The room was cold and she was a bit disoriented when she woke up. “Howie…” she mumbled, looking around the unfamiliar room. Her eyes rested on her father who was slouched on the uncomfortable chair, in what looked like a deep sleep.

She carefully sat upright and scanned the place and realized that she was in a hospital room. Panic ran through her body. There were many reasons she could be sitting there on a hospital bed.

“Hey kid,” her father stood next to her.

Millie looked at him startled. “What happened dad? Tell me there isn’t anything major happening?”

“They are running some tests…well what they can in your condition.”

“In my condition?” she questioned in a whisper. “What is it? I’m dying aren’t I? Dad…”

Her father placed his hands firmly on her shoulders, giving her a wide smile. “Please calm down. I don’t want them to have to give you another sedative. Just sit back and relax. The doctor will be right back to let you know what’s going on. OK?”

Giving into her father’s request. She let out a heavy sigh and slowly laid back onto the pillows. A knot of nerves grew in her stomach, as she thought of all the possible results and conditions she could have. Closing her eyes, she tried to calm herself down.

The thought of Howie appearing through that door any minute, gave her comfort.

Howie walked down the hall, just like any other person…he hated hospitals. Especially, when someone he cared about was in one of it’s rooms, probably connected to all those beeping machines. The hall felt never ending, as he made way towards Millie’s room. Her father had left a message on his cell phone and he’d come straight from the airport.

He stopped, let out a breath and walked into room 310. There she laid, in that awful gown that screamed ‘ill person’. She was on her side, hands nestled under her cheek, fast asleep.

“Hey” her father voiced from the chair in the corner. He stood up and shook Howie’s hand. “Don’t mind if I take a quick break do you?”

Still in a daze Howie nodded, “No not at all. Uh…is she ok?”

Mr. Nunez, placed a hand on his shoulder. “Yeah, they are running some test on her and the doctor should be back soon with the results. She’s been impatiently waiting for you.” he gave Howie’s shoulder a squeeze and disappeared down the hall.

“Howie!” Millie piped, groggily. “You are finally here.” she grinned from ear to ear, sitting up in her bed.

Howie rushed to her side and took a seat on the corner of the bed. He wrapped his arms around her shoulders and gave her a tight squeeze. “You gotta stop scaring me Millie.” He stated, feeling tears burn his eyes.

She looked up at him and smiled. “I was feeling fine. Ok, maybe I was catching a cold…I have no idea how or why I ended up in the hospital, though. I mean, my dad knows well that I hate them.” she huffed, as if her father had made a big error by bringing her in.

His lips brushed over her forehead and then her lips. “I’m so happy to see you.”

“Me too. I’m glad you get a long needed break, before you go off again. Maybe this time I can go with you. Meanwhile I want to hear all about the tour.”

He pulled a chair next to the bed and took a seat and began giving Millie a rundown of all the things that had happened on his trip. She was mostly pleased with the news of him and AJ making up and being on good terms.

An hour later, Mr. Nunez walked in. In clean clothes and a fresh look on his face. Howie was still in the chair, fast asleep, his arms folded on the bed, used as a pillow for his head. Millie was curled up, right next to him, watching him sleep.

“Hi dad.” she smiled, raking her fingers through his hair.

He couldn’t help to smile at his daughter’s lit up face. She no longer looked as ill, as she had a couple of hours earlier. “Has the doctor come by?”

Just as she opened her mouth to answer, the doctor waltzed into the room. Clipboard in hand, serious look on his face. “Hey Millie…” he saw the waking man next to her and grinned. “Let me guess this is he famous Howie.”

Howie looked up a the doctor, with the mention of his name and quickly extended his hand. “Nice to meet you doctor.”

The doctor nodded and walked to the foot of the bed. “Well Millie…there are a couple of things that we need to talk about. I don’t want to beat around the bush…so I’m going to give you the good news first.”

The threesome looked at each other with half smiles. Knowing that there was something good in all this, was somewhat comforting. But the smiles didn’t last long, since they were more than sure, that bad news ensued.

Letting out a breath the doctor flipped through the chart. “Millie we were only able to do some test on you. Mainly anything we could do with your urine and blood samples. Due to your condition…we can’t do X-rays…”

“You keep saying condition and it makes me nervous…I have cancer don’t I. Oh god!” Her hands flew over her open mouth. “I’m going to die. Just TELL ME!” she shouted.

“Well from what I could see…you aren‘t dying and your not exactly sick. Our test all came back negative of anything malignant. No type of cancer, infections, diabetes…anything of that sort.” he let out another sigh. “I also wanted to inform you that you are approximately 10 weeks pregnant.”

“wh…what?” Howie’s eyes went wide in surprise.

Millie was in shock, it took her a couple of minutes to understand what the doctor had just said. “Me? I’m pregnant?” Her hands stroked her belly, as she looked over at a speechless Howie. “Howie?”

“Huh?” He snapped out of his daze, and smiled at her. Pulling her in for a hug, “I’m sorry…that was just…wow!” The doctor no longer had a smile on his face, and the twosome stopped their celebrating. “Shit! This is where you tell us the bad news.” Howie muttered.

Millie looked at him surprised, Howie never really cursed. “What is it? Is the baby ok?”

“We will do an ultrasound a little later in the day. To make sure. So far everything seems fine. However, there could be many complications if you decide to have this baby. There is something affecting your body. We noticed that when you get upset or fairly nervous, your body shuts down. My team and I are trying our best to find out what it is, that causes that reaction. We will need to monitor you for a couple of weeks.”

Howie felt his happiness drain out of him and onto the floor. Most people were happy when they were informed they were going to be parents, and here he was getting restrictions to his happiness. “Will they be ok, though?”

The doctor shrugged, “That’s what we are afraid of…some of us have opted that Millie would be better off…um…well…”

She shook her head vigorously and placed her hands protectively over her stomach. “No…I wont do that. I’ll just face whatever it is…”

“Millie it’s very dangerous. You could have a miscarriage. The changes in your body could trigger your body to shut down and that could be very traumatic for you and your baby. Plus, you might not be able to handle the delivery.”

Howie stood up and paced the room. Mr. Nunez was at his daughter‘s side, caressing her hair and trying to calm her down. He spoke, almost in a whisper. “Isn’t there just a small possibility…I mean, that everything could be ok for my daughter?”

“Come on Nunez…you know better. There are always possibilities. Listen Millie and Howie, I’m not telling you we are going to force you to do anything. I’m just informing you of the pros and cons of going on with this pregnancy.” he made way towards the door. “I’m really sorry…and I hope that you make the right decision.”

Millie didn’t sob or say a word. She just sat up, her hands circling her stomach. A part of her, was ready to face anything and everything that came with having this baby. The other, was just plain terrified.

“I’m having this baby…no matter what happens. I’m not getting rid of it.” She looked for comfort in Howie, but he was busy staring out the window.

This wasn’t happening to him. How much bad luck could someone have? He really wanted Millie to keep his…their baby. The question was…if he was willing to jeopardize the life of the woman he loved. He didn’t think there was much of an argument, from what he could hear. Millie had already made up her mind. So he only had one choice.

“WE…are having this baby.” Howie confirmed still staring out the window, at nothing. Reluctant to look at Millie. Deep in his heart, he preferred to have Mille and no baby. Maybe it was selfish, but he couldn't bare the thought of losing her.