Page 78 of Delayed Penalty

“Hi, Mr. Walston, it’s Harris,” I say tentatively.

“I know who this is, what do you want?” he asks gruffly, and I can hear his wife’s snippy tone in the background tell him he should have just ignored it.

“It’s about your daughter, sir. We’re at the hospital and she’s, well, she’s struggling. Her health is not the best; she’s having blood pressure problems so they’re going to be delivering the baby soon.”

I hear commotion in the back and then the sound of a door shutting, and I can only assume that he’s moving into another room.

“Isn’t this too early?” he asks, concern laced in his voice.

“I mean, she’s almost thirty-six weeks… so, yeah, it’s early. But they’ve given her medication this last week to help make sure the baby will be okay, we’re over at NY General, if you guys want to come.”

“We will be there, I’ll go let her mom know and then we will be on the way.”

With that he hangs up, and I let out a deep sigh, the stress of that phone conversation enough to make me want to hide.

“Are they coming?” Sawyer asks.

“Yeah, and so is Kelly.”

“Good, it sounds like you guys might need the support. Should we go figure out where they’re going to get you guys set up?” Sawyer says, thankfully reminding me that I have a job.

“Yeah, sorry, I’m out of it. I’m just worried,” I tell her as we start to walk back to the nurses’ station.

“You have every right to be, but thankfully, you’re already at the hospital and they’re taking this seriously,” she says with a smile. “Besides, we won’t leave until we know you guys are okay. Your baby will be fine, he’s strong like his parents and it’s not drastically early.”

“See, logically, I know that. I can tell myself that until I’m blue in the face. But never having gone through it, it feels like I’m lost at sea trying to find a life vest in the dark. It feels impossible but only because I’ve never had to this before.”

“That’s the shitty part of life, but we’re all going to get through this together, and at the end of it you’re going to get to take your sweet little family home and start the life you’ve always dreamed of. No more trying to act like a player when it was obvious you had no desire to spend time with those women. Now that we’ve seen you with Avery, it makes perfect sense to all of us why, she’s your person and you were just floating through life until you found her.”

Avery is my life vest. I may feel like I’m drowning at sea, lost in the darkness just reaching for something that doesn’t exist. But it does exist.

It’s her.

Putting a little more pep in my step, I head out in search of my girl.

The next hourgoes by in a flash. They get us set up in a room, hook Avery up to a million different monitors for either her or our baby, all trying to make sure that everyone’s still handling the situation okay, and for the time being, they are. They have also started her on another blood pressure medication to see if that will help keep her blood pressure down.

They were going to take her back immediately after Gwen took her blood pressure since it was 180/90, but all of the doctors were dealing with either deliveries or in surgery. They were hoping they would be able to induce her when it was time, but unfortunately, they said her body hadn’t started the process of labor at all on its own and it’s not ideal for induction.

As much as Avery isn’t thrilled about having a C-section, she understands the severity of the situation and agreed. Now, we are just waiting for a doctor to be available, and in the time being they have started her on an IV medication to help prevent worse complications from her blood pressure.

According to the doctor, her gestational hypertension is a precursor to the real challenge here, which is pre-eclampsia. Now that it’s started, which they were able to confirm with other tests, we are definitely going to be delivery in the next day or two, probably later tonight based on what the nurses were saying.

Sawyer and Cassie have come in a couple of times to check on us, but Avery has been trying to rest the last hour, her headache a little better, so we’ve all been trying to be quiet. Unfortunately, not everyone has the same mentality around situations like this because her parents come barreling into the room, voices raised as they dramatically say hello to their daughter.

That would’ve been bad enough, especially with her mother turning on the light and throwing open the curtains trying to “liven up the room a bit”… but they also brought guests.

Peter and his parents walk in right behind them, and I feel the blood drain from my face. I’m immediately furious and have to fight the urge to yell knowing it would only upset Avery.

“Hello, Mrs. Walston, could you please shut those and turn off the lights, your daughter is currently miserable and the light is making it worse.”

“Don’t be dramatic, Harris. I know what’s best for my daughter, and I don’t needyoutelling me what that is,” she snaps, moving to stand next to Peter. “We brought the rest of Avery’s family to come check on her. Peter was distraught when I told him what was going on and his parents wanted to come visit too.”

“Unfortunately, Mrs. Walston, that was an entirely inappropriate decision that was not yours to make. We are only supposed to have immediately family in here right now. As for the curtains and the lights, shut them now,” I seethe, doing my best to keep my voice calms, my hand reaching for Avery’s as she lays in the bed looking fragile.

Avery’s mom doesn’t move, but thankfully, her husband understands and moves to fix the lights and curtains, no one else giving a shit that I’ve basically told them to leave. They are either all self-centered pricks, or they think they are above this situation. Either way, they’re leaving whether I have to do it myself or get security.

Everyone just stands there, until finally Peter takes a step closer to Avery, and I see her flinch—a small move barely noticeable—but I lock on to it immediately.

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