To Have, To Hold, and To Leave: A Bryce Hall FanFiction «completed»

19

BRYCE'S POV

"What? What do you mean?" I asked, confused at what Kate was saying. "What is going on?"
"I, uh, I can't see," she stammered. "I can't breathe, Bryce. I don't know what's going on."
"Take a deep breath. You're freaking out because you can't see. Are you dizzy or anything?" I asked, getting up and heading to the car. 
"Mhm," she replied tearfully, "and my head is pounding. I've got Owen, Bryce. I don't know what to do."
"I'm on the way now. Stay on the phone with me, okay, Kate? I'll be there really soon. Let's talk through this."

I could hear her breathing heavily, and I knew that we needed to stop her panic attack before it had a chance to escalate. "Take the deepest breath that you can." I heard her inhale, and I continued. "You know what I need you to do next, Kate."
"I can't. I can't say it, Bryce," she panted. "Please don't make me say it."
"Honey, you know that it's important."
"I'm having a panic attack," she stammered. "This is a panic attack."
"Good," I assured her, stopping at a busy intersection. "Damn it," I mumbled. 
"What? What's going on?" she asked, the panic rising in her voice again. 
"Can you see yet, Kate?" 
"No, Bryce, I-" she began, her voice cutting off. 
"Mommy, why are you sleeping?" I heard Owen ask.

"Damn it!" I yelled, hitting my hands forcefully against the steering wheel. I hung up quickly, dialing Nessa's number.
"Hey, Bryce. What's going on?" she answered. 
"I need you to go over to Kate's. Right now," I ordered, not even skipping a beat to greet her. 
She sounded confused. "What? Why?" 
"She just called me, and she passed out in the middle of us talking. Owen's alone over there, and I'm worried about Kate and the baby. Please head over there until I can get there."
"Should I call an ambulance?" she asked, the worry in her voice entirely appropriate in this situation. 
"Yes! Yes, absolutely!" I yelled into the phone before hanging up.

I sat in traffic anxiously. There couldn't be anything wrong with her. I loved her and that baby more than I could even begin to tell her. Sure, I was leaving her, but she had given me so many blessings in the last seventeen years. 
I finally made it to Kate's driveway, and Nessa was standing in the doorway to the house, holding Owen on her hip as paramedics loaded Kate into an ambulance. "What's going on?" I asked one of them. 
"Are you the husband?" he asked. "We're taking her to Los Angeles Community. Would you like to ride along or meet us there?" 
"I'll meet you there. Thank you, sir," I thanked him, running up to the porch. 
"We'll take care of Owen. Go," Nessa assured me, motioning back to my car. 

I followed the ambulance to the hospital, running into the building after them. They put her in the emergency room, and I sat at her bedside. 
Kate looked up at me. "Oh, hey, you're here," she mumbled. "What are you doing here?"
"I wanted to make sure that you were okay. Don't ever scare me like that," I said, clutching her hand tightly. "Never, ever scare me like that again."
"Oh. Sorry."
"Can you see now?" I asked, squeezing the hand that was in mine. 
"Yeah. My head still hurts though. What happened?" 

The doctor joined us, closing the curtain around us. "Hello, Mr. and Mrs. Hall. I understand that you guys have had a little scare today? Why don't you tell me about it?"
"Well," Kate began, "I was sitting in my living room, and suddenly, I couldn't see, and my head was pounding. I didn't know what to do, so I called Bryce."
"She started having a panic attack while we were on the phone. I tried to walk her through it, but she passed out about midway through. I sent our neighbor over to check on her, and she called an ambulance," I added, looking over at her. God, she was beautiful. 
"Alright, I'm gonna run some tests, and we will figure out what's going on, okay? Sit tight," she said, leaving us alone again. 

"Kate," I murmured, looking at her, "everything is going to be okay. Please don't stress about it."
"Easy for you to say," she laughed. "You're not the one laying in a hospital bed."
"I'm sorry," I chuckled. "That was inconsiderate."
We sat in silence, her hand in mine. It felt natural, and as much as I loved Addison, I reminded myself just how much I had loved Kate the entire time that we had known each other. 

The doctor returned, and she sat down to look at us. "Alright. I've got all of your lab results here. You're showing signs of preeclampsia. We're gonna go ahead and get you started on some medications, and I am suggesting strict bed rest."
Kate groaned. "Bedrest? I can't go on bed rest!"
"You have to," I interrupted. "If you want you and the baby to be okay, then you need to listen to this doctor."
"I know that this isn't ideal, but I would like to admit you for observation. Just for tonight if all goes well. I've got another doctor that's going to get you settled into a room. When you do go home, though, I would really like you to avoid being alone. I don't want you to have another one of these episodes without anyone around."

She left, and Kate looked at me immediately. "I can't stay here tonight. What about the kids? They need to be picked up from school. I never got to finish my errands. I cannot stay here tonight, Bryce."
"Yes, you can. I'll pick up the kids. I will keep them until you're out of the hospital. When you're out of the hospital, I will come to pick you up, and I will take you home."
"I can't ask you to do that," she sighed. "You don't want to be married to me anymore, so I can't ask you to do husbandly duties."
"Don't be silly. You're not asking me to do anything. If it's alright with you, I would like to move back in. At least until the baby is born. I want to make sure that both of you are healthy."