“How are you feeling, Mrs. Morgan?”
“Good,” I said. “Just a little sleepy. When can I see my baby?”
“We’ll get you to sit up tonight and dangle your legs. If you’re up to it, we can take you to see Sophia in the morning, in a wheelchair.”
“What about nursing her? Could I start expressing milk now?”
“She’s been getting breast milk from our bank. Once you’re well enough, you can start feeding her.”
So I lay back and relaxed, glad that things would be okay and I could still nurse Sophia.
Drake came back in after the nurse left and kissed me, then sat by the bed and held my hand.
“Everyone’s holding my hand,” I said with a laugh. “I must have been really out of it.”
“We were all worried about you,” he said.
“Did I almost die?”
Drake shook his head. “No, but you were critical for a while until they did the C-section and for a while after, until you stabilized.”
Then he covered his eyes with a hand and struggled for a moment, fighting tears.
“Oh, Drake,” I said and squeezed his hand. “I’m okay.”
“I know,” he said and wiped his eyes. “It’s so hard for me to see you as a patient and for me not to be in control of everything.” He forced a smile. “I’m just so damn glad you’re okay. I couldn’t imagine life without you…”
“I’m on the mend now, so soon we’ll all go home. I guess you better finish painting the nursery,” I said, smiling at the thought of going home and fixing it up. “When will Sophia be able to come home?”
“As soon as she’s stable and feeding well. Every baby’s different and Sophia is pretty resilient despite how premature she is. We’re lucky.”
At that, the nurse came in and Drake stood up.
“We’re going to move you to the ward now, Mrs. Morgan,” she said and came over to check my IV. “Dr. Morgan, you can meet us down there. We’ll just do a few checks before we take her.”
Drake leaned down and kissed me, stroking my forehead. “See you in a bit.”
I smiled at him and then watched as he left the tiny room so that the nurse and attendants could get me ready for transport.
Once I was situated in my room on the ward, my new nurse came in and checked me over, getting me settled in my bed. “We might as well get you sitting up now that you’re already moving around,” she said and helped me sit up,
placing a pillow over my abdominal wounds for protection. I slowly swung my legs over the side and held onto the side rail with one hand and the pillow with the other. I felt fine for the most part, although I was a bit woozy from the pain killers.
I did okay though, and she was happy with my performance. They took my catheter out but I still had to use a bed pan until I was mobile. I hated it and couldn’t wait to be able to get up and walk to the small bathroom. It would mean I could go and see Sophia and start to nurse her so I was determined to do as much as I could.
“When can I get up and go to the bathroom?”
“Maybe later tonight,” the nurse said and gave me a stern look. “Not too fast. One step at a time.”
I sighed and gave in to my fate as a patient, but I wanted to be sure to recover as fast as possible.
When I was waiting for Drake to arrive back, two men in dark suits and weary expressions arrived in my doorway.
“Mrs. Morgan?” the one bald man asked.
“Yes,” I said. “Kate Morgan.”
“May we come in and ask you a few questions?” He handed me a card with the NYPD insignia and a name. Len McDonald. A detective there to ask me questions about the accident. “I’m Detective McDonald and this is my partner, Detective St. James.”