“Casey.”
The orderly who was about to look at his watch looked up. That barely audible voice didn’t sound like a voice he was familiar with.
Casey looked up expectantly at her name. She became confused when nobody was looking at her.
“Casey.” It sounded more like a moan then her name, but she knew it was her name. It was then that she heard the steady beeping of the heart monitor. The medical staff looked at Nick. He was waking up.
Nick opened his eyes and saw the medical staff looking at him. He became anxious and scared when he realized that there were so many people there and that he was waking up in a hospital. The fear was evident in his eyes and he began thrashing on his bed. The two orderlies in the room moved to his bed and began holding him down. A nurse ran out of the room and entered shortly after with a needle that held a sedative. Soon, Nick’s body relaxed and he was asleep.
Everyone started to leave the room. “What’s going on? Is he dead or not?”
The doctor returned to speak to Casey. “He’s alive. And he has woken up.”
Casey glanced at the bed and saw him in the same position that she has been seeing him every time she came. “It doesn’t look like he’s woken up.”
“He woke up and had a panic attack.” Casey gasped. “It’s ok. That’s very common with people waking up from a coma. The nurse sedated him. The next time he wakes up he’ll be calm.”
“When will he wake up again?”
“Couple hours.” Casey nodded and the doctor left the room.
She approached the bed again. She kissed him gently and then left the room to call the necessary people and tell them that Nick woke up. She didn’t tell anyone that they almost pronounced his time of death. No need to make everyone worry unnecessarily.
She returned to his room and sat by his bed. She gently grabbed his hand. She didn’t know how long she was sitting there, but soon she felt herself drift off to sleep.
Nick’s eyes fluttered open. He looked around to see that he was in a hospital. He nearly hyperventilated when he realized that he couldn’t feel his left hand. He looked over to assess the situation before he freaked. He realized he couldn’t feel his left hand because Casey was using his left fore arm as a pillow. “Casey.” His voice was soft and hoarse. He wasn’t sure if she heard him. He cleared his throat. “Casey.” He groaned when his voice didn’t come out any different. He tried to reach his right arm over to caress her face, but couldn’t get his hand close enough because of an IV in his right hand. He sat there starring at the top of her head.
Casey had the unnerving feeling that someone was watching her. She opened her eyes and realized she was at the hospital. She looked up and smiled broadly when she realized that Nick was starring at her. “Hey.”
“It’s about time you woke up. My hand is asleep.” His voice was still hoarse and that long sentence made him cough.
“Nick? Are you ok? Do you need something?”
“Water.” She poured him a glass of water from the pitcher that was placed there sometime after she fell asleep. He took a sip. “Why does my upper back between my shoulders hurt?”
“You were shot.”
“Recently?”
“You were in a coma for a month.”
“A month?”
“Yeah. You scared us all. Especially me right now. The doctor was ready to pronounce you dead when you woke up.”
He looked confused. “But I just woke up now. There was no doctor in here.”
“You woke up from the coma a couple hours ago. They had to sedate you though.” Nick had no concept of time right now. He suddenly looked worried. “What is it Nick?”
“What month is it?”
“May.” He stayed quiet. Casey could tell that he was contemplating something. “What is it Nick?”
“You’re still pregnant right?”
“Of course I am Nicky. What made you think I wasn’t?”
“I don’t know. All I know is that I was suddenly afraid that I missed the birth.”
“I’m not due for another month.”
“Good. Hopefully I’ll be better by then.”
“I don’t care if you’re better by then. All I care about is that you are getting better.” She stood up to lean over and kiss him. She returned to her seated position. A pain ran through her abdomen. “Oh.”
“What? Are you ok?”
“I’m fine. I think the baby just kicked.” After a few minutes, she felt the same pain as earlier, but it was a bit stronger. Soon after, Nick fell asleep. Casey sat in the room just watching him sleep.
A couple hours later, Nick woke up and panicked when he saw Casey breathing heavy and holding her stomach.
“Casey, are you ok?” She looked at him, but didn’t answer him. “Casey what’s wrong?” When she didn’t answer, Nick reached for his nurse button and pressed it.
Moments later, the nurse came in. “What can I get you?”
“Not me, her.”
“Come with me darling. We need to get you prepped.” Then they were gone, leaving Nick starring after them in confusion. When nobody came back to tell him what’s going on he closed his eyes. He was fighting back tears, and soon he fell asleep.
He woke up immediately when the door opened. “Hey Nick.” Abby and Brent said at the same time.
“Hi.”
They approached the bed. “You don’t look too happy to see us.”
“It’s not that.”
“Then what is it?”
“Casey was in here. But then she started having pains and the nurse whisked her away, but no one told me what’s going on.”
Abby stood up. “I’ll go find out. I’ll be right back. And Nick. Don’t worry, you need to stay relaxed.” Abby left the room and headed straight for the nurses station.
“Can I help you?”
“Hopefully. Um, my friend was in room 222 and she was escorted out by a nurse, I was just wondering if you could tell me what’s going on?”
“She went into labor. I took her to the maternity ward to be prepped for delivery. Do you want to see her?”
“Yes please.” The nurse led Abby up to the maternity ward and to where Casey was. Casey was not ready to deliver yet so Abby was allowed to see her. She walked into the room. “Hey.”
Casey smiled briefly before being hit with another contraction. When the contraction subsided, she said “What are you doing here?”
“Apparently, you went into labor and nobody thought to tell the father. He was really worried, so I came to investigate.”
“Are you going to stay here, or go back to Nick?”
“Nick’s best friend is with him, I think it’s only fair if I stay here with you. Then, after you have the baby, I’ll go down and tell him.”
“He’s going to be so upset.”
“Why?”
“He wanted to be present for the birth so badly.”
“There’s nothing we can do about that. He needs to stay in bed. He might get upset that he missed it, but he’ll be ok.”
The doctor entered the room and checked her dilation. “Ok Casey, it’s time.”
“What’s taking Abby so long?”
“I don’t know Nick.”
“Do you think its something bad?”
“I can’t answer that. I’m sorry buddy. Nick, you need to stay relaxed. Why don’t you go back to sleep and maybe by the time you wake up we’ll have news on Casey.”
“How am I supposed to sleep?”
“You’re heavily medicated, I’m sure you’ll be able to fall asleep.”
“But…”
“No buts Nick. Just close your eyes and try to fall asleep.”
“Fine.” Nick closed his eyes and just how Brent expected, he fell asleep almost immediately. He was starring at Nick and losing track of the time. He didn’t know how long he was sitting there when Nick’s door opened and Abby came in.
Brent motioned to Abby to go into the hall so they could talk. As soon as the door was closed, Brent said. “Is Casey ok?”
Abby nodded. “Casey’s perfect.”
“Then what’s wrong? What happened?”
Abby smiled. “Nick is a daddy.”
