Chapter Text
Mel was used to feeling run-down. She was used to functioning on 5 hours of sleep (or less, but she would keep that to herself) and prioritizing the needs of everyone else before even considering her own. She certainly had more pressing matters to attend to, like getting that ortho consult for her patient in South 13 with the broken wrist.
Mr. Clark had been brought in by ambulance after going head-first over the handlebars of his bicycle. He had been making his way down Stanton Avenue when a cat had run out in front of him. Luckily for the cat, he hit his brakes on time. Unluckily for Mr. Clark, he hit them so hard, so fast, that he launched himself over the handlebars. Courtesy of his helmet, he was fully conscious and alert, his only injury stemming from the wrist he had used to try and (unsuccessfully) catch himself. She had just gotten his x-ray results back to confirm her suspicions: it was broken. She had presented to Robby, and they had decided that they would have someone from orthopaedics come down to set the wrist.
So that’s how she found herself walking to South 13, feeling shaky and slightly queasy, with a smile on her face at the prospect of finally getting her patient discharged and maybe finding time to squeeze in a quick snack. As she finally reached the doors to the patient’s room, she recognized one of the newer ortho residents, Dr. Warner, waiting outside. She introduced herself and gave a brief history of the patient and the injury before entering the room, the resident following behind her.
“Hi, Mr. Clark, thank you so much for your patience. I’ve reviewed your x-ray, and it looks like your wrist is, in fact, broken. Dr. Warner from orthopaedics is going to set the bone, and then we’ll get you into a cast and you’ll be on your way. Does that sound like a plan?”
Mr. Clark nodded, “Whatever it takes to get me out of here”, he said with a small chuckle.
Mel smiled at the comment, then took a step back from him while gesturing to Dr. Warner to take over.
Mel had seen, and done, her fair share of closed reductions. However, due to the nature of the injury, her and Robby had decided an ortho consult would be best to ensure optimal healing. With her nausea suddenly returning, she was becoming more and more grateful for this decision.
As Dr. Warner approached the patient and explained the process, pointing to the exact bones, joints, and tendons he was describing, Mel found herself near the doorway observing in the event she was needed. Mr. Clark was still her patient, after all. She had her gloved hands clasped in front of her, her knuckles most certainly going white with the tight grip she had them in. She could feel the strain of the blue latex against her fingers as they flexed within the confines of the gloves. She was focusing on her breathing, in through her nose and out through her mouth, to calm the bile threatening to rise in her throat.
Just as she seemed to calm the pounding in her chest, she heard the familiar snap of the bone being set back into place, and all of her attempts to self-soothe went out the window. She was lunging for the closest wastebasket and gripping the sides as she threw up the entire contents of her stomach (or lack thereof).
She could not believe this was happening. Mel had prided herself of having a stomach of steal – how else could she be expected to work in the ED? And now here she was, puking her guts out to a noise she had heard hundreds of times before. Why was she feeling so sick?
When she finally stopped retching, teary-eyed and sniffling, she looked over to where Dr. Warner and Mr. Clark were frozen in place, staring at her, mouths agape. She could hardly help the blush that rose to cheeks.
“I’m so sorry! I have no idea what came over me! I’m just gonna – um – be right back!” she stammered out as she fled from the room in a frenzy. God, that was embarrassing, she thought to herself as she made her way to the locker room. She needed to brush her teeth, first and foremost, and she most definitely needed to eat something if she was going to make it through the rest of her shift.
By the time she made it to the locker room, she could feel her hands trembling and her stomach had begun to rumble deeply again. She beelined straight to her locker, inputting her code with weak fingers, and fishing around her backpack in search of her toiletry bag.
If Mel King was anything, she was prepared. Especially working somewhere as unpredictable as The Pit, she needed to be ready in case of any hygiene-related emergency that could occur. She didn’t have enough fingers to count the number of times she had gotten a patient’s bodily fluids on her. It only made sense for her to carry an oversized cosmetic bag filled with essentials at all times.
As her hand finally made contact with the pouch, she grabbed it quickly and made her way to the bathroom. She placed the bag on the counter and unzipped it, watching the sides bag out due to how full it was. She rummaged through the bag in search of her toothbrush and toothpaste, when in her haste she accidentally grabbed a tampon. She stared at it for a moment, a look of deep thought coming over her face.
Oh. Oh.
She let go of the tampon like it personally offended her, and her look of thought was now that of shock. She gripped the edge of the countertop and steadied herself against it until her knuckles went white and stared at her paling reflection in the mirror.
Mel was late. She was never late. It was almost ridiculous how routine her period had become. Mel thrived on routine, and it appeared her body felt the same. But not this month. She was two weeks late and hadn’t even noticed.
Well, that would explain the vomiting. And, in hindsight, a lot of other symptoms she was just attributing to being worn out. She thought back to the abandoned online cart of bras in a size up she decided she could hold off on. Some doctor she was, if she couldn’t even recognize the signs of pregnancy in herself.
Pregnant.
The world rattled around in her head. Was she ready to be a mom? Don’t get her wrong, after dating Frank for just over a year, she loved Tanner and Penny like they were her own, but they always went home to Abby. Was she ready to take care of a child on top of work? On top of Becca?
Becca. How would Becca react to the change that a new baby would bring?
Then again, Becca was spending more nights than not at Middle Hill or with Adam and his family. And the more she thought about it, Becca had started to become rather found of Tanner and Penny. They often went on group outings whenever the days lined up; picnics in the park, trips to the zoo, days at the beach. What was one more addition to their little family?
Her mind wandered to Frank. He would be so excited. They hadn’t quite talked about it yet, but she knew Frank wanted more kids. He took immense pride in being a father, and Mel couldn’t blame him; he was a great one. He showed up, and he listened, and he made the absolute best of every single moment he could get with his kids. She knew he missed them when they were gone; she did too. Seeing Frank with his kids for the first time was one of the key moments that made her realize she was in love with him. He was so tender and sweet, a side she had only ever seen him use with her before.
Mel and Frank had started dating a few months after his return on the fourth of July. After that initial shift, they became closer and closer the more that they worked together. Mel was the first person Frank had talked about his divorce with.
After his second stint in rehab, Abby had him served. And honestly, he couldn’t say he was surprised. Frank had already been sleeping in the guest bedroom before he had even been caught, he was honestly shocked that him and Abby had made it as long as they had. They had given it a valiant effort, really, mostly for the sake of the kids, but Frank’s secret addiction was the final nail in the coffin that was their marriage. After coming back to work, he had decided to keep the ring to avoid the topic altogether. He was already coming back an addict, why tack on divorcé?
After Frank’s admission, him and Mel had become even more inseparable than they were before (if that was even possible). Frank drove Mel to and from work whenever their shifts aligned, then rides home drifted into dinner at Mel’s. Slowly but surely, their shared evenings shifted from platonic meals to a domestic routine.
One evening, while Frank was washing the dishes from dinner and Mel was drying, he paused his task and braced his hands on the countertop and looked down, closing his eyes and furrowing his brow. He appeared to be deep in thought while Mel watched. She knew when he was ready, he would tell her what was bothering him.
“Mel, can I just get something off my chest?”
She had felt her heart drop to her feet. “Um, yea, sure, what’s up?”, she squeaked out. She could feel her entire body tense, and she leaned on the counter beside her to steady herself.
“IthinkImfallinginlovewithyou”, he rushed out, eyes still closed. He looked like he was bracing for impact.
“Sorry, can you repeat that, I didn’t quite catch what you said”, Mel said nervously. She really hadn’t heard what he said, between the mumbling and speed at which he spoke.
He opened his eyes and stood up straight, hands still gripping the counter in front of him but with less strength than before. She watched as the muscles in his arms released the tension. Then, he looked straight at her, and she feel the emotion in his gaze. If she wasn’t scared before, she most certainly was now.
“Mel, I think I might be falling in love with you”, he said without breaking his gaze.
Well, she most certainly was not expecting that. She felt all of the tension leave her body, and the look of concern previously etched on her face transformed to an almost blinding smile.
“Really?” she asked, taking a step closer to him. Frank watched as her eyes lit up at the prospect, and all of his previous stress and anxiety about his feelings for her were effectively gone. He truly could not believe his luck, when he closed the gap between them and grabbed both of her hands in his. His gaze drifted from where their hands were intertwined until they met hers.
“Can I kiss you?”, he asked in a whisper. He had a pleading look in his eye. Who was Mel to deny him this? To deny herself this?
She nodded, and in an instant, his lips were on hers in a gentle kiss. His hands moved from hers to her waist, as hers pressed softly against his chest.
After that first kiss, Frank declared he was going to take Mel on a proper date. And he did. Then he kept doing it. And by some small miracle, she kept letting him.
Now, one year later, Mel found herself back in real life in the bathroom.
She began to think about how wonderful he would be when he found out. He always made her feel so safe and understood. He made things easier. He could see when she was struggling and always knew exactly what to do to help her manage. There was nobody else she would want to be her partner on this new journey. If she could take on motherhood with anyone, it was Frank.
The thought made her dizzy. She could feel all of her prior nervousness fade to excitement. She had been taking care of people her whole life, she was made to do this. She wanted to do this. She could she the smile growing on her face in her reflection in front of her. Her gaze ran from the smile on her face down to her abdomen. She would need an actual test.
She quickly went back to her pouch, actually finding her toothbrush and toothpaste this time. This revelation had certainly been a pleasant distraction, but she needed to get the sour taste of bile out of her mouth before she did anything else. She removed the toothbrush from the protective cover and turned on the tap of the sink to wet the brush. She moved the unscrew the toothpaste and squeeze a dollop out the toothbrush, before securing the lid back on and placing it in her bag. She made quick work of brushing her teeth, following the same process she had since she was a young girl. She really did thrive on routine.
Once she was done, she made sure all her belongings were neatly stored in her bag before zipping it up and returning it to her locker. While she was in there, she grabbed a protein bar to soothe her ever grumbling stomach. She had someone else to feed now, after all.
She unwrapped the bar gently, folding the edges back neatly. Through her nausea, she took a small bite, chewing it before she swallowed. She took a deep breath before exiting the locker room and taking another bite of her protein bar.
She was on a mission now: get a pregnancy test.
__________
Mel found Dana at the charge desk and knew immediately that she was the perfect candidate. She trusted her to keep this discrete, and she could probably give Mel some words of motherly support that she most definitely needed to hear right now.
“Hi, Dana!”, Mel squeaked out nervously. The older woman quirked at her and gave her a knowing look, bringing her hands up to her face to push her glasses up to perch on her head. She had a clipboard in one hand, the other perched on her hip.
“What do you want, kid,”
She lowered her voice, “Um, I was wondering if there were any rooms free right now? And I was hoping I could maybe get a hand running a test?”.
Mel had a sheepish look on her face as she asked, with her hands clutched nervously in front of her chest.
She watched as the charge nurse reacted to her request. She could see the metaphorical cogs turning in her mind as she processed the hushed voice and the obviously nervous resident in front of her.
“North 3 just got cleared, I’ll meet you there in 5 and I expect a full explanation when I get there”, Dana said bringing her glasses back down to sit on the bridge of her nose and looking back to the clipboard she carried, seemingly at all times.
Mel let out a deep exhale that she didn’t realize she was holding. Thank God for Dana. She turned quickly over her heel and made her way to North 3, where she would finally find out if she was pregnant.
__________
Right as scheduled, Dana walked into the patient room, quickly opening the curtain and closing it behind her just as fast to shield Mel from the windows looking in. Inside, Mel was perched on the edge of the bed, with her legs crossed around the ankles in front of her. She had her hands neatly folded in her lap, but Dana couldn’t help but notice the slight tremor in her grip.
“You been eating?”, she asked as she sat down on the stool beside the bed, rolling until she was right beside Mel. She reached over, placing her hand atop Mel’s, and looked up at her with a smile laced with concern.
Mel brought her gaze to meet the older woman’s, “Um, I just ate a protein bar but that’s really about it”.
“Okay,” Dana said, her voice carrying an authority that Mel knew meant that she had a plan and she was to follow orders.
“I’m going to go get you a sandwich from the cart in the hall. I’m going to watch you sit here and eat it while you tell me what the hell is going on. Then, and only then, will I perform this test on you”.
Mel nodded her head quickly, and Dana looked at her for a beat before she turned to leave the room.
When she returned, sandwich in hand, she moved to take up her prior position in the stool, handing Mel the wrapped food in the process. Dana was looking at her expectantly, and Mel made quick work of unwrapping the layers of plastic wrap shielding the sandwich from the outside world. Once it was finally revealed, she took a bite and relished in the sustenance. Now that her nausea had subsided, she was starving.
“Okay, talk,” Dana said, her stern voice returning. Mel felt her nerves return, her body shrinking in on itself. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath turning her head to meet the charge nurses waiting gaze.
“I think, there might be a chance, that I’m maybe pregnant”, she said as she tensed. She watched as Dana’s face contorted from confusion to shock, her jaw dropping slightly so her mouth was a gape. She reached out to place on Mel’s leg, just above her knee, and looked up at her lovingly after processing the revelation.
“How do you feel about that, kiddo?”
Mel got a sheepish look on her face, “I think I’m excited. I’m scared but I think I want this”
Dana smiled at her and gave her knee a gentle pat as she stood up from her seat. She started to move around the room to grab the necessary supplies for a blood draw.
“Well, finish that sandwich so I can run the test and we can find out”
Mel smiled at her and took another bite of her sandwich.
__________
Forty-five minutes after Dana sent her sample off to the lab, she was getting a page from the aforementioned woman to meet her back in North 3. Knowing that this meant she would finally find out if she was pregnant, she quickly turned on her heel and made her way to the room.
When she got there, Dana was already seated on her stool, glasses perched on the edge of her nose, and a manila folder in her hand. Mel moved to hop up on the bed, hoping that the faster she sat down the faster Dana would tell her the news she wanted to hear.
Mel looked up and met Dana’s eyes, and she knew, instantly, from the look on her face, what the test had said. The older woman had a small smile on her face, nearly imperceptible, but Mel could see the way her face had softened, the unbridled joy hiding behind her usually stoic features.
“No way!”, she said, her hands shooting up to cover her mouth. She could feel the tears welling in her eyes, threatening to fall down her face. Mel could barely contain the smile on her face at the news.
Dana’s small smile grew wide, “It’s positive!”
Mel had never considered herself a physical person, but she launched herself forward into Dana and held her in a tight hug. The charge nurse squeezed her back, stroking a comforting hand down her back, “I’m so happy for you guys, honey”.
Mel only had one thought as she happily sobbed in Dana’s arms: We’re gonna have a baby.