Colby sits across from me eating breakfast. His eyes stays on his phone as he watches TFIL videos. I can barely eat, the nerves racing through me. If he finds out about me and Sam he'll be so mad. I don't know if I can handle that. I can't lie to him. We have to be honest for this to work. However, he's also lying to me. He's been sneaking around more and being secretive. It's none of my business who he sleeps with, but I'm 29 weeks pregnant. We only have so much time until she's here.
"Colby?" I blurt out quickly.
"Yeah?" He looks at me with a confused look.
I open my mouth, but my teeth begin to clench when I feel a sharp pain in my lower stomach. My eyes clench as I hold the area.
"Kat?" He say putting his phone down.
"I- Sorry," I breathe out when it ends. "Never mind." I smile.
"Are you sure?" He asks again.
"Yeah." I nod my head. I look around for a moment, freaked out by the feeling I just had. I grab my plate and put it in the sink before running up the stairs.
I go into my room and shut the door, sitting on my bed as I feel another pain. I don't want to worry Colby. This time, the sharpness lasted longer. I breathe through it, telling myself it's nothing.
"Alright, baby, you gotta stay a little longer. You're not ready yet." I sigh. "I'm not ready yet."
My phone dings, a text from Sam is shown on my screen. I grab it, my eyebrows furrowing as I try to concentrate.
"Lunch? We haven't been on a real date and Colby has plans today. He won't notice."
I smile softly.
"Of course:) I'll text you when Colby leaves." I reply back.
I get up and grab a pair of jeans from my closet. I slip them on, the maternity fabric stretching around my belly perfectly. I quickly put my hair in a pony tail, not wanting to deal with it today. I don't worry about any makeup either. I look into my drawers, finding a shirt that I like.
"I'll be back!" Colby yells from downstairs. I smile to myself and watch him get into his car out the window. I grab my phone and tell Sam the coast is clear.
I sit on my bed as I wait for him to arrive. I haven't felt anymore pains, I'm sure it was just cramping.
Sam texts me he and says he's here, I squeal like a 12 year old. I haven't been this excited in months.
I grab my purse and head to Sam's car, the smile not leaving my face.
****
"That was so good." I laugh as I finish off the popcorn.
"I swear that was one of the best movies I've seen in years." Sam laughs. He opens the door to the movie theater, letting me go first. We walk to his car together in silence.
"So," he says as we stand by his car. I press my lips together.
"Sam, I really like you." I smile at him. "Thank you for being there for me. I really appreciate it. I've been so stressed lately that I just forgot how to be me. How to have fun and forget everything." I lean against his car. "You reminded me of that today." I smile again.
He puts his hand against my cheek, caressing it. "I love you." He whispers. I smile as he leans in, his lips touching mine softly.
We back away and he opens the door for me. Before I could get in, I feel the pain again. The shock causes me to drop the popcorn and hold onto the car door.
"Katelyn?!" Sam yells, catching my fall.
My eyes clench and my stays slightly open as I groan.
"Get in, come on. I'm taking you to the hospital."
I shake my head no and grab his arm. "I'm not ready, I can't have her now." I tell him tears coming to my eyes.
"Katelyn, if we don't get you to the hospital something bad can happen. I know you're scared, but you need to make sure you're okay." He tells me as he tried to calm me down. I nod my head, wiping my tears away. I get into the car, letting him buckle me. He hurries to his side and get in, holding my hand as he drives.
****
I sit nervously in the hospital bed, waiting for my doctor to come back in. Sam sits next to me, his leg bouncing up and down with anxiety.
"Should we call Colby?" He asks me.
"No, no don't worry about it. It's probably nothing." I tell him. I don't want to ruin Colby's day with a false alarm, and me dating his best friend.
A knock at the door caused me to sit up.
"How are you feeling dear?" The doctor asks me.
"Better, thank you." I smile.
"So all of our tests came back mostly okay." She tells me, looking at the chart.
"Mostly?" Sam asks.
"You have a high amount of protein in your urine and your blood pressure is high. These are common symptoms of a medical diagnosis called pre-eclampsia. This is something that can be very severe and sometimes fatal. To both the mother and the fetus." My heart drops as she tells me. I can feel myself panic. "But, thankfully we caught yours early. There's no definite cause for it, but it could be multiple things. It could be an insufficient blood flow to the uterus, damage to blood vessels, an immune disorder, or a gene that some people carry. We're going to give you an IV drip of hydralazine which will help with your blood pressure. We'll monitor you for a couple hours and if nothing worsens, we can discharge you and prescribe you an oral medication that will lower your blood pressure and prevent it from getting worse."
"Is she okay though? Do I have any risks?" I ask the doctor as my hand caresses my belly.
"As of right now, your baby is very healthy. She's small for your gestation, which is a common factor when you have pre-eclampsia. She's currently measuring 1.24 ounces, which aligns more with 24 weeks gestation."
"Can she have any long term affects?"
"Some babies do have liver or kidney issues, but because we caught it so early, it's doubtful that she'll have any issues."
I start to calm down hearing that we'll be okay. "Thank you so much." I smile.
"You're very welcome. I'll be back in a couple hours to give you guys an update on your beautiful baby." She smiles at both Sam and I. "Get some rest."
She leaves the room and I immediately look at Sam. He frown and gets up, hugging me as I begin to cry.
"I'm sorry I ruined our date." I tell him. "I wanted to be normal for one-"
"No, don't be sorry. Everything's okay. This doesn't change anything."
The door opens and Sam backs away from me quickly. Andrea walks in quickly, a confuse look rushing over her face as she sees Sam, then coming to my side.
"How are you sweetie? Is everything okay with you and the baby?" She asks me, hugging me and putting my hair behind my ears.
"Bad news or good news first?" I ask her.
"Let's wait until Colby gets in here and you can tell us together." She smiles and nods. My eyes widen and I look at San when she says Colby is coming.
"Colby's coming here? Now?" I ask her.
"I had to call him Katelyn, he would be so upset if something happened without him knowing." She frowns.
He walks into the room, looking extremely worried. "Hey, what's wrong?" He rushes to me. Not noticing Sam in the corner of the room. I glance at him again, but bring my attention back to Colby.
"Good news or bad news?" I ask him.
"I don't care, just tell me what happened." His eyes are bloodshot, I can't tell if it's from crying or smoking.
"I have pre-eclampsia." I tell them. Andrea gasps and her hand goes to her mouth. Colby looks at her nervously.
"What's that?" He asks me.
"It's a condition that causes high blood pressure in pregnancy." Sam speaks up, his hands in his pockets.
Colby jerks himself around, "Why are you here?" Colby asks him.
"That's not important right now, Colby." I tell him. He rolls his eyes at my response.
"It can be fatal. For both of us." I tell him.
"Fatal? As in you can die? You and Lana?"
"The good news is that it's early and treatable. They've given be some medication that's going to help my blood pressure stay normal. Lana's smaller than what she should be, but other than that she's healthy. There is a risk of a liver or kidney disease. The doctor told me is was small though since were able to treat it."
Colby sighs in frustration. "I should of been here with you, I'm so sorry." His eyes shut.
"I had Sam, it's okay." I smile. I look at Sam mouth a "thank you."
"Hey," I call to Colby. He looks up at me again. "I'll be okay. I promise." I smile.