Rory woke up in the middle of the night, gasping for air. Looking around the room, everything was dark except the glow from the clock next the bed that read 2:36am. Next to her, Logan was still asleep with his arm draped over her chest. Something felt off, she just knew it, but she wasn't sure what exactly was wrong.
"Logan. . . Logan, wake up." Rory said nudging her husband with her arm, but he just groaned. "Logan, wake up. Something is wrong."
"It's the middle of the night, go back to sleep." he mumbled, still not opening his eyes.
"Logan, come on."
"Why are you awake?"
"I had a really bad dream, and it feels like something is wrong."
"I'm sure everything is fine, go back to sleep. We can deal with it in the morning."
"Logan, I need you to wake up. Please."
"Why? What time is it?"
"It's after 2:30."
"Why are you awake?" Logan asked again, finally opening his eyes.
"I had a really bad dream, and something feels off."
"What do you mean. What's going on?"
"Do we have one of those baby monitor things?"
"Not here at the house, no. We talked about getting one, but I have one at the clinic, so we decided not to. Why? What's up?"
"Something is wrong, I can feel it."
"What do you mean something is wrong?"
"I don't know, something just feels wrong. But I don't know what it is."
"Is the baby moving?"
"Not right now. I don't feel anything."
"Did you try pushing on her?"
"I'm trying, she's not moving."
"She could just be asleep. It's the middle of the night. I'm sure everything is fine. Let's go back to sleep, we can check everything out in the morning."
"You really don't have a monitor thing?"
"No, you told me we didn't need one since I have one at the office."
"Well can you go get it?"
"Right now? Babe, it's the middle of the night."
"So. . ."
"You want me to go to the office, in the middle of the night?"
"Something is wrong Logan, and I need you to get the monitor to check the baby. Please?" Rory begged.
"Ok, ok. I'm getting up, calm down. I'm sure everything is fine. There is nothing to panic about." Logan said as he sat up, and started to get out of bed.
"Something is wrong." Rory told him as tears sprang to her eyes.
"Come here . . . I need you to calm down, and take deep breaths, ok? You aren't doing anyone any good by panicking." Logan said as he reached for her wrist. "You need to calm down, your pulse is racing right now. I'll get dressed and go get the monitor from the office."
"Why don't we have one here? Don't you have everything in your medical bag?"
"My bag is in the car, and no, I don't have a Doppler or an ultrasound in my bag. I have one at the office, and at the hospital. I only have the basics in my bag."
"Can we get one?"
"A Doppler, yes. Ultrasounds cost thousands of dollars, and I'm pretty sure that I can't get one for home use."
"Why not?"
"Because that is a machine that can only be used professionally with the proper training."
"But you have one at the office?"
"The hospital leased one to the clinic."
"Let's go." Rory said as she climbed out of bed, and walked across the room to pick up the sweatshirt she had tossed on a chair before going to bed, pulling it over her head.
"You're coming?"
"Obviously."
"You realize that it's early March, and freezing outside right now."
"I'm not stupid. I'll put a coat on. Grab me my warm boots out of the closet."
*~ * ~ * ~ * 30 minutes later * ~ * ~ * ~ *
"Hey Paris . . . I'm sorry to wake you. Rory's blood pressure is pretty high." Logan said, as Paris answered the phone.
"What time is it?"
"Almost 3:30. Rory woke up an hour ago from a bad dream, and felt like something was off. She demanded I come to the clinic to get the Doppler to check the baby, then decided to come with me. Her heart was racing before we left the house, but it's gone back down significantly. It's still high, but not as bad as it was. I figured since we're at the clinic, I would do a quick check to calm her down. The baby's heart rate seems normal, but Rory's blood pressure is pretty high. I can take care of everything, but I wanted to let you know in case you want me to take her to L&D."
"What is it at?"
"160 over 90."
"She's hypertensive."
"I know."
"Do you have the equipment to check urine protein?"
"No, but I can run over to the hospital."
"I'll meet you there. You have an ultrasound right?"
"I do. It looks normal to me, but then again I don't exactly know the specifics of what to look for."
"Is the baby moving?"
"Not much, it looks like she's sleeping."
"Lucky! My kids liked to kick the crap out of me in the middle of the night."
"That's unfortunate."
"Can you check blood sugar?"
"I already did, it's normal."
"Is she dizzy, vomiting, or have any problems seeing?"
"She's been light headed and super nauseous lately. The morning sickness is pretty much never ending."
"Does she have any pain?"
"Not that she's told me about."
"What about swelling or weight gain?"
"Aren't those normal for pregnancy?"
"To an extent. Take her to the ER and have them run a blood and urine panel, and email me the results. Get her an IV, and have whoever is there call me when the lab results come in so I can go over them. It sounds like gestational hypertension. I promised my kids I would make them pancakes when they wake up, so I'm going to try to get a few more hours of sleep. I'll be there at 8, unless there is something urgent that I'm needed for sooner. I'm pretty sure you know how to handle this."
"You taught me how."
"The ER can't do an NST, right?"
"No, only L&D can do that."
"Go to L&D then. Tell them I need a full work up, blood, urine, organ, NST. I'm going back to sleep. Call me when the lab emails the results."
"Thanks Paris."
"Tell Rory not to worry. Everything will be fine. And if she's hungry, feed her before you get to the hospital because they won't allow her to eat until testing is complete."
"I'll grab tacos on the way."
"Good idea. I'm going back to sleep."
"Goodnight Paris." Logan said, then hung up the phone, and walked back into his office where Rory was relaxing in the chair behind his desk. "Let's go."
"Where are we going?" Rory asked as Logan reached to help her out of the chair.
"Taco shop."
"Ok?"
"I told Paris I would feed you on the way to the hospital."
"We're going to the hospital? What's going on?"
"Your blood pressure is really high. You need lab work and monitoring."
"Is the baby ok?"
"At the moment. Everything will be fine. Paris wants me to take you in for testing. She'll meet us there after making the twins pancakes."
"Paris makes good pancakes."
"I didn't know Paris could actually cook."
"She can, she just doesn't."
"Come on, let's go get tacos."
"I want Belgian waffles from Mirabello's."
"They're not open yet, but we can have some delivered later."
"That sounds amazing." Rory said as she got up, and Logan helped her back into her coat.
"What else did Paris say?" Rory asked as Logan escorted her out of the office, and across the lobby of the HPG building, heading for the door to the parking garage.
"She says you need lab work, and an IV."
"And? What aren't you telling me?"
"Everything is fine. Your blood pressure is a little high. We're going to run some tests to figure out why."
"But the baby is ok?"
"It looks that way."
"But?"
"You need tests and monitoring."
"Logan. . ."
"Yes?"
"Do I need to ask Doctor Google?"
"That's not a good idea. Doctor google will tell you that you're dying and that's not the case at all."
"So then tell me what is really going on?"
"I don't have any other information for you. I promise that I'll tell you when I do. But for right now, I just really need for you to trust me, and try to stay calm, ok? Let Paris and I handle everything."
"You said Paris isn't coming until after breakfast."
"That's right." Logan said as he helped Rory into the car, then got in himself, and backed out of the parking spot.
"So it's nothing super urgent then, if Paris isn't rushing right over."
"That's right. We just need to get some labs. Everything is fine. I'm going to get you some tacos to eat, then take you to the hospital, get you up on the monitors, draw some blood and have you give us some urine, and then you can go to sleep while we wait for the results from the lab."
"And then what happens?"
"And then we figure out what to do from there."
"Which means what?"
"Which means that you aren't working today."
"You know more than you're telling me. You're worried about something."
"Of course I'm worried about something. You're my wife. I get to worry about you."
"You really aren't going to tell me?"
"I already told you everything I know."
"Except that you haven't."
"Ace, come on. Please stop asking me for information."
"Because?"
"Because I'm not going to tell you anything that is going to freak you out."
"So there is something to be worried about."
"You have high blood pressure. That isn't good for anybody. You know that."
"Am I having a heart attack?"
"No, definitely not."
"You said my pulse was high."
"It's elevated."
"And that's bad for the baby."
"It can be. That's why we are going to run tests."
"Am I being admitted?"
"I don't know."
"But there is a possibility."
"There could be, yes. But fortunately for you, you live with a doctor, so you can be monitored at home just as easily as you can the hospital."
"But?"
"But we'll see what the test results say. Now please, try to relax."
"Do I need to call my mom?"
"At 3:30 in the morning? No. I'll call her later if we need to. There is no point in waking people up right now when we don't have any information. I'll text Honor and have her bring us laptops and phone chargers when she wakes up, but there is no reason to wake anyone upright now."
*~ * ~ * ~ * 4:00am * ~ * ~ * ~ *
"Doctor Huntzberger, what a pleasant surprise. You didn't get called in, did you?" the nurse at the desk in the ER asked as Logan and Rory approached her.
"Not today. Will you call up to L&D and let them know that I'm bringing up a patient please? Have them get a room ready. Tell them I have orders from Doctor Gellar."
"Will do."
"Thanks Claudia." Logan said as the nurse reached for the phone, and Logan escorted Rory through the emergency room.
"Still not giving details?" Rory asked.
"It's none of anyone's business."
"And giving details means that I get information that you don't want me having."
"Ace, come on. Don't be like that."
"Pretty much the entire staff here knows that I'm your wife by now."
"And?"
"Obviously you're bringing me in for something, and taking me to labor and delivery means that there is something wrong with the baby."
"Not necessarily the baby. We take pregnant patients to labor and delivery because there are ton of germs in the emergency room, and it's flu season, meaning that keeping you in there could cause you to get sick, which could cause additional problems to the baby. We are going to labor and delivery because it is the safer option for both of you."
"And because there is a problem with the baby."
"Not yet, but if we don't treat your high blood pressure, it could turn into a problem for the baby."
"Logan, why won't you just tell me what's going on?"
"I will when we get the test results. There is no reason to worry you about something that we don't even know exists yet."
"So something is wrong then."
"Rory, why are you peppering me with so many questions today?"
"Because I know that you are hiding something from me, and I want to know what it is. We don't keep secrets from each other, Logan."
"I will tell you everything once I know for sure. I promise. Now please, will you just let it go for a while?" Logan asked as he pressed the button on the wall for the elevator, and the door next to it opened for them to step inside.
"Logan. . ."
"Babe, come on. You trust me, right?"
"You know that I do.
"Then will you please stop with the questions? I promise to tell you as soon as I know something. But for right now I really need you to just calm down, and try to relax. We need to get your blood pressure under control, and having you stressing out and asking me a ton of questions about something that I don't have answers to, really isn't helping anything. It's 4am, neither one of us has slept more than a few hours, we're both exhausted and grouchy, and the hospital is the absolute last place that either one of us really wants to be right now. So please, will you just try to relax for me? We are going to get you in bed, hooked up to the monitors, get the lab work that we need sent off, and then I promise, I will curl up with you and we can both get some sleep until Paris comes in with the test results."
"Am I being admitted?"
"I don't know yet. We'll see how it goes, ok?" Logan told her with a sigh.
"You're mad."
"I'm not mad, I'm tired."
"You're annoyed with me."
"I'm not annoyed with you. I'm just getting frustrated with all the questions that I can't answer. If I had information for you, I would tell you. You know that I would. But right now, I can't tell you something that I know nothing about. I really need you to just calm down, and let this go for now."
"I have a right to know what is going on. I'm an adult, and it's my body."
"Rory, please! Babe, I love you, but this is getting pointless. I've given you all the information that I have. But right now, I need you to calm down, and let me and the nurses do our jobs."
"This isn't fair."
"You are worse at being a patient than my Dad is."
"You normally like having me as a patient." Rory said as the elevator doors opened and Logan led her down another hall, toward a large set of doors.
"Because you're usually docile and let me do my job without asking a billion questions." he answered as he reached up to press a button on the wall.
"Nurses station." a voice answered.
"It's Doctor Huntzberger."
"Come on in." the voice said, as they heard a buzz, then saw electronic doors start to open in front of them. Logan led Rory through the doors to the nurses station where they were greeted by two nurses.
"Doctor Huntzberger, room number 9 is ready for your patient. Is she registered?" one of the nurses asked.
"Not yet, but I'll take care of it, if you wouldn't mind logging in for me. I have orders from Doctor Gellar. I need monitors, and a full work up."
"No problem, right this way. I'm Amelia, and I'll be here to help you out for the next few hours."
"Thank you Amelia. This is my wife, Rory. She woke up around 2:30 with a racing pulse and high blood pressure."
"And you spoke to Doctor Gellar already?"
"She's Rory's best friend."
"No offense, but I wasn't aware that she actually had many friends. Everyone here is terrified of her."
"She prefers it that way." Rory spoke up. "Don't take it personally. And don't worry, I'm nothing like her."
"Well I am very glad to hear that." Amelia smiled as they walked into a room. The bathroom is right here Mrs. Huntzberger. Go ahead and take all of your clothing off, and put this gown on. When you're finished, I'll help you into bed, and get you hooked up to the monitors."
"We'll need a urinalysis." Logan told her.
"Right here." Amelia smiled, as she handed Rory a gown, and a plastic cup with a lid on it.
"Babe, do you need help?" Logan asked as Rory took the gown and cup from the nurse.
"No, I can handle it." Rory answered, as she took off her coat, and headed into the bathroom.
"I'll leave a bag on the bed for your belongings. You can just put them it all in the closet when you are finished." Amelia told her as she moved over to the computer, and logged in, then stepped away to allow Logan to take over.
"Thanks Amelia. Has Doctor Gellar called at all?" Logan asked.
"Not that I know of."
"I need to know if and when she does. I'll put all the orders in. Who is the attending right now?"
"That would be Patrice. She's our P.A."
"You only have a physician's Assistant? There isn't a doctor here overnight?"
"It's been a slow night. Doctor Handell is on call until 8am."
"Well I guess I can help out if you need it, but I really don't have much obstetrics training."
"Thank you. I will let Patrice know."
"Would you mind grabbing me an IV kit and some testing vials?"
"Sure, I'll be right back." Amelia told him, then headed out of the room.
"Ace, is everything ok?" Logan asked as he saw Rory step out of the bathroom a few minutes later."
"I just threw up the tacos."
"I'll get you some nausea meds. Let's get you into bed." Logan said as he stepped away from the computer, and took Rory's clothes from her, placing them into the plastic bag, then helped her get settled into the bed. "I'm going to go find the PA running things tonight, so I can get your meds ordered. I'll be right back, ok?" Rory nodded as Logan placed a kiss on her forehead, then headed out of the room, closing the door behind him.
"Doctor Huntzberger, this is Patrice." Amelia told him as Logan approached the nurses station.
"It's nice to meet you Doctor Huntzberger." Patrice said holding her hand out to greet Logan.
"It's nice to meet you too. I was actually just coming to find you. I need some nausea meds. Rory was previously diagnosed with Hyperemesis Gravidarum by Doctor Gellar. She just threw up the tacos she ate before coming here. She woke up at about 2:30 with a racing pulse feeling like something was wrong, begging me to go to my office to get the Doppler I have there. She decided to come with me, so when we got there, I checked her vitals, and her pulse was down slightly from where it had been before we left home, but her blood pressure was very elevated, causing her to be hypertensive."
"How far along is she?"
"24 weeks."
"And she's your wife?"
"She is. Administration allows me to consult on her treatment."
"Doctor Gellar is her doctor?"
"That is correct. I talked to her before coming here. She wants a full work up and monitors, and needs the results emailed to her. I don't mind starting her IV and drawing blood, unless you would rather have someone else do it."
"Are you a physician at this hospital?" Patrice asked.
"I am. I used to work in the ER, but just opened my own partner clinic across town at the Huntzberger Publishing Group."
"You're the one who runs the new employee clinic?"
"I am. I can call downstairs and have whoever is running the shift in the ER come verify everything for you, if you'd like."
"I wasn't aware that the hospital allowed doctors to treat their family members."
"They don't, but you are allowed to consult. Would you like me to have someone else step in to treat Rory, because I don't mind making a call."
"Is Doctor Gellar on her way?"
"She said that she will be here at 8. Who is the resident on shift right now?"
"That would be Wendy."
"Oh excellent! Why don't we call her in. I helped train Wendy."
"Amelia, why don't you go get the patient's IV started." Patrice said, still looking at Logan.
"Actually, before you do that, I have a favor to ask. I don't want any test results or diagnoses given to my wife. I want everything given to me first, and then I'll share with her what is needed."
"You want to control everything."
"She's my wife."
"She's our patient."
"You don't know her. You have no idea who she is, or what she's been though. You have no idea how stressful of a job she's got, or what she goes through on a daily basis. I don't want my wife stressing out about anything more than she already does. That is my baby that she is carrying. That is my daughter, and any stress that her mother is put through, she is put through as well. So please, let me worry about the medical side of things, and you guys just focus on keeping Rory comfortable, alright?"
"You must be friends with Doctor Gellar. Only she is this controlling." Patrice told him in an accusatory voice.
"I'm worried about my wife and my daughter." Logan said as she crossed his arms over his chest, staring Patrice down.
"So you are friends."
"Doctor Gellar helped train me. We've been friends since college. My wife is her best friend. They've known each other since high school."
"Amelia, call Wendy. Tell her that I have a problem treating this patient, and that I need her to step in."
"I'll let Doctor Gellar know how you feel. But just a heads up . . . You may need to find a new hospital. I'll be sure to let Doctor Schultz know as well. Being the Chief Of Staff, he'll want to know what is going on. Amelia, do you have that IV kit that I asked for?"
"It's right here, Doctor Huntzberger." Amelia said handing a plastic tub to Logan.
"Thank you. I'll take care of getting my wife's IV started and drawing her blood. Go ahead and have Wendy come see me." Logan told her, then turned and headed back to Rory's room.
"Is everything ok?" Rory asked, seeing Logan's face when he walked back into the room.
"Yeah, it's fine. The PA and I don't see eye to eye on things, so she's refusing to treat you and calling in the resident on shift."
"Sounds like Paris gets to fire someone when she gets here."
"You know it." Logan smiled. "Which arm do you want your IV in?"