“
Well,” Abby was shaking “I haven’t
been sure until today, although I have suspected for awhile. I’m so
sorry.”Abby started to cry.
“
Honey, what is it?” Jimmy asked
sitting up.
“
This spoils everything, I didn’t mean
for it to happen, I was always careful, same time every
day.”
“
Abby your rambling, what is wrong, it
can’t be that bad.”
“
I’m pregnant.” She said barely in a
whisper.
Jimmy sat on the bed as still as a statue.
His eyes glassed over and Abby thought he had gone into shock. This
made the tears flow faster.
“
I’m so sorry.”
Jimmy stood up and began pacing around the
room, one hand over his mouth, the other ran through his hair. He
was mumbling something Abby couldn’t make out.
“
This is bad.” She thought to herself,
“This is really bad.”
All of a sudden Jimmy stopped and looked at
her. She couldn’t tell what the expression meant. He ran over to
her and grabbed her and took her in his arms.
“
This is the best news I could have
asked for.” He was kissing her all over her face and
neck.
Abby was still confused. “What about the
tour?”
“
The tour can wait, we’re going to
have a baby.” He shouted and swung her around. “Oh I’m sorry are
you ok?” He placed a hand on her belly. “Hello in there, this is
Daddy.”
Abby was laughing now but still concerned
“Jimmy what are you going to do about the tour?”
“
I am going to call Doug and tell him
that we have to postpone for at least a year.”
“
Wont that hurt your career? I mean
people tour to promote their records, what will you do about
that?”
“
I don’t care Abby, yeah my music is a
huge part of my life but this…this is the most important thing.” he
was patting her belly.
“
I just don’t want to ruin anything for
you.” Abby said softly
“
You never could Babe. Oh my gosh, we
need to call the parents, who’s should we call first?” Jimmy
reached for his phone.
“
I want to tell Holly first, if that’s
ok.”
“
Of course, let’s go tell her.” Jimmy
grabbed her hand to lead her out of the bedroom.
“
Um…Honey, would you like to get
dressed first?” Jimmy was still in just the towel.
“
That’s why I married you….always
thinking.” He took her in his arms again. “This is the best news, I
am so happy, I love you Abby Riley.” Abby closed her eyes and
rested her head on his bare chest. She breathed him in.
“
You know, we don’t have to go out, we
could always stay in and I am dying to get out of this tight
skirt.”
“
You read my mind.” Jimmy began to
unzip her skirt.
Holly was beside herself. “This is great, we
need to go shopping to set up the nursery. The spare room off of
your bedroom that is supposed to be an office is perfect for a
nursery, what size is it like 12 x12 or so.”
“
Holly, calm down, we have plenty of
time, according to my calculation we have until August.” Abby had
to sit down, she was getting lightheaded from all the
excitement.
“
Babe, you ok.” Jimmy ran to her
side.
“
I’m fine, you really cannot panic
every time I get a little tired or it is going to be a long six
months.”
“
Six months, oh wow.” Jimmy was pacing
again.
“
Honey, are you ok?” Abby and Holly
looked at each other and smiled.
“
He’s starting to freak out Abbs.”
Holly chuckled
“
Ok we need to call the folks and then
you need to call your people.” Abby addressed Jimmy.
“
My people?”
“
Yeah you know, the people you need to
call about the tour.”
“
What tour?” Holly inquired
“
Well, we were going to go on tour with
Burnt Chocolate but now plans have changed.” Abby stated pointed to
her stomach.
“
Ahhh gotcha” Holly winked
All three of them took out their cell
phones and call their respective parents. Holly’s parents were
thrilled, Abby’s mother wouldn’t stop screaming for about five
minutes and Jimmy’s mother couldn’t stop saying “Well bless your
heart.” Plans were made for them all to visit LA again in the next
few months and again to be present at the birth. Jimmy called Doug
who then had to call the promoters, who then had to turn around and
call the venues to cancel the tour dates. Mikey and Ben were
disappointed they would not be touring but understood why. Abby
received flowers from each of them the next day.
* * * * *
Chapter 22
Jimmy was more attentive than usual,
Abby loved having him around all the time but it was getting
annoying. She couldn’t even sneeze without a look of panic
streaming across his face. She was now five months along, well
after the first trimester, the chance of having a miscarriage
greatly decreased when she entered her forth month. Abby was
sitting admiring the peridot and diamond ring Jimmy had given her
for her birthday this past March.
“
It’s the baby’s birthstone.” He
explained when she opened the box. She wasn’t sure what touched her
most, that he had gotten her something that was significant to the
baby or that he knew what the birthstone was for August.
It was a beautiful April day and Abby
had cabin fever. She hadn’t gone out much, anything that she needed
Jimmy had gotten it for her or had someone sent to retrieve
whatever it was she needed or wanted. However, today she just
needed to get out of the house.
“
Holly and I are going shopping.” She
told Jimmy. “I think we may window shop for the baby, I have always
wanted to go into Smootch Children’s Boutique.”
“
Do you want me to go with you?” he
started to get up from his desk.
“
No Jimmy I can manage going to town
without you.” She kissed him on the cheek.
“
Well call if you need me and I can
come right down, are you having Charles drive you?”
“
No I think I want to drive myself.”
She rarely got to drive the Lexus GX10 that he had given her as an
early baby shower gift. He had told her all the safety features it
had so he felt comfortable when she and the baby were in the
car.
Holly came bounding down the
stairs.
“
Ready to go Mamma?” Holly asked
rubbing Abby’s belly.
“
More than you can imagine.” Abby
sighed.
Jimmy kissed Abby on the cheek and bent down
and talked to her belly.
“
See you later Baby Riley.” He stood
back up and smiled.
“
Nice” Abby commented. “See you later
Honey.” She laughed as she and Holly walked out the
door.
Driving down Park Granada on their way
to the shop Abby braked suddenly to avoid hitting a pedestrian that
decided to not use a crosswalk. As Abby and Holly were commenting
on the intelligence status of the individual they were rear ended
by another car. The force of the impact slammed Abby and Holly
forward the seatbelts cutting into their skin. Abby felt the baby
shutter.
“
Oh my God.” Abby moaned and grabbed
her belly, “Something’s wrong.” She turned to Holly.
Holly had unbuckled and turned to face
Abby. All of a sudden Abby noticed the blood. Her jean capris had a
dark stain that was getting bigger. The first contraction drained
all the blood from her face. Holly had called 911 and was trying to
keep her calm. The contractions started coming one after the other
along with the back pain. Abby was going into shock, she was losing
blood fast. Holly was trying to keep her conscious by talking to
her and keeping her focused. The pain was more than Abby had ever
endured. Jimmy arrived at the same time the ambulance did. They put
Abby on the gurney and loaded her in to the ambulance. Jimmy rode
with her. Holly stayed to give the police report then followed in
Jimmy’s SUV. Jimmy was waiting outside the emergency room when
Holly arrived.
“
What’s going on?” Holly asked
franticly. “Is she ok?”
“
I don’t know, the doctor hasn’t come
out yet. This is bad isn’t it? I knew I shouldn't have let her
go.”
“
Jimmy, she needed to get out of the
house, she was going stir crazy, this isn’t her fault.” Holly
demanded.
“
I know I know, I’m not blaming her.”
Jimmy shook his head in disbelief
The doctor came out the emergency
room. It didn’t look promising.
“
Mr. Riley.” The
doctor started. “Your wife has suffered
placental abruption. We are trying to provide oxygen to the
baby and stop the contractions. Your wife is stable for now but we
don’t know if it will last. She has lost a lot of blood and the
baby’s heart rate got very low. Right now it’s just a waiting
period. We’d like to keep her here for awhile, at least until we’re
sure she and the baby are no longer in danger. We’ve given her
medicine to stop the contractions and some for the pain. She’s very
groggy but you can go in and see her if you like.”
“
Can Holly come too, they are very
close, like sisters.” Jimmy asked
“
For a few moments, she needs her
rest.” The doctor conceded.
Holly and Jimmy walked into the room. Abby
looked very pale and very small in the hospital bed. Holly and
Jimmy each went to a side of the bed and took her hands. Jimmy
rubbed her head and kissed her forehead.
“
Hi Baby, how are you
feeling?”
Abby started to cry. “I am so sorry, I didn’t
mean for any of this to happen. It all happened so fast, they guy
walked out into the road then the car hit us from behind, then I
felt the baby shake. This is bad isn’t it?” Abby was sobbing.
“
None of this is your fault Sweetie.”
Holly assured her. I filled the police in on what happened and
there will be repercussions for both the driver and jay walker. You
are going to be fine and so is that little baby of yours.” Holly
hugged her.
“
They want to keep you here for a few
days to make sure you and the baby aren’t in any danger. It’s just
a precaution, you lost a lot of blood.”
“
I know and they said the placenta
detached, that’s not good.” Abby was still crying.
“
It’s going to be ok, Baby, I am going
to stay with you until you are ready to come home.” Jimmy was
trying to comfort her.
“
And if he needs to go somewhere then I
will be here.” Holly insisted. “You never have to worry about being
alone. Ok?”
Abby nodded trying to hold the tears back but
they still streamed down her cheeks. She was taken to a private
room. This way she was sure to get the peace and quiet she needed.
Jimmy insisted on that. A cot was brought in for either Jimmy or
Holly to sleep on.
The first night wasn’t peaceful for Abby, she
tossed and turned as limited as she was, hooked up to IV’s and a
fetal heart monitor. She was very uncomfortable. If she was awake
so was Jimmy. He would sing softly to her either a lullaby or one
of her favorite songs from the radio. This relaxed her enough to
drift off to sleep. The days were long and Abby was feeling guilty.
Holly would try to keep her mind off the stressors and fill her in
on the celebrity gossip.
“
One of the Hill’s girls is having more
plastic surgery. Really how much work does a 21 year old need?”
Holly read from one of the gossip rags.
“
Really.” Abby agreed.
Abby was feeling better and was tired of
being in the hospital. She was getting all sorts of cards and
flowers from Jimmy’s friends and associates. Her parents would call
a few times a day to check in. Jimmy had brought in her laptop so
she could surf the web when she was bored. She was pointing and
clicking when a nurse came in to take her vitals. Jimmy had gone
home quickly to shower and Holly was in the café getting a
soda.
“
Good afternoon Abby, how are you
feeling today?”
“
Not bad Michelle, thank you.” Abby
went to lay her laptop on the side table when she screamed. The
laptop smashed to the floor. Abby clutched her stomach. She felt a
warm sensation between her legs. She looked under the blanket. The
white sheet was covered in blood.
The nurse called a code Blue to Abby room.
Suddenly there were more people in the room then Abby had seen her
whole stay. Dr. Shelly was there treat her. She had been the doctor
that cared for her after she was admitted.
“
Abby I need you to turn on your left
side.” Dr Shelly demanded. “I can’t get a heartbeat.” She yelled
out.
Abby was in severe pain. She felt that the
muscles in her back were trying to push out her stomach. Holly came
back to the room amidst all the commotion. The nurse wouldn’t let
her in the room. Holly called Jimmy.
“
Margret please get Jimmy to the phone.
Get him out of the shower and to the hospital, something is wrong
with Abby.” Holly hung up the phone and tried again to enter the
room.
“
I’m sorry Holly, you need to stay out
here.” Michelle informed her. “They need all the room for staff.
I’m sorry.”