mila (listentoteeth) wrote in shadows_rpg, @ 2022-05-27 15:58:00 |
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Entry tags: | #group scene, #july 2018, aaron, kane, kane x mila, mila, mila x aaron |
Who: Mila and Kane (with Aaron)
Where: Witcham Road, Mercy
When: Evening, Sunday July 1st
Status: Complete
Mila wasn’t having the best day. After church Aaron had gone to work and Mila had returned home to nap for a while. A while had turned into several hours and by the time she woke up again, it felt as though more than half the day was gone. Knowing that she had some errands to run, Mila got dressed and left the house, feeling a bit groggy but otherwise much better than she had the night before.
Since Point Pleasant was lacking a proper department store, and Mila’s stomach was getting a bit bigger, she drove out to the mall in the next town over to buy a few pairs of maternity shorts and a couple of summer dresses. She wasn’t due until October but she was starting to feel the tightness in her waistband. Was that normal for six months? Mila wasn’t really sure, but it was still kind of fun to buy some new clothes, even if they were stupidly expensive. While shopping she went to pull out her cell phone to take a picture for Aaron but realized she didn’t actually have her phone on her. In her groggy post-nap state, she had forgotten it on her nightstand, charging.
Mila panicked for a brief moment, because she was afraid Aaron would panic if he was trying to get a hold of her with no answer. And what if Adrian needed her? Mila quickly paid for her things and hurried out to her car to start heading home.
The sky was getting dark by the time she turned off the highway and onto Witcham Road. She passed Cherries and the motel where she and Aaron had begun their relationship. And then she was surrounded by Blackwater Woods and home really wasn’t that far away now. The sudden pop and jolt of her car startled her and Mila gripped the steering wheel in fright before realizing she had a flat tire.
“Crap!” Mila quickly guided the car to the side of the road and put on her hazard lights. After a quick look around to make sure she was alone, she got out of the car and groaned when she saw the nail sticking out of the back tire. It was already deflating flat against the ground. Her heart began to beat faster as it hit her that she had no phone, no way to call Aaron, or a tow truck or anyone. Chewing on her lip, she glanced around again, searching the expanse of trees. She saw no movement, heard nothing but the occasional chirp of crickets. She had never changed a tire before but she could figure it out, right?
Swallowing, Mila popped open the trunk to start searching for where the spare tire was… the donut, as her dad called it. Pulling open the carpeted hideaway, Mila stared at the tiny spare and grimaced. It looked a little deflated. Not flat but the rubber gave way under her fingertip when she pushed at it. Now she was starting to panic and Mila stepped back from the trunk to try and figure out how far away town would be on foot. A few miles? She had flip flops on and she had to pee really bad. Could she make it? Mila groaned and turned to sit down on the bumper, her head in her hands.
Kane had been determined not to spend the day at home pining over Adrian. He didn’t feel like he’d gotten his fill of the man, by any means, but they’d spent the whole night together and he really needed to do other things with his time. He spent the day cleaning his apartment, then visited his mother and did some shopping. As the sun was going down, after he’d eaten something, he climbed back into the SUV and set out for the night. He wasn’t sure yet if he would hunt or give rides or just drive around, but he just wanted to be out and about.
After wandering aimlessly for a while, Kane decided to take a drive out to Cherries and see if there was any shady activity out there, or on Witcham on the way. He wasn’t eager to go out into those woods again, especially on his own, but he could cruise down the road and see if anything jumped out at him, so to speak. He hadn’t been expecting much, but he definitely hadn’t been expecting his headlights to hit a woman sitting on her back car bumper by the side of the road. It wasn’t a great idea to be sitting alone out in the open near Blackwater at night, and night was fast approaching.
Frowning, Kane slowed his car down, switching the headlights down to just the running lights as he got closer so he didn’t blind her. He rolled down his window as he came to a stop next to the car and the woman. Kane stuck his elbow out the window and leaned, squinting a bit to see her better. “You need any help, ma’am?” he asked.
Straightening when she saw the headlights coming, Mila stood up from the bumper and studied the man in the SUV, her hands moving instinctively over her stomach. She did need help, but she didn't recognize this guy, not really. If she didn't accept his offer, then he would drive away and she would still be stuck out here. If she asked for a ride home, he could drive her somewhere else and murder her. If he was a decent man who drove away, someone worse might come along. Or something might slither out of the woods. Mila took a deep breath and looked back down at the flat tire. "I don't know how to change it," she admitted. "The spare is a bit deflated too, but I have an air pump in my trunk." She just wasn't sure how to use that either. Mila was about to offer up that she didn't have her phone, but she was afraid that might encourage him to do something unsavory towards her.
It wasn’t until she stood up that Kane recognized her, and his stomach clenched suddenly. It was Mila Moretti. Kane felt his eyes widen slightly, but he did his best to keep his face neutral. She didn’t know him, and she wasn’t ever supposed to. “Oh, uh ... yeah hang on, I’ll give you a hand,” he murmured. Kane put the car in reverse and backed up to pull in behind her, clicking his lights back on to give them some illumination. Kane rubbed his palms against his jeans before he climbed out of the car. He ambled in closer, giving her a crooked little smile, hoping to not come off as intimidating as he usually wanted to. He noticed the way she kept a hand on her stomach, and Kane got another jolt of nerves as he realized she was pregnant. Adrian hadn’t mentioned that. Fuck. He wondered why she wasn’t calling him or her man for help. “Which tire is it?”
Mila watched the man, feeling both apprehensive and relieved. As he got out of his SUV, she glanced up at the sky, watching how it continued to darken. "Here," she said, gesturing to the back driver's side tire. "There's uh, a nail. A pretty big one." There was movement beneath her hand, her daughter making herself known. Like she wanted to assure Mila that she wasn't alone. The man was a bit intimidating but Mila didn't want to be afraid unless he gave her a reason to be. The woods were right there. If she had to run into them to try and hide, she would. "I'm Mila. Mila Moretti. I really appreciate you stopping to help."
He almost said he knew what her name was, but that would be creepy, so he bit his tongue on it. Kane didn’t crowd her as he went to look at the tire. “I’m Kane Owen,” he said, lifting his hand in a small wave. He wondered if it was a bad idea to give her his real name, but it seemed like it would be dumber to lie about it and have it come out later. He was supposed to avoid Adrian’s sister at all costs, but he was sure Adrian wouldn’t want him to just drive on and leave her out there alone. Especially pregnant. “And uh, no problem. I was just out ... I drive for Uber, so. I was out.” God, he sounded like an idiot. Still giving Mila plenty of physical space, he moved to her trunk to pull out the spare. “I got a better jack than this in the back,” he muttered as he set the tire down and headed back toward his own vehicle. “You been stuck out here long?”
"Oh." He was a ride share driver. That seemed to relax her some. Mila stayed out his way, but wanted to watch what he was doing in case this happened again. She really ought to know how to change a tire. "Only about ten minutes or so," Mila said, her eyes still on Kane. The prickling beneath her skin was a familiar one, usually when she was around someone who wasn't quite human. Because Kane wasn't human. He was Something Else. Something to do with... souls. Helping them? Mila inhaled sharply as he headed back with the jack. He didn't feel dangerous to her, but that didn't mean anything. Still, Mila stood off to the side, now acutely aware of her surroundings. “Do you get a lot of work in Point Pleasant?" she asked, trying to keep it casual. He had stopped to help her, which was more than what most people probably would have done.
“Enough,” Kane answered with a faint chuckle as he walked back to Mila’s car. He squatted next to her punctured tire and started to position the jack in the right spot under the frame. “There’s a lotta drunks in this town.” Including him and his sister, but Kane tended to drink the most at home where he didn’t need to go anywhere. He jacked up the car, glancing over at her as he pumped the handle. He could see some of the resemblance to her brother -- or maybe everything reminded him of Adrian now. Gods, he hoped he didn’t end up pissed off about this. Everything was timing and coincidence in this fucking town. “What do you do?” It was an idle question, something to keep the innocent chit-chat going, to hopefully put her at ease. A second too late, he realized it was kind of a nosy personal question she might not want to answer. “If you wanna share,” he added.
He was right about that. Mila knew a lot of the drunks personally from her years working at the bar. She didn't mind the question. Honestly, she was relieved that he didn't hear her name and cringe away from her. Most people knew what she had done to Aaron, and how she had disappeared. It was nice to have a normal, non-crazy conversation with someone so willing to help fix her flat tire. "Me? Oh, I work for D'Onofrio Management Group," she said with a small smile. "I'm Mr. D'Onofrio's assistant. It's not terribly exciting, but I like it okay." The baby moved again before a sharp pain ran up her side. Mila inhaled sharply and moved her hand to her side to stretch it a bit. Probably just gas or something. "See, now I don't know if I could do that," she said, motioning to the jack. "I would probably end up breaking it or something. My dad tried to teach me how to change a tire once, when I was sixteen, but... teenagers rarely have the brain power to focus on one thing at a time."
Kane practically heard Bailey scoff in his head at the idea of a grown woman who couldn’t change her own tire. It was a survival skill. Their dad hadn’t done much for them as they grew up, but he had taught them both basic car maintenance and what to do if they got stranded for a variety of reasons. Probably so they were less likely to fuck up his car, but whatever. So Mila worked for D’Onofrio and D’Onofrio had helped Adrian with his wendigo problem, interesting. Kane knew of the family, he of course knew the rumors from growing up in Point Pleasant, but he’d never tangled with them himself, which he was grateful for now. “The trick is positioning, you gotta find the steel frame before you start jacking,” he told Mila. Teaching her to change her flat was probably better than keeping up small talk. “Otherwise you could bend the bottom of your door, the fiberglass. Or plastic nowadays, whatever.” Once the car was high enough, he reached for the tire iron to start taking off the lug nuts. That part he wasn’t sure she could do on her own, breaking them loose wasn’t usually easy. Kane flexed against the tire iron and grunted as he got the first couple loose enough unscrew by hand.
Mila would've squatted down beside Kane to watch more closely if she could have. Instead she walked a bit closer, placing one hand against the top of the car to lean against. The jack part seemed okay but the way he seemed to have trouble with the lug nuts told Mila she would have probably not been able to get them loose herself. "Steel frame... positioning," she repeated, using what he was teaching her as a means of distracting herself from the pain that radiated across the front of her stomach. It wasn't intolerable or anything and she didn't want to panic. "I'd probably... even have trouble using the tire thing to get those loose," she continued. "Definitely couldn't do it like you are...fuck..." Mila doubled over, one hand pressed against her stomach. The pain shifted directly to her back and Mila grit her teeth to try and muffle some of the groan that formed in her throat.
He’d been about to tell her that she could always jump on the tire iron to break a nut loose if she needed to -- a sentence that was technically correct but sounded ridiculously filthy in Kane’s head because he was flustered already -- but then Mila was bending over in obvious pain. He stared at her for a few quick heartbeats, the way she was clutching at her rounded stomach sending a wave of panic through him. That definitely didn’t look good. “Uh,” Kane said helpfully, turning to face her more but staying squatted down for the moment. “Shit, uh, you okay?” Was she going into labor? Kane didn’t know jack shit about pregnancy or birth or anything, but Mila didn’t look big enough for it to be time for that yet. What if she miscarried right there in the street? Fuck! That got Kane standing up, the tire forgotten, and he reached out a hand to help her but realized he didn’t know how to help, so it just sort of hovered a couple of inches away from her arm.
Mila had the same thought as Kane. Was she losing this baby too? Panic gripped her, icy cold and frightening. She had just felt the baby move not more than a few moments ago. For a terrifying moment, she lost herself, absolutely sure that she was somehow back in the tunnel and this was just some new form of torture. Was Kane even real? Mila closed her eyes tight and tried to breathe. If Aaron were there, he would talk to her until it passed, so she tried to imagine his voice. For a moment it helped until pain ripped through her abdomen again. Opening her eyes, Kane was still there, looking uncertain and worried. "Can you take me to Mercy?" she breathed, already pushing away from her car to head for his. If something bad was about to happen, she didn't want it happening on Witcham Road, right beside the woods that took her brother from her for so long.
He was desperately hoping that the cramp or whatever it was would pass and Mila would straighten right up and smile and say it was no problem ... but it definitely did seem like a problem. A problem that had fallen in his lap, because whatever asshole was in charge of everything had a really sick sense of humor. “Okay, yeah, of course,” he muttered, starting to walk with her back to his SUV. He glanced back at her car, the hazards still blinking, and wondered if her purse and everything was still in there. Probably. Fuck. “Here, just ... here.” Kane opened the passenger side door and helped Mila climb into the seat, his heart pounding hard. Once she was seated, he dashed back to Mila’s vehicle to grab her purse and keys out of it, then hurried back to his car. “What is it?” he asked breathlessly as he threw himself into the seat. “Should I, uh -- is there anybody you should call?” Kane was putting the SUV into gear to do a u-turn even as he asked, just barely managing not to say Adrian’s name out loud.
Mila settled in the seat, leaning her head back and breathing deep. The pain had dulled a bit but Mila wasn't taking any chances. She suddenly felt incredibly grateful that Kane had stopped. It would have been terrifying being out on the road alone, in the dark and without a phone. "Just some pain," Mila explained, because she didn't know what it was. "I... had a miscarriage last year... just want to be safe, you know?" Of course she wanted to call someone. Aaron. Adrian. But she didn't have her phone. Kane would have one, of course, but Aaron's number was the only one she actually had memorized. "My fiance, Aaron Lucas? He works at the Back Porch. He's there now, I think. If you can't reach him... my brother, Adrian, but... I don't know his number." She groaned again and pressed both hands against her stomach. Her vision got a little watery, but it wasn't from the pain of what was happening. It was fear, like she might fail again and lose her daughter. Aaron's daughter. Would they be able to handle it this time? Mila swallowed hard and tried to keep herself calm and focused. "Adrian... he works at the hospital. Maybe he's there."
It took all of Kane’s willpower not to tell his phone to dial Adrian right then and there -- but at the same time he wondered if resisting it was a mistake. He couldn’t explain how he already knew her brother and had his number without outing him, and he knew Adrian didn’t want to be outed. Kane didn’t even think he could plausibly pass them off as friends. But would Adrian even care if he knew his sister was being rushed to the hospital with pregnancy problems? What if it turned out to be nothing? Or what if it ended up stressing her out more and made the situation worse? Too many questions without answers flashed through Kane’s head, so he tried to latch on to the simpler and more obvious option -- the fiancé.
Speeding up Witcham Road now, Kane woke his phone up and used the voice commands to have it look up the number to the Back Porch. He told it to call, and after several rings someone picked up. “Back Porch, this’s Aaron,” a voice said over the car’s speakers through the Bluetooth connection.
As soon as Mila heard Aaron's voice she felt some of her internal panic subside. It took her a moment to realize she ought to be talking, because Kane Owen had no idea what was actually going on and it would probably scare Aaron more to hear some stranger talking about Mila going to the hospital. "Hey, it's me," she said, trying to make her voice sound light and breezy. "Don't freak out, but I'm going to Mercy. It's just some stomach pain but... I wanted to get it checked out." She wasn't going to explain about the flat tire right now. It was too much and she already sounded winded from what she had said. "Can you meet me there?" She should have told him not to worry, to stay at work and she would call him, but Mila didn't want to be alone and she knew it would upset Aaron not to be there, especially if it did turn out to be bad.
There was a pause on the other end of the line, the background din of the bar coming through the speakers. Kane knew of the Lucas family of course, and he’d been to the Porch a hundred times, but he could picture Aaron Lucas most clearly -- he’d seen him many times when he’d been stalking Adrian. And then again by accident at the carnival. Neither Aaron nor Mila knew him though, and they probably never would. An intense wave of surreality washed over him, a strange doubt that he even truly existed mingling with all of the other anxiety. Kane just tried to focus on driving, fast but safe.
“Of course, yeah, I’m on my way,” Aaron’s urgent voice came through the speakers again. The pause had only taken a few seconds, but everything felt weird and stretched. “I’ll meet you there. I love you, be careful driving, okay?”
"Oh, uh..." Mila grimaced again, but the pain didn't last as long this time and she exhaled slowly as it subsided. "I'm with someone... his name is Kane Owen? He's driving me there. So I'm okay. I'll see you there." Maybe she would see Adrian. If she didn't, it was a small town and a small hospital... word would get around to her brother if they had to admit her, which Mila was hoping wouldn't happen. "I love you," Mila added quickly, feeling as though something terrible would happen to Aaron if she didn't say so. "Be careful too. It's not an emergency. Just... be safe."
There was another pause, and Aaron asked “who?” with obvious confusion.
“Hey, uh ... I drive for Uber,” Kane cut in, hoping that would satisfy this already-concerned fiance. He felt like his neck and cheeks were on fire, like he had some neon dirty secret sign over his head, and the man on the other end of the phone couldn’t even see him. “We’re about six or seven minutes from Mercy now,” he added.
“Shit, I’m coming,” Aaron said quickly, and hung up the phone, much to Kane’s relief.
He glanced over at the woman in his passenger seat, full of the batshit insane impulse to just confess everything to her. But she definitely had more important shit to worry about at the moment, and Kane knew that was just his brain being stupid and crazy, so he literally bit his tongue and watched the road again. He tried to take deep breaths and not panic that Adrian’s sister might be miscarrying in his car, some irrational fear sounding the alarm that Adrian might blame him for it somehow. “You’re gonna be okay,” he murmured, cringing internally at how stupid that sounded. Like he had any fucking clue.
"I know." Mila sniffled, but managed a faint smile in Kane's direction. "I'm so sorry... you were just trying to help change a tire... just... think of this as a ride share. I'll pay you, I promise." She exhaled slow again and closed her eyes. She just wanted Aaron. She wanted him next to her, holding her hand. She wasn't bleeding and it wasn't excruciating. It was just cramps and sharpness and Mila wanted nothing more than the doctor to laugh and say Mila's just dealing with some severe indigestion and gas or something. She would gladly deal with that then the alternative.
“Naw, fuck that,” Kane said a bit too quickly. He glanced over at Mila. “Don’t worry about it, I mean. You don’t gotta do that.” He sure as hell wouldn’t feel right taking money from Adrian’s sister, he didn’t care how weird that might seem. She was a pregnant woman in distress, he wouldn’t have charged her anything even if he wasn’t fucking her brother. Fuck this was weird. “You said your uh, your brother ... works at the hospital?” he asked, not really sure if he should keep her talking or shut his mouth. “What’s he do there?”
Mila had a feeling he would decline her offer to pay, but she could worry about thanking him later, once everything was settled and okay. Some of the more severe pain had subsided, but she continued to rub her stomach with both hands, just to ease the lingering discomfort. His question about Adrian was actually a welcome distraction from all the horrible thoughts swimming through her head. "He's a nurse," she said. "I don't know if he's there or not..." But if he knew Mila was going to be there, she had no doubt Adrian would show up. "His schedule seems kind of... unpredictable. He'll probably lecture me about leaving my phone at home."
Gods, Kane hoped Adrian wasn’t working. He didn’t think that was the case, he knew he wasn’t on a real schedule yet -- how did Kane know more about it than the sister he lived with did? -- but it would be just his luck. Adrian would be there and there was no way in hell Kane could pretend not to know him. He told himself he had a convenient excuse of saying Adrian had stitched him up once, but Kane wasn’t positive he could actually act nonchalant about him when he was right there in front of his face. So he just crossed his mental fingers and answered Mila with a faint grunt. Leaving her phone at home definitely answered why she hadn’t called her fiancé or her brother for help to start with. “My sister’s a cop,” he said, making the effort to wrestle his thoughts away from Adrian. “She would definitely yell at me for not having a phone on me at all times. So I get it.” Kane chuckled faintly.
Unaware of Kane's internal drama, Mila wished he would talk more. Maybe hearing his voice would keep her calm, the way she was when Aaron spoke to her. "Your sister is a police officer?" She smiled a bit, finding it a little easier to do now without grimacing from discomfort. "Is that Deputy Jansen?" Jansen was the only female cop that Mila knew of in town, though she supposed Kane's sister could live out of state. They had different last names but Mila knew from just word of mouth that the woman had been married. The names were both vaguely familiar to her in the way all names were vaguely familiar in a town like Point Pleasant.
Kane got another spike of irrational panic when Mila knew Bailey’s name, like maybe they were friends who’d chatted all about their wayward brothers or some shit. He knew better logically -- for one, Bailey wasn’t a chatter, and definitely not about him -- but it was still kind of terrifying to think of them in the same room together. Kane shifted in his seat and cleared his throat. “Uh, yeah, that’s her,” he murmured. Thankfully they were getting close to Mercy now, so Kane wouldn’t have to make horrible small talk for much longer. “She’s the only woman on the force, I think.” As he said it, he realized that was probably how Mila knew her, and relaxed a tiny bit. “What are you having? Boy or girl?” he asked, glancing over at where her hands were still on her stomach.
Mila hadn't spoken to Jansen much, but she had seen her around and the woman seemed polite enough. While Mila didn't perceive Kane as dangerous at all, it still made her feel a little bit better that he had a sister... one who was a police officer, too. And with her brother being a nurse, they both had siblings who were civil servants. Sometimes those small bonding things helped make an awkward situation potentially more comfortable. "It's a girl," she said, breathing in deep again to keep from tensing. "We don't have a name yet or anything... I'm not due until October." Which was what made the pain more than a little alarming. "Do you have any kids?"
The perfectly reasonable question startled a laugh out of Kane. He quickly smothered it, but not fast enough to avoid sounding like an asshole. “No, I don’t,” he said, shaking his head a little. “And that’s a good thing, probably. Congratulations though, I’m sure, uh, it’ll be October before you know it.” And then Adrian would have a niece to help look after. Kane tried to picture Adrian holding a tiny baby girl and it felt like something short-circuited uncomfortably in his brain. He slowed the truck down to take the turn into Mercy’s parking lot. Mila seemed in less pain now, but that didn’t mean it wouldn’t come back, so he sped up to reach the front doors of the ER. “Hang on, I’ll give you a hand,” he muttered as he threw the SUV into park and pushed his door open. Kane hurried around the car to open Mila’s door and help her down out of the high vehicle.
Mila raised a brow, but didn't really have it in her to be offended by the way he laughed. She wasn't going to judge people who didn't want kids, or people who didn't even like them. She didn't know Kane at all, beyond tonight anyway. He may not be the paternal type at all. "Thanks," she murmured, once they were parked and he had her hand, helping her down from the SUV. Her body was aching and her back was stiff from all of her tensing. She could still feel the uncomfortable throb in her abdomen. Taking another deep breath, she started for the front doors, thankful that she could at least walk without a lot of pain. "I really, really appreciate this," she murmured to Kane. "You don't have to stay or anything. I just need to get checked in and then... Aaron should be here..." If he wasn't already, that was.
Until her feet were firmly on the ground, Kane had horrible visions of Mila falling onto the concrete and landing on her belly, but thankfully that was just his overactive imagination. He was reluctant to let go of her hand, and he started walking with her, leaving his doors wide open. Shouldn’t somebody be rushing out with a wheelchair or something? But Mila was walking under her own power and wasn’t even obviously pregnant from far away. “Okay, yeah, uh ... I’ll just ... make sure you get to the desk okay,” he muttered, feeling hover-y and weird, like he had to guard her until another man in her life was present.
Just as the ER doors swooshed open, a voice called “Mila!” behind them, and Aaron ran up from the parking lot. “Ohthankgod,” he exhaled all in a rush once he’d reached her. Aaron wrapped his arms around her shoulders, but gently, even though he wanted to squeeze her so so tight. Then he pulled back to look her over, like he might see an obvious injury. “Are you okay? What’s going on? Come on, let’s get you inside.”
Just as Mila turned towards Aaron's voice, his arms were around her and she felt herself relax significantly. At least mentally. She didn't know how to answer his questions because she didn't know if she was all right and she had no idea what was going on. But she agreed that they needed to go inside. Since she wasn't doubled over in pain at the moment, Mila put a hand on Aaron's arm and looked at Kane. "I'll be okay," she told him. With Aaron there, the poor guy really didn't have to stick around. She was sure he was feeling awkward already and she wanted to cut him loose so he didn't feel like he had to stay. "I honestly can't thank you enough for stopping to help me... if I see you again, please let me buy you a coffee... or something." The aches were starting again and she squeezed Aaron's arm, ready to go inside.
Kane had given them a bit of space, definitely not wanting to get in the way of a worried fiance. He’d stuffed his hands in his pockets and definitely felt awkward, but relieved that he didn’t have to hang around and wait for Aaron to show up. Aaron who was now looking at him like he hadn’t even realized he was there. Kane gave Mila a wan smile and lifted a hand to her. “No thanks necessary, don’t worry about it. Just feel better, okay?” he said as he started to take a few steps backward. Kane gave Aaron a nod and turned to hustle back to his car, eager to get the fuck out of there.
Putting a protective arm around Mila’s shoulders, Aaron stared at the other man for a second before he started with her through the sliding doors. “You didn’t have to call an Uber, I would’a come to get you,” he told her, sounding more worried than chiding. He’d dropped everything to rush to Mercy, he would’ve done the same to pick her up from wherever she’d been.
While she had more important things on her mind, Mila still felt like she ought to thank Kane somehow... later, when things were okay again. "I forgot my phone at home," she told Aaron, grimacing again and pressing a hand to her stomach. "I got a flat tire on Witcham... Kane... he was driving by and stopped to help. Pretty lucky." Her car was still out there too, which was inconvenient, but she would worry about that later. The ER wasn't too busy for once so it didn't take Mila very long to get checked in and whisked away to a room. While waiting for the doctor, Mila laid back on the hospital bed and exhaled, trying not to think about the other times she had been in Mercy. "It doesn't hurt as bad as it did earlier," she murmured to Aaron. "Maybe... I'm just overreacting."
Actually having good luck in Point Pleasant was weird, so it made Aaron a bit suspicious, but he couldn’t focus on that while they dealt with hospital staff and were moved into a room. In the middle of the whirlwind, he got a worried call from Adrian, but after briefly consulting with Mila, Aaron told him not to come yet, not until after they’d talked to the doctor. Being in a hospital room again made his stomach even more uneasy than it already was. Nobody loved being in the hospital, but the two of them had been through some particularly traumatic shit within Mercy’s walls, and Aaron reached for Mila’s hand to cling to once he was settled in a chair at her bedside. “No such thing as overreacting about that kind of thing,” he murmured back. Aaron bent over to kiss her fingers and rested his forehead against their hands, sending up a silent prayer that everything would be okay with Mila and their baby. “Better safe than sorry. But that’s good, that it’s easing up.”
Mila tightened her grip on Aaron's hand. She couldn't disappoint him again, not like this. She breathed in and out, trying to ignore the smells and sounds of the ER. The last thing any of them needed was for Mila to spiral again. Finally the doctor came in and she told him when the pain started and what it felt like. No vomiting. No blood. The doctor didn't seem overly worried, but Mila agreed quickly to an ultrasound. She wanted to be told the baby was alive and breathing and healthy more than anything else.
"Seems to be a bit early for Braxton Hicks," he explained as he pushed Mila's shirt up over her stomach. "But we definitely want to make sure it's not placenta previa."
Mila licked her lips and kept her hand in Aaron's, trying not to rush the doctor to get on with things. Since she couldn't see the screen, she kept her eyes on the doctor's face, looking for any sign of concern. His face was calm and unreadable. The jelly was cold on her skin, but then he was pushing the wand around and she almost instantly heard the quick thump of the heartbeat.
"The baby looks good. Healthy," he said finally, glancing over at Mila and Aaron. "Nothing to be too concerned about." He looked at the screen again and leaned in a bit, his brows furrowed together. "You said you're twenty weeks?" Mila nodded and he cocked a brow. "Are you sure? Based on the growth I'm seeing... I would say you're more like twenty six weeks..."
It was Mila's turn to look confused and she glanced at Aaron. "No, I don't think so..." That would be impossible, though she couldn't quite think back that far. She and Aaron had started being intimate again in January, so maybe it was possible, but... it still made no sense.
Aaron couldn’t even describe the relief he felt, hearing that tiny whump-whump of a heartbeat. He squeezed Mila’s hand as the doctor said their girl looked healthy, a grin taking over his face. It was short-lived because of what came next. He met Mila’s eyes with a furrowed brow, then looked back at the doctor and the ultrasound screen. Aaron was still pretty easily confused by all of the medical jargon stuff, and counting by weeks didn’t make a lot of sense to him, but he just trusted what the doctors always said. “That’s not what they’ve said before, right?” he asked Mila, though he was pretty sure it wasn’t. “Is that like, something to worry about?”
Mila shook her head at Aaron, but also looked back at the doctor for answers. "I was told my due date was October 12th, so..." There was the terrified thought that whatever lived in the tunnel had done this. She already knew her baby was different. Was this a part of that?
"I'm not sure yet," the doctor said before pushing a couple of buttons on the machine. Some ultrasound photos began to print and he took the wand away to clean off Mila's stomach. "I see no reason for the pain you were feeling, but if you're twenty six weeks as I suspect, then Braxton Hicks contractions are the likely culprit. But just to be safe, I would recommend staying in bed and resting for the next couple of days. I can't give you anything to take, but be sure to drink plenty of water and take Tylenol if you need pain relief. I'll send these along to your OB." He tore the photos from the machine. "She'll be in touch about your progress, but... based on the baby's measurements, you're absolutely in your sixth month."
Was it possible they were just having a really large baby? Aaron knew that was probably the dumbest question ever, so he managed not to ask it, but he couldn’t help but worry that things were abnormal. The doctor didn’t seem too concerned, at least, maybe just a bit annoyed that another doctor had gotten it so wrong ... six weeks’ difference was a lot during a pregnancy, wasn’t it? Just the phrase ‘sixth month’ made their daughter’s arrival seem so much closer than it had before. Aaron kept his mouth shut for the moment, feeling like he would need Mila to translate for him once they were alone again.
Mila felt as dumbstruck as Aaron. Six months. She knew her belly was a bit bigger than she thought it should be, but she just assumed it was all the crap she had been eating lately. Mila wanted to ask more questions, but she decided to wait until she talked to her own doctor, who knew her better and her history. The pain in her abdomen had dulled significantly and she told herself that she would rather have some confusion over her due date than any major health concerns. Laying in bed for the next two days didn't sound terrible, but she still worried. After the doctor left, Mila slipped off the bed to smooth her shirt down over her stomach. Did she tell Aaron what she knew about the baby? She didn't want to stress him out anymore than he likely already was. "I'm ready to go home," she murmured, stepping in to wrap her arms around him. "I'm sorry I worried you so much."
Aaron didn’t hesitate to hold her close, his head dipping down to smell her hair while he rubbed at her back. “No, don’t be sorry, you did the right thing,” he murmured, giving her upper body a gentle squeeze. Aaron kissed her head a few times, then pulled back enough to look at her. “You feel better though? Like, the pain’s gone?” His gaze was fretful as he looked at her face. The doctor had already said they couldn’t give her anything, but the idea of going home while Mila was still in the same kind of pain that had sent her to the ER in the first place was scary. “What’s uh ... what’s a Brax-thing? Whatever he said?” he added in a sheepish murmur.
"It's not completely gone, but it's more... uncomfortable than anything else," she murmured before pressing a kiss to his chin. "I really just want to go home and lay down." Ugh, she would have to get her car too. Maybe Aaron and Adrian could go out later and bring it back. Thankfully she had gotten stuck too far out of town. "But Braxton Hicks contractions are just... like, bad menstrual cramps. I read they're supposed to be preparing your body for labor but some women mistake them for labor contractions." Mila's pain felt much worse than what she had read about Braxton Hicks, but if the doctor hadn't seen anything concerning in terms of the baby's health, she wasn't going to worry too much about it. She just felt silly that she had a stranger bring her to the ER when it turned out to be nothing. But like Aaron said, better safe than sorry.
Part of Aaron wanted to stay at the hospital, demand the doctor look at her again, keep her somewhere safe with medical professionals until she actually had the baby, but that was crazy. He just knew he would be ready to jump back in the car to bring her back if she started having bad pain again. “Gotcha,” he murmured, keeping his arm around her shoulders as he turned them to walk toward the door. “Come on, let’s get you out of here. I’m gonna call Miles to tell him I’m not coming back tonight.” It occurred to him that he’d used Mila as an excuse to leave work when Caden had needed him, and Aaron had a brief awful worry that he’d caused this somehow, like he’d jinxed it and invited trouble. But that was silly, right?
Mila leaned her head against Aaron as they walked from the room to head home. She was still uncomfortable but climbing into bed might help. Knowing Aaron would be home certainly helped, because his presence had always calmed her down. "My car is still on Witcham," she told him. "The tire still needs changed too." She felt bad about that, like she was just creating more work and stress for Aaron. All because she forgot her stupid phone at home. Maybe they could just call a tow truck.
“Don’t worry about it, me and Adrian will take care of it,” Aaron assured her. Changing a tire and getting the car back home would be easy, he wasn’t too concerned about it. They might wait until Mila was sleeping, or at least resting comfortably, before they ran out to do it, but Aaron was sure Adrian would give him a hand. He seemed eager to do anything for Mila, just like Aaron was, and that was part of why he loved the guy like a blood brother. “If not, Caden owes me a favor,” he added with a chortle. Caden owed him a lot of favors at this point, in Aaron’s opinion, and yet another quick errand out to Witcham should be easy to talk him into. Aaron shrugged out of his jacket to put it around Mila’s shoulders as they walked outside and he led the way to his truck, eager to get her home and comfortable again.