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CHAPTER SIXTEEN
They’d ended up having to reschedule the appointment with Dr. Kent, because they had contacted Mia, but she was unavailable the day they originally had set their appointment. Initially, Robby was really apprehensive about having both Dr. Kent and Mia there, but the appointment went really well.
It was helpful to have both of them there to answer questions (mostly from Jack, while Robby sat with his ears and face burning red) and to feel like he was more prepared now.
As Robby reached his 37th week, his temper had all but fused out. Robby was often quick to anger and frustration, but basically the entire staff was avoiding him at all costs right now. He didn’t mean to yell at them, but he was miserable and the part of his brain that usually controlled that frustration was too focused on how much his back hurt.
“Okay, that’s it.” Jack said, coming into the ER. Robby frowned, he wasn’t on the schedule today.
“What are you doing here?” He asked, one hand on his back, the other holding an ipad and looking at a chart.
“Sign out, Michael Robinavitch, you are officially off duty until after paternity leave.” Jack said, taking the ipad from him.
“What? No, I’m not! We said I would work until I hit 38 weeks.” He argued.
“That was before I had three nurses, one attending, and two residents call me letting me know my husband was terrorizing the med students, the staff, and the patients. You’re done, babe, time to go home.”
Robby’s eyes narrowed and anyone who might have slowed down or paused quickly scurried away. “Absolutely not! This…this is mutiny!”
“You are not an actual captain, no matter how much they all call you cap.” Jack just grinned. The others couldn’t handle him, but Jack absolutely could. “This is me stepping in to remove you before no one wants you to come back because you made the MS3 who looks like a sad puppy dog cry.”
“Jack…” He growled.
“You can’t intimidate me, Robinavitch.” Jack booped his nose. Then he lowered his voice and placed a warm hand on Robby’s upper arm. “You are uncomfortable as hell, your moods are all over the place, and it's time. You are going to feel awful about today’s shift once you’ve stepped away, then you’ll spend the rest of the night upset about how you treated everyone. Right now, they all understand, we know how hard this is for you. I need you to trust me that it's time you check out.”
All the anger and frustration whooshed out of Robby as his posture folded. He looked around, seeing his people, his staff, walking on eggshells and Jack was right, he hated it. He looked back at Jack, who was wiping away a tear he hadn’t even realized he’d shed. “C’mon Mikey, let me take you home.”
He just nodded and pressed his hand more firmly to his back. Jack saw the motion and added his own hand for support. Robby made his way around, apologizing to everyone and saying his goodbyes. Jack got him in the car and headed home. Jack reached over the console and took one of Robby’s hands. “Do you want to tell me how bad it is?” He asked.
Robby shuddered a heaving breath. “Bad.” He whispered. “She has no more room to move, but she never stops twisting and kicking. My back hurts like someone lit it on fire. My knees are killing me. My ankles feel like someone bashed them in with baseball bats. I’ve had heartburn so bad I feel like I need a fire extinguisher. I…” He had to stop as more tears started. “I’m really tired, Jack. I wanted this, I want her, but I don’t want to be pregnant anymore.”
Jack had pulled into their driveway, parked the car, and turned to look at his husband. “Michael,” he started, reaching up to cup his chin and wipe away more tears. “Why didn’t you tell me things were this bad?”
“Because there’s nothing you can do.” He sighed heavily.
“If I could, I would take every pain.”
“I know, because I feel the same way about you when you’re in pain.”
“Let’s go inside, I can run you a bath?” Jack offered. Robby nodded. He wasn’t quite able to get out of the car by himself and had to let Jack help him. As much as he hated needing any kind of help, he was past the point of no return. “Any day now.” Jack promises.