Page 52 of As The Shifter World Turns

52

HOSPITALS ARE NO FUN

Ryder

The drive to the emergency department was one of the scariest I'd ever taken. We’d managed to get Ivor to my car, but he still looked out of it and like he was going to collapse again. I wanted to call an ambulance, but he adamantly refused saying he would deny service once they arrived.

I got it, I did. They cost a lot of money, and as it was the trip to the emergency department was going to cost him an outrageous co-pay, but his health and our baby’s health came first. If I didn’t have enough money, I’d find it. Heck, I’d steal it if it meant they were okay.

“I’m the party responsible for the bill.” I told the nurse as I brought up Ivor’s paperwork. They stuck us in a waiting room and had given him an entire clipboard full of papers to fill out, promising they would be with him soon.

They lied. The people around us were all complaining about being there three plus hours. I wish he had just taken the ambulance. My stubborn mate.

He wouldn’t call me that. Shit, he didn’t call me his boyfriend or even friend, but I felt it deep down, probably always had, but when he collapsed, the first thing my beast did was repeat:

Mate.

Ours.

Mate.

He still was, only I’d been able to knock him down a little with the assurance that I was getting our mate help.

“You’re not on the paperwork,” they bit back.

“Let me pay the co-pay,” I told them.

“We can’t do that until we decide if he stays or goes.” And they walked away. So freaking helpful .

I rushed back to Ivor who was staring at the television. It was showing an infomercial for suitcases. I didn’t know they even had them anymore. Maybe they make them exclusively for patients in the emergency room since they had nothing else to do but watch and impulse buy.

“They’ll be out for you soon,” I told him, crossing my fingers it was true.

“Is that what got them so heated they walked away from you?” he asked, not opening his eyes.

“No,” I sighed. “That was me trying to pay your co-pay.”

“I have insurance.”

“And how much is your copay?” He flinched. “Let me. It will make me feel like I’m contributing to the needs of the baby.” I didn’t want to say why I really wanted to do it, to help him because I loved him and wanted his life not to suck.

“Okay. But this doesn’t mean—” he was interrupted by someone calling his name.

“I know, Ivor. I know.” And I hated it more than anything. “Want me to come back with you?”

He looked at me and gave a single nod. I wouldn’t want to go in alone either and while it didn’t mean we were together or anything, it felt right to be by his side.

The nurse spent a solid fifteen minutes peppering him with questions and then she took him to the restroom so he could give her a sample. When they returned, she told us the doctor would be in shortly.

Another lie.

We were in there for over an hour when the door first opened. It was the vampire, I mean phlebotomist, coming for a blood draw presumably ordered by the doctor. At least they knew we were there and not forgotten in the abyss.

“You don’t keep having to stay with me. It’s been hours.” Ivor was on the bed, a thingy connected to his finger that read his oxygen and heart beat. He also wore a blood pressure cuff that went off every fifteen minutes. It helped us keep track of time, so there was that.

“I do though. My beast wouldn’t let me leave if I tried,” I confessed. “If you need me to go, I’ll figure it out, but I’d rather stay.”

“Because of the baby?” he asked

“Because—” There was a knock on the door followed by someone walking in wearing a doctor’s coat.

“I’m Dr. Ester.” He scented bear. Good, a shifter. That would help… a lot. “Sorry you’ve been waiting so long. Friday nights are really busy around here. You must be Ivor?”

“Yeah.”

“The paperwork says you passed out after getting up too quickly?”

“I think it was just too much happening at once.” It had been a lot… too much. Was I glad that Kellan showed up? Yes. He needed to confess and let everyone know what was up. Did I also wish it hadn’t been at the same time I was discovering I was going to be a dad? Also yes .

“Explain.” And so Ivor did in a very vague way, but he mentioned everything from a bad break up to a change in job to drama in his apartment building.

“And this is Dad?” He pointed to me, not looking in my direction.

“He is.”

“And you broke up but he’s here with you.” Gods what was this twenty questions? What we really needed to know was what was wrong with my mate, not how shitty I made his life. That had already been established.

“Well the good news is your blood work looks fine. Not fantastic, but fine. Your iron is a tad low, but I’m going to prescribe you some special pre-natals that should fix that up in no time. I’m sure your doctor will want to recheck in a bit.”

Vitamins. We could do vitamins. That was so much better than all the other possibilities of what might have caused his issues.

“Your blood pressure has not been amazing.” He pointed to the monitor. “It should be pretty chill at this point in a pregnancy. Your intake paperwork said you had no issues prior to this with your blood pressure?”

“No, Doctor. None. At least none that I know of.” I wondered briefly how long it had been since he’d seen a real doctor. My guess was a while based on his answer.

“It could be nerves. We call that ‘white coat’ high blood pressure and being in the hospital can have that impact, but just in case, follow up with your doctor on that too. Do you have a doctor?” he asked point blank.

“I just found out I’m pregnant. I called a few places but they didn’t want to see me until I was further along.” Something I should’ve known and would’ve known had I not ruined everything and had him block me out of his life. Deservedly so, but still…

“Let me get you a referral and your prescription for those pre-natals. And Ivor, try to reduce your stress. I have a feeling today was the culmination of a lot on your shoulders and sadly I can’t write a prescription for that.”

He walked out and as the door shut, I blurted out, “Mate me. Let me help take the stress and—” The blood pressure cuff started to fill, the noise startling me. “And I’ll do everything I can to make things right. I promise.”

The doctor came rushing in. “What the hell just happened?”

We both looked at him confused.

“Your blood pressure was just so high it sent out an alert to the nursing station.”

“I asked him something personal. I’ll stop,” I promised. If me asking him to be my mate had a doctor cursing, I needed to leave that one alone.

“You will. What exactly did you ask him? Do I need to be concerned for his safety?”

“No. He’s… I asked him to mate me,” I said in a low voice. “I won’t ask again. ”

“You alphas.” He shook his head. “Don’t pressure him. And Ivor don’t cave to his pressure. None of that is how healthy relationships are born.”

“Don’t worry, he doesn’t.”

“I really don’t.”

Ivor sat a little taller. “Can I go home now?”

“The nurse will be in shortly with your intake papers.” He explained everything once again and left.

When someone came in five minutes later, we were excited that shortly meant shortly. Only it didn’t. It was the woman coming for the co-pay and when she said the amount Ivor spoke the most amazing words I’d ever heard.

“Thank you, Ryder.” He accepted my help and let me pay. It wasn’t something most people would relish, but I did. It meant on some level, he’d let me provide. Was it everything I hoped for? Absolutely not. But it was a step.

It was dawn when we finally had him checked out and were heading back to Sunshine Manor.

“I have an idea and no is a perfectly acceptable answer. I don’t want to stress or pressure you.” I drove out of the hospital parking lot.

“Okay.”

“What if you move in with me—I’ll sleep on the couch. I can drive you to and from work and take care of things like laundry and stuff to keep you from having to work after you come home. That way you can save all of your paychecks and when our baby is born you’ll have a lot more options.”

Did I want him to be staying with me as in living together as a couple? Heck yeah. But if it wasn’t like that, he’d still have enough to afford a down payment and such when he found a new place.

“I… really that would help with my biggest stress.” That stress being money. “Yes. But roommates. That is it. Nothing else.”

“Roommates.” The word burned in the back of my throat, but if that was what Ivor needed, that was what he was going to get.