Understanding You *Completed*

Twenty Seven

Jocelyn was sick. She'd been getting ready to go see Miles when she took her temperature- 102.9 degrees. 

It hadn't occurred to her that maybe she wasn't feeling the effects of stress, but sickness. Setting her purse down, she realized just how heavy the small bag had felt to her aching body. The longer she stood still the worse she felt.

"Good morning! Thank you for calling Hope Journey long term care facility. My name is Mandy, how can I help you?"

"Good morning, Mandy, it's Jocelyn. I've come down with a fever so I won't be in today. Can you make sure Miles looks at those samples that were sent in?" Jocelyn groaned as she stumbled to her couch.

The room spun and she felt her stomach drop. Just as Mandy began speaking, Jocelyn let out a loud gagging sound before vomit came spewing from her mouth and down her chest.

She hurried to the bathroom where she continued throwing up. The more she retched, the more the room spun leading to a seemingly never ending cycle. The bowl, once filled with chunks of her breakfast, became colored in red- blood.

When she finally felt stable enough, she slowly crawled back to her phone laying on the floor. "Jocelyn, an ambulance is on the way if you can hear me!"

"H-hello?"

"Jocelyn? Oh, my god woman. You scared me there. Are you okay? What happened?" Mandy rattled off.

"I don't know," Jocelyn groaned as she felt herself begin spinning once more.

As she attempted to crawl back to the bathroom, her body gave out beneath her and she simply laid on the floor. Her eyelids felt heavier by the second and she was unconscious before she knew it.
...

Jocelyn woke to the sound of mumbling. Her body felt ten times better and she fluttered her eyes open to see she was in a hospital room.

"There she is." A voice cooed to her left. Jocelyn turned to see a woman smiling brightly at her.

The lilac scrubs told her she was a nurse. "Hello."

"You're at Saint John's hospital. Do you remember how you got here?" She smiled once more as she began adjusting Jocelyn's iv drip.

"I, uh, I had a fever." Jocelyn mumbled as it slowly came back to her.

"Yes, you do. You're running about a 101 right now which is an improvement from when you came in. Don't worry, this is very common although scary. A lot of women experience complications early on." The woman's words caused further confusion in Jocelyn.

"What's wrong? I mean, like, what do I have?" She questioned as she sat up in the bed to see she'd been changed into a gown.

"Well, we discovered your fever is just from your common cold. A couple Tylenol should get you through it. We also ran some tests due to your vomiting and you've got a stomach ulcer. Some antibiotics will clear that right up." Jocelyn felt relieved to know she was going to be okay.

"We also noticed you were under a lot of stress which would explain blacking out. You should try to keep stress to a minimum. It's not good for new mommies." The nurse pat her hand before moving to the end of the bed to pull the clipboard from its holder.

"Excuse me?" Jocelyn quickly sat up at the words. Mommy? She couldn't have been pregnant, she'd just had her period. On top of that she and Miles hadn't had sex since he'd moved into the facility.

"Oh," the woman noticed Jocelyn's displeased expression, "I'm sorry, Ms. Major. I assumed you knew considering how far along you were. You're 10 weeks pregnant."

"Of course I am." Jocelyn cried as she threw herself back on to the bed.

It was illogical to think she wouldn't have been pregnant considering she and Miles had only had unprotected sex, but she squashed those thoughts when she finally got her period.

"How? I mean, I had my period after I had sex." Jocelyn posed to the woman as she tried to wrap her head around how she could be pregnant.

"Well, you may have thought it was your period but bleeding does happen occasionally during the first two to three weeks. If you'd like we can bring in an OB-GYN to discuss your options." The woman's nonjudgmental words soothed Jocelyn.

"N-no, I'm keeping it." She couldn't help but place her hand over her stomach, tears filling her eyes.

Excitement washed over her unlike any she'd felt as she realized she would be carrying on a piece of Miles. The tears came crashing down and she rubbed her stomach softly.

"Okay, Ms. Major, I'll give you some time to process this." She gave her a warm smile before quietly exiting the room.

Could Jocelyn truly raise a child alone? Could she live with the reminder of Miles? Fear seeped into her bones at the thought of losing not only Miles, but her child as well.

Her thoughts moved a mile a minute flipping from how much she'd love to raise a child to scared she'd lose them too. It was all too much.

Turning to her right, she noticed her phone sitting on the table next to the bed. She had multiple missed calls and texts from Miles inquiring about whether she was okay.

The sight caused her to begin crying once more. How could she tell him she was pregnant? How would he cope with the news while knowing he'd never get to see their child grow up? Her chest burned with sorrow as she realized the gravity of the situation.

A soft knocking at her door had her quickly attempting to wipe her tears away. "Come in."

Mandy came in first, a nervous expression on her face, before Jocelyn saw the last person she wanted to see in that moment. Miles sat in a wheelchair, his face painted in worry.

"Jocelyn." The relief in his voice made her want to cry again. He rolled to the edge of the bed and took her hand in his before bringing it to his lips. "I was so worried."

His words released the floodgates and Jocelyn threw her other hand over her face as she sobbed.

"Hey, hey, what's wrong?" Concern filled his voice as he softly moved her hand from her face. His eyes searched her teary eyes for an answer. "Talk to me."

"Miles," she whined as she once more began crying.

"I'm alright. Everything's gonna be okay. Look at me," he moved to cradle her face in his hands, "I love you, okay?"

"I love you so much." Jocelyn cried before she sat up and threw herself into his arms. Miles wrapped his arms around her shoulders before softly stroking her back.

"I-I'm," she muttered as she pulled him closer. Her fists balled in his shirt and she knew she'd never be able to tell him at this rate.

"I think I know what you're going to say." He chuckled softly before turning and kissing the side of her head. Jocelyn shook her head, tears once more blurring her vision.

Should she even tell him now? They'd been so busy with getting everything set for him that surely adding this would only cause them both stress. Jocelyn wanted the end of his life to be as stress and pain free as possible. Would this complicate things?

"Jocelyn," Miles pulled his head back to eye her tear stained face, "I know you're pregnant. Who do you think got you pregnant?"

"W-what?" She mumbled as she eyed his bright smile.

"Before you get upset, I know. It was selfish to act with my own intentions in mind but I love you Jocelyn. I wanted something to carry on that love even when I'm gone."
——

What do you think it's gonna be- boy or girl?