Re: Wed, 4/17 - Nat and Njall (around 9 pm)
Nat had drifted off to sleep after texting Njall, but it wasn't a sound sleep, and her eyes fluttered open as soon as she heard the door open. It probably hadn't even been that long, but she was exhausted in general, so distraction served both to keep her from worrying and to keep her awake. She glanced at the clock. "Hey."
Even though he'd Disapparated within a few seconds of sending his text reply, it took a few minutes to get someone to tell him Nat's room number, let alone in to see her. Evidently 'a friend' didn't work, but 'the baby's father' did. It was still so weird, and only made even more so by saying it out loud to strangers. Barely in the room, he paused just inside the doorway and looked at her. His gaze was equal parts clinical detachment and the deep worry of someone who was personally invested. "Hey back." He tilted his head, affecting a confused expression. "I thought Tony was the dramatic one here. Did I miss something while I was gone?"
"Ha ha," she said flatly, though with a bit of a smile as she rubbed sleep from her eyes and sat up a little higher on the pillows. "What's a broken back or a coma compared to this?" She waved a hand down at her stomach, covered right now by thin hospital bedding. Even that motion was exhausting, and she closed her eyes for a few seconds, breathing evenly and regaining her equilibrium. "You didn't have to come."
He gave her a pointed look, complete with incredulously raised eyebrow. There was a definite chill to his tone when he replied. "True. I don't have to do anything. But I wanted to. I want to. I know my track record thus far with you isn't all that stellar, but I hope I'll eventually convince you that I don't intend to go anywhere."
Didn't intend, but kind of sort of really wanted to be any place else. It was like an itch deep in his marrow, because a baby… a baby meant a lifetime. He squashed the feeling and the thoughts even deeper than they already were. His expression softened because he wasn't there to make this harder. "What's the healer say?"
Nat clenched her jaw and shook her head. "I didn't mean it like that." Because she hadn't. And also because they always seemed to have these sorts of conversations, with these misunderstandings, jumping to conclusions, and little niggling statements that inevitably got under the other's skin. She was trying not to let it get under hers, but sometimes he made it really damn difficult. "There's just not much anyone can do by being here, and I know from experience that it's not a good time."
She stopped fighting it and closed her eyes, trying to remember all the details through her still-sleepy haze. "Healer Jackson had me taking a potion to increase my sodium levels, see if it helped with the nausea, passing out, all that. He'd read research that...well, that Selkies need more than average. It was still supposed to be within acceptable human levels, but apparently my body did not like it. High blood pressure, trouble breathing, chest pain." She wouldn't have gone into detail under normal circumstances, but Njall was a healer. He'd want this level of information. "They managed to get it back down to the levels it was at before, and the symptoms are starting to fade, but the others are coming back already."