All Night

Chapter Nineteen

The last thing i remember is Nate yelling my name. Nate. Nate was there. My eyes slowly flutter open groggily. The room is white, the sheets, the floors, the walls. There's an IV attached to my left arm, dripping the hydrating fluids into my arm. I look around and find Nate sitting asleep on an armchair in the corner of the room. He looks so peaceful when he's asleep. It makes me wonder what he's seen in the air force. Has he seen things that any human would be scared to see? Dark things like you see in the movies? The man goes to war and comes back scarred and broken.

He begins to stir and his eyes open and look over at me. Once he realises that i'm awake, he's on his feet and by my side.
"Hey, how do you feel?" He whispers and pushes a hair out of my face and tucks it behind my ear. Unintentionally, my head tilts into his hand and he smiles a small, warm smile but pulls his hand away quickly. A slight frown plays on my face and I quickly make it disappear.
"I'm okay, just feel a little tired," I rely to his question. Nate nods his head.
"I'll get the doctor, tell her you're awake," he says as he turns around to leave.
"Wait Nate," he turns around to face me, waiting for me to speak again, "Where's Shaun?" Nate's face twists into an angry scowl but he looks back at me and it softens.
"I told him not to come," he replies, rubbing his right knuckle with his left hand. My mouth parts slightly in shock.
"What happened?" I ask curiously. He looks down at the floor and then back up at me.
"I was coming home from dinner and I heard a loud crash and then Shaun yelling your name so I came into your apartment and well there was Shaun standing over you on the floor passed out. I was so mad and well... I punched him, even though it wasn't hard to punch him unconscious with how drunk he was. I called an ambulance and picked you up and carried you downstairs until the ambulance got there. And well now here we are," he finishes his story and my jaw is almost touching the ground. He beat up Shaun? He looks down again and takes a deep breath.
"I'll go get the doctor," he repeats and this time, makes it out the door, leaving me by myself for a few minutes before returning with the doctor.

She's pretty, long dirty blonde hair pushed up into a bun and makeup done to perfection, her white coat is ironed to perfection and he perfectly painted manicured fingers clutch onto a clipboard.
"Brook, this is Kara-I mean Doctor Williams," Nate introduces her, stuttering. Nates on a first name basis with my doctor? Something inside of me burns but I push it away. Doctor Williams says hello and gets down to business. Nate walks back to my side and places his hand on top of mine. My fingers burn where his hand touches and I know it's wrong because of Shaun but it feels too good to pull away.
"Brooklyn, I ran some tests and I just received the results," she waves the clipboard in the air. I nod my head at her to encourage her to continue.
"Your blood pressure was extremely high, which is a sign of a condition that women get when pregnant called Preeclampsia and it means you need to be on bed rest for the rest of your pregnancy and take it easy, very easy. No stress at all. How far along are you?" She asks preparing to scribble something onto her clipboard.
"About 7 months now." She nods her head and writes on her board.
"So not too long now." Her little pager that's attached to her pocket begins to go off. She looks from her board to her pager and then up at me.
"I need to attend to another patient but I'll be back with some medication for you to take until the end of the pregnancy to help keep the blood pressure low and we're going to keep you in overnight until tomorrow morning just for observation," she smiles a perfect smile at me, "Do you have any questions before I leave?"
"What happens if I can't keep my blood pressure down?" I ask quietly. There's a moment of silence before she answers.
"If you fail to keep your blood pressure down, there can be complications with the baby, it can result in a lack of oxygen flow to your baby and cause premature labour and restrict your baby's growth, but that's worse case scenario," she reassures me. She looks over at Nate who nods at her and thanks her before she turns around and leaves Nate and I alone in the room in silence. I stare at the blank wall in front of me and Nate looks down at me.
"You're going to be okay Brook, I swear, I'm not going to let anything happen to you." Tears sting my eyes and I pull Nate down to me by his arm and into a hug and he's stiff in shock but then softens and hugs me back, sitting down on the bed next to me, letting me cry into his chest, his comforting arms wrapped around me. He eventually lies down next to me and his arms tighten around me, my head resting on his chest.
"Will you stay with me tonight?" I ask him. He nods.
"I'm not going anywhere," he says quietly before kissing the top of my head.
"Ever."