Ian laughed as he bent and kissed her cheek. “Very well, my lusty maiden. I know what you’re like after you’ve had to abstain for several days, so I will definitely try to get as much rest as possible. You’re certain about Jordan?”
“Yes. I’ll be fine. Just make the appointment for next week, all right?”
Tessa knew Ian had a lot on his plate right now, that this unexpected situation in Las Vegas couldn’t have come at a worse time. They had been traveling almost constantly these past few weeks, trying to get as many hotel reviews done as possible in anticipation of their vacation next month. Ian was taking her to Tuscany in mid-September, and then to London, and they would be away for a total of two weeks. So the last thing she wanted to do was worry him, or give him cause for concern. She very intentionally didn’t tell him, therefore, that this was the worst she’d ever felt during one of her periods. The cramps were unbearable, the regular doses of Tylenol doing nothing to ease her suffering. She’d been bleeding heavily for almost two full days now, and felt weak from the blood loss, almost dizzy at times. She had no energy, could barely even think of getting out of bed, and was grateful she didn’t have a regular job she had to report to. She only hoped she could summon enough strength to attend tomorrow’s orientation.
She hadn’t realized she’d begun to doze off until Ian sat back down on the bed next to her. She gazed up at him drowsily, her thoughts more than a little unfocused.
“Hmm, what is it?” she murmured sleepily.
His brows knit together worriedly. “I’m afraid I need to leave now, darling. Simon will be arriving within the next five minutes. Are you certain you’re all right? I don’t have a very good feeling about leaving you this way.”
“I’ll be fine,” she whispered, too tired to even lift her head from the pillow. “And don’t forget. I’m the one who always gets those bad feelings, not you. Besides, today’s a Monday. Bad things only happen on Wednesdays.”
He shook his head in exasperation. “If it’s the last thing I do, I’m going to clear your mind of that ridiculous superstition. Now, give me a kiss good-bye, love.”
Tessa clung to him as he gave her a long, searching kiss, unwilling to let him go. In the end, he gently disengaged her arms and stood, smoothing her hair off her face as he did so.
“I’ll expect frequent calls and texts from you, understand?” he told her in mock severity. “I may be tied up in meetings but I’ll check my phone on a regular basis. Now, rest up and recover.” He winked at her. “We have a big date on Thursday night. Maybe I’ll bring you a surprise back from Las Vegas. From the La Perla store, to be exact.”
She squeezed his hand and forced herself to smile. “A gift for both of us, in other words.”
Ian laughed, giving her one final, quick kiss before he walked out of their bedroom. Tessa was fast asleep before he reached the foyer.
***
After lazing away the better part of Monday, Tessa was relieved to wake on Tuesday and feel considerably better. Her period was still going on but seemed to have eased a little, and the cramps were still present but bearable. She was able to eat a decent breakfast, and felt a little stronger with some food in her system. Somewhat guiltily, she realized that she’d only had tea and saltine crackers the day before.
‘God, if I wasn’t having the period from hell I’d almost think I was pregnant from how I’ve been feeling the last few days,’ she thought to herself wryly. ‘Thank goodness I’m going to get this rotten IUD removed soon. I will not miss these horrid cycles!’
Still, even though she was feeling much better, she was glad Ian had arranged for Simon to drive her to and from the campus, since she continued to feel a little light-headed and wouldn’t have felt comfortable behind the wheel of a car right now. The orientation for her online classes lasted several hours, after which she ventured into the campus bookstore to buy the materials she’d need for the four classes she’d be taking this fall.
She hadn’t been thrilled to learn that one of the required courses towards her business degree was algebra, a subject she’d struggled with in high school. But Ian had teasingly offered to be her “after-school tutor”, telling her with a snicker that his services came cheap.
“And I accept all forms of payment,” he’d joked. “Missionary, cowgirl, oral. I’m quite flexible, in fact.”
She’d gasped in mock outrage. “I’m not sure I should be listening to this sort of talk. I’m just a naïve little college girl, you know.”
“No so naïve any longer, love,” he’d whispered in her ear. “And speaking of lessons, I have a few new ones I’d be very interested in teaching you sometime soon.”
Tessa couldn’t help smiling to herself as she recalled how that particular conversation had ended, and was still grinning as her phone rang. Hoping that it would be Ian, she dug the phone out of her purse while juggling an armload of heavy textbooks. When she saw it was Julia calling instead, she couldn’t help but feel a bit disappointed.
“Hi, there, newlywed,” she greeted, forcing herself to sound cheerful.
Julia’s bright laughter on the other end immediately made Tessa feel better. “Well, happy to report that the honeymoon isn’t over yet. In fact – mmm, never mind. I get annoyed with Nathan when he talks to his friends about – uh, stuff we do so I guess I shouldn’t over-share, either.”
“Probably not,” teased Tessa. “Though I do appreciate some of the tips you’ve given me. Ian does, too.”
Julia snickered. “And I always appreciate getting flowers, so maybe I’ll think of some more naughty advice to pass along. But I really called to see if you wanted to meet for lunch tomorrow. I walked by our favorite place yesterday and get this – they now have salted caramel cheesecake on the menu. I mean, how can anyone say no to that – right?”
Tessa agreed it sounded out of this world and arranged to meet Julia there at one o’clock the next day. They chatted until it was Tessa’s turn in line to pay for her books.
As she walked to the spot where Simon would be waiting to pick her up, she checked her phone yet again and couldn’t help the disappointment she felt when there were no new texts or voice mails from Ian. She’d spoken to him only sparingly since he’d left yesterday morning, the situation in Las Vegas evidently much more complicated than he’d first hoped. They had talked very briefly this morning and as yet he hadn’t replied to the three different texts she’d sent him. Tessa consoled herself with the fact that he was super busy, and wasn’t intentionally neglecting her. And since the very last thing she wanted to do was act like a demanding girlfriend, she put her phone away and resolved to wait patiently for his call.
But the call didn’t come until much later that evening, and Ian sounded so worn out and stressed that she didn’t have the heart to keep him on the line for too long.
“And I’m so sorry, love, but I’m afraid this is going to take a bit longer than I’d hoped,” he told her regretfully. “It’s likely going to be Friday before I can make it home.”
Tessa struggled to hide her disappointment and tried to sound as supportive as possible. “I understand. I just wish I could be there to help.”
“I wish you were here, too, though in all honesty there wouldn’t be much for you to do in this particular case. It’s certainly not a situation I’ve ever had to deal with before. Now, tell me about the orientation today.”
They talked for a bit longer, until he started to yawn and she teasingly told him to get some sleep since she was evidently boring him.
Tessa had a hard time falling asleep that night, tossing and turning, even getting out of bed a little before midnight to brew some chamomile tea. It was the first time in months that she’d been alone in this big house, and she automatically found herself being troubled by her old fears and depression. She drifted into the library with her mug of tea, and reached for one of her mother’s books.
Ever since Ian had surprised her with the books for her birthday, Tessa had read all three volumes at l
east twice. Ian had just recently heard from one of his rare book dealers that they had a solid lead on the fourth book, and Tessa was eagerly awaiting its acquisition.
The tea and the book seemed to do the trick, and this time when her head hit the pillow she fell asleep within a few minutes.
***
She knew almost immediately upon waking on Wednesday morning that something was very wrong. She was groggy and disoriented, despite the fact that she’d slept like the dead for hours. Groaning, she reached for her phone and saw she had three voice mails and two texts from Ian, each one sounding more anxious than the last. Without lifting her head from the pillow, she sent him a quick text, apologizing for having overslept and promising to call him in a little while.
It was when she tried to sit up that she realized several things at once – she was dizzy, oh, so dizzy, and had to brace her hand on the headboard to stay upright; the awful cramps were back except they were worse than she could ever remember, like a knife blade stabbing her in the gut; and she was burning up, her skin hot to the touch, and she realized she had a fever. Her mouth was so dry she could barely swallow, and her head was pounding unbearably.
In dire need of some Tylenol and a glass of water, she stumbled on shaky legs to the bathroom. It was then she noticed the blood trickling down the inside of her thighs, and she tried valiantly not to panic. There was way too much blood, even for the heavy periods she suffered from, and the way it was seeping out in a steady flow made her realize she needed to get to a doctor right away.
Struggling not to pass out, she managed to clean herself up as best she could, forcing back alarm when she saturated a sanitary pad within minutes. She called Ian first, even though he was in Las Vegas, because she desperately needed to hear his calm, steady voice telling her what to do next. She shouldn’t have been surprised when the call went to voice mail, and chose not to leave a message. Simon had the day off today, though she knew he would have come for her anyway, but in the end she called Julia.
“Hey,” trilled Julia happily. “Working up an appetite for that cheesecake?”
“Julia.” Tessa’s voice was whisper soft. “I – no, I can’t make lunch. I’m – sick, something’s wrong.”
Julia was instantly on alert. “What is it, honey? The flu? God, you sound awful.”
“Not the flu. Thought it was my period but – oh, God, the cramps – so painful. And too much blood.” Tessa was fighting off the urge to retch with every breath she took.
“I’m coming over. Right now. Can you get downstairs to open the door for me?”
Tessa was desperately grateful to learn her friend was on the way. “Think so. I’ll find a way. I’m sorry.”
“Stop it. Nothing to be sorry for. Damn it, Nathan’s already on his way to Napa. I know, I’ll get Travis to drive me, he’s a crazy man behind the wheel so we’ll get there in record time. Tessa – if this gets any worse before we arrive, call 911 immediately, okay? I’m walking out of my office now to get Travis, and I’ll have my phone in hand if you have to call. Just hang on, okay?”
“Okay. See you soon.” Tessa slumped to the bathroom floor, just the effort of talking sapping the little energy she had left.
She half stumbled, half crawled into the walk-in closet to find a pair of slip-on shoes and then grabbed her purse from the bedroom. Somehow she managed to get herself downstairs, largely by sitting and sliding down on her butt one stair at a time. Try as she might, she couldn’t summon the energy to get up off the bottom step, her head swimming nauseatingly and the pain in her abdomen so severe she was sobbing.
While she waited for Julia and Travis to arrive, her fevered brain vaguely recalled that she still needed to call Ian. Once again the call went to voice mail, but this time she left him a short, succinct message.
“Hey, it’s me. Sorry to bother you and please don’t worry because it’s probably nothing. Julia is going to drive me to the doctor’s office just to get checked out. I’ll call you when I know more, okay? Love you.”
Another vicious, stabbing pain ripped through her belly as she ended the call, and she cried out in agony, wrapping her arms around her midsection. She gasped as she felt a fresh gush of blood seep down her thighs, and this time she did panic when she saw the spreading stain on her sweatpants. Tessa had no idea what was happening to her, but she knew this was far more serious than just a heavy period.
The effort it took to crawl to the front door and open it when the doorbell rang depleted what was left of her strength. Tessa wasn’t even aware when she slumped to the ground in a dead faint, and most certainly didn’t hear the alarmed voices of Julia and her boss.
***
Doctors, nurses, and whoever else might have been walking through the hallways at University Medical Center were quick to move out of the way of the tall, dark haired man in the gray pinstriped suit. The look on his face was deadly serious, and passers-by glanced away hastily when they glimpsed the fire in his eyes and the tight set to his mouth. No one would have dared to think of approaching him as he strode purposefully down the hall.
Ian was fighting to suppress the rising panic he felt with each step that brought him ever closer to the visitor waiting room where Julia would be meeting him. The last few hours had been nothing less than nightmarish, and his brain was a jumble of thoughts and emotions, none of which made the least bit of sense right now. He was terrified at not knowing what was going on with Tessa, trying to remain positive and not assume the worst, but also about two breaths shy of a full blown anxiety attack. He was furious at himself for having waited so long to check his bloody voice mail, a full three hours after Tessa had left that last message, her voice barely audible. And he was cursing the casino manager for his treachery that had required Ian’s presence in Las Vegas these past three days. If he hadn’t had to fly out there to clean up the mess, he would have been here with Tessa, able to look after her properly.
Ian had alternately scolded and teased Tessa about the so-called premonitions she felt at times, particularly on Wednesdays, which she still insisted were cursed somehow. But he himself had woken very early on this particular Wednesday, before dawn in fact, and the unsettled feeling he’d had then continued to nag at him all morning. He’d done a full hour of swimming laps in the hotel pool, hoping it would both ease his stress and dispel these odd feelings he kept having. Not wanting to wake Tessa too early, he’d sent her a text before heading off to resume the grueling round of meetings about the increasingly complex money laundering operation. He’d excused himself at various intervals to call her, growing more and more concerned when she didn’t answer her phone or reply to his messages. Then, finally, there had been that brief text apologizing for having overslept, and assuring him she’d call soon.
He’d felt instant relief at that point, assured that all was well, and had returned to the meeting. Things had begun to develop at a rapid pace at that point, and before it knew it the morning had all but disappeared and it was already noon.
In between bites of a hastily consumed lunch, Ian had fielded three rather urgent phone calls from the San Francisco office before he’d finally pulled out his personal phone to check for messages.
The voice mail from Tessa had put him on instant alert, for he could immediately sense the fear in her voice that she had so unsuccessfully tried to mask. But it was the next three messages – all placed from Tessa’s phone but left by Julia – that sent him into a full blown panic.
The first message had been delivered around 9:30am, and Ian could hear the sounds of traffic in the background.
“Ian, it’s Julia. Call me on Tessa’s phone the moment you get this. She’s being taken to the ER in an ambulance, Travis and I are following behind. Not sure exactly what’s wrong but when she called me this morning to cancel our lunch, she was in awful pain and said she was bleeding a lot. When Travis and I got to your place – God, Ian, she just fainted dead away and all the blood – it was awful. We called 911 immediately and I’d guess right now
we’re less than ten minutes away from the hospital. I’ll call you after we arrive.”
Julia’s next message had come about forty five minutes later, and this time the background noise was minimal at best. She’d been struggling to keep her voice calm.
“Ian, it’s Julia again. I really hope you check your voice mail soon. Look, we’re at the ER now at University Med Center and Tessa’s being looked over by a team. At first they thought it could be a miscarriage but one of the interns just popped out and said the ultrasound is indicating her IUD has most likely perforated her uterus. They’ve managed to stop the bleeding but she’s going to need surgery. As soon as I know more I’ll contact you. Call me, please.”
The third and final message had been left just after eleven a.m., and there was no mistaking the annoyance in Julia’s tone this time.
“Damn it, Ian, why the hell aren’t you answering this phone? I’ve tried calling the hotel there in Vegas but no one will put me through to you. Please call me the second you get this. They’re taking Tessa into surgery now to remove the IUD and repair the damage to her uterus. That’s really all I know, they won’t tell me anymore, and it’s like an insane asylum in this place today. Travis has been here with me but he needs to get back to the office, and Nathan is up at the hotel site in Napa today. I’ll stay here and keep you updated but you need to get back to San Francisco right away. And CALL ME!”
What had happened next – in very quick succession – still had his head spinning. He’d called Julia immediately, apologizing profusely for not returning her earlier calls, and demanded an update on Tessa. When he’d learned she was still in surgery, he’d put the next steps in motion with dizzying speed – giving his management team no opportunity to argue with him when he’d announced he had to leave at once; calling to have the corporate jet made ready for a speedy departure; contacting Simon as he gathered his belongings from the suite and arranging to be picked up at the airport in San Francisco; commandeering one of the local hotel staff to drive him to the private airstrip where his plane had been waiting. During the hour long flight, he’d called Julia three times for updates, as well as badgering Jordan Reeves’ receptionist until she’d finally agreed to page the doctor. The affable OB/GYN had called Ian back promptly, and agreed to check on Tessa just as soon as the baby he was scheduled to deliver within the next half hour was born. Jordan had assured Ian that Tessa was going to be fine, that these sorts of things, while rare, were usually relatively easy to repair, and it was highly unlikely that there would be any complications.
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