Secret Crush

Chapter 18

It took Katy hours to get comfortable and fall asleep. Just as she was about to drift off, she would think about Zach and his mystery date and would be wide awake again. Finally, around 3 am, after she had cried out all her tears and convinced herself that this woman meant nothing to Zach, she finally fell into a deep sleep.

"Wake up Katy," her aunt whispered. "It is close to 8 and I have to get out of here to get to work for a meeting."

As Katy opened her eyes and tried to focus on the sunlight coming through the windows, she felt a sudden wave of nausea and a sharp pain in her stomach. Wow, she thought, that bad night's sleep must have taken a toll on me. As she tried to roll out of bed and place her feet on the floor, she felt worse.

"I don't feel very good Aunt Cathy," Katy muttered through deep breaths. "I didn't sleep very well and maybe I didn't eat enough for dinner."

"Uh oh," Cathy said. "Just sit right there and let me bring you some juice and toast. That should help."

Katy managed to drink the juice and nibble at the toast and felt a little better. "Go to work Aunt Cathy," Katy meekly smiled. "I'm fine, I promise."

Cathy got Katy situated with more juice and the cellphone by her bed, with instructions to call if she felt any worse. Katy managed to drift back to sleep for a bit, but she was awakened by another sharp pain in her stomach. Now she was getting worried. What if it wasn't hunger pangs but was related to the baby? Katy started freaking out. This was all new to her and she had no idea what to do.

After another pain closer in timing to the previous one, Katy accepted that something was going on with her baby. Suddenly, a whole new set of fears flooded Katy's mind. What if she was going to lose the baby? Or what if the baby was going to survive for now but end up being born too prematurely?

As another contraction hit, Katy braced the frame of the bed and decided it was time to call her aunt. Her aunt's assistant had to call her out of a meeting, but it had to be done.

"Katy, what's wrong? Do you still not feel good?" Cathy asked frantically,

"Hi Aunt Cathy. I think it's a little more than that," Katy gritted through heavy breathing. "Something is wrong with the baby. I think I'm having contractions."

Cathy raced home faster than she thought possible and met the EMTs at the door to the penthouse. Katy didn't remember much because as the contractions became stronger and closer together, she started to feel light headed and nauseated.

Before she could blink, she was in the hospital hooked up to monitors as her aunt talked to the doctor. As he made his way to Katy's bed, she was afraid to hear what he had to say.

"Hi Katy. I'm Dr. Finkle. We have stopped the Braxton Hicks contractions for now with medication, but they may come back," he said while smiling warmly and patting her arm. "Even though it is rare to get these type contractions this early in a pregnancy, it is possible. We just need to keep an eye on things."

"What about the baby? Will he be okay?" Katy pleaded as tears ran down her face.

"Yes, Katy, he is fine. All of his vitals are good. Just relax and rest. You are going to need to do a lot of that over the next several months."

Katy found out she was having a boy at the second ultrasound. At first, she told herself she didn't want to know the baby's gender because she wasn't sure she was ready, and it would hurt that she couldn't share the news with Zach. But in the end her curiosity got the best of the her, and the second time the technician asked if she wanted to know the gender she said yes. She was thrilled with the news. And the sad part was that she knew Zach would be too...if only he knew. Since that day Katy had a recurring fantasy of Zach teaching their young son to skate on a frozen Canadian pond. The vision made her heart hurt so much that she almost couldn't bear it.