Dog Days of Summer (31 page)

Joci spent the next week in the hospital. She was healing and still pregnant. Things were looking up. She could now make it to the bathroom on her own. She had made the trek yesterday, by herself, while Jeremiah was on the phone dealing with shop business. He was irritated with her for trying to do it on her own, but she needed to know she could in case she was home alone and needed to use the toilet. She was excited as hell to be able to go home today. It felt like weeks since she had been home.

Jeremiah and the boys walked back into her room. They had taken all of the flowers and gifts down to the car. They were using Joci
’s car today, because she didn’t think she could climb up into Jeremiah’s truck.

“
Are you ready to come home with me?” Jeremiah said as he walked back into the room, smiling when he saw her sitting up.

“
Yes. I can’t wait to get home.” Joci was sitting in the chair that Jeremiah had slept in for the past week and a half. She was dressed in a clean pair of yoga pants and a new tank top, decorated with surgical tape. She was ready, just waiting for the doctor to come in and release her. Jeremiah and the boys sat in the other chairs in the room while they waited. Joci looked up when Dr. Wan, her OB-GYN, walked into the room.

“
Good morning. I hear you’re being released today.”

Joci smiled at her.
“Yes, I can’t wait to get home. Dr. Wan, I would like you to meet Jeremiah and my sons Gunnar, JT, and Ryder. This is Dr. Wan.”

Jeremiah and the boys stood up and shook hands with
the petite Asian woman in the white coat. They exchanged pleasantries, and Dr. Wan looked at Joci with a smile on her face.

“
Joci, before you go, may I listen to your tummy and check on your baby?”

Joci nodded and slowly stood up. She felt a little out of balance with her arm in a cast and her shoulder in a cumbersome corset-type thing to keep it from moving. But, if she moved slowly, it wasn
’t too bad.

Jeremiah and the boys shot up to help her but Joci shook her head no. She needed to do this. Joci limped over to the bed and sat on the edge of it. She pushed herself back and slowly turned into the raised head of the bed. She grabbed the controller and lowered the head of the bed down so she was lying a little flatter.

Jeremiah and the boys hovered nearby. Dr. Wan smiled to see how solicitous they were with her. Her patient was going to need some TLC for a while. They all stayed close as Dr. Wan pulled her stethoscope out.

Dr. Wan looked at Joci and winked.
“I won’t be able to hear the heartbeat, but I would like to do a sonogram to make sure everything is okay. We might be able to see the baby’s heartbeat on the sonogram. If you’re at least six weeks pregnant, we will be able to hear it. Do you mind if we do it right now before you leave?”

“
No, I don’t mind. I want to know that she’s okay.” Joci looked at Jeremiah and he was nodding in agreement.

“
She?” Dr. Wan smiled.

Gunnar spoke up.
“Dad knows the baby’s a girl. I’m going to have a little sister.” His smile lit up the room.

Dr. Wan smiled and nodded.
“I’ll go out and have the technicians bring the machine in, and we’ll take a look. Stay right where you are, Joci.”

She left and Joci looked at Jeremiah. He had a huge grin plastered on his face. They were going to see the baby. Well, she wouldn
’t look like a baby yet. But, maybe they could hear her heartbeat. That would be amazing.

Within half
an hour, the technician was in the room hooking up the sonogram machine and getting Joci ready. Everyone was excited. This was new for them. When Joci had been pregnant with Gunnar, she hadn’t done this. The technician pulled up Joci’s shirt and tucked towels around her clothing so nothing got full of gel. They dimmed the lights and were ready to go. Dr. Wan and the technician were to Joci’s right and Jeremiah and the boys to Joci’s left, watching the screen on the sonogram machine.

The tech started pushing the probe around Joci
’s tummy and stopped on a little blurb. It didn’t really look like anything but a blob. The tech took a few pictures and kept moving the probe around. After a few minutes, she moved the probe around, then stopped and went back.

“
Oh, well, look at that. I think I see the heartbeat. Dr. Wan, what do you think?”

Dr. Wan looked closely at the screen. The tech put a little more pressure on Joci
’s tummy and there it was! You could see movement within the little blurb. It was very faint, but there was a little flutter.

“
Yes, I believe that’s her heartbeat,” Dr. Wan said.

Jeremiah grabbed Joci
’s hand. “Amazing,” was all he could say.

Gunnar said,
“Cool.”

Ryder whispered,
“I’ll be damned.”

Joci just stared at it. The baby was alive. She was going to live. Joci
’s eyes sparkled with moisture. She couldn’t help it, she was so relieved. She hadn’t even realized how scared she’d been. Jeremiah leaned down and kissed her forehead.

“
Don’t cry, baby. Look, she’s alive.”

Joci was trying to control herself.
“I know. I’m so relieved. I can’t believe she made it through.”

Dr. Wan touched Joci
’s leg and patted it. “Looks like you have a strong little girl there.”

The technician spoke up.
“We can’t tell the sex yet.”

Everyone laughed, and Jeremiah informed the tech that he knew it was a little girl. He had dreamed about her. The technician just nodded her head. Who was she to argue?

A few more pictures were taken, and the technician packed up the machine and made her way out the door. Dr. Wan told Joci she would see her at her scheduled appointment in a couple of weeks and she left. The attending physician came in a while later and released Joci to go home.

It took a while to get Joci in
to the car and then into the house. Joci walked into the house and let out a huge sigh of relief. It was great to be home. “I need to lie down. I hope you don’t mind. Will you all be here or are you leaving?”

Jeremiah chuckled.
“We’re staying here. JT and Ryder are running out to get lunch in a little while.” He kissed her lightly on the lips.

“
Then do you mind if I sleep on the sofa? That way I can hear you as I fall asleep.”

JT looked at Jeremiah and shrugged.
“Will you be comfortable on the sofa, Mom?”

Joci stared at JT and swallowed the knot in her throat. That was the first time he had called her
“Mom.” She smiled at him. “It makes me feel better to hear people talking.” As she walked by him, she gave him a brief hug. He gently wrapped his arm around her, afraid to squeeze her.

Jeremiah patted JT on the shoulder, his eyes growing moist, then walked into the living room with Joci.

Joci sat on the sofa. Jeremiah plumped some pillows behind her back and gently pulled her feet up. Gunnar ran and got her a blanket and threw it over her. She smiled and drifted off to sleep right away.

“
Ryder, you’ll have to climb out of your shell eventually,” JT laughed.

“
Fuck you, JT. It might be easy for you to come on to women; it’s not for me,” Ryder muttered.

Joci opened her eyes and looked around the room. Ryder leaned forward and smiled at her.

“How are you feeling?”

Joci smiled at him,
“I’m feeling pretty good. How are you doing? Are they picking on you?”

Ryder shrugged,
“They’re assholes. I’m really sorry, Mom. I feel bad that you’re going through this.”

“
Thank you, Ryder. I don’t want you to worry. I’m just fine, getting stronger every day.” Joci smiled at him and held his gaze.

He leaned forward and kissed her forehead. Joci eyes glistened at the sudden show of emotion. Ryder was the shy one.

When he sat back, JT piped up. “Are you hungry? We put some stuff together for a quick dinner.”

Joci nodded, noticing for the first time that she was actually feeling a bit like eating. Gunnar and Jeremiah jumped up to go and bring the food into the living room.

Joci turned herself on the sofa so her legs were on the floor. She struggled to sit up with only one hand free. With her bandages, she felt out of balance. Ryder and JT both jumped up to help her.

Joci looked at them and smiled,
“If I could just hold onto one of you, I should be able to leverage myself around.”

Ryder leaned down and held his hand out for her. Joci grabbed his hand with her left
one and pulled herself to the edge of the sofa. Just that little movement caused a pain to shoot up her right arm. She winced and yelped a little. Ryder leaned down closer and looked into her eyes to assess her situation.

She smiled weakly and took a deep breath.
“I’m sorry. Sometimes I move wrong and it hurts. But, it hurts less today than yesterday. Tomorrow will be better still.”

Ryder nodded and took a deep breath.
“I love you, Mom.”

Joci couldn
’t help herself. Tears sprang to her eyes and a small sob escaped her throat. She reached her left hand up and cupped the back of Ryder’s head, pulling him down for a little hug. Shaking from the exertion and emotion, she said, “I love you, too, Ryder.”

When he sat back, Joci looked over at JT. His eyes were glistening as he watched them.
“JT, I love you, too.” JT nodded and opened his mouth to say something but closed it quickly.

Just then, Jeremiah and Gunnar walked back into the room with a couple of trays. They were wary and could sense the heaviness in the room.

Jeremiah looked at Joci with his brows furrowed, “Are you okay, honey?”

Joci smiled and nodded.
“I’m better than ever.”

Jeremiah looked at Ryder and JT and noticed their watery eyes. He would ask Joci about it later. He made a plate of food for Joci. It was light finger foods—veggies, fruits, a cup of soup, and some crackers. Another plate held lunch meats and breads so the men could make sandwiches.

Joci smiled as she looked at Jeremiah, who said, “I wasn’t sure how your tummy was doing. It’s getting close to evening now and I thought warm soup and crackers would be good for you. Mom left some ginger tea for you as well.”

“
Thank you for remembering, Jeremiah. While I was in the hospital, they gave me some anti-nausea medicine in the evening so I wouldn’t have to go through that. But, I don’t have any now. I’ll just sip my soup and tea and nibble on my crackers until I know.”

Jeremiah handed Joci her soup, while the boys started eating. She sipped as her men sat and talked and ate. She conserved her energy as much as she could. She wanted to enjoy this for a while.

JT was the first to bring up the wedding. “So, are you still getting married on the 28th?”

“
No,” Jeremiah replied.

Joci looked at him, startled. Had he changed his mind? The boys were very, very quiet, wondering what was coming next.

Jeremiah looked at Joci, “I don’t want to wait. I want to get married tomorrow.”

Joci let out the breath she was holding and started shaking her head no.
“For the rest of our lives, we’ll look at the pictures of the day we got married. I don’t want to see them with me all bandaged and bruised.”

“
But, I…..”

“
No, Jeremiah. Please don’t fight me on this. I’ve never been married. I will only marry once. At least give me this. Don’t let LuAnn take that away from me.”

Jeremiah closed his eyes. How could he deny her this after what she
’d been through? He just wanted her to be his—legally. He was terrified that something else would happen to her.

“
It’s only three and a half weeks away Jeremiah. The doctor said he could have most of the bandages off by then. I’ll find a dress to cover the rest of them up. I won’t be one-hundred percent, but the pictures won’t show that.”

He turned to look at her, searching her eyes for any sign that she was backing out after what she had just been through. He nodded very slightly, but agreed. With that, everyone in the room relaxed with exhales and turned their attention to their meal.

They finished eating and enjoyed their time together. Suddenly, Joci sat forward. She looked panicked and Jeremiah stood quickly and went to her side.

“
Honey, are you going to be sick?”

Joci looked at him with tears in her eyes. Jeremiah kneeled down so he was eye level with her. He searched her eyes and saw the tears fall.

“Baby,” was all Joci could say. Her left hand wrapped around her stomach and a sob broke loose. God, she was losing the baby. It had been nine days since her accident. She had gotten comfortable with the thought that she wouldn’t lose the baby. But, right now she was experiencing severe cramps.