Fire and Midnight

by Sandra Renee Appet

  Jane took a small swig of water, and was able to draw a few deep breaths, but then her stomach tightened again. Tears of pain and fear stung her eyes. “Contractions. I’m having contractions.” She felt as if someone had turned the thermostat up as far as it could go. The air turned thick, and she had to fight to take a breath. Her hair stuck to her cheeks as she rocked on the step.

  The bottle fell to the ground and rolled down the steps as she felt her body rise, supported by Ryan’s arms. Her surroundings turned into a blurry mix of colors, the way her windshield looked before she flipped on the wipers during a rainstorm. Ryan’s graveled voice murmured something in Spanish in her ear. She didn’t understand a word of what he said, but it calmed her into a hot, dizzy state of surrender, secure in the knowledge that Ryan would take care of her and the baby.

  “Stay with me, Querida. Please, stay with me,” she heard, as the buzzing in her ear grew louder and louder.

  And then … nothing.

  Chapter Twenty-Five

  Jane squinted into a sea of lights and whitewashed walls.

  For a second, she thought she had died, but her eyelids scratched her eyeballs like sandpaper, and she had a nasty taste in her mouth. If she was in Heaven, it was definitely a letdown. She reached to the side, groping for something to help her pull herself up.

  “Just relax, Querida. You’re going to be okay,” a deep voice rumbled.

  “Ryan?” His voice calmed her instantly, and she relaxed, trying to focus. “Where am I?” she asked, as memories started coming back. The gardens. The pain. The baby. “The baby.” She blinked, her vision still blurry, and reached for her stomach.

  “The baby’s okay. You’re in the Emergency Room. Just rest. The doctor will be in soon to explain what happened,” Ryan said, and stroked her hand, which rested on her belly.

  Jane took a deep breath and turned toward his voice. “What happened? Did I do something wrong?” Her thoughts went to the fight they’d had about her working so much. She blinked again, and his face finally came into focus. “If I caused something to happen to our baby, I couldn’t forgive myself.”

  “Shh, shh. You didn’t do anything wrong. Don’t worry yourself.” His smile reassured her slightly.

  A nurse appeared at the curtain. “Good. She’s awake. I’ll send the doctor in.”

  The curtain whipped to the side, and a young woman in scrubs, who didn’t look much older than Tyler, strode into the tiny room. “Hi, Ms. Keegan. I’m Doctor Parker, the obstetrics resident. How are you feeling?”

  “Like I just ran a marathon.” Her legs were like jelly, and her arms felt too heavy to lift. “How’s the baby?” she asked, searching the young doctor’s face.

  “The baby’s heartbeat is steady and strong, and your cervix shows no sign of dilation. You’re out of the woods, for now.”

  “For now? What does that mean?”

  “The reason you passed out today is because you have a condition called preeclampsia. You have high blood pressure. We’re going to admit you so you can be monitored here until we’re sure you’re stable enough to go home. After that, you’ll have to stay on complete bed rest until the baby is born.” The doctor rattled off her prognosis as if she was reading from a textbook.

  Jane’s gaze moved from the doctor to Ryan, then to her belly. She tried to picture the baby curled up in her womb. “Preeclampsia? How did that happen? I’ve never had high blood pressure.”

  “It just happens in some women … and the chances of preeclampsia increase with the mother’s age.”

  Dimly, Jane remembered her own doctor telling her the same thing, and how she had dismissed the possibility, telling herself that it was something that might happen to other women, but not to her.

  “It comes out of the blue. There are really no warning signs. There was no way you could’ve known.”

  Jane nodded slowly, digesting the news of her condition. “Is ‘complete bed rest’ what it sounds like?”

  “Yes. You’ll need to stay in a reclined position, preferably on your left side, at all times. You can get up to use the bathroom and go to doctor’s appointments, but that’s about it. No stairs, no driving, and no more than a few minutes at a time on your feet. The goal is to prolong your pregnancy as long as it’s safe for you and the baby, hopefully until the baby is developed enough to thrive outside the womb,” Dr. Parker explained.

  It all sounded so simple, but Jane knew it wouldn’t be. She’d have to stay in bed for the next four months. Four whole months.

  She glanced at Ryan. “I’m sorry,” she said.

  “What do you have to be sorry about?” he asked, and tucked a lock of her hair behind her ear.

  “This is going to be a huge burden on you. It’s not like I have any friends or family here. And—”

  “Whoa. You’re getting ahead of yourself, Jane. First, you and our baby are not and will never be a burden to me. We’ll work it out. And, before we know it, the baby will be here.”

  “We’ll get you transferred upstairs today, and then your own doctor can take over and decide when it’s safe for you to go home. Do you have any questions?” Dr. Parker asked.

  Jane shook her head, and admitted, “I can’t help blaming myself for this. What if I caused this by traveling too much, or overworking, or eating Chinese food? There’s MSG in Chinese food, you know.” She bit her lip and considered other ways she might have brought on her high blood pressure.

  Ryan laughed. “Why must you always wear the weight of the world on your shoulders? You didn’t do this. It just happened. And, like everything else, we will get through it.”

  Jane was moved to a private room in the obstetrics wing so she could be monitored. She was poked and prodded by doctors, nurses, and technicians almost hourly. After two days she finally convinced Ryan to go home.

  “Are you sure you’ll be okay?”

  She surveyed the dark circles under his eyes and his overgrown beard. “You need to get some rest.”

  “But I think you need me more,” Ryan said, as Jane’s doctor entered the room.

  “Listen to her,” Doctor Murcia said. “Go home and get some rest while she’s in the hospital. You’ll have plenty of time to take care of her when she’s back home.”

  Ryan nodded and rubbed his face with his palm. “I can see I’m outnumbered here. I’ll go get some sleep. But I’ll be back around six,” Ryan promised, and kissed Jane good-bye.

  “You have a good man there,” Doctor Murcia pointed out after Ryan left.

  Jane smiled. “I do. Too good, sometimes. I’m afraid of what all this will do to him.”

  The doctor folded her arms. “Seems to me he played a part in how this baby got in there, so now he has an equal responsibility in the care of you and your baby.”

  “This baby was a complete surprise to both of us. I just hope he’s ready.”

  “Sometimes, the surprises can be the most rewarding. Now, speaking of surprises, I want to be sure you still don’t want to know the sex of the baby,” Dr. Murcia said as she scanned the laptop screen.

  “Nothing’s changed with that,” Jane said, but she eyed the screen in Dr. Murcia’s hand. “It’s written down, right there in my records. Isn’t it?”

  Dr. Murcia nodded. “It’s on the sonogram report. I’ll make a note here not to tell you.” The doctor’s nails tapped along the keyboard.

  “Thank you.” Jane bit her lip to prevent herself from asking. She was personally in favor of knowing whether the baby was a boy or a girl, but Ryan had requested they wait until the birth to find out. She supposed the least she could do was keep her promise.

  “Dr. Murcia? Tell me honestly, is the baby okay? I mean really okay?” Her “advanced maternal age”, as the doctor liked to say, had been a concern of Jane’s from the moment she saw the two lines on the pregnancy test. Her new condition only increased that worry factor.

  Dr. Murcia’s fingers tapped the laptop. Her eyes narrowed as she seemed to find something of interest on the
screen. “The baby is a little small for twenty weeks, but all of the other test results look good. The heartbeat is strong, too. We’ll keep a sharp eye on you. You really must stay off your feet and watch your diet. But to answer your question, yes, the baby is really okay.”

  “Thank you.” Jane breathed a sigh of relief.

  “I’ll release you in the next day or so. Other than Ryan, do you have more support at home?”

  “I’m pretty new to the area, so I don’t have many friends here, but my mother and a good friend from New York have offered to help out,” Jane replied, but she knew it wouldn’t be quite that simple. As nice as it would be to see her mother, they had decided it would be best for her to wait until after the baby was born. Since her mother didn’t drive and had a few medical issues herself, she wouldn’t be much help while Jane was on bed rest. But Jane was looking forward to Charlotte’s visit. Her friend had agreed to fly down as soon as Jane was out of the hospital.

  “What about Ryan’s family? You’re going to need help for quite a while.”

  “We’re working on it. Ryan’s setting up a bedroom in a spare room off the kitchen for me, so I won’t have to climb stairs. We’ll figure it all out,” she said, hoping it was true. But the fact was that they had no idea what they’d do after Charlotte left, beyond Ryan’s promise to make frequent trips home from the restaurant each day. “What about work?”

  “As long as it’s work that you can do from your bed, and it’s not going to stress you out, feel free to continue working. It’ll help take your mind off worrying about the baby and give you something to do.” Dr. Murcia tilted her head. “You don’t look thrilled. Isn’t that the answer you wanted?”

  “Honestly, I don’t know. I’ve been thinking about cutting back on work,” Jane admitted, “but I haven’t been sure when to do it.”

  “I don’t know of a more perfect reason than this,” Dr. Murcia said, and patted her belly.

  ****

  Jane woke with a smile.

  After Dr. Murcia had given Jane and Ryan detailed instructions on Jane’s diet and activity restrictions, she had finally cleared Jane to go home.

  The door to her hospital room swung open, and two balloons tied to an enormous bouquet of flowers bobbed into the room. Jane wondered why Ryan brought flowers to the hospital when she would be leaving later that day … until she saw the smiling face of the person carrying the gift.

  “Charlotte!” Jane exclaimed, so excited that she wanted to bounce out of bed and give her friend a big hug.

  “Stay right there, girl. I’m coming to you.”

  “I thought you weren’t coming until next week,” Jane said.

  “She wanted to surprise you.”

  Jane’s gaze flew to the door as she hugged Charlotte. There stood Ryan, leaning against the wall with a playful smile on his face. “We figured you needed some fun after all this.”

  Jane’s heart warmed. “I’m so happy you’re here.”

  Charlotte looked great, as usual. Her blonde, chin-length hair contrasted with the red t-shirt and jacket she wore. Jane chuckled.

  “What’s so funny?” Charlotte asked.

  “I’m thinking how wonderful you look, and how my hair isn’t brushed.”

  “Darlin’, you can pull off the messy-hair-no-makeup-in-the-hospital look like nobody’s business. Now, how about we bust you out of here so we can get the bed rest party started?” Charlotte demanded, rubbing her hands together.

  “You make it sound way more exciting than it will be. I promise you’ll be bored to tears within days,” Jane said.

  “Hey, if we can have fun at your boring company parties you used to drag me to, we can have fun on bed rest. Let’s get you home.”

  Ryan drove the car up to the hospital entrance, and Charlotte pushed Jane’s wheelchair to meet him, despite Jane’s insistence that she was able to walk.

  “Remember what the doctor said. No more than is absolutely necessary,” Ryan said, shaking his finger at her.

  She rolled her eyes and let him fuss over her. It was going to be a long four months.

  Minutes later, they pulled onto the highway, where he proceeded to drive more slowly than she thought was possible.

  “Hey, Ry, I think Uncle Pascal just passed us,” Jane joked.

  “There are some bumps on this road. I want to make sure you’re not jostled around too much.”

  “Dude, she’s not a Faberge Egg,” Charlotte called from the backseat.

  “Oh, shut up back there,” Ryan called back with a smile.

  Pulling into the driveway of their home was like snuggling into a favorite blanket. Her mood brightened instantly as she set foot inside the house. “I wish I was able to go upstairs and stay in our bed.” Jane looked longingly at the flight of stairs.

  “I know, but wait ‘til you see what we did.” Ryan guided her into the spare bedroom off the kitchen. They’d planned for it to be Tyler’s room when he visited, and had postponed decorating it. The only thing in it had been a twin bed and a few mismatched pieces of furniture. But when Ryan led Jane inside, with the exception of its size, the room was almost an exact replica of their master bedroom.

  Her eyes widened. “You brought everything down here?”

  “Everything except the bed. Our king wouldn’t fit in here, so I bought a queen. It was just delivered yesterday. It was Charlotte’s idea.”

  “I love it. I’ve gotta say, I was really dreading spending the next four months in this room. But now it’s not so bad!”

  “That’s not all. If you’re up to it, I want to show you something else.”

  She nodded and wrapped her arm around his waist as he led her to the patio.

  Jane gasped when she looked through the sliding glass door. “Is that what I think it is?” She slid open the door, her gaze riveted on a canopied outdoor daybed. She’d seen one in an airline catalog, and had commented to Ryan that it would be perfect for their patio, but hadn’t given it another thought.

  Carefully, Jane sat on the edge and scooted to the top, where a sea of colorful pillows was splayed under the gauzy canopy. She patted the cushion. “Come on in, both of you. There’s plenty of room.”

  Ryan stretched out next to her, and Charlotte settled, cross-legged, at the foot of the bed.

  Charlotte shook her head. “You two are the cutest couple I know. You make me sick,” she said, and winked.

  “I’m definitely outnumbered by the two of you,” Ryan said, sitting up again. “How about I go fix us something to eat while you catch up?” He leaned over and kissed Jane lightly on the lips. “I’m glad you’re home.”

  “Me, too.” Her gaze traveled to Ryan’s backside as he disappeared into the house. Unfortunately, sex was also on her restriction list.

  “Seriously, girl, he’s too good to be true.”

  Jane smiled. “Almost. If I could get him to lay off about me working so much, he’d be absolutely perfect.”

  “He’s just worried about you. Besides, I thought you were supposed to slow down.”

  “I did. My boss reassigned everything, other than my two main accounts, but they still take a lot of time. You know how clients are—not much different from babies. They’re always in need of attention.”

  “Yes, but you’ll have your own baby soon, who will also need your attention. What are you going to do then?”

  “I don’t know, Char.” Jane was still up to her ears in work. She’d been having enough trouble, keeping up on a daily basis. Now, thanks to her unexpected hospitalization, she’d lost several days and inherited a long list of restrictions. In truth, she was increasingly convinced that she wouldn’t be able to keep up the pace after the baby was born.

  “Maybe you should consider quitting and taking a year or two off. You can always go back to it. Sounds like Ryan’s doing well with the restaurant. I’m sure you two can swing it, financially.”

  Jane sighed. “Money’s not the issue. I’ve just worked so hard to get to this point. I’ll feel
like a failure if I quit now.”

  “You’re far from a failure, my friend.” She flopped down on the bed next to Jane and batted her eyes. “You’re my hero.”

  Jane swatted her friend. “Enough about my life. Tell me about yours! How are things with…” Jane wracked her brain, trying to recall the name of Charlotte’s flavor of the month.

  “Jacques.”

  “Jacques? You’re with a French guy now? What happened to…” She snapped her fingers. “Doug. That was it. What happened to Doug?”

  “Doug’s yesterday’s news. I met Jacques a few weeks ago, in the park. He’s in New York for work. He asked me for directions, we started talking, and I offered to show him around. We’ve been practically inseparable ever since.” Charlotte lowered her voice. “What they say about Frenchmen is true. They’re amazing lovers. Seriously, that man can have my panties off and heading for my second orgasm in nine seconds flat.”

  “That long, huh?”

  “He may be the one.”

  Jane blinked, startled. “Really? You never say that. What happened to your stable of interchangeable, discardable men?”

  “Actually, Jacques is quickly becoming indispensable.”

  “Charlotte Snow! You’re not falling in love, are you? I thought love was a no-no in Snow’s Dating Rulebook.” Feigning surprise, Jane raised her hand to her mouth.

  “Oh, don’t get all carried away with yourself, Miss Happily Ever After. It’ll take more than a few abso-fucking-lutely amazing orgasms for me to entertain the ‘L’ word. Let’s just say … it’s going really well.”

  Jane clapped her hands. “I’m so happy for you, Char, and I feel horrible about taking you away from him.”

  Charlotte patted Jane’s leg. “If he’s worth anything, he’ll be there when I return. You need me now.”

  “And I’m eternally grateful. Do me a favor, okay? Don’t discount the possibility of falling in love.”

  Charlotte waved her hand. “Meh. Falling in love is for nice people like you. I’m too jaded to get all lovey-dovey.”

  “Love comes in all shapes and forms. Don’t be surprised if it creeps up and bites you on your perfectly toned ass.”