My favorite charge nurse who retired last year is the next one to greet me. “Pretty girl, I am so happy for you.” Her joy was never tampered with by all her years of medicine, and I hope that I can be that happy spot later on in my career, too, like she was for me.
“Margie, thank you. I am so glad you could make it. This whole day is a wonderful surprise, but seeing you is a cherry on top.”
“Wouldn’t miss it, I’m going to go swoop by the other girls, see what hot hospital gossip i’ve missed this last year.” She grabs my hand and gives it a squeeze before walking away.
After taking a round through the guests, I finally get my food and drink and start to feel a little better. Probably because I finally get to plant my ass in a chair and open presents. We didn’t even get around to making a registry, but I do feel like baby items are pretty standard.
“Alrighty, I'm already willing to bet this will be Aspen's favorite part.” My mom comes around, bringing a handful of gifts with her.
She has a chair pulled out to be front and center and has piled gifts on the coffee table.
“It will be, but I am equally as happy about seeing all of you, I am so grateful you guys took the time out to come celebrate the new addition!”
“We know you love us. Now show us the goods,” Margie hollers out, glad to see it’s not just staff meetings she likes to make a statement at.
“If you insist,” I say as I pull the first gift into my lap. Ripping off the paper, I see a pack of baby onesies, socks, and beanies. “Oh, yes! Never can have enough clothes.”
I go through the stack feeling a bit more exhausted with each one. I don’t know what's wrong with me, this is usually the type of thing I live for, you know, being showered with gifts and surrounded by my friends. My headache has made a comeback, and everything feels so damn hazy.
When gifts finish, I plaster a smile on my face, not wanting to be rude. “Thank you guys so much for all the gifts. Rhett will be busy for the next week carting them home.”
Rhett, who has tried very hard to stay out of sight, probably because he wants me to enjoy my moment, comes up to me next to the chair.
“Looks like we won’t need to go to Target again after all,” he jokes, and I want to laugh, but I feel like I can’t.
I blink at him a couple of times and do my best to smile, but something is wrong.
“Are you okay?” he asks, worry lacing his tone.
“I…I think something’s wrong.” I don’t want to ruin the fun of this day, but I feel more awful by the minute. The rush of exhaustion came out of nowhere. I should be riding a high, not wanting to curl up on the couch.
He grabs my hand and turns around, eyes scanning the room. “Is Ava still here?”
“Yeah, I’m right here.” I try to follow where her voice was coming from, but the movement makes my head swim.
“Something is wrong.” Rhett's face is flooded with panic and fear, which makes me feel about one hundred times worse. What if this isn’t just a headache?
“Aspen, can you tell me what’s wrong?” she asks, squatting down in front of me.
“Headache, foggy and dizzy.” I list off.
Whipping her head to face Rhett, she asks, “She has preeclampsia, right?”
“Yeah, we’ve been monitoring her blood pressures and everything has been fine.”
“I think you need to get her to a hospital pretty quickly. We don’t see this a lot in the ER here, but I think you should be safe and get her checked out.”
“What’s wrong?” My mom joins the crew around me.
“I’m not sure, but I think her pre-eclampsia is getting worse,” Rhett says. “I need to get her to the hospital. Can you help me get her up and to the truck?”
“Of course. Come on, honey.” My mom grabs my arm and helps me to my feet.
If I thought the dizziness was bad sitting, this feels so much worse. A wave of nausea washes over me and I about lose it.
“We’ll get you better, honey,” Rhett says, his eyes scanning over my face and then taking inventory of everything else. “I’m going to carry her.”
Within seconds, I am scooped up into his arms and he is running.
