41. Feeling The Pressure
41
FEELING THE PRESSURE
C oy was pacing in the hospital after he drove like hell to get Angel there.
She’d yelled at him to slow down three times, but he needed to get there because he was shaking too much and had to get out of the car himself.
The last thing he expected was that she’d be taken in for an exam and he’d be left alone. Ava was on call so he felt some relief there.
But that was the only relief he felt.
“Relax, Coy,” his mother said to him.
“I can’t,” he said. “It’s too soon. She still has about eight weeks to go. And her heart. Everything all at once. Relaxing is impossible.”
His mother gave him a hug and brought him to a chair in a private waiting room that the family was in. Spencer was pacing just as much as he was and shooting fire at him out of his eyes every single time.
“Her heart is fine,” Barb said, moving over too. “You said that yourself after her last appointment.”
“But she has another one in two weeks,” Coy argued.
“And it’s highly doubtful anything changed in that time,” Barb said. “Let’s just wait and see what is going on.”
“Do you know why you went into labor early?” he asked Angel’s mother. He didn’t think he ever heard that story and wasn’t sure he wanted to. It didn’t bear thinking about.
“No,” Barb said. “There was no reason for it. Things just happen in the body that are a mystery. I didn’t have one problem with Spencer.”
“That doesn’t make me feel any better,” he said.
“Coy,” his father said. “Let’s go take a walk.”
“I don’t want to leave. They might need me,” he said.
“They just brought her in,” his father said. “It’s going to be a bit to get her settled. You need some air.”
He wanted to argue he needed to be with his wife, but he followed his father out to the patio that wasn’t that far from the room they were in.
“I don’t know how you did this four times,” he said.
“I’m not going to lie to you. It doesn’t get any easier,” his father said.
“That’s not helping. I can’t even say you didn’t go through this early. You did.”
He didn’t want to think of the sister he lost. Angel was further along than his mother was. Even a month further along than Barb was.
“Angel is strong. She needs you to be strong for her. It’s early yet but not unheard of and we don’t know anything that is going on.”
“I know,” he said. “But what if something happens...”
“Don’t think that way,” his father said. “Not at all. You’re not doing anyone any good if you do.”
“I just need a minute. I’ll be in soon.”
His father left him out there to sit and stare at nothing.
He turned when he heard a noise and saw it was Spencer.
“This is your fault. If something happens to my sister.”
“Fuck you, Spencer,” he snapped. “I love you, but I don’t need this on my shoulders. I just don’t.”
Spencer seemed taken back and stopped. “Don’t be an asshole.”
“Look in the mirror at who is being an asshole. I love her too. I’m a fucking wreck and don’t need shit from you that I’m to blame for this. Don’t you think I’m blaming myself enough? I should have been watching her and doing more.”
“She’s not happy when you do those things,” Spencer said after a pause.
“Yeah,” he said. “I know. Because you did all that shit to her and now I can’t.”
“So now you’re going to blame me?” Spencer asked.
“Enough you two,” Barb said. “Spencer, I want to smack you. Say you’re sorry to Coy. We are all feeling the pressure, but that is no reason to add stress to your relationship. No one is at fault.”
Coy was looking at his best friend and knew his eyes were filling with tears.
“Sorry,” Spencer said, reaching his hand out. “I’m a mess. Between this and work and not sleeping. I don’t know if I’m coming or going.”
He felt bad he hadn’t talked to his best friend much in the past month, but Spencer had been traveling a lot for work again too.
“The same,” he said, shaking Spencer’s hand and bringing him in for a hug. “Life is messy and this is one of those times. I need you as much as you need me. Can we just do that for each other?”
“Yeah,” Spencer said.
“I came out here to tell you they’ve got Angel in a room. You can go see her. I think they are doing an exam and hooking up monitors.”
Coy all but ran past his mother-in-law and into the hall of the hospital. It didn’t help because he didn’t know where he was going.
He spotted Ava. “She’s in room 2B. I just got done with her exam. Come in and I’ll talk to you both. Some she knows and it’s just being repeated.”
He followed Ava into the room and saw Angel on the bed, monitors hooked up to her stomach and chest. Not anything he wanted to see. She had an IV in her arm too.
“Is this normal?”
“Yes,” Ava said. “We are monitoring the baby and Angel at the same time. I did an exam and she’s not dilated, which is good, but she is having contractions that we need to stop.”
“Can you?” he asked.
“I’m going to try.” Ava pulled out a syringe. “This is going to burn. I’m sorry. It might help if you can hold Coy’s hand. Make it his left in case you hurt him.”
“I’m tough,” he said and sat next to his wife.
“Are you ready?” Ava asked.
“I am,” Angel said.
Ava injected the needle into Angel’s arm and it seemed like forever for her to slowly push the medicine in.
“Son of a bitch,” Angel said, squeezing his fingers to the point he thought the circulation was going to be cut off. “It’s like a lit match on my skin.”
“I’m sorry,” Ava said. “Almost done.”
“Deep breath, Angel,” he said. “In and out with me. We both need it.”
He watched as his wife breathed in and out in unison with him, and finally, the needle was removed.
“That was horrible,” Angel said, gasping for air.
She let go of his hand and he shook his fingers off. “What’s happening on the monitor?”
Angel’s hand went to her side. “It’s a contraction. They aren’t hard or long. But they are there,” Ava said.
“How long does that stuff take to work?” he asked.
“Not sure,” Ava said. “It could be quickly, it could be a few hours. She might need a second dose.”
“Please no,” she said.
“You can do it,” he said. He wasn’t so sure his fingers could handle it though.
“I’m sweating,” Angel said. “Is this normal?”
“It is,” Ava said. “It should pass.”
“Her face is red. Are you sure she’s not having a reaction?”
“She’s reacting the way most do,” Ava said. “It will pass. You might feel nauseous or dizzy too. Keep drinking if you can. Lie down. You might get a sudden headache. Let us know what you’re feeling.”
“Right now just really hot,” she said. She kicked her feet out from under the blanket. “I need air.”
“I’ll see if I can find a fan,” Ava said. “We’ve got some around here.”
“I’ll send someone to buy one,” he said.
“I’m not going to argue with you,” Angel said. “Can you get me some ice water?”
“I’ll have the nurse bring some in,” Ava said. “Sit tight and try to relax. You’re going to be here for a while. Do you want your family to come visit?”
“Sure,” she said. “Anything to get my mind off of this.”
“I’ll get them also,” Ava said.
“I’m scared,” Coy said. “It’s too early.”
“I’m scared with you,” she said. “But I need you to be there for me and not get me worked up. Can you do that? This isn’t a time for you to be a superhero or try to fix anything. This is going on in my body and I’ve got it. I want to tell you I’m scared without you making it worse.”
He nodded. “I can do that,” he said, leaning in to kiss her on the head.
Both of their families came in to visit. But an hour later, nothing had changed.
The contractions weren’t getting worse, but they weren’t stopping either.
“I’m going to do another exam,” Ava said. “If we can get some privacy.”
“I’m staying,” he said.
“That’s fine,” Ava said.
Everyone else left the room and Ava pulled a stool up and he held Angel’s hand during the exam.
“Still not dilated, I hope?” Angel asked.
“Nothing,” Ava said. “Other than your contractions, there are no signs that you’re in labor. That’s positive. The negative is you need another dosage of this.”
“Shit,” Angel said.
“You can do it,” Ava said. “Just let me know when you’re ready.”
“I’m ready,” she said. “Get it over with.”
Coy sat down again and prepared to have his fingers crushed and was going to accept it while his wife got the medication a second time and yelped and swore under her breath.
When it was done, they both breathed a sigh of relief.
“You know what to expect this time,” he said, moving over to turn the fan on higher. Once her hot flashes stopped last time, he lowered the speed for her.
“Thanks,” she said.
There was shouting and almost screaming coming from the hallway. Someone else was in labor and his cousin was running back and forth.
With another scream coming from outside the room, he broke out in a sweat and stood in front of the fan and lifted his shirt to cool down.
“I think I might pass out,” he said.
“Coy,” she said firmly. “I expected better of you. Pull yourself together. I need you to be strong next to me when the time comes. It’s not going to be today. I feel it. We just need to get through this.”
“I hope you’re right,” he said and dropped his shirt, then sat next to her on the bed rather than the chair. He tucked her under his arm to hold her while she went through the reaction of the drug again, gently rubbing her belly to soothe them both.
He felt it get hard and fought back the tears that nothing was going the way it should be.
Their family came in and out a few times, visiting and giving them space.
Angel started to doze off and he did the same.
He hadn’t even realized it until Ava woke them up.
“I’ve got good news,” Ava said, looking at the printout of the monitor. “While you two have been having a nap, your contractions look to be stopping. You haven’t had one in over thirty minutes.”
“Really?” she asked.
“Yep. And the last two you had were much milder.”
Coy let out a big breath. “So that it’s? It’s done, but we don’t know what caused it and it could happen again?”
“Actually, that was the good news,” Ava said. “I was coming back with your test results from blood and urine. It’s a little slower here on Saturdays. But you’ve got a UTI and kidney infection. My guess is you had the UTI and didn’t realize it and it spread to your kidneys. That is most likely the lower back pain you’ve been feeling. An infection can trigger contractions and labor if not addressed.”
“How could I not know I had it?” she asked. “Wouldn’t I have felt some symptoms?”
“I think you dismissed the symptoms with everything else going on in your body,” Ava said. “It can happen.” She pulled out another syringe. “This goes in the IV. It’s an antibiotic to start quickly, then I’ll send you home with a prescription to start tomorrow.”
“We can go home?” she asked.
“Not yet,” Ava said. “We are going to wait at least another hour. I want to be positive the contractions have fully stopped, but you are out of the woods in my eyes. Do you want me to send in your family for the good news?”
“In a minute,” she said.
Ava gave Angel the antibiotics and left the room.
“This is where I get lectured, right?” he asked.
“Not lectured,” she said, smiling. “I love you, Coy. I know you want to protect me. I know you want to do everything for me and I appreciate more than I can say how you’ve let me do things for the past few months.”
“I didn’t want to get yelled at again,” he said, smiling.
“Good,” she said. “Then you’re learning. I can be stubborn too. I know that. I think we are finding a good balance and we will continue to. I love you with everything I have in me.”
“I love you too,” he said. “More than I ever thought I could love another person. I don’t want you to doubt that. I don’t want you to think I only married you because you were pregnant. I knew I was going to marry you long before you said you were pregnant.”
“This is the first I’m hearing it,” she said.
“I was letting you set the pace. I knew how much you hated people telling you what to do and being babied. Somewhere along the line, I lost track of that and I’m sorry. I needed you to remind me and you did.”
“We all lose our way,” she said. “But as long as we find it again, everything will be alright.”
“It will,” he said, leaning down to kiss her. “Or you’ll break my fingers and I need them to work. Especially being down my second dentist for a few months.”
She laughed and pulled him down for a hug. “Remember that too. I’ve always been tougher than I look.”
“You won’t let me forget it either!”