Thrive - Side 2

The sound of Scarlett crying woke me up, but also caused Abby to groan; clearly, someone doesn’t want to wake up.

"I'll get her." I said.

"You sure?" she said, not looking at me.

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

"That sounds like a dream. Thank you."

She propped herself up on her elbows and kissed me.

"I love you."

"I love you, too." I said.

Her head landed back onto her pillow as I got out of bed; her eyes closed and she fell back asleep. Sometime later, I heard a noise in our bedroom as I walked up stairs.

“Abby?” I called out.

I heard the sound of her throwing up before I could even get an answer. After I heard the toilet flush, I saw her collapsing to the floor, clutching her abdomen.

“Abby!”

No response.

“What’s wrong?” I said, kneeling in front of her.

She was in tears as she looked at me.

“Stomach pain and I threw up.”

“Are you able to sit up for me?”

She slowly sat up and bent her knees.

“Sit.” she said.

I did and pulled her close to me.

“Is there anything I can do?”

“I don’t know.”

Another wave hit her and she put her head between her 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.”

She sighed, knowing it was the truth.

“Sure, but what about Scarlett?”

“I’ll get a hold of your Mom.”

She nodded.

“Help me up.”

I did and she decided to brush her teeth despite me saying it was unnecessary.

“Could you grab me something to change into?”

I had no plans on doing that.

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

“Alex.”

I gave her a look.

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

She made it downstairs with my help and put on her shoes. I headed back up the steps to get Scarlett while I was on the phone with her mom.

“Ready?” she asked a few minutes later.

“Yeah.”

I opened the door and Abby walked over to my car, unlocking it. She was about to open the car door when I beat her to it and she got in, quickly buckling her seatbelt. Her mom ended up meeting us at the hospital, pulling in next to us in the parking lot.

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

“Of course.” she said, hugging Abby.

She 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.” I said.

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

I handed her Scarlett’s baby bag while she kissed our princess on the cheek.

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

I spoke to her a moment more before turning my attention back to Abby. Once she was in her mom’s car, Abby leaned against me as we made the short trek into the hospital. I kissed the top of her head as she laid on a hospital bed in the emergency room.

“I fucking hate this.”

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

“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.” she said, smiling.

I smiled too and squeezed her hand.

“A great one.”

“Yeah. Definitely.”

This was when a doctor opened up the 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.”

I grimaced as I learned new details.

“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 toward me.

Who else would I be?

She nodded.

“Alex.” I introduced myself, shaking his hand.

I then returned that hand back to Abby’s.

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

She winced as he took a look at her abdomen and felt around.

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

She sighed after he left.

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

I frowned.

“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.”

I 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.”

I wiped a tear that escaped before kissing her. The sight of her in pain hurt me as it always does. A few minutes later, Abby was taken to get a ct scan done and I was left to wait and worry. A half hour later, I walked into the room she was wheeled into and saw her smile. She wrapped her arms around me and didn’t want to let go.

“Are you okay?” I asked when I 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.”

Of course she wasn’t okay; I should’ve known with her past. Tears began to run down her face. I grabbed her purse and took her tissues out to wipe her tears.

“I’m so sorry.” I said.

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

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

I was at odds with myself, not knowing what to do next.

“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 could read the anxiousness on her face and knew she was on the cusp of an anxiety attack. I took her hands and told her to just breathe; luckily, a minute was all she needed to calm down.

“I love you.” she said.

“I love you, too.”

Five silent minutes later, her doctor came walking in.

“Hi, Abigail.”

“Yes?”

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

Surgery. Holy shit.

“Ok.”

She 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 she was prepped for surgery.

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

“Okay. Love you.”

“Love you, too.”

She was then wheeled away and quickly out of sight. The time couldn’t have passed any slower, and although I knew that this was a routine surgery, I still had anxiety about it.

“Hey.” I said as she was waking up.

“Hey. Oww...” she groaned, touching her abdomen.

I moved closer and touched her 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.” she said, smiling.

“That’s good to hear.”

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

“Come in.” I 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.”

She nodded. I hoped she would get better sooner rather than later since I’ll be gone by then and I won’t be able to help take care of her. What followed was Abby being told about what meds she could take and that she would be able to leave today.

“How you feeling about leaving today?”

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

I handed Abby her pill case and quickly located what she needed to take.

“Drink.”

I handed over her water and she popped them in her mouth and swallowed.

“Much better.” she said, smiling.

She fell back into her pillow and happily sighed; I laughed.

“Are you amused?”

“Very.”

She laughed.

“Can I have a kiss?”

“Always.”

Within minutes, she was back into my the clothes she came in, eager to go home.

"Ready?" I asked.

"You have no idea."

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

“Hi, sweetie. Mommy missed you.” she said through her mirror.

Scarlett smiled.

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

It was nearly two, after all and she 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.”

She sighed and fell back asleep. When we got back after getting food, I carefully lifted Abby out of the car and ended laying her on the couch.

“You worried about Mama?”

I knew that I was even though I know she was going to be fine.

“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 I kissed her forehead. I turned around and saw Abby smiling.

“How long have you been awake?”

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

I smiled and kneeled next to her.

“Are you up for eating?”

“100%.”

She sat up while I went into the kitchen to grab our food. When I came back, she inhaled deeply and smiled; a kiss on the cheek followed.

“You’re the best. Thank you.” she said as I handed her food.

“My pleasure.”

The rest of the day went well, but we both knew the road to recovery was going to be a rocky one.

Notes