Chapter 148

The next hour was arguably the longest of Allegra’s life.  The five to ten minutes it took to reach the hospital weren't horrible because she was held safely in Richie’s lap while he called Jon.  She had then asked to speak to Dot, hoping she was completely overreacting, and that this happened all the time.  Dot had tried to be encouraging, but Allegra knew what she was experiencing was not a run of the mill reaction to amniocentesis.

When they arrived at the hospital, the bureaucratic nightmare of paperwork began.  The woman at the desk didn’t seem to understand that she didn’t have private insurance and wasn’t a citizen, so she didn’t need a social insurance card.  No matter how impatient he got or how many credit cards Richie flashed at her, the bespectacled woman at the desk took her time ensuring that everything was completed to her satisfaction before she would allow them to progress beyond the registration desk.

All the while, between cramps, Allegra was silently praying.  She had no idea if her prayers were going any further than the top of her head, but she had to try. 

God, I know I questioned You when I found out about the baby.  I didn’t understand the timing or the circumstances, and I still don’t.  But I moved forward anyway and accepted the situation.  Richie has accepted it, too.  We want this baby.   You gave it to me for a reason.  Surely You don’t want to take it away already?  Or is my punishment still not complete? What do I need to do?  Just tell me what you want from me!

Paperwork neatly arranged and clipped, the keeper of the gate finally allowed them to pass.  They were shown to an examination cubicle where a nurse took assessment of her condition.  The creases in her forehead, accompanied by a sour frown, didn’t give Allegra any extra confidence.

“Okay, Miss.  The doctor will be in very shortly.  Please remove your trousers and knickers so that he may examine you.”  She pulled a paper square from the cabinet above the sink and pushed it into Allegra’s hands.  “You can cover yourself with this gown until he arrives.”

With that and a swoosh, the cubicle was enclosed by the privacy curtain and there she was – waiting again.  Worrying.  Wondering if Richie was right.  If she believed enough, would it all be magically fixed?  If she believed enough, could they go back to the hotel smothered in their fluffy cloud of love to pick out a wedding date?

She’d already prayed.  For whatever good that was going to do.  Should she have bothered without the faith to back it up?  Was she making a mockery of the whole thing with her desperate half-assed attempts at plea-bargaining?

“Allegra.”

He had stood silently at her side while she numbly followed the nurse’s instructions, undressing and climbing onto the exam.  She spread the paper gown over the lower half of her body, thinking that the only glimmer of hope so far was that the bleeding seemed to have stopped.  At least she assumed that was a positive sign.

Richie’s fingers tightened around hers, wordlessly begging her attention again.

“I’m sorry.  Did you say something?”  The thoughts surfing through her mind were loud enough to block out Bon Jovi’s loudest show ever.  It was no surprise that she’d missed something.  She tried to crawl out of the frenzied confines of her own thoughts and focus on him.

“Baby, devastation is written all over your face.  It’s just about to kill me.”  He brushed her hair back, tucking it behind her ear and baring her temple for his encouraging kiss.   She randomly realized that she hadn’t taken time to brush her hair before they’d run out the door.  After sleeping all day, it was probably a mess of tangles. 

“I’m sorry,” she repeated dumbly, rubbing her free hand mindlessly across her stomach to try and squelch the latest cramp, unsure of what else to say.  The clock on the wall ticked loudly, and Allegra noted that it had been twelve minutes since the nurse had gone in search of the doctor.

What was taking so long? 

“Talk to me, Sunshine.  Don’t shut me out.”  His eyes were gentle, but his voice was firm.  “You’re not in this alone.”

“I’m not strong enough to do this, Richie.  I don’t have enough faith.  I’m going to lose the baby.”

His laughter startled her.  “You’re the strongest woman I know.  Well, besides Dot.  How else could you walk away from your life and start all over again?  Then walk away from everyone you love, all in the name of protecting them, just so that you’re left alone to deal with one of the most difficult things a woman could possibly face.”  His dark head shook in denial.  “No, baby, you’re as strong as they come, and you’re not going to lose this baby.  You’ve got to have faith.”

He gathered both of her hands in his, staring earnestly into her eyes. 

“Listen to me.  I’m not saying you have to be the perfect Catholic devotee, or any other religion.  I understand that things are still screwed up in your head when it comes to God.  That’s okay.  I’m not demanding that your faith be in God, but I am asking you to have faith that our baby is as strong as his Mama.  He needs to know you think he’s gonna make it.  You’re the Mommy.  Exert your Mommy authority.”

That made her smile. 

“Will you sit by me?”  Allegra wasn’t a clingy woman, but she was still scared, and holding Richie’s hands weren’t enough.  She needed his big body next to her to absorb the fear, and maybe while he was taking the fear away, he could replace it with a little of his faith.

“I don’t think there’s enough room,” he protested mildly, gesturing to the narrow cot that they called an examination table.  It had not been designed with cuddling in mind.

“Yes there is.”  She eased over to make room for him in the little bed.  “Please?”

She’d made her plea shamelessly pathetic, knowing he wouldn’t refuse her.  She was right.  He turned and put his right hip and leg up on the edge of the plastic covered mattress, draping his arm above her head and aligning his torso next to hers.

“Do you know how much I love you?” He spoke into her hair before nuzzling into the dark tresses with a kiss.

“Enough to buy me a big an obnoxiously large diamond ring,” she teased, in an effort at normalcy.  She had all the faith she was going to have for the moment.  It wasn’t much, but it was either enough or it wasn’t.  The decision wasn’t theirs to make. 

She glanced at the clock.  Twenty-three minutes.  What was taking that doctor so long? 

Richie snorted quietly, pulling her away from her clock watching vigil.  “That ring isn’t obnoxious.  Hell, it’s not even close to obnoxious.  I would’ve gotten one twice as big if I thought you’d wear it.”

“Good decision on your part then, because I wouldn’t have.”  His warmth slowly seeped into her body, slowly chasing away the chill that had settled into her bones.  “You seem to know everything when it comes to me.”

“I’ll remind you of that the next time I become Sir Assalot.”

♥†♥

““What the fuck is taking so long?”  Jon complained, pacing the waiting room.

“Jon, sit down.  We just got here.   It hasn’t been five minutes since you got Richie’s text saying the doctor had just come in.”

It was easier for Dorothea to chastise her husband for being impatient than to deal with her own fear for Allegra and the baby. 

Richie had called on the way to the hospital, at Allegra’s request.  She had wanted affirmation from Dot that this was normal.  It was an affirmation that she hadn’t been readily able to give the woman who, in the past few months, had become her best friend.  This had never happened after her own amnios with Jake and Romey.  There had been some minor cramping, but it only lasted a few hours at the most.

But she couldn’t tell Allegra that, so she had done Jon’s diplomatic routine, all the while cursing the damn British doctor who had done this.  “Listen, I’m sure everything is fine.  People react differently to medical procedures.  What’s normal for me isn’t necessarily going to be normal for you.   There’s no point in making yourself crazy until they run their tests, or whatever, at the hospital.   Jon and I are getting dressed now and we’ll meet you there, okay?”

“No, Dot, you don’t have to do that.  Richie’s here.  He’ll take care of me.”

“Honey, I know that.  We’re coming to take care of Richie,” she laughed.  “Men become pissy when there’s nothing to do but wait.  He can bitch at Jon.  It will make him feel less helpless.”

That had been forty-five minutes ago, and they didn’t know anything more that they had then.  Except that the doctor was there.

“How is she?”  Blonde curls frizzed out of control beneath the edges of David’s ball cap as he blew into the room, worry lining his face.

“Did you call all of them?” Dot asked her husband with a quirked brow, fully expecting him to say yes.  Allegra may not want all of them piling into the waiting room because of her, but she was family to all of them now, and that’s what this family did.  David, she suspected, would have been exceptionally pissed to have been left out of this loop.  

“Hey, Lemma,” Jon greeted with a handshake and man-hug.  “We don’t know anything yet.  The doctor just came in a few minutes ago.   And, no, Dottie.  I only called Lemma, but he called Teek and Hughie.”

Curls bouncing in affirmation, he relayed, “They both thought it would be best to wait at the hotel, but they want to know the minute we find out something.”

David dropped into one of the ugly blue chairs that lined the waiting room, as Dot nodded her approval.  Over the years, she’d shared a love/hate relationship with Jon’s band members, often going from one extreme to the other on the drop of a dime, but one thing she never questioned was their love for one another.  Even when they were bitching and fighting over business, all of that took a back seat when it came to holding one another up in their personal lives.  They were good people.

That thought was interrupted when Richie came bursting into the waiting room, a wide smile on his face.

She jumped to her feet as readily as Jon and David, anxious to hear what she hoped was good news.

“Well, how is she?”  Jon demanded, cramming his hands into his pockets, bracing his feet firmly on the floor

“How’s the baby?”  David questioned in the next breath, eyes raptly affixed to his dark-haired friend. 

Dot inserted herself between them, tossing a light elbow into each of their rib cages with a scowl.  “If you give the man a chance to talk, he’ll probably tell you.”  Brown eyes connected as she gave him a nod of encouragement.  “Richie?”

“She’s going to be fine,” Richie said, relief shining in his eyes.  “She was dehydrated, which contributed to the cramping, so they’ve got her hooked up to an IV for the next hour or so.  She slept so much today that she didn’t really eat or drink anything.  The cramping had already eased up by the time I headed out here.”

“What about the bleeding?  Is the baby okay?” Dot prodded.

“Bug’s heart is beating a mile a minute and she seems just fine, too.  The bleeding has stopped, and Allegra is on bed and pelvic rest until we leave London but, unless the bleeding starts again, they seem to think we’re out of the woods.”

There were hugs all around, even as David asked, “What the fuck is pelvic rest?”

Dot smacked him in the back of the head.   He’d just pushed her over that love/hate line again.  The damn man was supposedly a genius.  Like a silly twelve-year-old boy, he just wanted somebody to say it.  “It’s exactly what you think it is, Einstein.  No undue stimulation in the pelvic area.”

“Ohhhh… No sex.”

“Or anything vaguely resembling it,” Richie clarified. 

David patted his back sympathetically.  “I’m glad she and the baby are okay, but it sucks to be you, dude.”

Richie, however, had a different opinion.  “My beautiful fiancée is gonna be sleeping curled up on my chest, with our baby thriving in her belly.  Nah, man.  It doesn’t suck to be me at all.”

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Author's note:  The posting of chapters is going to slow just a bit for the immediate future.  Probably only twice a week instead of 3 times.  I'm going on vacation next week and I'm writing as fast as I can to stockpile, but I need to space out the postings so you guys don't end up with too long of a dry spell!  I'll try and stay away from the cliffhangers! *fingers crossed* ;o)  *hugs to all*

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