Page 18 of Daddy's Reckoning
However, it was clear that we had some shit to work out between us, and for now, she didn't want my input or my help. So I sat quietly, choking on the thoughts and questions running through my brain at warp speed as we waited for the doctor.
When he finally arrived, he looked like he could have been a med student himself, his youthful features and laid-back demeanor not inspiring confidence.
“So, what happened?”
“She fainted.”
Erin shot me a look and I clamped my mouth shut.
“I fainted,” she explained, “and my friend here is making it a much bigger deal than it needs to be.”
The doctor, his name was Dr. Wagner, consulted the chart. “It says here you’re fourteen weeks pregnant.” He looked at Erin over the top of his chart.
“Yes, Sir.” she nodded.
He listened to her heart and shined a light in her eyes.
“Has anything like this ever happened before?”
“No, I've never fainted from anything before.”
He nodded and typed a few things into his computer. I wanted to ask more questions. But Erin seemed content to just sit there in silence so I forced myself to do the same.
“So, it looks like you probably had an episode of extremely high blood pressure, and it’s already leveled out. Which is good news. There could be a lot of reasons for this, and most of them are pretty minor, but we want to keep an eye on it. So we can keep you here?—”
“—Is that really necessary?”
“Well, it might not be, but you’d know that if you let me finish.” He nodded before continuing. “Now, as I was saying. Your blood pressure needs to be monitored for several days, and then you’ll need to check in with your OBGYN in the coming week. So, we can monitor you here, or you can go home, but you’ll need to have someone there who is able to watch out for you, check your vitals regularly, and make sure everything gets recorded.”
“Oh.” I saw Erin’s face drop. She had no family around—not that she had a relationship with them anyway—and while she seemed to like her roommate, they didn’t have that kind of relationship, either.
“I could do all that myself,” she argued.
Dr. Wagner shook his head, casting a glance at me before he answered her. “You, young lady, are going to be on glorified bed rest through Monday. No getting out of bed for more than fifteen minutes at a time, no more than an hour per day, total. You’ll need someone around to take care of you.”
“Oh.”
I could almost see her brain working as she considered her options. She didn’t want to ask me for help, but she wasn’t going to have a choice. I gave her another minute to think about it, then put her out of her misery.
“I’ll do it. She can come home with me.”
She shot me a grateful look that lasted about a second before she found something new to argue with me about. “You could come home with me, instead.”
“Not gonna happen, little girl. It’s my place or St. Mary’s. Take your pick.”
“Fine, but just for the weekend.”
“Just until after you check in with your regular doctor, you mean.”
“Whatever.” She rolled her eyes, and Dr. Wagner watched the exchange with an amused expression.
“Since my charge here isn’t feeling very cooperative, I think it’s best if I direct the rest of my instructions toward you Mr?—?”
“Mr. Montgomery, you’ll need to stop by a pharmacy or medical supply store and pick up a blood pressure cuff. It needs to be monitored at regular intervals, probably every two hours, unless she’s asleep. If it goes above 140/90 call us immediately. You may need to bring her in. She should eat lots of protein, veggies, and carbs in small meals rather than big ones. She needs to rest and stay in bed, at least through the weekend, but if I had it my way, she’d do a full week of bed rest.”
Erin gasped and I saw her look at me and shake her head. I could tell by her expression she knew protesting wasn’t going to work. I ignored her and waited for Dr. Wagner to finish his instructions.
“How worried should I be, Doctor?”