X. δεκατέσσερα
White walls and white lights surrounded me as I laid in a hospital bed. I remembered everything perfectly, other than how I'd got there. I'd been avoiding my powers for as long as I've known I had them. Harley hadn't mentioned how the pregnancy would affect my powers and I had never thought about it. What if it hurts the baby? How could I have never considered it? The thundering of my bedroom walls was still echoing inside my head. The beeping of the machines surrounding me was echoing through the room. The room was completely empty. I was all alone, just as I felt for the last few weeks. The bed was comfortable, and a monitor was placed against my stomach. Where's Hayden? A loud, rhythmic beating was echoing and moving on the monitor. I had failed to notice it at first, before realising what it was. I could feel myself well up instantly, realising that it was my baby's heartbeat. I had never heard a better sound. It was loud and rapid. It didn't sound like a heartbeat, more like an old, loud washing machine. I had no idea what it was supposed to sound like, but it sounded perfect to me. It echoed in sync with my heart. I could hear footsteps walking back and forth outside the door. The hospital was in chaos. As it always was. I placed my hand beside the monitor on my belly and held it there. 2 months old and already louder than anything else in the room. I hoped the baby could feel my hand as I felt the joy filling my heart. It felt like my heart grew 10 sizes, crushing my lungs and making tears rush down my cheeks. That's a whole human being. A little baby. Inside me.
I jumped at the sound of the door flying open, as a woman in a nurse's uniform entered. She smiled, quickly walking towards my bed with a chart in her arms. Her ears were pointy, and her hair was tightly tied at the back of her head.
"Miss Lockwood. It's nice to meet you." She offered her hand to me; I slowly shook it with a smile. She noted down the numbers from both mine and baby's monitor, before checking on me.
"Is everything okay with the baby? I had really bad cramps before I collapsed." I explained, trying to position myself in a more comfortable position. The nurse quickly approached, helping me. She fluffed my pillow, sliding it under my back, to help me be more comfortable. Her perfume was sickly, but I tried to stop myself from reacting.
"The baby looks good for a 14-week pregnancy. The heartbeat is steady, it's growing steadily and is a perfect size. The cramps – " She pointed to the baby's monitor, zooming in on the little baby inside me. 14 weeks? I'm not 14 weeks.
"14-week pregnancy?" I asked, confused. I assumed she had misspoken, but as I looked closer at the monitor, I noticed a little 14W written in the corner. How could I have miscalculated by 8 whole weeks? That can't be right.
"Yes. The baby is about the size of an apple." She zoomed in even closer on the monitor, before circling around it. It did look bigger than I had expected it to. It was a black and grey blob, moving up and down slowly. It didn't look like a baby. I couldn't make out any features but a little blob.
"No, I'm not 14 weeks." I tried to explain, but I wasn't sure myself anymore. By my calculations, I was just over 8 weeks, but the baby looked much bigger. Still a tiny little thing, but a lot bigger than just a little bean.
"You must have miscalculated; it does happen sometimes." The nurse smiled, quickly typing in the information on the monitor and double-checking the information that was on the monitor.
"No. I'm only 8 weeks. I haven't been pregnant for more than 2 months."
"That's not possible. Your baby is the perfect size and development of a 14-week-old fetus. You must have miscalculated." She pointed to the little 14W that was written in the file. She measured the size of the baby as we spoke, confirming that it was bigger than a 2-month-old fetus. How could I have miscalculated by nearly 2 months? I had spent very little time with Hayden while organising Penelope's wedding, so I knew exactly where and when it happened. I can't be 14 weeks.
"Right." I laid down, looking away from the monitor and recalculating over and over again inside my head, hoping to somehow find the 6 weeks that I was missing.
"We'd like to monitor you for another couple of hours, and then you can go home. I will get a doctor to come in and confirm the information. Also, King Hades has asked to see you, I'll get him in in a second if that's alright?" The nurse smiled. Though rumors of Hayden's and my relationship spread like wildfire, it clearly hadn't reached some parts of the Underworld.
"Okay." I nodded agreeing, before lying back. It doesn't make any sense. I couldn't deny that the baby did look around 14 weeks, but by my calculations, it was only 8 weeks. My head was starting to ache. I must be confused. I had to have miscalculated. I shook it off and quickly came to accept that I was a lot more far along than I had thought. Though I accepted it, something at the back of my head continuously searched for an explanation. In the back of my mind, I was sure I was right, but I couldn't fight against it, with the evidence right in front of my face.
It didn't take long for Hayden to burst through the door. He rushed to my bed like I was dying. His face red and his expression as if he'd seen a ghost.
"How are you feeling? Is the baby okay? What did the doctor say?"
"I'm fine. I haven't seen the doctor yet, the nurse said he'll come in in a couple of minutes, but look, that's the baby." I pointed to the monitor. It was a large screen on wheels, it was hard to miss. "That's our baby's heartbeat." I smiled, turning up the volume on the screen. He stared at the screen mesmerised. His face quickly glassed over, and his eyes looked crystal clear like he was about to cry. He looked away, shaking off the overwhelming feeling that had taken over both of us.
"It looks bigger than I thought." He smiled.
"Yeah, the nurse said it's 14-weeks." I looked closely to see if he'd be as baffled by it as I was. Am I losing my mind? Did I miscalculate?
"14-weeks? That's a lot. You're not even showing. Is that right?" Thank god. I knew I wasn't crazy. I knew I couldn't be 14-weeks.
"I don't know, I'm confused. I calculated it to be only 8 weeks and it's nearly double. I asked the nurse, but she said I just miscalculated." I hung my head in defeat.
"Don't stress about it. Just get some sleep and we'll ask the doctor when he comes in. Maybe some of the information was misunderstood." Hayden tried to reassure me, brushing my hair from my face. He was back to himself. The Hayden I knew. We hadn't talked about Mihai, or our argument, or Chase!
"Where's Chase? Is he okay? Did you speak to him?" Hayden smiled, brushing my hair again, before taking my hand into his.
"You're in a hospital. Stop stressing and worrying about others, get some rest, and sleep. You need to be healthy for this baby to be healthy." He brushed his warm, soft thumb against my cheek, before planting a kiss on my forehead. "The rest can wait." He smiled, sitting down beside my bed.