Macie's Story

22

(March 26th, 71 days old)

The bullpen was silent when the phone sat on top of Hailey's desk let out a ring. It made everyone in the room jump slightly and look up to where the noise was coming from and Hailey's hand flew on top of it, picking it up to answer it before it could let out another shrill.

She stopped momentarily when she saw the caller ID and she really tried not to let her heart fall. Just because the NICU was calling didn't automatically mean it was bad news, that was something she had had to teach herself over the last two months, but there was some part of her that still let her mind go there each time she got a phone call.

She got up from her chair and accepted the call, taking a slow walk into the break room as she answered the familiar voice on the other side of the phone.

"Is this a bad time?" Isla asks.

Hailey softly shakes her head as she shuts the break room door. "No, it's fine." She replies.

She continues to walk as the nurse speaks to her on the other end until she reaches the sink, as to which she leans up against it and crosses one arm over her chest, keeping the other one holding the phone tight against her ear.

"So as you know, Macie's been maintaining her blood glucose really well over the last week but she's been having problems with her breathing which has meant that she hasn't been able to go home."

Hailey can't help but cut in. "Isla, I'm sorry, but is this a bad news call or a good news call?"

The detective can practically hear the smile grow on the nurse's face. "A very good news call."

Hailey's eyes rip up from the couch in the break room and fly out the window, meeting her fiancé's gaze, who was watching her carefully from his desk. The moment Jay witnesses the change in her face, he jumps up from his seat and makes his way toward the door as she just about manages to hear what Isla says.

"She hasn't had an episode of apnea since Wednesday, her breathing is great, all her stats are great. She's ticked all the boxes she needs to and the doctors are happy to sign her discharge paperwork."

Jay steps into the break room, pulling the door shut again and he goes over to Hailey, stopping off in front of her.

"How does tomorrow sound?" Isla finishes off.

Her chin falls forward whilst she continues to stare up at her fiancé. Jay looks down at her with wide eyes, waiting for her to say something.

"Tomorrow?" She whispers and that's when it seems to click in Jay's mind, his head lowering down slightly.

"If that's good for you both, or if you'd rather wait until Tuesday?"

Hailey quickly shakes her head. "No, no tomorrow's good, really good." She says.

Isla's quiet for a beat, giving Hailey the chance to breathe. There's the faint sound of typing in the background but before Hailey can pull the phone away from her ear to tell Jay, the noise stops and the nurse's voice returns. "Okay, we'll get her discharge papers ready for then. I expect we'll be seeing you in here later today anyway?"

Hailey's head bobs up and down subtly, despite the fact the nurse on the other end of the phone wouldn't be able to see that. "Yeah, we will be."

"Great, we'll be able to run through all the details later," Isla says. "And another quick thing, I suppose you two have a car seat ready?"

"Yeah." She replies, barely able to get her voice above the whisper and Hailey doesn't know how the nurse was able to hear it but based on her response, she did.