Love You Too: PART TWENTY NINE

PART TWENTY NINE
-TIFFANY-

"He needs to be x-rayed, is that alright?" a nurse said to me.
"Of course" I said, before adding "I'm only his fiancée, does that matter?"
"Not at this stage, but if you could get hold of his parents that would be better, in case any major decisions have to be made"
"Sure" I said, the same lump forming in my throat again.
"Would you like to come through to X-ray to wait near him?" she said, sensing my upset.
"I really would, yes" I replied thankfully.
"You're not pregnant are you? I just need to know because the baby might be damaged if you do" she said, stopping in her tracks.
"Yes she is" a feeble voice said from on the bed. Nate was awake, so I rushed over to him and kissed him gently on the lips.
"You are? Congratulations!" she said. "I'll take him through now, and I'll make sure he's absolutely fine for the two of you" she said, looking at me and smiling. "Just take a seat here and I'll be out as soon as I can"
"Thank you" I said, gazing at my boyfriend being pushed away into X-ray.
I held my head in my hands for a few seconds, and then remembered I had I call his parents. I pulled out my phone and looked at the screen. There was 12 missed calls from my mother and 4 from Mimi. They'd obviously seen the house and/or the blog post announcing my pregnancy. I ignored them, and immediately dialled Nate's mother's cell.
"Hello Tiffany, how are you?" she said.
"I'm sorry Mrs Cole, this isn't a social call. Nate's in hospital and you need to come down and see him"
"What? What's happened?" she said, the same lump forming in her throat.
"I'll explain when you're here, but he's in X-ray at the moment. We've got some news to share with you too, once he's awake. And don't worry, that's all good!" I said, trying to put a positive spin on events.
"I'll be down as soon as I can" she said, thanking me for letting her know and then hanging up.
I sat in the familiar ward, and I thought about all the time Nate must have spent pacing around this area when I was brought in. I thought about all the pain he must have endured when waiting for me here, as I was going out of my mind now. He must have felt this for three weeks. But then we didn't have a family to worry about, or a wedding to plan. Then I thought about our unborn child, all his or her dreams resting on the two of us.
Then I thought about Victoria. She'd given up, she'd waved her white flag. I began to wonder what had pushed it over the edge, but then I thought that it must have been finally getting to Nate.
Then I thought about Nate again; lying there in such agony, with me kneeling helplessly by his side.
That was the second time I prayed that day: I prayed that he'd be alright, and that we'd live happily ever after without Victoria and Isabelle in our lives.
Just as I'd finished praying, I opened my eyes and looked up to see the friendly nurse stood over me. She was in her mid forties, and she was slightly plump, but in a caring and motherly way. She had dark skin, and hair down to her shoulders that was curled outward at the end.
"Tiffany, isn't it?" she said, sitting down next to me.
"Yes, how do you know?" I replied, intrigued by this nurse.
"I was on the same ward as you when you were in intensive care a few weeks ago. And Nate's been asking after you already!" she said, smiling warmly.
"Did you know him from when he was waiting for me to come round?"
"Yes I did, although I barely recognised him today. Don't worry though, those bruises will be all gone in a week or so. Unfortunately the X-ray has come back with some problems: he's broken two ribs and cracked another three, but one is broken and cracked. There isn't much we can do about them in regards to plastering them up, so we'll support them and keep him in for a few days until the initial swelling goes down and he can stand up unassisted. He's dislocated his shoulder too, but that'll be fine in a few weeks. He's going to be pretty shaken up, so you need to be as brave as you can for him. Is that alright?"
"Thank you so much," I said, as she put her hand on mine.
"I was so over the moon to hear about your child. I almost knew as soon as I saw him waiting by your side for those three long weeks that you'd end up married and with a child"
"It's all happened pretty fast though" I said.
"What happened?" she replied, rubbing my hand.
"Well this morning I realised I was late, and after he got a test from the pharmacy that's when we knew. Then immediately after I got cold feet about the baby, and so he proposed. I didn't answer him, and I left him alone and that's when this happened" I said, tears rushing down my cheeks again.
"Shhh, you mustn't blame yourself" she said, holding me against her and holding my head against her. "He's going to be fine, he's very very tough you know. And he loves you a great deal" she said, rocking me back and forth. "So how come you said you were his fiancée if you never answered?" she said, changing the subject slightly.
"When I found him, I said yes. I suddenly realised that I couldn't spend the rest of my life separated from him, and I wanted to give him some hope, some reason to pull through. He was my reason to pull through, and I just felt like he needed something good to happen."
"He's very lucky to have you" she said, releasing me, and smiling at me. "You know, I see so many couples in here daily, and many women and men who are abused by their partner. It's so nice to see such a young and fresh couple, who are truly in love with one another"
"Thank you" I said, closing my eyes, willing the tears to stop flowing and letting her hug me again. "Can I go and see him?" I said, after moments of enjoying this embrace.
"Of course. But try and stop crying first, he won't want to see you cry" she said, wiping the stray tears off my cheeks with her soft thumb. "Come on" she said, leading me down the corridor towards a large room that contained many beds, all separated by curtains.
"Hello Nate" the nurse said to him.
"Sandy" he said, smiling up at her and recognising her as a friendly face.
"I've got a surprise guest for you" she said, pulling back the curtain a little to reveal me.
"Tiffany" he said, as a single tear ran down his cheek.
"Call me if you need anything dear, absolutely anything" she said, putting her hand on my shoulder before pulling back the curtain and giving us a moment of privacy.
"I'm sorry" I said, sitting down on the edge of his bed.
"what for?" he replied
"Leaving you today. I just wish she'd targeted me instead of you" I said, looking down at the many bruises still scattered all over his body.
"That wasn't your fault. Please don't blame yourself" he said, raising the arm that wasn't in a sling to stroke my cheek.
"I know, but I still feel like it is". A long silence followed, whereupon we simply stared at each other, taking in each other.
"I heard you call me your fiancée" Nate finally spoke up.
"I did. I've been calling you that all the time" I replied, looking back down at him.
"You have no idea how long I've been dreaming of you calling me that for" he said, gently teasing my head down so he could kiss me. It was quite a hard kiss: harder than I'd expected from someone who looked so weak, but it was clear it hurt him, as when he pulled away he winced slightly. "I'll ask you properly as soon as I'm out of here" he said, closing his eyes, indicating that I wasn't allowed to argue. Just then, his mother thrust open the curtain. "Nate!" she cried, smothering him.
"Oww, mum" he said, groaning in pain.
"Oh, I'm sorry. I've been so anxious, I'm just so glad you're in one piece" she said, turning to look at me. "Tiffany" she said, hugging me. "Thank you so much for calling me. I can't tell you how good it is to see you both. His father won't be able to make it as he's on a business trip to the Caribbean, but I can stay until this evening when I have to work."
"Sure, I'll stay with him all the time anyway, so that's fine" I replied, feeling slightly hurt that she won't be staying all the time. But then again, what do you expect from parents in our society? "I'll just go and find some chairs, and I'll give you two a moment"
"Thank you dear" she said, hugging me and sitting on my spot on his bed. As I turned I leave, he looked up at me and I mouthed "Don't tell her" and pointed to my ring finger and my stomach. He nodded in understanding, before engaging in forced conversation with his mother.
"Sandy?" I said, stepping up to where she was stood.
"Tiffany!" she said, "what can I get for you?"
"I was just wondering where I could get some chairs from, and I was wondering if I could have a little advice?"
"Of course, advice first I think. What's on your mind?" she said, taking me into the staff area and letting me sit down on a couch.
"Well, I'm not sure about this pregnancy. Nate's all for it, but I still have some reservations"
"Well you're bound to. What are your doubts?"
"School mainly. I've still for a year left, and there's a lot of pressure on me to attend Columbia University. I just feel that being married and having a child will halt that all"
"Of course it will, but at the end of the day, you can still attend school and take your final exams, it'll just be a bit harder. And you can go to Columbia, but again, it'll just be harder. You have to weigh up whether you want this baby and a future with Nate enough. From what I've seen though, it's clear you two are crazy about each other. I see a lot of pregnancies involving girls your age and even younger, where the couple aren't in love, and definitely not in love as you two are. You should make the most of that. If those couples manage it with a broken relationship, then you'll sail through"
"Thank you so much" I said again, hugging her.
"Anytime darling," she said, handing me a small scrap of paper with a cell number on it. "If you need any help with the pregnancy, or any advice, just call me"
"Thank you!" I said, taking the piece of paper and slipping it into my pocket.
"Right, let's get some chairs"