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I sat down in the chair by the bed and took her hand in mine. I kissed it. “Baby, you don’t know how good it is to see you. I’ve been worried to death.”
Hearing my voice, even though I spoke low, her eyelids fluttered then opened. I saw the panic in them. She tried to move but hissed in pain.
“Lie still. If you need something, I’ll get it,” I admonished her.
“Where are the kids? Are they alright? No one could tell me anything when I woke up,” she said urgently although hoarsely.
“Slow down. The kids are all fine. All they had were a few bruises. The doctor checked them out, and I just sent them home with Regan and Janessa a little over an hour ago. I was with them down in the ER while you were in surgery. God, Tonya, don’t ever scare me like this again. Hearing you’d been hurt scared ten years off my life.”
“Jake, it’s not like I did this on purpose,” she chided me as she clung onto my hand.
I stood up to lean over the bed. I needed a kiss. That would tell me she was real and here. My lips met hers and she willingly kissed me back. I felt the desperation in hers like I knew was in mine. Eventually, we came up for air.
She ran a hand along my jaw, rubbing against my whiskers. “I love you and I would never do anything intentionally to take me away from you. You must have been worried to death. Did it remind you of losing Frankie?”
I wouldn’t have brought Frankie into this. I tried not to talk about her, but Tonya was an unusual woman. She often said or asked things about her. She told me it was okay to remember her and our time together. She’d been a part of my life and had helped shape the man I was. My woman was very wise and special.
“It did. I was so damn worried and I was torn between being with you and the kids. They were upset and needed me while you were in surgery. If you’d left me, I couldn’t have stood it. I love you too much to do that.”
“You would’ve stayed to take care of the children. That’s what I would want you to do. They would need you, Jake.”
“How much good would a broken man be to them? I love them, don’t doubt that. I love them like they’re my own, but to go on without their mother, would be hell.”
“Well, we don’t have to think about that now. I’m going to be fine.”
We were interrupted from saying more by a brisk knock at the door. It opened and in strolled a man in a white lab coat. I assumed he had to be the doctor caring for her. He greeted us.
“Hello, Ms. Ewing, I’m Dr. Harker. I’m the chief doctor here on this floor. Nice to meet you. May I ask you to come back later, Officer?”
“Hello, Dr. Harker,” she said politely.
I shook his hand. “Hello, I’m Jake Cane. I’m Tonya’s fiancé. Sorry for the confusion. I was at work when she was brought in,” I told him, gesturing to my uniform. I’d have to ask one of the guys to bring me some regular clothes.
“Ah, that clears that up. Good. So I expect you’re both eager to hear what we found and what went on during surgery. The surgery went well. You were lucky that the bullet didn’t hit any bone, so we didn’t have to mess with finding and removing bone fragments. Although you lost a good amount of blood, we didn’t transfuse you. I expect the wound will heal nicely. It missed your axillary and thoracoacromial arteries, thankfully. You’ll be stiff and need physical therapy to get full range of usage again and you’ll have pain, but I expect you’ll make a full recovery. Officer Cane, I expect you’d like to know the caliber of the bullet removed. It was a 9mm. It did damage but nothing like it would have if it had been a .45.”
I felt relief hearing it and I could tell she did too. Then his face got serious. “There is one piece of bad news before you ask. As well as things went, the shock to your body was too much. We weren’t able to prevent you from losing the baby. I’m sorry. We had no idea you were even pregnant until you started to bleed in the OR.”
Tonya gasped then I saw her hands move under the covers down between her legs. I assumed she just now realized there was something there. Tears gathered in her eyes, the same as mine. We had no idea she was pregnant. I said as much to Dr. Harker.
“We didn’t know she was pregnant. Do you know how far along she was? She has one of those IUD things, so how did she get pregnant?” I was trying to focus on that, so I wouldn’t think about the emotional side and burst out sobbing. I’d lost my first blood-borne child before even knowing he or she existed. I was gutted.
All Tonya could do was sob. I let down the side rail and sat beside her, so I could wrap her up in my arms. She buried her face in my chest and beat her fist off it. I could see the sorrow on Dr. Harker's face. He hated to tell us this. He cleared his throat.
“She appeared to be about a month or so along. As for the IUD, when she started to bleed, we found it. It was displaced, which is how you got pregnant. That happens sometimes. We removed it. You’ll have some cramping and bleeding for maybe a week or more. It should gradually decrease. You can get another IUD placed as soon as you’d like, as long as you don’t have an infection. If you want to try again to get pregnant, I suggest waiting at least three months before trying, although some say six months. You need to give your uterus time to fully heal.”
“Thank you, Doctor. As you can tell, this is an unwelcome shock to us. We had no idea about the baby, but we for sure wanted it. Can you tell me how long she will need to stay in the hospital? We have three young children at home who are missing their mama and want to see her,” I said a bit hoarsely. I was still trying not to cry.
“Ahh, yes, the kids can’t visit her unless they’re fourteen. We’ll try to get her home as quickly as possible. She needs to be observed for a few days to make sure there are no complications and that she’s starting to heal. I’d say maybe in three to five days she can go home. When she does, she’ll have restrictions. If the kids are small, she won’t be able to lift them or anything over five pounds for a while. She’ll need to rebuild her blood and she’ll be tired. I’ll order her therapy to start as soon as I and her orthopedic doctor think she’s ready. Is there anything else I can tell you or get for you?”
“No, thank you. You’ve explained all we need to know for now. I do want to stay with her, even if visiting hours are over. She was shot and we don’t know by whom or if they are targeting her. She needs to be protected. You’ll likely see my club brothers here too.”
“Club brothers?” I heard his surprise in his tone.
“Yes, I'm not only a police officer but I’m a prospect for the Archangel’s Warriors MC. Have you heard of them?” I’d be surprised if he hadn’t.
“I have. If I recall correctly, two of our prior nurses here at the hospital were married to men in that club.”
“You’re correct. That would be Janessa and Regan. Your former dietitian, Alannah, is too.”
