“You can use your pump, if you’re in pain.”
I shook my head. “I’m fine. I have to get up eventually or I won’t get to see her.”
Drake stood and leaned over me, stroking my cheek. “Now, Mrs. Morgan, I’m going to have to put on my stern doctor persona and tell you to take it easy. You need to rest and recuperate from your surgery. Do you understand?”
I smiled as he kissed my forehead. “Yes, Doctor Morgan,” I said, pretending to be chastised. “I understand.”
“Good,” he said and tucked my blanket in. “Now, I have to go and get something to eat or I’ll pass out. Rest for a while.”
“I will.”
He kissed me and then kissed me again, then left me alone.
After a while, the sounds of the ward lulled me into a pleasant state and I dozed.
CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE
Drake
Kate and Sophia were both strong and improving every day.
The next day, after she’d successfully gone to the small washroom in her room with the help of the nurse, she was given the all-clear to go in a wheelchair to the NICU so she could finally see Sophia.
The NICU can be quite alarming to new parents who are still recovering from labor and delivery, with the monitors, telemetry and constant activity. Kate was determined to be calm and fearless. She sat still while the nurses brought Sophia over, gingerly working around the leads and tubes, before placing Sophia on a pillow in Kate’s lap. Kate did her best to cradle Sophia using her arm, but could bear very little weight, and wouldn’t be able to pick Sophia up for six weeks.
“Oh, my God, she’s so tiny…” Kate said and touched her head.
The nurse was excellent, showing Kate how to hold her without actually lifting her.
“Can I nurse her?” she asked, glancing up and her expression of hope was so blatant, that I felt bad for the nurse.
“You can express milk and we can give it to her, but you’ll probably wait a week or so to nurse for the first time. Before they’re thirty weeks, they’re sometimes too small. We’ll get a pump for you and you can start expressing.”
“Won’t it be good for my uterus to nurse?” she said and took Sophia’s tiny hand in hers. It was then I realized that we hadn’t told Kate yet that she’d had a hysterectomy. I glanced quickly at the nurse, who I was sure knew Kate’s history. I gave my head the slightest shake to indicate Kate didn’t know yet about her surgery.
“We always encourage mothers to breastfeed if possible,” the nurse said, quick to change the subject. “It’s best for both mother and baby. You should be well enough to breastfeed her once she’s ready.” The nurse smiled at Kate and that seemed to please her. She turned back to Sophia and touched the hair on her head, which had dried and was now fluffy and light brown.
I let Kate stay with Sophia as long as she wanted, but she soon tired and so I wheeled her back to her room on the ward and helped her back into bed. I checked her stitches and got her settled. She had to use her morphine drip for the pain and so I let her drift for a while. The exertion and the morphine combined to make her drowsy, so I tucked the blanket in around her and then went to get a cup of coffee, trying to work out how I would break the news to her that she’d had an emergency hysterectomy and would never get pregnant again.
On my way back from the cafeteria, I saw Detectives McDonald and St. James in the hallway waiting outside Kate’s room. Thankfully, they didn’t go inside and wake her. The nurse must have told them I was getting a coffee and would be right back.
I walked up to them, irritated that they were already back already to try to bother Kate some more, despite how sick she still was.
“Detectives,” I said and stood between them and the door to Kate’s room. “What can I help you with? My wife’s sleeping. She’s still recovering and needs her rest.”
“That’s fine, Dr. Morgan,” McDonald said, slipping his hands in his pockets. “We’re here to talk to you. Is there somewhere we can talk in private?”
I glanced around the ward and saw a family conference room down the hall. “We can go in there.”
They followed me inside and we sat at the table, the two of them on one side and me on the other.
“Dr. Monroe
is in police custody,” McDonald said.
“So you’re sure it was her,” I said, adrenaline coursing through me at the confirmation.
“She’s been charged with attempted murder, aggravated assault and hit and run, among other charges.”