say hello wave goodbye

28: girlfriend in a coma (1980)

March 1980

If Lindsey had to guess, he'd say that there was only about a minute in between when Stevie passed out and when she came to again. But he'll be goddamned if those 60 seconds didn't feel like years.

"She's...no," he stuttered, unsure what he was saying no to as two medics made their way through the group.

One knelt down at her side, forcing him to move. "Sir, we need you to get back."

"She's...she's pregnant?" he said weakly, looking at Robin for confirmation, and she nods. "And she has a heart condition, she's..."

"Did I...where am I?" Stevie mumbled, opening her eyes and then closing them again.

"Stevie, thank God, you're -"

He tried to reach for her, but the medic stopped him. "Let us handle this, sir. So you know how far along she is?"

"Uh, no," he said, hating that he couldn't answer the question, that he knew exactly as much as this total stranger did about his baby...it is his, isn't it?

"She's not sure," Robin answered for him, "but probably about two months?"

"Two months and she didn't fucking tell me?!" His outburst caught Stevie's attention and she stopped talking to the other medic, squinting and trying to lift her head.

"Ma'am, just relax. We need you to stay lying down," he said before turning back to Lindsey, looking irritated. "Do you mind, sir?"

Robin hauled him to his feet as the medics kept talking quietly to her, checking her vital signs. "Jesus, Lindsey, you're not helping."

"Why the fuck didn't she tell me, huh? Unless it's not mine..."

"It's yours," she said in a voice indicating that she wished it wasn't, both of them keeping a close watch on Stevie. "She said the last time she got her period was right before you guys left."

He snorts. "And she fucked a lot of people between then and now-"

"She was already feeling sick when you were in Japan," Robin pointed out.

He knows she wasn't with anyone else while they were there; they barely left each other's side. Which means... "So she was just gonna- what? Hope I wouldn't notice?"

"She only found out yesterday morning, alright? And she wasn't sure how to tell you, but she wanted to wait until she was sober. She hasn't touched anything since then." Tears starting to trickle down her cheeks, Robin let out a long sigh. "I told her that I wasn't sure it was a good idea, her going cold turkey like that, but she wouldn't listen."

"Yeah, well," Lindsey said, fist clenching and unclenching at his side. He was vaguely aware of all the others standing around him, whispering to each other in hushed tones, but all he could focus on was Stevie. The medic shined a light in her pupils and she blinked, then looked up at him dazedly before her eyes shut again.

"Stay with us, ma'am," he urged, then said something to his partner that Lindsey couldn't understand, what with the medical jargon and the Kiwi accent. "We're waiting on a stretcher so we can get you to the hospital and have you checked out."

"Nnnn...I don' wanna go. I'll go home. I'ca walk," she protested.

"You're not walking anywhere," Robin said, gently stroking her hair as the stretcher arrived and her eyelids fluttered. "But you've gotta stay awake for now, okay? I'll be right there with you."

"I'm coming too," Lindsey decided quickly, unwilling to let her out of his sight.

Robin gave him the dirtiest look known to mankind. "Like hell you are! You've done enough already."