While I'm Alive

Chapter Twenty Four

Her eyes slowly open and squeeze shut again. The lights around her were too bright. She felt herself being lifted onto something. She peels her eyes open again when she hears Alex's voice. It sounded far away but when she looked over, he was standing right next to her.
"Alex." she whispers, tears running out of her eyes and dipping into her hairline.
"Baby it's okay. You're okay." he whispers to her as he brushes her hair back.
"Alex." she tries again, her mouth feeling all too dry.
"Shh, you're fine." he says, trying to sooth her.
"Alex, i'm pregnant." she tells him finally. He stops in his tracks with shock as the paramedics continue to wheel her into the hospital on the stretcher.
Her surroundings go black once again. She could hear noises around her but couldn't make out exactly what the noises were. Talking maybe.
When she regained consciousness, she found Alex talking in hushed tones with the doctor in the corner of her room.
"I'm right here." she says angrily, catching both of their attention.
"Stop talking quietly and tell me what happened." she orders.
"Mrs. Romero-"
"Bates." she corrects the doctor, ignoring the hurt in Alex's face.
She knew she was being a bitch but she didn't know how to stop. She felt all of this sudden anger for no reason and she didn't know how to rid herself of it.
"Ms. Bates, I just want to run a few tests. I'll be back shortly." the doctor informs her before walking out.
"You're pregnant." Alex says softly.
"Yeah." Norma says, glancing over at him before staring at the wall in front of her.
"H-How....how long did you know?" he asks.
She shrugs, not wanting to talk.
"Well...why didn't you tell me?" he asks.
"Because I didn't. Okay?" she snaps.
"Norma it's my kid-"
"I wanted to surprise you. But nothing in my life ever goes right." she tells him with annoyance.
Norma sighs and pulls her knees up to her chest. She stares at the wall in front of her while Alex keeps his distance. She leans back against the pillow, squeezing her eyes shut.
"Alex." she says, sitting up and looking at Alex with desperation.
"Alex you...you've gotta get me out of here." she tells him.
"What?" he asks with confusion.
"You've gotta get me outta here. I can't be here any longer. Okay? I said no doctors-"
"No, Norma-"
"Come on, Alex." she begs.
"Norma we can't leave until someone looks at you." he tells her calmly.
"Alex, I don't give a shit." she tells him.
"Well, you should. You want to make sure our baby is safe, don't you?" he asks.
Norma sighs with aggravation and slouches down into her bed.
"If you're not going to help, I don't know why you're even here." she mumbles as she turns away from him.
The testing took roughly two hours before they pulled Alex out into the hallway.
"We would like to keep her over night for observation but, from what we saw with the testing, we believe it was a stress induced seizure. Nothing to be worried about. What we are worried about is the pregnancy. With her age, we would like for her to take it easy throughout the next nine months." the doctor tells Alex.
"Uh, right. Yeah alright." Alex says, knowing how difficult these next nine months are gonna be.
The next morning, the doctor pulled Alex into the hallway once again to speak with him about his wife and unborn child.
"The fetal heartbeat is strong which is promising. What we are most concerned about is your wife. She displayed a number of mood changes throughout her stay. We believe the seizure was caused by stress but we also believe she is showing signs of bipolar disorder." he tells Alex.
"What? N-No. No this is very sudden. It's not like that. Norma is...she is hard headed and stubborn but she isn't bipolar." Alex tries to explain.
"We want her to see a doctor. As for the seizures, if they happen again, give us a call." he says, handing Alex a card.
Alex looked down at the card, fearing Norma might be a repeat of his own mother. He couldn't live with himself if he let another woman that he loves fall into illness.
As soon as Norma was released, Alex was by her side ready to take her home. Her eyes looked dull blue and she had dark circles under them.
Norma spent most of the following days in bed, staring at the ceiling. Alex tried to help where he could, bringing her food and walking around with her, even helping her garden. Though nothing seemed to bring her back to her normal, boisterous self.