Thrive

I woke to the sound of Scarlett crying which caused me to groan; I was again feeling exhausted and was not ready to get out of bed.

"I'll get her." Alex said.

"You sure?" I said, not looking at him.

"Absolutely. You deserve more sleep. I can get her breakfast if you'd like."

"That sounds like a dream. Thank you."

I propped myself up on my elbows and kissed him.

"I love you."

"I love you, too." he said.

My head landed back onto my pillow as he got out of bed; my eyes closed and I quickly fell back asleep. After what seemed like an eternity, my eyes opened and I sat up. While I got out of bed and was on my way to the bathroom, I felt pain in my abdomen causing me to cry out and bend over. I managed to make it to the bathroom where I fell to my knees and had my head over the toilet; clearly, I became nauseated and was ready to vomit.

“Abby?” I heard from the top of the stairs.

I couldn’t answer him as I puked into the toilet. Seconds after I flushed, that pain hit me again and I grabbed my abdomen again, collapsing to the floor, lying on my side.

“Abby!”

His steps were even closer, but I still wasn’t able to answer him.

“What’s wrong?” he said, kneeling in front of me.

I was in tears as I looked at him.

“Stomach pain and I threw up.”

“Are you able to sit up for me?”

I slowly sat up and bent my knees.

“Sit.” I said.

He did and pulled me close to him.

“Is there anything I can do?”

“I don’t know.”

Another wave hit me and I put my head between my legs.

“Alright. We’re going to the hospital.”

“No. I’ll be fine. Just let me get back into bed.”

“I’d feel better if we go.”

I sighed. I knew that was the truth and the last thing I want him to be is worried and/or upset, so I just gave in

“Sure, but what about Scarlett?”

“I’ll get a hold of your Mom.”

I nodded.

“Help me up.”

He did and I decided to brush my teeth despite Alex saying it was unnecessary.

“Could you grab me something to change into?”

I was not going in my pajamas which were a pair of a yoga pants and an oversized band tee.

“You’ll be fine. I’ll send Miranda for something if you really want it.”

“Alex.”

He gave me a look.

“Alright. You win. Let’s fucking go.” I grumbled.

I gradually made it downstairs with his help and put on my shoes. He headed up the steps to get Scarlett while he was on the phone with my mom.

“Ready?” he asked a few minutes later.

“Yeah.”

Alex opened the door and I walked over to his car, unlocking it. I was about to open the car door when he beat me to it and I got in, quickly buckling my seatbelt. My mom ended up meeting us at the hospital, pulling in next to us in the parking lot.

“Thank you so much for coming.” he said as I got out.

“Of course.” she said hugging me.

I was in too much pain and discomfort to hug her.

“I’ll be fine, Mom.”

“I know. I just worry. You know?”

“Yeah. Like Alex.”

“Because we both love you.” he said.

I slightly smiled.

“Now, if there’s else I can do. Let me know. I can be back here in a heartbeat.”

Alex handed her Scarlett’s baby bag while I kissed my princess on the cheek.

“I love you. Be good for Grandma. Okay? Mommy’ll see you later.”

I was teary as I turned away while he spoke to her. Once she was in my mom’s car, Alex and I made our way inside the hospital. I leaned against him the entire walk. By now, the pain was worse and I wouldn’t be surprised if the area was swollen. I felt a kiss on the top of my head as I laid on a hospital bed in the emergency room.

“I fucking hate this.”

Three trips to the hospital in just as many months is ridiculous.

“So do I.”

“Surely not as much as me. You do realize how many times I’ve been here in the past few months.”

“I do, but the first one was horrible. I wasn’t even able to be here, and this one scares the shit out of me.”

“At least the second one was a good one.” I said smiling.

He smiled too and squeezed my hand.

“A great one.”

“Yeah. Definitely.”

This was when a doctor opened up my curtain.

“Abigail Gaskarth?”

“Yes?”

“I’m Dr. Forester. I heard you were having abdominal pain.”

“Yes. I got out of bed this morning and felt pain that had me doubling over. I don’t know how I even made it to the bathroom.”

“Any more pain or other symptoms?”

“I vomited then had pain hit me again twice. That’s when my husband insisted I go to the hospital. I thought I’d be fine just getting back into bed.”

“This is him?” he asked, looking to my left.

I nodded.

“Alex.” Alex introduced himself, shaking his hand.

He then returned that hand back to mine.

“I need to see your abdomen. See if it’s swollen.”

I winced as he took a look at my abdomen and felt around.

“Very swollen. This seems like appendicitis, but we’re gonna have to run a CT scan.”

Great. I get to lie and go through a tube for several minutes.

I sighed after he left.

“Well, that’s fantastic.” I said, sarcastically.

I had a ct scan after my hit-and-run and hated it then, but even more so now.

“At least we’ll get answers.”

“Probably gonna need an appendectomy. Surgery. Let’s add to the list of things I hate.”

“Abby, you don’t know if that’s gonna happen.”

“I know the symptoms, Alex. I’m sure you do, too. We both had health class.”

He made a face.

“Just trying to remain optimistic.”

“I know you are and I’m trying, but it’s difficult since it’s my body. This is terrible pain. You have no idea.”

He wiped a tear that escaped before kissing me. Within a few minutes, I was taken to go get my scan done as my heart beat against my chest; I gave him a weak smile before that. When I was in there, I shut my eyes and tried to relax; it was difficult and I wanted Alex beside me. Being alone in a room without having the pleasure of moving about is unnerving.

Can this just end?

I was only in there for about half an hour, but it felt like an eternity to me. I was wheeled into a room that Alex wasn’t in; it made me anxious.

Where the fuck is he?

I didn’t smile until I saw him walk into the room. I wrapped my arms around him and didn’t want to let go.

“Are you okay?” he asked when he pulled away.

“I don’t want to go through that again. It’s happened twice. Not being able to move in a dark room is terrifying. It reminded me of how I didn’t know if I was gonna be able to get away from my rapist.”

Tears began to run down my face. He grabbed my purse and took my tissues out to wipe my tears.

“I’m so sorry.” he said.

“Why are you sorry?” I asked through blurry eyes.

“I don’t know.” he said, shaking his head.

He was at odds with himself which broke my heart.

“I didn’t think about that night until then, but it suddenly popped into my head. You know, I really need my medication right now. I haven’t had the chance to take them yet.”

I was feeling anxious at the moment and Alex could tell. This was certainly not the time to have any type of attack at the moment. He took my hands and told me to just breathe. It took only a minute to calm me down.

“I love you.” I said.

“I love you, too.”

Five silent minutes later, my doctor came walking in.

“Hi, Abigail.”

I wanted to tell him to call me Abby, but I didn’t see what the point would be. I’m not gonna be here long, after all.

“Yes?”

“It was as I suspected. Appendicitis. We need to prep you for surgery.”

Fuck.

“Ok.”

I was given the risks and signed a form, so that they could perform surgery.

“I hope this goes by fast, so I can take my meds and see Scarlett. I miss her.”

The same amount of time passed when I was prepped for surgery.

“I’ll be here when you get back. Okay?” Alex said, stroking my hair.

“Okay. Love you.”

“Love you, too.”

I was then wheeled away and he quickly was out of sight.

I had been through so much in my life. I grew up with no father or grandparents while my mom struggled to give me a great life, I developed depression and while I was in college, I struggled my entire adult life; that heightened when I moved to California. Besides having my best friend, I made a couple of friends and met the love of my life. Despite working at least two jobs and having a shitty car, he made life a bit easier and never ceased to put a smile on my face when I needed it.

Life seemed perfect when I got my dream job and had the perfect job, but things changed in no time. I was stalked and cornered by someone who pinned me to the wall and raped me. I was just a few days from my new job, but now I was mentally messed up and ended up being diagnosed with PTSD. Luckily, my rapist was sent to prison and I married my fiancé less than a year after that horrible night. Pregnancy followed, but I was found by father who was released from prison and turned out to be a rapist himself and wanted to get to know me. He ended up arrested a short time later, trying to see my daughter after a hit-and-run while I was pregnant. Miraculously, life has been a dream since then, but now, things have changed again and I’m back in a hospital for a terrible reason. My PTSD hit me again and I can’t believe it; hopefully, after my surgery things will go back to the way they were.

“Hey.”

I was just opening my eyes.

“Hey. Oww...” I groaned, touching my abdomen.

Alex moved closer and touched my hand.

"I'd ask how you are, but it seems like you already gave me your answer."

"A lot better than before. No nausea, but that's gonna be a bit sore though. I can deal with that.” I said, smiling.

“That’s good to hear.”

A few moments later, my doctor knocked on the door.

“Come in.” Alex said.

“Hi, Abigail. How are you feeling?”

“Pretty good. All things considered.”

“No nausea or pain?”

“I’m just a bit sore, but I’m sure that’ll go away. Right?”

“Of course, but if it gets worse or you have any symptoms... please get a hold of us.”

He had listed the symptoms during that speech.

“How long am I back to being myself?”

“One-to-three weeks.”

I nodded. Alex will be gone by three weeks; I surely hope I’m one-hundred percent before then. What followed was me being told about what meds I could take and that I would be able to leave today.

“How you feeling about leaving today?”

“Wonderful. I’ll feel even more wonderful after I take my meds.”

He handed me my pill case and quickly located what I needed to take.

“Drink.”

He handed me my water and I popped them in my mouth and swallowed.

“Much better.” I said, smiling.

I fell back into my pillow and happily sighed; he laughed.

“Are you amused?”

“Very.”

I laughed.

“Can I have a kiss?”

“Always.”

Within minutes, I was back into my the clothes I came in, not even caring at this point about it since it’s been quite the day and I just wanna get home.

"Ready?" Alex asked.

"You have no idea."

The joy we had once we picked up our daughter from my mom and my stepdad’s house was insurmountable. Actually, Alex went in since I couldn’t bend down and pick up Scarlett.

“Hi, sweetie. Mommy missed you.” I said through my mirror.

She smiled.

“Wanna pick up something to eat?” he asked.

It was nearly two, after all and I actually hadn’t eaten yet today.

“Absolutely. Don’t know if I’ve been hungrier in my life.”

“What are you in the mood for?”

“Your choice.”

“You sure? You can have whatever you’d like. You did have surgery today.”

“Yeah.”

I sighed. I fell back asleep, and the next thing I knew, I was being lifted up and out of the car. The sounds of crying followed by Alex’s voice trying to sooth her woke me up. I didn’t make a noise as I watched them; he’s a natural.

“You worried about Mama?”

My heart.

“She’s okay. She’s just hurt right now. She’ll be better soon.”

That seemed to do the trick and Scarlett quieted down.

“That’s my girl. I love you.”

She fell asleep and he kissed her forehead. He turned around and saw me smiling.

“How long have you been awake?”

“Long enough to see you speaking to our daughter.”

He smiled and kneeled next to me.

“Are you up for eating?”

“100%.”

I carefully sat up then heard Alex go into the kitchen and grab our food. When he came back, I inhaled deeply and smiled; he bought White Castle and milkshakes. I kissed his cheek.

“You’re the best. Thank you.” I said as he handed me my food.

“My pleasure.”

The rest of the day went well, but I knew the road to recovery was going to be a bit rough.

Notes