Changes Ch 7
“Hey,” Toby said, gently touching CJ’s face.
“It’s time to get up.”
“Umm.” She turned sleepily towards him.
“It’s time to get up.” He repeated, as he moved her
hair away from her forehead and kissed her. “You have
a doctor’s appointment at ten remember.”
“Yeah,” CJ said sleepily. “What time is it now?”
“Eight.”
“I should get up, then.” She said sitting up and
noticing him for the first time. “Hey, how long have
you been up? You’re already dressed!”
“I thought you would be a little hard to get up
today. So, I decided to go ahead and get dressed.”
“Okay, I’m getting up now.” CJ got up and headed for
the bathroom.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
“You can change the radio to anything you want to.”
Toby said as they got into the car.
“You’re sure?” She asked.
“Yeah.”
“Okay.” She said as she changed the radio station.
It took a few minutes for Toby to notice what she had
done.
“What the hell is that?!”
“You said you didn’t mind if changed the radio
station.”
“Yes, something that has understandable words would
have been nice.”
“This has understandable words.”
“No, it doesn’t. You realize that you are exposing
our unborn daughter to this?”
“Yes.”
“They recommend playing classical music to a baby.”
“Yes, I know that.”
“Then why aren’t you doing that?”
“Because I don’t want to listen to classical right
now.”
“I see.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
“Claudia, Toby.” Dr. Santos said as she came into
her office after examining CJ. Dr. Santos sat down at
her desk before speaking. “I’m afraid that I need to
talk to both of you.” Dr. Santos said.
“Okay, what’s going on?” CJ asked.
“Claudia, I discovered something during your last
examination. You have developed an irregular
heartbeat. I’m going to have my office set up an
appointment with a cardiologist for as soon as
possible.” As Dr. Santos was speaking, Toby reached
over and took CJ’s hand.
“What exactly does this mean Doctor?” CJ asked.
“Well, because of the pregnancy your heart has
started beating irregularly. The cardiologist and I
will be working very closely to monitor you through
the rest of the pregnancy. I’ll be honest with you,
we have caught this very early which is good. You may
have to take a leave of absence from work though.”
“I see.” CJ said.
“The cardiologist will be able to go into more depth
with you tomorrow.”
“Dr. Santos, how is the baby?”
“She’s still fine.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Toby and CJ barely spoke after they left the doctor’s
office. She did say something when she noticed he was
driving home instead of to the White House.
“Toby, you’re driving home.”
“I know. You need rest, and we need time to absorb
all of this. I’ll call Leo when we get there.”
“Okay.” They didn’t speak again until they were
home. But, Toby held CJ’s hand tightly in his.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
“I’m going to lie down for awhile.” CJ said when
they reached the apartment.
“I’ll call Leo.” Toby said as he picked up the phone.
“Yeah, Margaret does Leo have a minute. He’s in with
Fitzwallace. Could you please interrupt him it’s very
important. Thanks.”
“Yeah, Toby.” Leo said when he came on the line.
“I’m afraid CJ and I are going to need the rest of
the day off.”
“What’s wrong?”
“They found some complications.”
“With the baby?”
“No, with CJ.”
“Oh, dear God! What?”
“She’s developed an irregular heartbeat. She has an
appointment with a cardiologist in two days. We’ll
know more then.”
“Okay, don’t worry about today. And if you need
tomorrow, don’t worry about it either.”
“Thanks Leo.”
“Listen, she’s going to be fine.”
“God, I hope so.”
When Toby walked into the bedroom, he found CJ
asleep. He laid down beside her and held her. He
knew he was going to have to hide a lot of what he was
feeling from her. He was going to have to be the one
to hold things together for her. Truth be told, he
was scared as hell of losing her. But, he knew he
couldn’t let her see that. As he was holding her, he
felt the baby kick against his hand. He sighed and
moved closer to CJ.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
“Toby.” CJ called softly, as she woke up a couple of
hours later.
I’m here.” He said, getting up from the chair he was
sitting in, and walking to the bed.
“You called Leo?”
“Yeah. He said not to worry about coming to work
today, and if we needed tomorrow not to worry about it
now.”
“I guess that I didn’t dream it then.” She said to
herself.
Toby sat down on the bed beside her. “No, I’m afraid
you didn’t dream it.” He said as he took her hand in
his.
“I was hoping I had.”
“I know.” He said as he stroked her hair.
“Do you mind to leave me alone for a little bit?”
“No.” He kissed her lightly on the lips and left the
room.
After he left, CJ let the tears she had been
fighting, since she had woke up, fall. It wasn’t that
she didn’t want Toby to see her cry. It was just that
she needed to be alone for a few minutes to be able to
face everything. What she didn’t know was that he was
standing in the hallway where he could keep an eye on
her. When he saw her bury her face in her hands and
begin to cry harder, he went back into the bedroom.
He sat down on the bed and took her into his arms.
“I’m okay now.” CJ whispered after a few minutes.
Toby looked into her eyes, and wiped the remaining
tears from her face. “Are you sure?”
“Yeah.”
“Okay. Do you want me to leave again?”
“No.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Toby woke up at about two o’clock and realized CJ was
not in the bed. He walked through the apartment, and
saw that the doors to the balcony were open. He found
her sitting in the lounge chair.
“I didn’t wake you, did I?” She asked when she heard
him come out.
“No.” He replied, as he sat down on the chair behind
her.
“I couldn’t sleep.”
“I noticed.”
“I guess it’s because I slept all afternoon.”
“Yeah. Don’t you think it’s a little cool out here?”
“No, I’m fine.”
“Okay.”
“I’m scared.” CJ whispered a few minutes later.
“I know you are.”
“Are you?”
“Yes.”
“I don’t know what to do.”
“There’s nothing we can do. We’ll see what the
cardiologist tells us, and go from there.”
“Okay.”
“I’m going to phone Leo and tell him we won’t be in
to work tomorrow either.”
“No you’re not.”
“CJ, I think you should stay home. And since I’m not
willing to leave you here alone...”
“If I go to work, it will keep my mind off all of
this.”
“You’re not going to back down on this?”
“No, I’m not.”
“Okay, on one condition.”
“Which would be?”
“You come inside now, and go back to sleep.”
“I’ll try to sleep.”
to be continued...