Chapter 22 #3
That was the first time anyone had ever said that to AJ, and the way Poppy was looking at him, he could tell she actually meant it. He wasn’t sure about how fun it was, but it was nice to have someone appreciate the differences in how his brain worked.
“Get the fuck off me!” A patient from another trauma bay screamed, and there was a large amount of commotion as hospital staff and security rushed past bay six down the hall to handle the disruption.
Poppy tilted her head, leaning as far as she could in her bed to see the action, then looked back at AJ. “You can go. I appreciate you waiting with me, but I know hospitals are a lot. The noise, the lights, the germs.”
“Germs don’t bother me.”
It was a common misconception, one that he was sure he’d fed into since he had to shower immediately after sex, but that had nothing to do with germs, it was a sensory issue with his own body. He couldn’t stand the feeling of dried bodily fluids on himself.
“Okay, but still, you don’t have to stay. I don’t know what’s taking so long, but I can Uber home. I’m sure you’d rather be anywhere but here.”
She was wrong. There was no place he’d rather be but there. In fact, if she was in the hospital and he wasn’t by her side, he wasn’t sure how he would handle that or what he would do with himself.
“I’m staying.” He wasn’t leaving her. That was out of the question. It was a nonstarter.
When he said that, her entire body relaxed, and she shifted in her bed onto her side, so she was facing him as she took a deep breath. “What can go up the chimney down, but not down the chimney up?”
He repeated the question in his head, silently to himself. Once, twice. And then a third time. Her face lit up when it took him more than a second to respond. The fourth time he parroted the riddle back to himself, the answer became clear. “An umbrella.”
Her nose scrunched in what might be the cutest expression he’d ever seen. “Aw, I thought I stumped you.”
“Where did you get all these from?”
“One of my patients. Dylan.” The name escaped her lips like the last note of a lullaby, soft and sad.
“My first week working here, actually. They warned me about him on day one. He was six, but they talked about him like he was a seasoned bank robber. Respiratory nightmare, immune system even worse, nonverbal, but really what nobody could handle was his severe SPD.”
AJ had always been thankful that his sensory sensitivities were not extreme. The people he knew who suffered with severe SPD, sensory processing disorder, were affected in every aspect of their lives.
“He couldn’t stand to be touched or looked at or talked to directly, and he was just a kid, but most of the staff labeled him ‘difficult.’ They said that they had to block out extra time whenever they saw his name.
I remember thinking, everything you’re telling me is about you, that has to be extremely traumatizing for him.
I felt so bad for the kid before I even met him. ”
Poppy’s eyes filled with tears. She bit the inside of her cheek and cleared her throat, as she continued, her tone was laced with something raw and unguarded.
“I remember the first time I did. He was screaming, full meltdown, and basically being dragged in by the armpits. His mom looked like she hadn’t slept in a year.
She told me I could just strap him down if I had to.
‘Do what had to be done,’ she said. No one else could get him to stay still for scans, so they always used restraints.
” Poppy shook her head, as if dislodging the memory.
“But I was thinking, I can’t do that. I mean, I guess I would have if I had to, but I don’t know, I just thought there had to be a different way. ”
AJ listened in silence, all of his attention tethered to her, so present, so connected, it felt like they were the only people in the world, that no one else existed.
Poppy’s hands kneaded the hospital blanket as she continued, “I still don’t know why I did it, but as he screamed, I just sat on the floor and started coloring.
I didn’t talk to him or look at him. I figured if everyone could just take a breath, it would be okay.
I knew we had time, so I took it. After about ten minutes, he stopped crying, and his breathing started to regulate.
Then fifteen minutes after that, he sat down next to me.
We colored for another twenty. Then I told him we had to take pictures, he just stared at me.
He started getting upset when I got the lead apron out, so I put it back, and he calmed down.
Then I pulled out the lead-free apron, which is so much lighter, and let him touch it.
I asked if it would be okay if we tried that one.
He nodded. He still didn’t like it on him, he still cried.
It wasn’t great. It wasn’t fun. But I got his consent before everything we did, and we made it through together. As a team.”
AJ had a feeling that if he lived to be one hundred and spent every waking moment dedicated to learning about this woman, till his dying breath, she would still surprise him in the most awe-inspiring ways.
“His mom, Candace, hugged me for…I don’t know how long, and cried, and she requested I be the tech every time Dylan needed to have x-rays done, which sadly was a lot.
When he was about eight, he started talking, not a little bit at a time, but all at once, he was speaking very clearly and in full sentences.
By ten he started bringing the mind teasers in for me.
I hardly ever got them. So then I started bringing in some for him, he always got them. ” She chuckled.
“You are going to be an amazing—” AJ nearly said “mom,” but he stopped himself. His stomach felt like someone had just socked him in it. How could he have nearly made that mistake? He pivoted, “—occupational therapist.”
She smiled at that, but it was the smile of someone walking through a garden of shattered glass. “Thanks.”
“Do you still keep in touch with him? Dylan?”
“He passed away.” She took in a shaky breath. “A little over a year ago. Complications with his lungs.”
“I’m so sorry.” The three words didn’t feel heavy enough to express the emotions he wanted to convey to her.
Her voice faltered, and AJ saw the tear as it gathered in her lid. “It’s fine, it’s not…” It spilled over, a single, perfect droplet, and hung on her cheek until she wiped it away with the ball of her thumb. “I was just his x-ray tech.”
“No,” AJ stated firmly. “Believe me. You were much more than that. You saw him. You see people who other people ignore or judge. I don’t think you understand how rare that is.”
She opened her mouth to say something when a nurse came into the room like a gust of wind blowing open a screen door, the rubber soles of her shoes squeaking loudly on the tile.
“Okay, Ms. Davies, I’m Veronica. Sorry, I know Dr. West, Shelly, and Cecily all wanted to come stop by before you were discharged, but there was a four-car pile-up, and we have six critically injured, so you’re stuck with me. ”
“No worries,” Poppy smiled sweetly. “I’m just ready to get out of here.”
Veronica removed the I.V. from Poppy’s arm and then told her that plastics would be getting in touch with her for her follow-up appointment. “And did you want to stop by the pharmacy here, or do you want me to call in your scripts to Hope Falls?”
“I can pick them up in Hope Falls.”
“Okay, great. Just sign here.”
Poppy used the pen to sign the digital tablet.
“Perfect. Okay, so just take acetaminophen as needed for pain. Then there’s an antibiotic and prenatal vitamins. If you have any questions, you can follow up with—”
“Wait!” Poppy interrupted her. “What did you say?!”
Confusion swirled in Veronica’s eyes as she spoke slower, “If you have any questions, you can follow up—”
“Before that, what vitamins?!” Poppy clarified.
AJ had heard her. Prenatal vitamins. Which could mean only one thing.
The nurse looked over at AJ and then back to Poppy. “I didn’t kno—”
“What did you say?!” Poppy demanded curtly.
“I said this was a prescription for your prenatal vitamins.”
Poppy began to shake her head back and forth.
“I’m so sorry.” All the color drained from Veronica’s face as she took a step back towards the entrance of the trauma bay, literally backtracking. “I thought you knew.”
“I didn’t.” Poppy placed a hand on her chest as her breathing continued to become more labored. “I mean, I don’t. I’m not. I can’t be.”
The nurse tapped on her tablet. “I have your blood panel here.”
She turned the tablet towards Poppy.
Poppy stared down at the screen. AJ watched her eyes scanning the data as her chest rose and fell in shallow pants.
“This is a mistake.” Poppy got down off the bed and grabbed her purse from the cabinet in the corner and pulled out her phone. AJ stood as Poppy repeated, “This has to be a mistake.”
The nurse glanced at AJ and then back at Poppy. “Are you okay?”
“Yes, I’m fine. I just need to…I’m not. I can’t be…” Poppy walked out of the exam room without another word.
AJ followed her. Instead of heading back the way they’d come, they were walking towards elevators at the other end of the ER. He wanted to ask where she was going, but he had a guess, and if he was correct, they would definitely be finding out tonight if they were going to be parents.
Never in his life did he think he’d be in this situation, and if he was, he thought he’d be panicking, but that couldn’t be further from what was happening.
The only thing he was focused on was Poppy.
As long as she was healthy, then everything else didn’t matter.
So if she was pregnant, then…all that meant was he was gonna be a dad.