TGM

Chapter 15: Terminal or..?

I quickly get to my bike and drive to the hospital. Ro sees me and takes me past all the checkpoints. We arrive to the unit Leo is in; but we are going so fast that, unfortunately, I don't see what ward we're in. Leona is lying on the bed quietly waiting.

"Rage, hey. Ah!" she yelps as I wrap her in a tight hug. "I'm okay, Nik."

"What happened? Where's Mav?"

"Honey. Did you forget? Our husbands are on a mission—"

"No, I know. I sent them off this morning. I just figured that—"

"Believe me, they tried. Communications can't get through right now. It's uh—too dangerous I think is what the base commander said when the docs called."

"Leo, you kinda avoided the real question here."

"Did I?"

"Ang?"

"Sorry. I just um—I had a miscarriage."

"Oh, Leo. I didn't even—"

"That's the real reason I haven't been flying with you. Since it was risky from the start, Mav and I had decided not to tell anyone just yet. It was a uh—molar pregnancy."

"I don't—"

"The placenta had both regular and irregular tissue because it wasn't fertilized properly. It almost always results in a miscarriage," Dr. Rose Young informs me.

"Leo, I'm here for you. Okay?"

"I don't know what I'd do without you. Nikki, I think maybe I should get a hysterectomy. I mean, Pete and I don't really want more kids, and it's likely this could happen again. What do you think, Nik?"

"Well, did you ask Rose about it?"

"Yes."

"What did she say?"

"That the benefits outweigh the risks in my case, and she would advise it. She did say I should get a second opinion. She also said I should probably talk to Mav about it."

"Well, you need to do what's best for you; and, if this were to happen again, there's a chance that neither of you would survive. I would say to do it."

"Okay."

A few hours later, visiting time is over, and I leave while Leo stays a couple of days for observation. Nicholas and Pete get in on Saturday, supposedly. I go to bed ready for hop 19 tomorrow.