One Night

Poison

I woke up to a stink in my right arm. My eyes flew open to find three needles, all connected by tubes then onto a drip.

As soon as I started to examine the needles, Tom came rushing to my side.

"Brooke, Georgia. She’s awake." He said with joy. "Oh babe! You gave us such a shock."

"Bon," Georgia said squeezing my shoulders. Mum just started to cry.

"What’s wrong? Why am I in here?" I wondered.

"I thought you were going to die," Tom cried. "You got very sick all of a sudden so we brought you here but the doctors don’t know what is wrong, they have been waiting for the test results."

My hands grabbed my stomach that was very bloated. "Matilda?"

Tom started crying even more. It was probably the worst sight I have ever seen. I haven’t seen him cry since we were about five. Mum crying in the background wasn’t helping either.

"Tom! What happened to Matilda?" I tried to say without crying myself.

"While you were out of it, the doctors tried to do an ultrasound but your body was rejecting it and they couldn’t find her on the screen. The lady said the doctors were going to try again once you were awake." Tom eventually chocked out.

I could feel the tears well up in my eyes. How could this happen? Everything was so perfect. Mum didn’t let me eat one single bad thing, I haven’t done anything strenuous. How could I do this to my daughter?

"What day is it?" I asked.

"Wednesday, you have been out of it for two days." Tom answered.

I just nodded with tears streaming down my face.

"I am going to let the nurse know you are awake." Mum said as she got up and walked out.

I reached for Tom’s hand. He grabbed it and stared at my stomach.

"Tom, look at me!" I ordered. "You promised me you wouldn’t go anywhere, now I am promising you the same and I am promising for Matilda as well. We will be fine and the next ultrasound, we are going to see our daughter on that screen and everything is going to be okay."

I tried to look convincing and smile but it was false hope. How could I lighten this situation? There was no possible way until we see the ultrasound and both of us are given the all clear.

The nurse walked in with Mum and checked all my monitors.

"How do you feel?" The nurse asked me.

"A bit woozy, when can I have that ultrasound?"

"Now, I was just about to wheel you in there," She explained.

I squeezed Tom’s hand even harder. "I’m right here," He said.

The nurse and two others wheeled me into the next room and started up the machines. She put the gel on my stomach and ran the scanner over the top. It took her a while but eventually our baby popped up on the screen.

I took a deep breath in. Then we heard exactly what we wanted to. Her heartbeat. Tom let his head drop and it slammed onto the bed.

"Thank fuck!" He whispered.

I lifted up his hand and kissed it softly.

"Well whatever happened to you, hasn’t affected your baby!" The nurse exclaimed.

"Good!" I replied. "When will the test results come back?"

"They should be back any moment now." She said packing up the equipment.

Once all the machines were turned off, I got wheeled into my previous room.

Tom curled up next to me on the bed, with just enough room to fit us both. He put his arms around me and stroked my hair. Mum and Georgia lied on the lounge in the corner and started to fall asleep.

"Tom, what do you think is wrong with me?" I whispered.

"I don’t know, I just hope you will be okay." He frowned.

"I’ll be fine. I’m just glad that Matilda is alright. I hope nothing happens now that will affect her."

"Bronte, I love you. And I love Matilda and you will be as healthy as she is."

I kissed his forehead.

For about an hour, we laid there in silence until the nurse walked in with a massive folder.

We both sat up. Georgia and Mum were asleep in the corner but we decided not to wake them up. I am sure they will be annoyed we didn’t but they need their sleep.

"Hello Bronte. How are you feeling now?" The nurse asked.

"I am fine. So, what is the diagnosis?" I questioned.

"Ok well. We conducted many tests and at first we thought it was preeclampsia but that shouldn’t occur until the last trimester and then we received the blood test results back and found poison in the blood stream. So, you have had an extreme case of food poisoning." The nurse announced.

"Why was it extreme?" I asked.

"Because of your enlarged placenta, it spread through the umbilical cord but thankfully didn’t reach your baby. It made your placenta almost twice the size which caused all your weakness but the swelling will go down and you should be completely back to normal within a week."

I suddenly had a big grin across my face and Tom smothered it with a kiss.

The nurse left us in peace and we continued to hug and kiss until Mum and George woke up from the sound of lips connecting.

"Someone is happy?" Mum said with a weird look on her face.

"Yeah, the nurse just came by with the test results," I explained.

"Why didn’t you wake us up?" Georgia looked annoyed.

"Sorry, I didn’t want to wake you. You need your sleep!"

"Ok whatever! So, what is the verdict?" Mum asked and Georgia nodded in agreement.

"I had a serious case of food poisoning which made my placenta swell up to twice the size it already is and that’s what made me so weak. But she said I will be back to normal in about a week and Matilda and I will be fine." I said with a wide smile and Tom kissed me on the cheek.

For the next week, I had continuous visitors like; Aunty Lindsay and the kids, Dad came in everyday, Michelle, Ben and Ruby and even Miss Rose. That is a dedicated teacher.

Mum and Tom never left. I eventually convinced Georgia to go back to school but trying to tell Tom was never going to work. One night I spent the whole time telling him to go to school the next day but he completely refused.

Mum called her boss and explained the situation so she got the week off work but she didn’t even go home, neither did Tom.

He slept curled up by my side every night. He got me food and drinks whenever I needed it although I was on a very strict diet to try and reduce the swelling but all I wanted was Maccas.

By the end of the week, I was completely back to normal and was fine to go home. Although I just spent a week in hospital the doctors told me I had to come back in a couple of days to finally get the all clear.

So, we headed back home and I could finally get back to reality.