Chapter 31 - Melanie #2
“Don’t look at me.” He threw his hands up and shook his head. “I’m glad that you and the baby are going to get checked out properly, but I didn’t call ahead.”
Going from the back of an ambulance to a private room in just under three hours was unheard of. Someone had pulled some serious strings.
A few minutes later, we were on our way upstairs to the room.
“Maybe it was Kyle?” My mother said after we were settled.
It didn’t sound like a Kyle move to me… but it did sound like a Griffin move.
“Kyle was saying something about Griffin before he hung up, wasn’t he?” I asked my mother.
“Oh, that’s right. Maybe Griffin called ahead.” She looked around the room we had been brought to. “This does feel like something he would do.”
“Overbearing men.” I huffed, but without any heat. It felt silly to be admitted over a fainting spell, but I couldn’t deny that it felt nice that Griffin cared enough to make sure that I was attended to quickly. I looked at the clock on the wall and grimaced. Okay, quickly was a bit of a stretch.
How the heck has it been four hours since the paramedics picked me up?
“I’ll have to give the boy a call when we are all done here.” My father said gruffly.
A knock on the door turned all of our heads, and we watched as a new doctor entered the room.
He was a tall man—probably just over six feet, with thick, stylish brown hair, a full day’s worth of stubble on his face, warm brown eyes, and a surprisingly well-built physique that even the white coat couldn’t hide.
“Hello, I’m Dr. Teller. I’m the Chief of Obstetrics and Gynecology here at Sanford.” His lips pulled into an easy smile that made his eyes light up.
He glanced at the chart in his hand and then looked at me again, “I’m going to guess that the one in the hospital bed is Melanie Landon?”
“That’s me.” I sighed.
“What brings you in today? This paper says you came in the ambulance after a fall, and that you are pregnant, is that correct?”
“I had a fainting spell.” My cheeks reddened, and I looked away.
“That’s very common in early pregnancy.” He assured me. “Do you have any idea what triggered the episode?”
“Heightened emotions.” I said flatly.
“Ahh.” He nodded and stared at me. “Do you mind if we speak alone for just a moment?” he let his eyes shift to my parents and waited for their reply.
“Oh, uhh…” my mother stammered. “Melanie?” My father had a cross look on his face and didn’t say anything.
“It’s okay guys, maybe you could see how awful the cafeteria coffee is?”
They both stood up slowly after they exchanged uncomfortable looks and assured me they’d be back soon.
“Thank you, sometimes it’s easier for patients to speak without their family in the room.” He said and pulled my mother’s empty seat to a spot a few feet away from the bed. “Could you explain what occurred that caused the heightened emotions?”
“It’s been a stressful couple of weeks,” I admitted. “My grandmother passed away a few weeks ago, and when I returned home from her funeral, I found my husband in my hot tub," a distinction that for some reason felt relevant to the story, "with his bosses secretary.” He winced at the imagery.
“And that’s when you fainted?” he asked without any judgment.
“No, I puked that time.” I joked. “Uh, this morning I learned that my grandmother had learned of his cheating before she passed and didn’t tell me. Instead, she left it in a letter for my mother.”
He nodded slowly and watched me.
“That is a lot to have thrown at you in just a few weeks.”
I shrugged and looked down at my fingers. I noticed that I had picked the skin around the nails to the point that they were bleeding.
Damn it.
“What was happening inside your body right before you passed out?” he asked.
“I felt like my skin was too restrictive and my heart was going so fast that I briefly wondered if I was having a heart attack. Then my vision got fuzzy, and it felt like the ground tilted.”
His warm eyes held no judgment or pity; he acknowledged my discomfort with quiet compassion.
“In my medical opinion, it sounds like you had a panic attack. Which is understandable given the amount of stress being shoved at you without a way to escape it. Add that to the physical stress pregnancy puts on the body and I think anyones body would be demanding a time out." His words eased some of my embarrassment. "But I’m still going to run a few tests to make sure that we aren’t overlooking anything by assuming it was a panic attack.”
I nodded and waited for him to continue.
“The ER doctor already ordered an ultrasound and someone from the lab to come up and get some samples, I’m going to add a couple of blood tests to the order but if all of that comes back good then I will let you decide if you’d like to spend the night here or in your own bed.
Sometimes it can be nice to get away from home and be somewhere with strict visiting hours. ” He winked at me, and I laughed.
“Thankfully, my family is wonderful, but I understand exactly what you mean.”
“Would you like me to wait for them to come back so I can repeat what I just told you?” he asked.
“I’m sure you have other patients…” I shrugged. I knew my parents would be worried about what the doctor had said while they were out of the room, but I knew he couldn’t just wait around in my room.
“I don’t have any other patients today.”
“How?” I asked incredulously.
“I was on call.” He didn’t elaborate, and I didn’t need him to.
“Griffin.” I groaned.
He smirked, “Is that the husband?”
“No, that’s my brother’s business partner and friend… and someone who is used to getting his own way. I’m so sorry you got called in on your day off for a fainting spell.” My head flopped back on the pillow. “I’m so embarrassed.”
“Don’t be. I would rather be called in for an easy case and some light conversation with a beautiful woman than called in for a case that would keep me up tonight.” His face and tone conveyed nothing but sincerity, and I let myself relax a little.
“Is Griffin here today?” he placed one ankle on his knee and leaned back in the seat.
“No, he’s in Seattle.” I shook my head as I answered.
“I see, is that where you are from?”
“I was born here but I live in LA.”
We slipped into an easy conversation for a few minutes while we waited for my parents to return.
I learned that Dr. Teller’s first name was Max, and he was the oldest of his siblings, had been married once but divorced early, had one ten year old son from the marriage—and that it wasn’t his weekend with his son—which made me feel better.
“Knock-knock.” A chipper voice chirped as they knocked on the door.
“I hate when people do that.” He mumbled barely loud enough for me to hear. I stifled a giggle and tried to keep my face blank when the cheerful young technician bounced into the room with a portable ultrasound.
“Thank you, Natalie.” Max said and smiled patiently. “I can take it from here. I’ll be sure to page you when I’m done with it.” She looked confused for a second.
“You want to perform the ultrasound yourself?” she asked.
“That’s correct.” He tilted his head just slightly with an amused glint in his eyes.
“Oh…” she looked around the room for a second and then stared at me. “Do you know her?”
What’s with all the questions?
“I’ll page you.” He repeated slowly.
“Of course.” She shook her head and hurried out of the room.
“That was…” I started and then trailed off.
I wasn’t really sure what that was.
“Natalie is… energetic. She’s a very competent technician, enthusiastic, and a little particular about protocols... but your parents should be back any moment and I felt it was better to keep the energy levels and the number of people in the room to a minimum.” He explained.
As if he had sensed their return, my parents stepped back into the room without knocking.
“Everything okay?” My father asked. “We just saw a young woman leaving this room looking very perplexed.”
We both laughed, and I waved a hand to dismiss his concerns. “Nothing to worry about. You guys are back just in time; he’s going to do the ultrasound. Are you ready to meet your grandchild?”
“Actually, we found a couple of stragglers on our way.” My mother stepped around my father and made room for someone to enter.
Kyle and Griffin walked into the room behind her, and my jaw dropped.
“How are you guys here already?” I gasped.
“When I say get the plane ready now… I mean get the plane ready now.” Kyle said with a cocky smirk. I rolled my eyes and laughed. He bent down and hugged me. “Are you okay, sis?” The confident, cocky look was gone from his face and had been replaced with worried eyes.
“I will be.”
“Melanie,” Griffin said from behind Kyle, and Kyle released me with a little huff. Griffin stepped closer and then reared back when I slapped his arm.
“What was that for?” he looked at his arm and back at me.
“Did you call this hospital and bully them into giving me a private room and then force this perfectly nice man to come to work on his day off?” I scowled at him and crossed my arms. I noticed how his eyes briefly darted down to where my arms were pushing my breasts up beneath the ugly johnny.
“Yes.” He stated without any remorse.
“And you don’t see a problem with any of that?” I squinted at him.
“No.” he said gruffly and scowled at me. “You were hurt.”
“I give up.” I threw my hands up and shook my head. “Thank you for caring about me, you overbearing, stubborn man.” I reached out for him, and he rolled his eyes and bent down to hug me.
After the introductions were done, Max asked if I was comfortable having everyone present for the ultrasound, and I assured him I was.
A few minutes later, we were all cooing and clapping at the sound of my baby’s heartbeat and the sight of the little blob tucked safely away in my uterus. Well, everyone but Kyle.
“That’s it?” Kyle squinted at the screen. “That’s the whole baby?”
“Yes, I’m only eight weeks along!” I rolled my eyes.
“I thought it’d be more… human looking.” He shrugged and stepped back again. I looked at my mother and wrinkled my nose, and she tried to hide her smile behind her hand. Max and Griffin appeared amused by the exchange, and my father, as always, was watching my mother with admiration.
“Does everything look okay?” I turned my attention back to Max.
He nodded and pointed to a few different things on the screen and explained what everyone was looking at.
At one point, Griffin and I found ourselves staring at each other instead of the screen, and I blushed.
His eyes darkened and his nostrils flared, just slightly, as he took a sharp breath and dragged his eyes back to the screen.
Max explained, then paged Natalie to come retrieve the ultrasound machine, who must’ve been waiting in the hall because she knocked on the door within seconds.
Then he explained to my family what he believed had happened.
When he discussed that I needed to eat small, more frequent meals and minimize my stress, Griffin tensed.
“How do we minimize stress if it’s currently a stressful period in her life?” he kept his tone even, but there was an underlying sense of urgency.
“When stress can’t be avoided in one area it should be avoided in all the others.
” Max explained. “Melanie gave me a brief explanation of her current situation so for example, on a day where she has to discuss things with a lawyer that is a day where she should minimize her time on her feet, spend time resting or doing hobbies rather than working, eat small but nutritious meals, and stay hydrated.” He looked at me to make sure I felt included in the conversation, “consider it a modified bed rest order.” He smirked when my face twisted with disgust.
“Modified or not, bed rest is not even a possibility right now.” I glanced at my family and groaned when I saw that they all wore matching expressions that told me they didn’t agree.
“We will figure it out.” Kyle said, firmly.
“That’s easy for you all to say. In a few days I have to return to my life, where I will be navigating multiple betrayals, my ex, a divorce, house hunting, and work… alone.” The machine behind me started to beep a little louder as the list grew.
“Melanie…” Max warned. “This is exactly what I’m talking about for avoiding stress. You are listing the next six months’ worth of problems as if you need to solve them from this bed,” he chastised gently.
“You’re not going to be alone,” Kyle argued, arms crossed, and obviously offended. “You really think we’d let you go back and deal with all of this alone? Hell, it’s my fucking fault Ben is even in our lives.”
“Kyle…” I softened my voice and reached for his hand. He shook his head and scowled.
“No, I don’t want you to tell me how it isn’t.
He was my friend, and not only did I let him date my little sister, but I also didn’t keep a good enough eye on the bastard.
I run a fucking security company for fucks sake…
" Kyle shook his head, "I control the security systems and cameras in his goddamn fuck pads.
" He looked like he was seconds away from breaking under the weight of guilt that wasn't his to carry.
“Kyle…” I repeated and waited for him to look at me, “I’m glad you didn’t catch him.”
I was. As much as I wished I hadn’t been fooled for so long, I knew that if Kyle had watched those videos while I was still in the dark, he would’ve killed Ben.
“You’d be in jail right now if you had.” I murmured.
“I still might end up there.”
Not for the first time, I wished that I could kick Ben in the balls for the pain he had put my family through. He had betrayed each of us.
“It sounds like you will have an excellent support system if you allow them to help you.” Max interrupted and guided us back on topic.
“We will.” My father said. His voice was gruff with emotion as he observed how much of Ben’s betrayal Kyle carried on his shoulders.
Max nodded and patted my hand. “It was a pleasure to meet you and your family, Melanie.” His lips pulled into another one of his sexy smiles, “You’re ex is a fool. Someone will be in to get some blood shortly, and when the results are in, I will be back.”
I nodded and thanked him for his time and then settled back into my pillow with a small sigh.
Griffin watched Max leave with a little scowl, and Kyle snorted.
“Subtle.” He mumbled, and Griffin turned his scowl on him.
“Idiot,” Griffin grumbled, and Kyle flipped him off.
“Boys.” My mother chastised. They both froze with sheepish grins.
“Sorry, Mom.”
“Sorry, Mrs. Walsh.”
My dad's eyes met mine, and we shared an exasperated look over their antics, but, as I watched the men who had moved mountains to be by my side, bicker with each other, I felt a weight lift off my chest.
When I looked at my father again, it was with a renewed faith in my own resilience.
A quiet confidence that I could survive this.
That I was strong.
And I was not alone.