A slight movement jolted JC from his slumber.  Remembering where he was, he brought his head up from the bed where he had fallen asleep still touching Liz.  Had he imagined the shift?  No, her eyelids were fluttering.  JC barely noticed the sun shining through the window as he leapt to his feet, shoving the chair away with the motion.  He cupped her cheek with one shaking hand and bent closer to her. 

“Liz?  Liz, baby?  I’m right here…open your big beautiful eyes for me.”

Her eyes shot open, wide with panic as she fought against the tube helping her breathe.  Her arms lifted to try tugging the tube out and JC fought to restrain her, trying to calm her between his shouts for help.

“Someone help us!  Liz, just relax and breathe, let the machine help you.  We need help in here!”

A nurse and doctor came running into the room, immediately setting to work – raising the top half of the bed up, putting on gloves, and trying to get Liz to calm down enough to be able to remove the tube. 

“Okay, I’ll take this tube out but I want you to blow hard.  Ready?”  The doctor asked.

Liz nodded once as she still struggled against the hands holding her.  Tears welled up in her eyes and cascaded down her cheeks as she blinked rapidly and blew.  No sooner had the doctor finished pulling the tube out than Liz was bent over the side of the bed, retching painfully.  JC was sure that the dry heaves she was having were causing extreme pain on her injuries. 

JC supported her with one arm while he rubbed the other one over her back.  When he felt her go limp in his arms, he gently laid her back on the bed with the help of the nurse.  Tears were streaming down her face and into the pillow below her head. 

“DO something,” JC demanded of the doctor.  “Look at how much pain she is in, help her.”

The doctor gave a few quiet instructions to the nurse who then in turn left the room as the doctor checked Liz’s incision.  JC held tightly to Liz’s hand as he wiped the tears away.  As the doctor was recovering the incision, the nurse returned and put something in Liz’s IV that caused her to go limp. 

“Will she be okay?”  JC choked out.   

The doctor finished making a couple of notes in the chart before he lifted his head.  “Your wife will have a long recovery ahead of her, but we are most concerned about the fetus at this time.”  He continued for a minute but saw that JC had gone white and was wavering on his feet. 

Springing into action, JC was shoved in the chair behind him and his head lowered between his knees.  He was slightly aware of a hand that held his head down, but all he could hear was the roaring in his ears and ‘fetus’ repeating in his mind. 

Pregnant?  Liz was pregnant?  She hadn’t said anything before he left and they hadn’t talked in almost 2 weeks now.  Was that why she hadn’t been taking his calls – she was afraid of his reaction?

“How far along?”  JC muttered.

The hand on the back of his head was removed but JC remained in the same position for another moment, closing his eyes against the swirling of the tile floor at the shock of the news.  JC could hear papers rustling as the doctor looked through Liz’s chart.  “Well…it looks here that she is about 7 weeks or so,” his voice trailed off.  “I – uh – I’m sorry to have blurted out the news like that.  I assumed that you knew about…”

JC’s head came up slowly, only to be propped in his hands.  JC heard the words that the doctor was saying, but none really sunk in as he concentrated on just taking one breath after another.  There should be a limit to the shocks a man could receive in such a short amount of time.  He vaguely heard a question asked and he simply nodded his head, hoping that was the right response.

He was aware that someone had left the room but still heard rustling so he was not yet alone.  Suddenly a hospital bag was placed next to his feet.  He glanced over at it with disinterest and saw that it was Liz’s belongings.  Now that the room was completely silent again with just a few machines, he raised his head to study his wife’s face. 

Pregnant?  He was going to be a father.  They hadn’t talked much about kids other than some vague mention of them in the far off future.  He performed a mental calculation counting the weeks back before he gave up and grabbed his phone with a calendar.  With his finger scrolling through the weeks, he realized it had been just over 7 weeks since their wedding.  Liz had gotten pregnant either on their wedding night or not long after.  With a small smile, he remembered those blissful days where nothing mattered but each other. 

Resting his head against the chair, his eyes moved down over her face to scrutinize her stomach.  He could imagine her body swelling with his baby and loved her all the more for it.  But doubts began to crowd in – did he really want to have a baby so soon?  Why had they not been able to communicate with each other for a couple of weeks?

Idly, he wondered if her phone was perhaps located in her belongings.  At first glance, he hadn’t noticed her purse but maybe it was tucked inside her clothes.  With a furtive glance at Liz, he picked the bag up and placed it on the rolling table nearby.  He stood to make it easier to retrieve the items. 

A pair of shoes.

Her bloody shirt.

Then finally, her jeans wrapped around her purse. 

With slow, deep breaths, he shoved her clothes back in the bag and put it in the room’s small closet, closing the door with a click.  Out of sight, out of mind went the bloody clothes. 

Checking to see that Liz still hadn’t moved, he once again sat down in the chair and pulled the purse onto his lap.  Why did women need all this storage space anyway?  He weighed it in his hand, still not understanding why she needed to carry so much stuff around everywhere she went. 

Opening one side, he found her Kindle, her daily planner, some Band-Aids, and some feminine products.  Closing that zipper, he opened the next one.  That side had her wallet, some cash loose inside, her checkbook, pens, blank sticky notes, and a map of the city. 

But still no phone. 

Only the sides were left.  He popped the button to peer into the cavernous pocket and saw a case.  He pulled that out but realized it was her iPod.  He hit the button and realized that she had been listening to his playlist.  Smiling, JC once again looked to see if she was waking up. 

Then his attention went back to the pocket – ah, there underneath her charger was her phone.  Before he looked through it, he put everything carefully back where he thought it went then placed it next to his chair in case she needed something from it. 

Settling back in the chair, he swiped his finger across the screen then entered her password.  First, he checked her missed calls and voicemails.  Nothing – so he went to all calls.  There were many to Josh so he pulled his own phone out and looked to compare.  He had never received any at those times. 

He tapped the screen until he came to her texts.  He started at the oldest first under his name. 

Hey Lover – just wanted to make sure you made it.  Love ya!  I can’t wait until we are together again.  ;-)

Was your flight delayed?

I’ll be in a meeting the next hour or so and won’t be able to answer, text me though to let me know you made it. 

I stopped at Victoria’s Secret on the way home and picked up something that you might like. 

Should I send you a picture?  No – I think this is best to experience in person – lol!

Ok, I’m starting to get worried, where are you?

The texts continued for days, echoing the tone of some of the texts that he had sent to her while they were apart.  Hers alternated between anger and concern as the days passed.  He skimmed through them quickly until one stopped him cold. 

Josh, why aren’t you answering calls or texts?  I keep getting a message saying that this number has been disconnected.  Is this it?  Are we done?  I honestly expected better from you than this – did your family finally convince you that I’m not good enough for you?  I don’t understand what happened from the last time we made love just before you left until your flight to LA.  Did I do something?  Please Josh, I need to know what’s going on.  I LOVE you!  Are you mad because I didn’t go with you?  I know you’ll probably never get this since your phone is off but please Josh – call me and…come home…

JC got to his feet and bent over the bed, placing his mouth close to Liz’s ear.  “Liz, I love you and NO this is not the end!  We are going to get through this and figure out what’s been going on.  You are never going to be rid of me – we made a promise for life and I figure that’s good for another 60 years or so.  Plus, we have our baby to look forward to.”  He placed his hand gently on her stomach just under her breasts, careful to avoid the stitches.  “You sleep now and get better because in a few months there will be no sleep for either of us.  I’m not going to leave you again.”

Her breathing remained steady, which comforted him in its repetitiveness.  He looked for any signs that she had heard him but saw no movement. 

Grabbing her phone once again, he sank into the chair.  He scrolled through the texts until something caught his attention.  Wait – that’s not the right phone number.  JC double-checked the calls again.  The number was similar but it had an 8 instead of a 5 in it.  He pressed the button to connect the call and got the same message that Liz heard dozens of times.  He put hers back down on the table and picked up his cell phone.  Odd, her number was off by one number as well as he checked it against her phone. 

JC didn’t think she had his number memorized since he changed it so often when fans got a hold of his number.  He was distracted from his thoughts when the door opened once again to admit a new nurse.  She gave him a quick smile and blushed when he nodded back.  “JC – um, Mr. Chasez – there is a man in the waiting room asking how your wife is doing.”

“Who is it?”

“It’s an older gentleman; someone said he’s been here most of the night.”  She took Liz’s blood pressure and wrote it down on the chart. 

JC stood and stretched.  “Sounds like my father – I thought he went home.”  He once again moved over to the bed, bending low to press a warm kiss on Liz’s forehead before straightening.  “I’ll be back in a few minutes, I love you.”

Pausing with one hand one the door, JC turned back.  “Is there a place where I can get a cup of coffee close?”

The nurse blushed when he caught her staring.  “Um…yes, sir – there’s one in the waiting room.  Just turn left at the nurses station, it’s at the end of the hall.”

“Thanks,” JC responded as he stepped out.  Following the directions, JC decided to duck into the men’s room.  Finishing, he stood at the sink to wash his hands and was taken aback at his appearance.  His hair stood on end, his eyes were bloodshot, and there were dark circles underneath.  He grabbed several paper towels and wet them with cold water before pressing them over his face, letting the shock of the cold water refresh him.  He took a few more, drying his face and hands before he tossed the whole pile in the trash and continued on to the waiting room. 

The room was empty, but the TV was changing channels at a rapid pace.  JC smiled to himself, getting a cup of coffee before making his way around one of the couches facing the TV.  “I knew that you would be the one changing the channels – Liz gets so mad at me when I can’t settle on just one.”

Roy jumped when JC spoke scaring Roy from his place lying down on the couch, but sat up as JC took a seat in the nearby chair.  “Liz – how is she?”

JC took a sip of the brew, feeling the jolt of caffeine before placing it on the arm of the chair with his hand wrapped around, needing the warmth.  “Liz is – well, she’s in a lot of pain.  She woke up for the first time since I’ve been here and I had to restrain her.  Dad, I don’t ever want to have to do that again.”

“What happened?”  Roy reached out a comforting hand to place on JC’s knee with a squeeze. 

“She was still intubated, with the tube helping her breathe, she woke up and panicked and tried to pull it out herself.”  JC shook his head at the memory.  “She had tears running down her face – they got it out but she was in so much pain, they gave her something to knock her out.”

He took another sip of coffee then a deep breath, meeting Roy’s eyes head on.  “But Dad, that’s not it.”

“What else is there?  She’s going to be okay, isn’t she?”

“She’s pregnant.”

Roy’s eyebrows rose at that news, “Okaaaay, didn’t expect that.”  He leaned back into the couch.  “Did – did you know?”  He asked tentatively. 

JC shook his head.  “I’m not completely sure that Liz knew.  If she did, she would have just found out.”

“How pregnant is she?”

“Around 7 weeks.”

“How long have you been married?”

“7 weeks and 2 days.”

“Huh.”  Roy nodded, rubbing his chin.  “Is the baby okay?”

“I think so, I’m not real sure, I was kinda out of it when the doctor was trying to explain things.  I know they are very concerned about the baby and said Liz would be fine.  It came as a little bit of a shock since we were going to wait a couple of years – and not to mention, I was just relieved to see my wife.”

“So, do you suppose that’s why you haven’t been able to talk?  Was she afraid of your reaction?”

Before he spoke, JC took a long sip of his coffee.  “I hope not, but no that’s not the reason.  I was looking at her phone and realized that somehow one of the digits in my number was off, but what is even weirder is that her number in my phone was off by one as well.”

“How does that happen?”

JC shrugged.

“A virus?”

JC shrugged again.  “I’m not sure, but this will never happen again.”  He finished the last swallow from his cup and stood.  “I’d better get back to Liz; I don’t want to be gone too long.”  He paused.  “Thanks for staying, Dad.  You didn’t have to.”

Roy held up a hand.  “Yes, I did, I wanted to be here for you.  Now…is there anything you need?”

Looking down at himself, JC nodded.  “Yeah, when you get a minute, could you get me a change of clothes and maybe my toiletry bag, I could use a shave.”  He touched the stubble on his face.  “There should be an extra kit in the downstairs bathroom.  And just any clothes – jeans and a couple of shirts would be good.”  He snapped his fingers, “Oh, and can you grab Liz’s laptop, it’s probably in the office.  Mine’s still in LA.  That should be everything for now.”  JC stepped into the comforting arms of his father.  “Thanks Dad – for everything.”

After returning the hard hug, Roy stepped back but left his hands on JC’s shoulders.  “You just take care of my daughter in law and my new grandbaby.”

They began their walk to the door and JC stopped to refill his cup.  “Oh, and dad, don’t mention the baby to anyone.  I’m not sure if Liz even knows yet and if something happens…”

Roy held his hand up.  “Say no more, I won’t even tell your mother.  That’s yours and Liz’s news to share.  I love you, Josh, and if you need anything, I’m only a phone call away.  I’ll be back after while.”

JC licked his lips at the emotion.  “Thanks, Dad, and there’s no rush.  Go home and get some sleep first.”

They parted ways at the nurses’ station, Roy heading to the elevators, and JC heading back to sit by Liz’s bedside.