Derrick rushes into Aaron's appointed hospital room after hearing the monitors beeping loudly and doctors shouting from the hall. Looking from the doorway the nurses were trying to pin Aaron down, while she thrashed around the bed, blood seeping from her arm where the IV drip was and she pulled the oxygen nozzles from her nose.
"Miss, we need you to please calm down. You need fluids."
"Get off of me! Get off! Get off!" Aaron had shouted repeatedly and Derrick knew she was panicking, she was scared, maybe a bit confused. She passed out after the birth, she had lost more blood than normal and her heart rate dropped to a scary enough level the doctors made him leave the room.
"Let me see her," he demands one of the nurses who was guarding the door. She needed to see someone familiar. Someone who made her feel safe.
"Sir—"
"That's my damn daughter and she's scared. If she sees me she'll calm down,"
The nurse was young. He could tell she was unsure but Aaron's yelling was getting louder and he could hear them murmuring about sedating her. Maybe he looked worried enough or maybe the look ok his face was so fierce the nurse deemed it okay to let him through. He rushed around the doctors trying to tell her what happened and the nurses trying to find her vein. He could hear them contesting that he shouldn't be in the room and she wasn't supposed to have visitation at the moment.
Derrick didn't care.
"Hey. You're okay. Aaron, you're okay," He holds the sides of her face in each hand willing her to focus. Her hair was disheveled and he could conclude at whatever point she woke up she must have had a nightmare because her clothes were stained with sweat, her eyes looked bloodshot and tired which was mainly from the hours of birth but they were fearful, and he'd only seen that when she woke up disturbed.
"Derrick—"
"You're fine. your heart rate dropped and you passed out but you're fine."
He watched her body relax and gave the nurses a nod to go ahead and put the IV back in. They whispered words of thanks and praised him for being a great dad as they exited the room. He didn't correct them. He focused on Aaron. She was gripping his hand so tightly.
"I want to go home."
"I know. You have to stay maybe a few more nights and then—"
He was cut off by her loud sobs, "No. Now. I want to go home. Please." Tears ran down her face so fast she didn't even try to wipe them away. He did it for her brushing them away with his thumbs. He hated to see her like this. He understood she didn't want to be here at the hospital. She didn't want to do any of this.
"Honey, if I could take you out of here I would. You know that."
She cried harder. Louder. She let go of his hand and turned away from him. He watched her body shake every time she cried out, and winced every time he could hear her take such deep inhales, like she couldn't even breathe. Hesitantly he perched himself in the spot on the bed her body wasn't occupying. He didn't know what to say. Aaron was strong he knew that but even this could break somebody to their lowest form. He sat there for hours listening to her cry. Rubbing soothing circles on her back. She didn't turn around, she didn't say anything. She just cried.
For a while she stopped. Figuring she was sleeping he made a move to get out the bed as not to disturb her but then she finally spoke, "Can you stay?," her voice was so groggy like she had been forcing herself to stay awake. She said it so softly, like she had been scared to ask and only got the courage at the thought of him leaving.
"Yeah. Of course," Derrick had situated next to her so he was laying behind her. They both lay almost in a spooning position but derrick kept his arms at his side. This wasn't sufficient because Aaron blindly reached back and all but pulled his arm so it was around her and gripped his hand with such a force he thought he would lose circulation.
