"I-I'm gonna go call an ambulance, alright? Stay calm, sweet love. I'm right over here... I'm not leaving..." He pointed to the phone and bolted towards it.
My breaths were coming out shallow and ragged, and the pain was worsening quickly. Every second felt like minutes and every minute felt like hours, I just wanted it all to stop.
By the bed George was dialing frantically, shaking as he held the phone to his ear. I watched him with hazy vision, holding onto my stomach and praying silently for my baby.
"They're on their way." George came rushing back in, kneeling down before me with his hands on my knees.
"J-J-John." I stammered, thinking about how he deserves to know what's going on.
"John?" George asked. "Sadie it's me, alright? Everything is going to be fine, okay? Everything has to be fine." I could tell that he was trying to be strong for me, but inside he was unraveling.
"John." I said again as the sharp spasms became more consistent. I fell over to my side and curled into a ball, crying as I cradled my belly.
"What about John?"
"The b-b...the...baby...John..." my words organically stopped flowing as more waves of pain hit me.
"Sadie you're not making any sense. Whatever it is you can tell me later, but right now you need to just breathe. Come on, breathe."
I nodded and tried my damndest to focus on my breathing, and not even two minutes later the paramedics had arrived at the door.
~~~~~~~~~~~
My hand was almost turning white due to George's strong grip on it as I laid in the bed I was given. I honestly was getting quite tired of hospitals. It seemed as though I was in them constantly.
"It'll all be alright, darling." George mustered a smile for me and kissed my hand. I nodded and began sobbing uncontrollably, unable to hold back due to the crippling pain and fear.
"I know, I know." George said as he rubbed my arm, seemingly holding back his own tears. He held onto me until there was a knock at the door, followed by the doctor coming inside of the room.
"Sadie Brooks?" The doctor confirmed, reaching out his hand to shake mine.
"Yes." I was in too much pain to give him a handshake, and he nodded understandingly. "My name is Dr. Phillips, and I'll be taking care of you today."
"Okay."
"You said you were about thirteen weeks along?" He asked, clicking his pen.
"Yes."
"And were you having any cramping prior to the bleeding?"
"Y-yes." One word answers were all I was good for.
"Alright you're going to have to switch beds before we can do your ultrasound. Are you able to do that?"
I felt like I couldn't move, but nevertheless I nodded.
"I'll be right back then."
~~~~~~~~~~
"Okay Sadie go ahead and lie back." The doctor said as he swiped a tube of that cold gel off of the counter. He carefully peeled up my shirt and squirted some onto me, then placed the ultrasound device right where the gel was.
George was still holding onto my hand. His eyes were closed and he was whispering something underneath his breath. I couldn't tell what it was, but I could tell he was completely focused on it.
When the doctor began to move the probe around I anxiously stared at the monitor, hoping that I would see or hear something soon.
"I-is there a heartbeat?" I asked after a minute or so of watching.
The doctor looked at me briefly, then returned his attention back to the screen without answering. My heart fell to the floor completely shattered.
"Let's just... move it down a little." The doctor muttered under his breath. At this point my eyes were closed. This nightmare was becoming a sick reality, and I couldn't take it anymore.
Just as I had given up a wonderful sound filled the room in the midst of all the static. I turned back to the screen quickly and listened to the glorious noise as it became even louder.
"And there it is." The Doctor beamed, watching our facial expressions switch from fear to absolute wonder in a matter of seconds.
"Oh my god!" I cried out in relief, my eyes glued to the fetus on the screen as it wiggled around. It was as if all of my pain had come to a halt as soon as I heard my baby's strong heart.
"Beautiful." George muttered as he brought my hand up to his lips to kiss it. "I'm so proud of you, love."
I smiled as the doctor moved the probe around a bit more, and suddenly I noticed how his face had taken on a puzzled look. It scared me.
"What's wrong, Doctor?" I asked, deeply concerned given the ordeal I just went through.
"Nothing serious." He smiled. "It's just... you said you were thirteen weeks, correct?"
I nodded.
"Are you going off of the date of your last menstrual period or did you have an ultrasound done prior to this one?"
"I- I had an ultrasound."
"Hm..." he said before snapping a sonogram picture. "It looks to me like you're a little further along than that... About fifteen weeks I'd say."
My eyes widened, and suddenly a wave of relief washed over me. Fifteen weeks? That would mean...
"Are you sure?" I questioned. "I mean, how could the last ultrasound be so off then? And if that's the case, why aren't I showing more?"
"Could be a number of things. The last doctor you last saw could have simply made a mistake, and sometimes due to the baby's positioning things like that aren't always as clear as they should be." He explained. "And also it's very common for a first time mother not to show until about twenty weeks."
"Okay how do I know that you're not the one who's wrong? What if the other doctor is right?"
I looked at George, who seemed confused by all of my questions. The doctor chuckled.
"Well you can believe whatever you'd like, but there is one particular reason why it's obvious to me." He grinned, moving the wand downwards towards my pelvic area.
"It seems that your baby's sex organs are almost fully developed. Which means I can decipher a gender....Would you like to know what you're having?"
George and I both shot a knowing look towards one another, one that implied that we could read each other's minds. I grinned extra wide and turned to the doctor again.
"Yes!"
A few seconds pass as Dr. Phillips moves the wand around gently one more time. George clutches onto my hand even tighter, and I hold in my breath as I await the answer.
"Say hello to your daughter!" He beamed, making George and I both break down in happy tears. He leaned down to kiss my forehead tenderly, and I held onto his hand tightly.
"I love you so much!" George cried out, shifting his attention back to the screen. "And our precious little girl!"
Our precious little girl. Our fifteen week-old baby girl.
She is ours, George.
~~~~~~~~~~
After the ultrasound I was given some pregnancy-safe pain medications, and I was finally able to take a shower and clean up. It nauseated me to see all of the blood I'd lost on the shower floor, but knowing that everything was okay and that my daughter was safe made it all worth it.
The hospital wanted to keep me overnight for observation, so George decided to stay with me. He'd made himself a bed out of one of the hospital chairs, and I was quite impressed with his ingenuity.
"I'm a man of many talents." He chuckled as he fluffed up his makeshift pillow. It was simply a sweatshirt stuffed into a plastic bag, but he was proud.
"Yes, I've noticed. Hopefully our little girl takes after you and not me." I giggled.
"No, I hope she's just like her mum." He beamed, making a pink blush spread across my cheeks.
"You really don't have to stay with me, you know." I said as I shifted my position in bed to get more comfortable.
"Wherever you are is wherever I'll be, now and forever." He said as he put the finishing touches on his "bed."
I smiled and reached over to my bedside table, grabbing the new sonogram scans that the doctor had taken today. George saw what I was doing and instantly jumped up, then came over and snuggled up next to me.
"Look at her." He grinned as we both admired the photographs.
"She's perfect, Georgie."
"Better than perfect..."
George turned to kiss me, and immediately I kissed him back with passion. We both broke away at the same moment and I could see my love reflecting back from his gaze.
"Sadie I wanted to ask you...Have you given any thought to me proposal?" He asked before kissing my lips again softly.
"I...honestly no. With everything going on I've just..."
"You don't have to explain."
I felt relieved that he didn't pressure me, though now I couldn't help but think about what my answer was going to be.
"When did you get that ring anyway?"
"Bought it the day after the Christmas party. Got up bright and early and went to the jewelers, then bought the prettiest ring I could find."
"Wow, such a romantic!" I said sarcastically. "Go on..."
"I was gonna bring it to you that day but when I got to the hospital you were gone already."
"I'm sorry, George." I mumbled and kissed him again.
"It's alright, love. It's all in the past. The only thing that matters now is our future."
I nodded and yawned, feeling exhausted from the day. George smiled and gave me another quick kiss before hopping out of bed.
"You need your rest. We'll talk more in the morning. I love you, Sadie."
"I love you too, George."
"And you, me little love." He said before lowering his face to my belly, leaning his ear against it. "You're a little trooper, you know that? You keep hanging in there alright... stay strong for mummy and daddy. I love you me dear girl."
As soon as George stopped talking the baby kicked against his ear, making him giggle like a little boy.
"Already daddy's little girl, aren't you?" He cooed and kissed my stomach, then got up to go to his own bed.
"George?" I asked before he laid down.
"Yes?"
"Would you hand me that newspaper over there?"
He smiled and slipped it off the table, then threw it to me. I caught it and flipped it right side up, then saw the big, bold headline right on the front page.
JOHN LENNON SPOTTED LEAVING HOSPITAL WITH MUCH YOUNGER MYSTERY WOMAN- MORE DETAILS INSIDE.
I sighed and crumbled it up, then threw it in the bin next to my bed and went to sleep.