“No, stay,” I urged, trying to grab his hand again.
He looked at Hugo for a beat longer than necessary before looking back at me and shaking his head.
“No, it’s better this way. I’ll see you in a minute.”
Once he was gone, the doctor stood at the foot of the bed and Hugo came to stand beside me. He lifted his hand as if he intended to grab mine and I held my breath, hoping he would. Something in my face must have shown him my reluctance because he brought it back down to his side, but close enough for me to grab it if I wanted to.
"Ms. Byrnes, I'm Doctor Klessner," said the man with a heavy German accent. "What you had was a breach of the placenta or what is called placenta praevia. It's a good thing that you were brought to the hospital immediately and that the efficient medical team had time to prevent it from worsening before causing any high risk to the fetus."
"So my baby is fine?" I asked, feeling a renewed twinge of fear at the health of my baby.
I almost reached for Hugo’s hand involuntarily, subconsciously seeking support he would not freely give me but I caught myself before touching him and balled my hand into a fist instead.
The doctor nodded, grabbing the chart at the bottom of my bed, and unclipped a brown envelope. “Yes, but you need to be very careful. You will have to be on strict bed rest for the next few weeks. I will keep monitoring you for the next two months and we will see where to go from there. You know what strict bed rest means, yes?"
I nodded. "Yes. I will do what you tell me to do, Doctor. I just want my baby to be safe."
The doctor looked at Hugo quickly before looking at me again, setting the envelope on the bed. "You will find everything you need to know in this booklet. The prenatal vitamins you need to take, the cervical exercises you need to do, along with my direct and private phone numbers and email address. I work at the European Institute of Antenatal Research and Care in Zurich, but I will be at your disposal should any questions or concerns arise."
"I…" I looked incredulously at the business card attached to the booklet. It stated Dr. Jonas Klessner - Head of the Antenatal Care Department.
"How—" I started again but shook my head. This had been Hugo’s doing. "Thank you," I told the doctor before turning to Hugo. "And thank you, too," I added sincerely. No matter all the horror that man did or said, I suspected there wouldn’t be a baby to worry about if he had not done that.
Dr. Klessner put the clipboard back at the end of the bed and straightened his white coat. "I will leave you to the care of the doctors here for the next couple of days. We will all keep a close watch on you for 48 hours and I don't expect any complications."
"When can I go home?"
"In two days, but you will need the constant presence and help of someone for at least six weeks. I will also expect a medical report every week from your local OBGYN."
I nodded, overwhelmed but also immensely grateful that the baby had survived.It's a St-John—they can survive anything, I thought with humor, knowing that Ethan would have laughed at the joke.
After the doctor was gone, I expected Hugo to leave as well, but he sat on the chair beside me. I grabbed the bottle of water on the rolling table by my bed and drank a few sips before looking down at my hands, twisting my fingers over and over again.
"Aren't you going to say anything?" he asked quietly, the obvious strain in his voice making me turn my head.
He had dark circles under his red bleary eyes and he looked exhausted.
"You look like hell."
He ran his hands over his face. "Always so charming," he replied with a small smile.
"What do you want me to say? Thank you for what you did? I don't think there is anything else to say."
"Say you'll move in with me," he declared, leaning forward.
“Into your overly sanitized, psycho white penthouse?” I couldn’t help but laugh, but it came out more like a strangled sob than anything else. "Right, that's probably the idea of the century."
"There is no need to laugh, Ava. It is the more practical and logical solution. You need constant care and I can get you the best care money can buy. I mean for you to move into my country estate, which is much more convenient for you, and we have enough room to get you a full-time live-in nurse."
He had a country estate? Of course, he did.
I shook my head. "If you really want to help, we can do that in my own flat." I didn’t want to give him any more control over my situation.
Hugo sighed and stood up. "I'm afraid this is not acceptable."
"And why not?" I crossed my arms on my chest.
"Because I want to take care of you. It is my right. It is my child too, after all."