Evergreen (sequel to Green for Good?!)

Elsie Elsie Elsie

BEEP. BEEP. BEEP.
Caitlin sat up, terrified as to what the strange beeping noises were. The more frightened she became, the louder, faster and more prominent the beeps were. It didn't help that she had no idea where she was, and it was so dark that even if she did know, she wouldn't be able to tell. And then she realised, the beeps were from machines monitoring her heart rate; all she had to do was calm down, and they'd become less menacing. So she did. And she finally figured out where she was- the hospital. Again.
It all came flooding back to her: the park, the pain, Lucy, Austin, and Jackson carrying her in her arms. Then she sat up with a start; Austin. Where was Austin?
"Hello?" She called out. "Jackson? Lucy? Mum? Dad? Anyone?" She shrieked, becoming increasingly panicked as time moved on and no one answered her. Finally, a young-looking petite nurse with long, straight brown hair, approached her. "Hello Caitlin. It's nice to see you're finally awake." "H-hi. Finally? What do you mean finally?" "Well you've been sleeping for over 24 hours. You arrived here at 7pm on Thursday evening, it's now 1am on Saturday." "What? Why was I asleep for so long? And where is everyone? Where's my son, Austin?" "Honey, your body has been through a lot, and it needed that time to recover. Everyone has gone home to sleep, they were all so tired, as they barely left your side. Austin's safe, he's with your husband. Now, please, try to relax, and tell me how you're feeling." Caitlin took a long, deep breath. "Ok, I have severe abdominal pains, a migraine, I feel really dizzy and I'm incredibly naus-" She was about to say 'nauseous' when she began to wretch. The nurse immediately placed a bowl in front of her mouth, and then she began to projectile vomit into it. The kind nurse rubbed her back, and handed her a tissue once she was finished. "Thank you?" Caitlin began, wanting to thank the kind lady, but not knowing her name. "Elsie, my name's Elsie. I'm sorry for not properly introducing myself." "Elsie. That's a lovely name." "Thank you, I like to think so. Now, how about you tell me all about how you're feeling mentally." "Ok." "Oh, and Caitlin." "Yes?" "Let me know if you're tired." "I will." "Good. I think we'll be great friends." Caitlin smiled delightedly and said: "I think you may be right."
* * *
The next morning Caitlin awoke, surrounded by her friends and family. Elsie had gone, she'd finished her shift, but would be back the following day. As soon as they noticed she was awake, all of Caitlin's loved ones enveloped her into a warm, comforting hug. "Well, hi." She squeaked. A chorus of resounding voices answered her greeting. "What did the doctors say? Are you and the twins ok?" "I don't know. Where's my doctor?" Jackson approached and kissed her forehead sweetly. "Hello honey. Your doctor will be here at 11, in an hour and a half. How are you feeling? Did you sleep well?" He asked, stroking her hair gently. "Hey Jax. Ok, thank you. I've been better." She said, attempting a weak, minuscule smile. She continued. "I slept... quite well, I guess. How are you?" "I'm fine. I'm not the one in hospital." He remarked, kissing the tip of her nose. "Whatever. Where's Austin?" "He's with my mum, and your dad. Our parents decided to look after you and Austin in shifts." "I miss him. I want him here!" She moaned, pouting childishly. "Cate, a hospital isn't the place for him, and you're not well enough for him to visit yet. But we can ask Georgina when she comes." "Alright..."
"Hello Caitlin, how are you feeling?" Georgina asked, her familiar blue eyes offering her reassurance and comfort. "Hi, Georgina. Not so great. I think I feel worse than I did when I first arrived, actually." "Oh dear. Well that's not good. Let me see if I can fix that.." She muttered, and then continued. "Alright. So, what are you symptoms Caitlin?" "Um, projectile vomiting, regular migraines, severe abdominal pains, dizziness and back ache." "Ok, well we'll get the sonogram up and running, check that the twins are ok, and then we'll run some tests, if that's alright with you?" "Ok. Yes, of course."
Caitlin was reclined on a hospital bed, one of her hands clutching her husband's hand, the other holding that of her mother's. "Ok, both twins are smaller than usual, particularly in proportion to your stomach measurement, which is worrisome. Again, one twin is quite prominently smaller than the other, and both their heartbeats are too fast, suggesting they're stressed, which means that you are Caitlin. It's important that you try to eliminate stress where possible. Is there anything in particular that you think is causing this stress?" "Yeah, uni. And literally every other part of my life right now." "Ok, well have you considered maybe taking a break from uni? Just for a little while, and it's for medical reasons, so you're perfectly justified to do so. If not you could try yoga, or therapy or something." "I could try that, I guess. But therapy? Is it that bad?" "No, I just thought, considering your past pregnancy it may be helpful. But it was just a suggestion, that's all." Caitlin nodded, Georgina was just trying to do her job. "Ok. I think I'll take a break from uni then." "Alrighty then. Ok, your blood pressure is still too high, which is not a good sign, and we need to work on that. All in all, the twins are ok. But they could be better. A LOT better. We'll keep you in for a few weeks Caitlin, run some tests and take it from there." "A few weeks?! Is that really necessary?" "Yes. It's essential if you want your babies to be born at a gestation later than 25 weeks." "Ok, hospital it is then." "Good choice. Cause your 25 weeks in 3 weeks, right?" "Yep." Georgina chuckled. "Ok. I'll see you later sweet." "Ok, bye Georgie." "See ya Cate."
"Hey Jax?" "Yes honey?" He asked, cupping his hands around his wife's cheeks. "I think I'm going to drop out of uni." "What? Why? I thought you were just taking a break!" "But I don't think that will be enough! I can't commit to it anymore, even when I'm there physically I'm not there mentally. I can't work properly, and I don't really have any goals, or any type of purpose there anyway. Plus, it's unnecessarily adding to my huge pile of stress, and it's clearly affecting the twins. And I miss Austin so, so much that I can't focus, and I don't have you there to brighten up my day. I can't carry on with this, and I really need to quit. For everyone's benefit." "Are you sure?" "Yes, I'm sure." "Ok. Now you can bring me lunch, and come visit me in my breaks!" He joked, kissing Caitlin's cheeks. "Yay for me!" She said sarcastically, rolling her eyes. "Shut up!" "Ok, seriously now, can you get me a resignation form at some point please." "Of course. Anything for you Cate."
* * *
"Baby, we need to start thinking of names for the twins, I'm 22 weeks now, and Georgina thinks they'll probably be born at around 30 weeks, if not earlier, so we have a minimum of 2 months to get everything ready." "Woah! That's not long, at all. You're right. Ok, hit me!" "Ok, so I was thinking: Elsie, Taylor, Daisy, Hazel, and Leila." Jackson chuckled heartily. "What's so funny?!" Caitlin asked, confused. "You! You're so predictable! I mean, Daisy- the main character from your favourite book 'The Great Gatsby'; Taylor- your favourite singer 'Taylor Swift' and idol 'Elizabeth Taylor' ; and Hazel- because of your weird, continuous pregnancy craving of hazelnuts!" "Alright, alright you got me! Now stop mocking me and tell me your name ideas so I can mock you!" "Ok, I really like: Aria, Belle, Alexandra, Jennifer and Autumn." "Ooh! Some of those are actually really pretty, but Jennifer is obviously because of your obsession with 'Jennifer Lawrence'." "You can't talk, you're obsessed with her too!" "Oh no, my friend. I'm an avid fan. Not a creepy stalker!" She corrected. "Whatever!" He rolled his eyes. "Right. From your list, I like Taylor, Elsie and Leila." "Cool, and from your list, I like Aria, Jennifer and Autumn." "So we have: Aria, Autumn, Elsie, Jennifer, Leila, and Taylor. So far." "Yes, so far."