, and your pressure seems to have stabilized. I would still like to keep you at a high risk for now and continue to monitor you closely. Hopefully, we can chalk this incident up to you being dehydrated. I will discharge you as long as you promise me you will eat and drink.”

“Promise.” Ari quickly answered.

 

“Good. You can go home, but I want you on bed rest for the next twenty-four hours. Do you understand me? Nothing. You can get up to shower and use the bathroom, but that is it.”

 

“Got it.”

 

“I’ll draw up the paperwork and you should be out of here this afternoon.”

 

“Thank you, Dr. Laurent. For everything.” Ariana said.

 

“You’re welcome.”  

 

As they left the room, Jon looked at Ari and gave her a wink, “Be right back.” He said to her before calling after Dr. Laurent, “Hey doc, wait up.”

 

Stepping outside her room, Jon extended his hand to Dr. Laurent, who accepted it. Gripping firmly, Jon placed his free hand over their joined, shaking ones.  

 

“Thank you again for everything, Dr. Laurent. Like I said yesterday, I will do everything in my power to alleviate some of the extra stress.”

 

“Good. It’s not good for either of them. I truly believe this episode had everything to do with Ariana being dehydrated.”

 

“Well, I won’t let that happen again, either. You have my word.”

 

“I will send all her paperwork over to Dr. Barnes so she will be up to date. Is there anything I can do for you?” Dr. Laurent asked.

 

“Well, there is one more thing. Just how sure were you back there.” Jon nodded his head towards inside the room. “Ya know, with the boy... girl, thing?”

 

“Ah... well, ballpark?”

 

“Sure. How close are we from scoring a touchdown?” Jon asked.

 

Smiling at his analogy, “It’s first down and we’re on the twenty-yard line.”

 

“Thanks, Doc.” Jon gave him a friendly slap on his shoulder.

 

“But, don’t hold it against me, if I fumbled.”

 

“S’alright.” Jon called out over his shoulder as he made his way back into the room.

 

94 - All Shook Up

Ariana felt this heaviness against her legs when she tried to move. Opening her eyes to take in her surroundings, she realized she was still in the hospital. Looking down her nose, a relief washed over her as she saw Jon sleeping on her lap.

He looks so peaceful, she mused.  

Brushing the hair gently off his face, she continued across his cheek, then ran the pad of her thumb over his lips. At the touch of her skin against his, Jon woke and groggily opened his eyes, smiling when he saw her beautiful green eyes looking down at him.

 

“Hey.” Came his husky, sleepy voice as he moved just enough to kiss her gently on the lips.

 

“Hey, yourself.” She said lightly and smiled.

 

“You really know how to scare someone.”

 

Jon flicked his wrist, motioning her to move over so he could snuggle next to her. Climbing into bed, he tucked his arm under his head and nuzzled the crook of her neck and sighed.

 

“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to.” She said quietly, locking her fingers in his free hand.

 

“I know. Do you remember what happened?”

 

“Yeah. We were talking and when I got up to look in the bowl, I got dizzy. The next thing I remember was waking up here.”

 

Rubbing his fingers over her bandage, he spoke. “You passed out or knocked yourself out. Did the doctors tell you anything?”

 

“No. When I woke up, I was a bit crazed. I was worried about the baby, about you. Cara tried to calm me down too. They said they needed to run some tests before they would know definitively. I know my pressure was high, again, and that is when they gave me a little something to calm me down.” She tried to turn on her side and face him, but it caused the bells on the monitors to buzz uncontrollably. “Do you know what all this is for?” She raised her hand with the intravenous line coming from it.

 

“Yeah. You're dehydrated, so they are giving you fluids, they also have you hooked up to monitor your heart, this one...” he pointed to the belt around her belly, “is for the baby’s heartbeat.”

 

“The baby... is he alright?" her voiced was full of apprehension.

 

“As far as I know, but these dipshits won’t tell me a fuckin’ thing, except that Dr. Laurent will be in shortly.”

 

“C’mon Jon, if there was something really wrong, don’t you think we’d know by now? I’m sure he will be in soon.”

 

Just then the door creaked open, letting the light spill into the room, and a small red-haired woman dressed in blue scrubs stood in the doorway.

 

“Ah, Ms. Moretti, glad to see you are awake. How are you feeling?”  

 

The nurse asked as she checked the noisy machines and motioned for Jon to get off the bed. When she turned her back once again, Jon rolled his eyes, puckered his lips, making a face at her. Ari slapped his hand and shook her head.

 

“My mouth is a little dry and I’m hungry. Can I have anything?” Ari asked politely.

 

“Will Dr. Laurent be here sometime this year?” Jon asked firmly.

 

Ignoring Jon, the woman turned to Ariana, “Yes, you can. I’ll see if I can have them send something up. I’m not sure what it will be, is that okay?”

 

“That’s fine, I’m not picky.”  

 

“Good enough.” She tapped Ariana's foot as she walked towards the door. “And I’ll let Dr. Laurent know you are awake now.”

 

She pulled the door partially shut on her way out.

 

“Hello, Nurse Ratched!” Jon mumbled as he pulled the chair nearer to the bed and took a seat.

 

“Jon. Be nice. She’s just doing her job.”

 

“Do you know what it was like to get any information out of them? I’m not your next of kin. Cara even tried to explain things to them, but no.”

 

“Cara? She’s here too?”

 

“Yeah, she’s around, went to grab a bite to eat, I think.”

 

A soft knock cut off any comment she might have made as Dr. Laurent entered the room.

 

“Ariana. Jon.” Dr. Laurent called as he glanced over the chart he was carrying.

 

“Hello, Dr. Laurent.” They both replied.

 

“I see you’ve given quite a few people a scare here.” He looked specifically at Ariana when he spoke.

 

“I did.”

 

“Was this the first time you’ve fainted?”

 

“No. I mean yes.” She looked at Jon, then back to the doctor. “I had gotten dizzy just before I went into the bathroom. I just assumed I got up too quickly. Is there something wrong with me, with the baby?” Ari asked worriedly.

 

“Any abdominal pain that you noticed?”

 

“None.” Ari reached for Jon’s hand.

 

“And the spotting, first time you noticed it?”

 

Jon cleared his throat, “Dr. Laurent is there something you are not telling us?”

 

“No. Your baby is fine and healthy. I’m more concerned with Ariana's test results. Your blood pressure is higher than I like and your sugar is low. Both would cause dizziness.” He closed the chart and moved to the side of the bed now. “I’d like to keep you here so we can monitor your levels.”

 

“For how long?” Ariana asked.

 

“That would depend on your lab results over the next twenty-four hours. I have a few more questions though.”

 

“Sure.”

 

“Are you eating? Enough, I mean. You are little dehydrated as well. What about getting enough fluids? All these things are important, not just to you Ariana, but the baby. I’d prefer if you ate healthy, but at this moment I’d just like to see you eating anything.”

 

“I eat, but lately, with all I have going on, I find that I'm more tired than usual. If I'm not sleeping, I’m on the go.”

 

“I understand you have a lot going on at the moment...” He turned his attention to Jon now. “But, the stress, it doesn’t help.”

 

Opening her mouth to answer, Jon placed his hand on her arm and stopped her. “I couldn’t agree more with you, Doc, and I can assure you that some of the stress will be relieved in the coming days.”

 

“Jon, what are you talking about?” She asked concernedly.

 

“Something I should have done a long time ago.” He intertwined their hands. “Doc, you just tell us what we need to do, and it will be done.”

 

“This is the extra stress I’d mentioned.”

 

“With all due respect Dr. Laurent, our lives will never be stress free. And even under these circumstances, I am not about to go into details of our relationship with you, but you have my word that I will do whatever is needed to minimize some of it. With that being said, tell us what we need to do to get Ari back on track and out of here?”

 

“Fine. For now, we will keep you here overnight, monitor your labs and your blood pressure. I’d like to take another transvaginal ultrasound, just to be safe. If all looks good, you can go home tomorrow, with restrictions.”

 

“Restrictions? Like what?”  

 

Ariana questioned. She was not one to sit around doing nothing, and the thought of being told she had to stay in bed for the rest of her pregnancy did not sit well with her. She had things to do. How would that affect her plans to travel with Jon?

 

“Ariana, your age puts you in the high-risk category off the bat and after this incident, I talked it over with Dr. Barnes and we feel the need to watch you closer.” He finished writing on her chart and looked up at them, “Let me put the orders in for some tests and we can discuss restrictions when we have some more answers.”

 

“It doesn’t look like I have a choice.”

 

Jon pushed back his chair and stood. “Thank you, again, Doc.”

 

“You’re welcome. try to get some rest, oh and eat.” he grinned back just before leaving the room.

 

Jon sat on the edge of the bed and took her hand in his.

 

“Jon, what did you mean before?”

 

“Dr. Laurent said no stress, remember, so let’s not worry about that for now. How about I go get us something good to eat, it doesn’t look like Nurse Ratched is coming back anytime soon.”

 

“You better be nice to her, if I’m gonna be here a few days.”

 

“Yeah, she doesn’t scare me.”

 

“Knock... Knock. Can I come in?” Cara called through the partially opened door.

 

“Yes.” Ari replied.

 

Cara crossed the room and took a seat on the opposite corner of the bed. “If it wasn’t for the fact that I like you, I’d knock you out again for doing what you did.”

 

“Yeah, I’m sorry. It won’t happen again.”

 

“Damn straight it won’t. So, what did the doctor say?” Cara asked.

 

Jon took that as the cue to let the two friends talk. He needed to make a few phone calls himself, now that Ari was up and he had more news. Bending down, he placed a kiss on her forehead.

 

“I’m gonna let you two chat. I have some calls to make and food to get. Cara would you like something?”

 

“Nah. I’m good.”

 

“What are you going to get?” Ariana asked.

 

“Whatever you want?”

 

“I don’t know, surprise me.”

 

“Gotcha. If you think of something, just text me. I’ll be back soon. Don’t miss me too much.”  

 

Jon nearly bumped right into the nameless redheaded nurse who waited at the door. She rolled her eyes in disgust at him, but he simply turned up that famous smile at her and said. “That goes for you too, sweetie. See ya in a bit.”

 

93 - Weight Of The World

From the moment Max dropped her back home, she’d been sitting in the middle of her bed doing something she never thought in a million years she’d be doing; googling her name. She’d hit the refresh button about a hundred times before her finger started to hurt. So, she set up alert notifications on both her phone and computer.

Luckily, her search only produced one photo so far of her and Cara inside the restaurant, having lunch. She just hoped no one had seen them come out of the baby store. It was probably just a fluke that they were outside the restaurant in the first place. It was a popular spot for some of the well-known from time to time.

 

Jon, on the other hand, wasn’t so lucky. In her search, she stumbled upon a bunch of images from his press conference. There were quite a few of him standing arms clenched across his chest. From the expression on his face, he was not happy at all. The sound bites she found all but confirmed it. 

 

She could hear that Jon was clearly agitated, but he kept his temper under control right up till then end, when the questions about their relationship started. She couldn't believe the audacity of some. How they kept pushing and pushing after Jon had finished what he needed to say. Overall, she thought it went well. Her only concern was how fast and how much they knew about her already. She would address it with Jon when he called.

 

Grabbing her phone, she scooted off the bed for her umpteenth bathroom trip since she been home. As her bare feet hit the chilled wood, she felt the room spin and caught the bedpost with her hand.

 

Whoa. I must have gotten up too fast, or maybe I need to eat something.

 

When she regained her balance, Ariana padded off to her new home, away from home, to take care of business. Setting her phone down on the vanity, she noticed the dark circles forming under her eyes in the mirror. Sleep had not come easily for her these past weeks, and it was starting to show. 

 

The sound of Frank Sinatra’s voice filled the air as she pulled down her bottoms and lowered herself onto the seat.

 

Tapping the speaker button, she called out, "Hey, hold on a second."

 

“S’okay.” the echo of her voice and the sound of a steady stream of water spattering could be heard as he waited, "Where are you?"

 

“The bathroom. I had to pee, a-gain." She told him and reached for some toilet paper.

 

“This is not the sexy time I had in mind.”

 

“Oh, hush and..." Her voice slowly faded till there was none.

 

"Are you still there?"

 

"Um... yeah.” She answered, but clearly, she was distracted.

 

"Ari. What are you doing?"

 

"Gimme a second, Jon, there's blood."

 

"What do you mean?"

 

"On the toilet paper. There's blood!" her tone was slightly panicked.

 

"A lot?" His question was a reasonable one.

 

"Does it matter?" She barked.

 

"Yes. Don't you remember the doctor telling us about that? Dorothea had some with Jesse."

 

"I'm not your wife!"

 

Ariana tried to keep her composure and recall her conversation with Dr. Barnes.

 

"I didn't say you were. All I'm saying..." He changed his mind and went with trying to assess the situation. Is there any in the toilet? What color is it? How much is there?"

 

"Really, Jon? What fucking color do you think it is and there is enough to cover the wad of paper I used to wipe my pussy with..." Ari took in an exasperated breath, "I'm afraid to look at the water."

 

"Ari, you've got to calm down. It's not good for you or the baby."

 

"Calm down? I can't do that! I knew something like this would happen. Why? Why did I allow myself to believe this could actually happen?"

 

"God dammit Crash. I'm trying to help you but can't if you don't tell me what you see. Look at the water, would you?"

 

He wasn’t trying to be a dick, he just needed her to think he was so she would do what he said. 

 

"Fine!"

 

Jolting up quickly, she felt a sudden dizzy feeling overcome her again. The light spots before her started spinning as she felt herself lean forward. All she heard before falling to the floor was Jon calling out her name from the tiny phone speaker.

 

♱ ♱ ♱ ♱ ♱ ♱ ♱ ♱ ♱ ♱

 

If ever there was a joyous part of being in the hospital, the maternity ward was supposed to be the place. Yet it wasn’t. He was at St-Luc Hospital, trying to focus on the positives as he watched her resting peacefully in an oversized bed. The beeping sound from both heart monitors echoed and consumed the sterilized room. Every steady noise they emitted pounded at his skull.

 

Taking a deep breath, his blue eyes scanned the room again, noting the frayed edges of her hospital gown and sheets, and at the variety of machines and equipment that were hooked up to her. Even though he knew she was only sleeping, he wanted to wake her just to make sure.

 

Hunching over, he felt the cracking of muscle ripple along his spine. No doubt it had come from sitting on one of those uncomfortable plastic chairs. He let his finger trace soft circles across her abdomen as he rested his head in her lap. Her chocolate curls covered the square gauze bandage she wore just above her right eye. Underneath it was the eight stitches she received from hitting her head on the corner of the vanity. He could see a hint of the yellow and purple bruise forming, along with the dark circles she had under her eyes.  

 

Listening as she called out for him and subsequently passing out, was unbearable and the sense of helplessness that crept over him when she hadn’t answered his calls had him grabbing his house phone and immediately dialing Cara.

 

Informing her what had happened, she immediately hung up and called 911, then called him back as she rushed across the street. Making her way up the backstairs, Cara found Ariana unconscious on the bathroom floor, with a steady stream of blood trickling down her cheek. 

 

Jon listened as Cara tried to wake her, but she was unresponsive. He knew his barking question after question wasn’t helping the situation while they waited for the paramedics to arrive, but Cara continued to reassure him that Ari was indeed breathing, and that the blood in the toilet was minimal and from what she could tell she wasn't bleeding anywhere other than from the gash on her head.

When the paramedics arrived, they couldn’t give him any more information other than Ariana had a sizeable gash over her right eye that would require some stitches. Her vitals were good, except for her slightly elevated blood pressure. Jon informed them what had happened, adding that she was almost eleven weeks pregnant and at her last doctor's visit, her pressure was a little high.

 

While the paramedics worked on Ari, Cara reiterated everything they were doing. Jon’s car had arrived, just as they were ready to put her in the ambulance. Cara reassured him once again that everything would be fine, and she would not leave her side. She told him even though it was hard; he needed to be calm. Stressing for the next two hours would not do him any good. He told her he wanted updates every thirty minutes no matter what, and she was to send them via text, email, voice mail or any other way she could think of. Just before hanging up, he asked Cara to put the phone next to Ari’s ear. When she told him to go ahead, Jon whispered.

 

“I love you, Crash. I’m on my way.”

 

Once in the car, Jon called the one person he knew that could somewhat calm him and who would handle the list of things he couldn’t right now. His mother.

 

When Carol heard the frenzied tone of his voice, she did what any other mother would do. She spoke calmly, reassuring him that Ariana was in the best possible hands. She explained to him that the staining was common, and that Ariana probably gave herself a good knock on the head that knocked her unconscious. Carol explained to him that Ariana’s dizziness could have been from a long list of things and worrying and speculating about each and every one of them now would serve no purpose.  

 

She offered to go with him if he wanted; he said no, but he asked her to make some calls, since Jeanie was halfway across the world on vacation, and he didn’t want to disturb her. The first call he needed her to make was to Dorothea. Jon asked his mother to tell her that Ari had a minor accident, and he would call as soon as he could.

 

A call from Cara had come through and Carol told him to take it. She knew what she needed to do. He thanked her and promised to call as soon as he knew more. He was relieved when Cara told him that Ari had opened her eyes for a moment just as they arrived at the hospital. The doctors were in with her now and once she was allowed back in, she would call him.

 

Arriving at the airport, Jon didn’t want to waste any more time waiting, so he sent Cara a text that he would take off soon and that she should use the other means of communications. Over the course of the two-hour flight, she had sent him a few updates that simply stated there was no additional news and they were running a battery of tests.

 

Once he arrived at St-Luc’s, Jon flew out of the car and into the elevator, stopping only once to ask a nurse which way to room 3474. Cara had been waiting outside the door for him. She wanted to make sure he would not go in there frantically. She told him they had given Ari something to help settle her nerves, and that she was sleeping.  

 

When a nurse from the next room appeared, Jon asked if she could answer some questions about Ari’s tests. She told him that Dr. Laurent was on his way and would be with them shortly. Knowing that he wanted to see her, Cara gave him a hug and told him she would be in the cafeteria if he needed her.

 

Now here he was, waiting desperately for her to wake up and for some answers. Taking her hand in his, he looked up at her sleeping face before letting the heaviness of his lids force his eyes to close.