Our Life Together

• Chapter Six •

*Lena's Point of View*

I pulled out my cookbook, and flipped to the page I needed. I got the respective ingredients out, and began to bake. Stef walked into the kitchen not too long after, grabbed her mug, and filled it with coffee. She walked over and placed her hand on my back.

"You want some help, love?" She asked.

"No, I'm okay." I said, focusing on the recipe. "I'm not making anything too grand."

"That's not what I was thinking, based on the list you gave me." Stef joked. "Speaking of which, how is your headache?"

"I'm fine, Stef. I called the doctor and they mentioned a specific brand of pain killers I can take." I said, beginning to get a bit frustrated. I know she's only trying to help, but I have told her I'm fine multiple times.

Stef backed away a bit, and put her hands up as if she was surrendering. "You know I just want to make sure you're okay, love."

"I know," I began, turning to face her. "and I'm sorry." I wrapped my arms around her, careful not to touch her with my dough covered hands.

Stef wrapped her arms around me, and planted a few kisses on my forehead.

All of the sudden, I started to feel really light-headed. I pulled away, and went to rinse off my hands. The light-headedness would not go away, so I started walking towards one of our chairs, but before I could sit down, I fainted.

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*Stef's Point of View*

I rushed over to Lena, and pulled out my phone beginning to dial 911. "Lena, honey, can you hear me?" After no response, I hit the call button. I explained what had happened to the operator, and they were sending an ambulance.

The paramedics arrived, and put my wife on a stretcher, and rushed her back out to the ambulance. I got in the back with her, and held her hand. "It's okay, love. I'm right here." I said, trying to keep the tears from rolling down my face.

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*Lena's Point of View*

I woke up to the beeping of a couple machines, and the sterile smell of a hospital. My eyes fluttered open, and I saw Stef sitting in the chair next to my bed. It was evident she had been crying.

"Stef?" I asked, my throat a little sore.

Stef looked up, and smiled. "Hey, love." She said as she walked over to the bed I was in. She began stroking my forehead, and pushing the hair out of my face. "How are you feeling?"

"I think I'm okay..." I immediately thought of our baby. I looked at Stef with panic in my eyes. "Is our baby okay?"

"Yes, the doctor said they're fine." Stef said, still smiling. She had a relieved look in her eyes. She leaned down, and kissed my forehead. "The doctor said she needed to talk with you when you woke up, so I'm going to go find her real quick." Stef said, getting up.

As she walked out of the room, I started wishing that she didn't need to leave. I started to grow worried, as Stef had said the doctor needed to speak with me.

What could that possibly mean?

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*Stef's Point of View*

I brought the doctor back into the room, and she smiled at Lena. "Good, you're awake. I just have to ask you a couple questions." She said, noticing Lena's worry.

Lena nodded as I walked over and took her hand in mine.

"How long have you been having headaches?" She asked.

"Just a couple days, I think." Lena replied, still having a look of worry in her eyes. "I first mentioned it to Stef two days ago." She added.

The doctor wrote down Lena's response and looked back at her.

"Were you aware that your blood pressure is a little high?" She asked.

Lena shook her head, clearly worried that it could be something bad.

"We ran a few tests, and your blood pressure is higher than we would like it to be, which could be the cause of the headaches, and you fainting." The doctor explained, trying not to worry Lena. "I would like you to stay one more day, just so we can monitor it, and make sure we can get it to go back down." She said.

Lena nodded again, and asked "Will high blood pressure affect my pregnancy?"

"It potentially could cause the baby to have a low birth weight, but we are going to do everything we can to make it go down so your baby will be healthy." The doctor, explained before walking out.

I looked at Lena, and it was evident she was trying to hold back her tears. I pulled the chair over next to the bed, and sat down in it. "Hey, you heard what she said right? They're going to try to get your blood pressure down so it won't affect our baby." I said, trying to comfort my wife. A few tears managed to escape as she glanced down at the plain, white sheets.

"I know, it's just kind of scary, you know?" She asked, lifting her gaze to meet mine.

I reached over and began rubbing her arm. "I know, love. I know."

"Hey, I'm going to call our parents real quick to cancel dinner tomorrow night. I'll ask them what would work for them for re-scheduling." I said, stepping out of the room for a few minutes.