Part 6

An eerie silence fell over the entire waiting room at Cedars as almost every one of Reva's friends waited for news on her and the baby. They all sat watching as Jeffrey paced around the room, clenching his fists until they had become white. No one had ever seen him like this before. He was always so good at hiding his feelings but now he was just quiet, way to quiet for their liking. He along with Josh and Frank were the only ones that really knew what had taken place in that house, and that was all they could think about. Each one replaying it over and over in their minds. Everyone wanted answers but were to afraid to ask. The look on the three men's faces told them that they needed to leave it alone.
Everyone jumped as a loud crash broke the silence. Jeffrey had picked up the magazine rack and thrown it at the wall and then they watched as he ran over to the wall punching it over and over. Frank and Josh were the first ones up out of there seats as they ran over to him. One on each side grabbing his arms, holding him back. Everyone else except for Cassie decided that they should wait outside. As they filed out of the room, Jeffrey fought to free himself from Josh and Franks grasp as Cassie yelled out.
"Jeffrey please stop this."
Frank and Josh couldn't hold him anymore, he slipped from their hands and ran back to the wall, punching it until he tired himself. Then and only then had tears found their way to his eyes as he fell to his knees and cried. The three of them stood there, watching him, hearts braking for him, as this man that they all knew so well, this man that seemed like nothing could ever penetrate his deep macho exterior, now sat in front of them, his heart and soul crumbling into a million pieces.
Cassie started to walk over to him to comfort him but she was stopped by Josh.
"Not now Cassie, just let him be."Josh said quietly
"I have to try and help him. I hate seeing him this way."
"Cassie, just let him be for now, he needs to have some time alone."
"He is feeling something more then worry for Reva and the baby. Something happened in that house to my sister and I want to know what."
Josh pulled her to the opposite side of the waiting room.
"Cassie please, just leave it alone for now, please. We all have enough to worry about." Josh quietly pleaded
"No Josh, she's my sister I have a right to know."
"I know you have a right to know but now is not the time."
"You listen to me Joshua, Reva is my sister, and something happened to her in that house...."she grabbed the front of his shirt. "....and you are going to tell me right now"
"Alright, you're right, but this stays here. No one else knows and that's the way it's gonna stay."
"Fine Josh, just tell me."
"He.....he.....he raped her. We kicked down the door and we saw him"
Without a word Cassie let go of his shirt and ran out of the room. Josh stood there for a moment wondering if he should go after her but decided that Jeffrey needed him more. He watched and waited a few minutes so Jeffrey could have his time alone, then he slowly walked over to Jeffrey and placed his hand on Jeffrey's shoulder.
"Jeffrey, you have to pull yourself together now, You don't want Reva to see you like this, do you?" He said very calmly but knew exactly what he was feeling.
"I am going to kill him Josh, For what he did to her."
"Don't put your hate for this man in front of your love for Reva. She is going to need you now more than ever, and don't you worry about him, I will handle it."
Jeffrey looked up into Josh's eyes and could tell he already had a plan. Jeffrey stood up holding his right hand to his chest.
"What are you planning Josh."
"Don't worry about it."
"No Josh, what ever you are planning, don't."
"Jeffrey please, just take care of Reva and let me take care of him." Josh's eyes fell to Jeffrey's hand and the sight of it made his stomach turn. "Lets see if we can get your hand fixed."
"Don't change the subject, I don't want you to get your hands dirty. Reva would kill me if I let you do something stupid. I have people that can handle this. All I have to do is make a couple of calls and he'll be out of our lives, and I will do that as soon as I can. Just promise me that you won't do anything until we talk more. We will take care of him, together."
"Alright I promise. Now please can we get your hand fixed cause it looks really bad." he said with a smile
Jeffrey looked down at his hand, it was not the hand he was not use to seeing. In a very short amount of time it had become five times it's original size and had already turn many shades of black and blue.
"Yeah....Umm...I think you broke it....and your other one.... it doesn't look much better." Laughed Josh as he saw Jeffrey's face as he looked at both of his hands in disbelief.
"Well I'll get it looked at as soon as I know....." he cut himself off when he saw Rick enter the room.
"Rick, how is she?"
"She's stable for now...."
"What do you mean for now....and the baby.....how's the baby?"
"They're both hanging on, but I'm not going to lie to you...This could go either way. Her blood pressure is throw the roof and she's having contractions....... Now, we have started her on a medication called Magnesium Sulfate. This will hopefully stop the contractions and help with the high blood pressure but there are side effects. We have to keep a very close eye on her because some of the side effects are very serious............ We hope that she won't have to be on this medication long because the longer she is on it, the more likely a problem will occur............ But I will tell you, if her blood pressure does not go down and fast the baby will not have a chance. With blood pressure as high as hers it decreases the oxygen flow to the baby and the baby is not far enough along to survive outside the womb, so we have to pray that this medication work........ She is still in alot of pain and we have given her something for it but she needs to calm down. If she doesn't we are gonna have to sedate her and I don't want to do that if at all possible. But I promise you, I will do everything in my power to help them."
Jeffrey and Josh looked at Rick then looked to each other trying to comprehend everything that they heard.
"Ok, you said something about side effects?" questioned Josh
"Yes, the medication we had to put her on has a long list of side effects. Some are very common and minor but others even though rare, are very serious. But as of right now, she's handling it very well."
"What are the side effects, Rick? I need to know" pleaded Jeffrey
Rick hesitated for a moment
"The common side effects.......Flushing, Nausea, Vomiting, Palpitations, Headache, General muscle weakness, Lack of energy and drowsiness....... Complications ........Cardiac arrest, Pulmonary edema, Chest pain, Cardiac conduction defects, Low blood pressure, Visual disturbances, Decreased bone density, Respiratory depression, Muscular hyper excitability .........And Rare but Severe Complications.......Profound muscular paralysis and Intestinal obstruction."
Rick watched as Josh and Jeffrey's faces dropped
"Rick....." Jeffrey said weakly
"Jeffrey, I know this is hard to hear, but I promise you that we are monitoring her very closely. There will be someone in there with her at all times, and if a problem should arise, she will be taken off the medication immediately.........Jeffrey, she needs to be on this if we have any hope of saving the baby."
"When can I see her."
"You can go and see her now but before you do, I need to tell you that she is very shaken by what has happened. She is having a hard time letting anyone get remotely close to her in anyway. She won't look at us or even talk to us. You need to be very careful how you handle her. If she gets to upset you will have to leave." he said matter of fact
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As Rick led Jeffrey to Reva's room he noticed his hand.
"Jeffrey what happened to your hand?"
"Don't worry about it, it's fine."
"You should let me look at it."
"Thanks but right now I just need to be with Reva."
"Jeffrey...."
"NO Rick, My wife needs me and I'll be damned if I'm gonna leave her for this." he said as he raised his hand
Rick throw his hands up in surrender.
They reached Reva's room but before opening the door Jeffrey paused and looked in the window. There she was, the love of his life, laying on her side in a hospital bed slowly rocking herself as she cried. As he looked at her he felt like someone had just stabbed him in the heart. How was he going to help her through this, would she even let him? She had always been so strong and now she was more vulnerable then he had ever seen. All he wanted to do was take her pain away, to turn back time so none of this happened. He felt so helpless.
He slowly opened the door and the sweetest most wonderful sound fell into his ears, the sound of their baby's heartbeat. His baby, their baby was still holding on, it was strong like it's mother. He couldn't help but feel a little hopeful. Taking a seat next to her bed, his left hand found hers. She pulled away not realizing it was Jeffrey.
"It's ok, it's just me" He said in the softest saddest voice
The sound of his voice made her instantly put her hand back. The touch of his hand made her feel safe. She slowly looked up at him, their eyes meet, and they saw all the hurt, fear, pain and sadness that the others tear stained eyes held. Jeffrey opened his mouth to speak but Reva beat him to it.
"Just hold me, please." she softly pleaded
Without hesitation, he got up and climbed into bed with her. He rapped his arms around her as tight as he could. He wanted to say something, do something, to make all her pain go away, but he knew no words or actions were going to help. All he could do was hold her.
A soft moan fell from her lips and her body tightened as the pain of a contraction built up inside of her.
"Shh........." was all he could say as tears fell from her cheek soaking into his shirt.
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