just_muse_me | 15.1.4. Glenn Turner quote
15.1.4. “Worrying is like a rocking chair, it gives you something to do, but it gets you nowhere.” - Glenn Turner
Co-written with straight2point & pullmysteth
[Follows THIS and THIS]
Aiden was feeling nauseous himself by the time he arrived at the hospital. He had eaten his way through a huge pile of scrambled eggs, sausage and bacon right when Harri's call had come through. Pat had called him only minutes before to tell him about Riley and after they shared words which nearly led to an argument about Pat not calling him sooner, he had no real come-back when Pat simply told him he needed sleep after not getting back from New York until late the previous night. It was a simple fact that Aiden couldn't argue with, but still, Riley was practically his honourary nephew by the amount of time he had spent with him and he was stunned at the news. He hadn't had much time to process it after promising Pat he would be there as soon as he could when Harri put out a BFF Batcall. To make matters worse, she wouldn't tell him 1) why she was in Princeton, or 2) why she was in Princeton in hospital. At least, not over the phone. She had that edge to her tone like she was about to cry too and Aiden did the only thing he could do - shut the fuck up and promised to be there ASAP. A text message to Pat trying to explain what was going on was sent (even if it looked like Japanese because Aiden was typing too quick and sucked at text messages to start with).
And what the fuck was an "Ultrasound Suite" anyway? Was that like the honeymoon suite in a hotel? He was sweating profusely by the time he was pointed in the direction to the room Harri was in. He had run the whole way without stopping and after being yelled at by Security for accidentally parking in a disabled spot (ironic and stupid considering his fiance was disabled). He pushed open the door to the room, clutching at his side which was now pulsing with a stitch. "I... just... you..." He held up his hand, trying to catch his breath. "Talk," he told her, needing some sort of information as to why she was lying on an exam table in a gown in a darkened room.
Harri had been trying to work out something to do while waiting--and trying not to pee--and all she'd come up with was staring at the ceiling and cursing Marcus Fraser for not answering the phone, and for having such a gorgeous fucking addictive cock. She hated him right now. She almost cried in relief at seeing Aiden, but if she opened the floodgate for tears then she'd probably wind up wetting herself and that was bad for the ultrasound.
"I can't pee!" she screeched, as if that explained everything. "They gave me all these fucking IV fluids and I can't fucking pee, and do you know how much I want to fucking pee right now?!" She stared at him, waiting for him to tell her that he did know, but then she got impatient and waved a hand dismissively. "Fucking fuck! I'm here because they're checking for a fucking baby because my fucking bloody pillock doctor neglected to mention the fact that all that throwing up and having the shits during the flu rendered the Pill useless as a fucking five-inch cock, and so now I might be knocked up."
Aiden's mouth just dropped open and he gaped. Then he continued to gape some more. In silence. Probably infuriating silence. Or dangerous silence, because if he didn't speak, he probably risked grievous bodily harm. The only problem was he was totally and utterly speechless. Words. What were words? He just stood there in the doorway and gaped like a deer caught in very large headlights.
"Don't just fucking stand there!" Harri practically growled the words. Maybe he didn't risk grievous bodily harm just yet, but it would come close. "Aiden, please, I need you!"
Aiden took an uncoordinated step into the room and put his hand over his mouth. "You aren't joking," he gasped, blinking again. "You really aren't..."
"No, I'm not," Harri replied, her bottom lip stuck out in a pout. She was switching between angry, petulant and scared pretty regularly. The shock was wearing off, apparently. "I can't do this alone. I can't... I don't--what the fuck would I do with a kid?"
"I don't know! I'm gay and don't have a uterus!" Aiden cried, his own shock only just setting in. What was this? International Day Of Fuck Everything Up At Once? He moved over to her side and grabbed her hand, his own shaking by this point. "Are you sure? You're sure it's not like... like... a hernia or something?"
"No! I'm not not fucking sure. The doctor isn't either, which is why we're here. Although if you asked Riley to put some fucking money on it, I'm pretty sure he would be betting on pregnancy." She held onto his hand tightly and tried to work out if it was safe to cry, but her side was aching from trying to keep a full bladder. If anyone made her laugh, or scream, she was doomed. "If it's a hernia I am going to get so fucking drunk after this."
Aiden put his hand over his forehead. "Oh god, it's his, isn't it? It's his. If it's his, why the hell isn't he here?!" he demanded. "I'll kick his arse. He'll have no nuts to fertilise anyone by the time I'm done with him."
Harri looked at Aiden. "Who else is going to get close enough to me to fucking get their sperm inside? I don't cheat. I couldn't get him on his phone. Fucker had it switched off, or something. I just thought it was the flu again! Fuck." She shifted restlessly and winced when it increased the pressure on her bladder. "I need to fucking pee! And you can't hurt him, not until we know for sure."
Aiden snapped his mouth shut but he couldn't stifle the growl that followed. He indulged in a moment to fume before he put his hand up and scratched his fingers through his hair, causing it to stick up in all directions. "Harri, this is... what are you going to do?" he asked.
She looked away, her lips pressed together in a tight line as she focused on the ceiling. "I don't know," she admitted. "I don't fucking know."
Aiden swallowed. He had no idea how to deal with this. It was the last thing he expected her to tell him. He never thought she would be in a situation like this, so he hadn't really prepapred himself for that. He wet his lips and drew in a slow breath. "Well, what did Riley say? Did you talk to him about it?" he asked. "Where is he? Is he coming back?"
She nodded. "He's coming back. He better, or I'll find him and rip his fucking head off. He hasn't really said anything. All this is to see if there's a blob inside me. There would have been blood and urine tests, but this is more concrete. He said there's still... options. It's still early."
"If you're going to get pissed off, take it out on me, not Riley. He just wants to help you. I didn't even have to ask twice when I asked him to see you," Aiden told her. His grip on her hand was probably too tight, but he was scared for her. How couldn't he believe that Harri's new boyfriend with the exclusive brand new life as a Secret Service Agent was going to put anything aside for the sake of an unwanted kid? Or for her. "D-Do you need anything?"
She pushed the fingers of her free hand through her blonde locks and let out a heavy sigh. "I know, I'm just... I'm scared, Aiden. I don't know what I'm supposed to do! I never even... a fucking kid!" She looked at him, a smile tugging ever so slightly at the corners of her mouth. "You mean besides the ability to pee?"
"You know I'd do that for you if I could," Aiden murmured, looking around the room. "I'd take over and have the kid for you too, if I could..."
Riley knocked softly before enterting the room again. When he spotted Aiden there with Harri, he smiled, relieved that she had called someone to her side. A lot of women wouldn't do that. They would try to live in denial and force through it themselves, running into even worse emotional problems down the track because they had no support. He was pulling more gloves on again, checking them to make sure they weren't split or anything. He hadn't been lying when he said he was probably safer than most other doctors these days. "We'll be quick, okay?" he promised and then gestured to a door across the room. "Bathroom's right in there for when we're done."
"Oh, thank fuck," Harri said as she looked at the bathroom. "Have you got any idea how much it fucking hurts hanging on to this much fluid?" Then she glanced at Aiden, and tugged him a little closer. "I know you would do both of those things if you could, love. That's why you're my best friend. Let's just see if there is a kid first."
Aiden fell silent but he inevitably met Riley's eyes for a moment. Riley's face wasn't revealing anything, so Aiden fell into a silent mantra in his head of hoping Harri wasn't pregnant.
Riley sat down on the stool and turned the screen towards him. He pointed to a second one up above Harri's head. "You can see everything up there that I can here," he explained, pushing some buttons and typing Harri's name in on the screen for the printouts. "Do you want to just pull your gown up for me there, just up to your belly button is fine." He took the sonogram wand and squirted some of the jelly onto it. "This will be cold and it's going to be uncomfortable when I'm pushing around a little. I'll be as quick as I can."
Harri eyed him warily, probably debating whether or not she wanted to argue about just how uncomfortable it would be with a full bladder. She pulled her gown up, trying to do it with one hand so she didn't have to let go of Aiden's. Her eyes went to the screen as she sucked in a breath and braced her feet in preparation for the coldness. The moment the wand touched her stomach she whimpered and felt like kicking out, but Riley didn't deserve a black eye for doing his job. That's what she had to keep telling herself.
Riley glanced at her briefly. "And I do know how it feels. I've been in a similar position to you, sans a uterus of course. It's horrible and one of the worse forms of discomfort you can feel not being able to pee when you want to." He narrowed his eyes just a little as he concentrated on the screen. This early, it might be difficult to find, but he had a clear picture. He shifted the wand a little to the left, holding his still and freezing the frame. He marked a small black dot on the screen about the size of a match head. "That's it, Harri," he told her quietly. "You're very much pregnant."
"What were they checking you for?" she asked, trying to keep her mind off how much her bladder was about to explode. Then the image froze and Harri squinted to try and focus on the little black dot. "I--huh?"
"Clotting. I had an accident when I was sixteen. It was just routine." Riley captured the image on the screen and then hooked the wand back into it's place. He stood up and pointed the prominent black spot nestled in it's surrounding blotchy white. "I know psychologically you were probably expecting to see a baby on the screen, but it's far too early for that. It's just a gestational sac of cells right now. About the size of a grain of rice, if that. But I can assure you, that little spot does tell me you're pregnant. The blood results will be back soon to confirm it, but if you weren't, all I would see was a lot of that white area."
Aiden definitely was expecting to see a baby on the screen, just like in the movies. He tilted his head a little to look at the spot Riley had marked on the screen. It really was just a black dot. Somehow, it didn't seem so bad seeing it like that, but that was only because he was having difficulty linking the spot on the screen to a kid inside Harri. "This grows into something like RJ?" he asked in disbelief. He had never been this linked to anyone pregnant before. It was throwing him off balance. Even worse, it was Harri.
Riley nodded. "Eventually... in about eight months or so. If you choose it to," he had to add quietly.
"I have a gestational sac of cells," was all she could manage to say. Harri stayed there, still staring at the screen. That little black dot was apparently her and Marc's kid. She was still trying to wrap her head around it, and barely heard Riley's comment. She had no idea what she was supposed to do, and she assumed that it was a decision she shouldn't make without Marc at least knowing about the rice grain inside her.
All muses referenced with permission and are from the princeton2nyc universe
Word Count | 2,274
Co-written with straight2point & pullmysteth
[Follows THIS and THIS]
Aiden was feeling nauseous himself by the time he arrived at the hospital. He had eaten his way through a huge pile of scrambled eggs, sausage and bacon right when Harri's call had come through. Pat had called him only minutes before to tell him about Riley and after they shared words which nearly led to an argument about Pat not calling him sooner, he had no real come-back when Pat simply told him he needed sleep after not getting back from New York until late the previous night. It was a simple fact that Aiden couldn't argue with, but still, Riley was practically his honourary nephew by the amount of time he had spent with him and he was stunned at the news. He hadn't had much time to process it after promising Pat he would be there as soon as he could when Harri put out a BFF Batcall. To make matters worse, she wouldn't tell him 1) why she was in Princeton, or 2) why she was in Princeton in hospital. At least, not over the phone. She had that edge to her tone like she was about to cry too and Aiden did the only thing he could do - shut the fuck up and promised to be there ASAP. A text message to Pat trying to explain what was going on was sent (even if it looked like Japanese because Aiden was typing too quick and sucked at text messages to start with).
And what the fuck was an "Ultrasound Suite" anyway? Was that like the honeymoon suite in a hotel? He was sweating profusely by the time he was pointed in the direction to the room Harri was in. He had run the whole way without stopping and after being yelled at by Security for accidentally parking in a disabled spot (ironic and stupid considering his fiance was disabled). He pushed open the door to the room, clutching at his side which was now pulsing with a stitch. "I... just... you..." He held up his hand, trying to catch his breath. "Talk," he told her, needing some sort of information as to why she was lying on an exam table in a gown in a darkened room.
Harri had been trying to work out something to do while waiting--and trying not to pee--and all she'd come up with was staring at the ceiling and cursing Marcus Fraser for not answering the phone, and for having such a gorgeous fucking addictive cock. She hated him right now. She almost cried in relief at seeing Aiden, but if she opened the floodgate for tears then she'd probably wind up wetting herself and that was bad for the ultrasound.
"I can't pee!" she screeched, as if that explained everything. "They gave me all these fucking IV fluids and I can't fucking pee, and do you know how much I want to fucking pee right now?!" She stared at him, waiting for him to tell her that he did know, but then she got impatient and waved a hand dismissively. "Fucking fuck! I'm here because they're checking for a fucking baby because my fucking bloody pillock doctor neglected to mention the fact that all that throwing up and having the shits during the flu rendered the Pill useless as a fucking five-inch cock, and so now I might be knocked up."
Aiden's mouth just dropped open and he gaped. Then he continued to gape some more. In silence. Probably infuriating silence. Or dangerous silence, because if he didn't speak, he probably risked grievous bodily harm. The only problem was he was totally and utterly speechless. Words. What were words? He just stood there in the doorway and gaped like a deer caught in very large headlights.
"Don't just fucking stand there!" Harri practically growled the words. Maybe he didn't risk grievous bodily harm just yet, but it would come close. "Aiden, please, I need you!"
Aiden took an uncoordinated step into the room and put his hand over his mouth. "You aren't joking," he gasped, blinking again. "You really aren't..."
"No, I'm not," Harri replied, her bottom lip stuck out in a pout. She was switching between angry, petulant and scared pretty regularly. The shock was wearing off, apparently. "I can't do this alone. I can't... I don't--what the fuck would I do with a kid?"
"I don't know! I'm gay and don't have a uterus!" Aiden cried, his own shock only just setting in. What was this? International Day Of Fuck Everything Up At Once? He moved over to her side and grabbed her hand, his own shaking by this point. "Are you sure? You're sure it's not like... like... a hernia or something?"
"No! I'm not not fucking sure. The doctor isn't either, which is why we're here. Although if you asked Riley to put some fucking money on it, I'm pretty sure he would be betting on pregnancy." She held onto his hand tightly and tried to work out if it was safe to cry, but her side was aching from trying to keep a full bladder. If anyone made her laugh, or scream, she was doomed. "If it's a hernia I am going to get so fucking drunk after this."
Aiden put his hand over his forehead. "Oh god, it's his, isn't it? It's his. If it's his, why the hell isn't he here?!" he demanded. "I'll kick his arse. He'll have no nuts to fertilise anyone by the time I'm done with him."
Harri looked at Aiden. "Who else is going to get close enough to me to fucking get their sperm inside? I don't cheat. I couldn't get him on his phone. Fucker had it switched off, or something. I just thought it was the flu again! Fuck." She shifted restlessly and winced when it increased the pressure on her bladder. "I need to fucking pee! And you can't hurt him, not until we know for sure."
Aiden snapped his mouth shut but he couldn't stifle the growl that followed. He indulged in a moment to fume before he put his hand up and scratched his fingers through his hair, causing it to stick up in all directions. "Harri, this is... what are you going to do?" he asked.
She looked away, her lips pressed together in a tight line as she focused on the ceiling. "I don't know," she admitted. "I don't fucking know."
Aiden swallowed. He had no idea how to deal with this. It was the last thing he expected her to tell him. He never thought she would be in a situation like this, so he hadn't really prepapred himself for that. He wet his lips and drew in a slow breath. "Well, what did Riley say? Did you talk to him about it?" he asked. "Where is he? Is he coming back?"
She nodded. "He's coming back. He better, or I'll find him and rip his fucking head off. He hasn't really said anything. All this is to see if there's a blob inside me. There would have been blood and urine tests, but this is more concrete. He said there's still... options. It's still early."
"If you're going to get pissed off, take it out on me, not Riley. He just wants to help you. I didn't even have to ask twice when I asked him to see you," Aiden told her. His grip on her hand was probably too tight, but he was scared for her. How couldn't he believe that Harri's new boyfriend with the exclusive brand new life as a Secret Service Agent was going to put anything aside for the sake of an unwanted kid? Or for her. "D-Do you need anything?"
She pushed the fingers of her free hand through her blonde locks and let out a heavy sigh. "I know, I'm just... I'm scared, Aiden. I don't know what I'm supposed to do! I never even... a fucking kid!" She looked at him, a smile tugging ever so slightly at the corners of her mouth. "You mean besides the ability to pee?"
"You know I'd do that for you if I could," Aiden murmured, looking around the room. "I'd take over and have the kid for you too, if I could..."
Riley knocked softly before enterting the room again. When he spotted Aiden there with Harri, he smiled, relieved that she had called someone to her side. A lot of women wouldn't do that. They would try to live in denial and force through it themselves, running into even worse emotional problems down the track because they had no support. He was pulling more gloves on again, checking them to make sure they weren't split or anything. He hadn't been lying when he said he was probably safer than most other doctors these days. "We'll be quick, okay?" he promised and then gestured to a door across the room. "Bathroom's right in there for when we're done."
"Oh, thank fuck," Harri said as she looked at the bathroom. "Have you got any idea how much it fucking hurts hanging on to this much fluid?" Then she glanced at Aiden, and tugged him a little closer. "I know you would do both of those things if you could, love. That's why you're my best friend. Let's just see if there is a kid first."
Aiden fell silent but he inevitably met Riley's eyes for a moment. Riley's face wasn't revealing anything, so Aiden fell into a silent mantra in his head of hoping Harri wasn't pregnant.
Riley sat down on the stool and turned the screen towards him. He pointed to a second one up above Harri's head. "You can see everything up there that I can here," he explained, pushing some buttons and typing Harri's name in on the screen for the printouts. "Do you want to just pull your gown up for me there, just up to your belly button is fine." He took the sonogram wand and squirted some of the jelly onto it. "This will be cold and it's going to be uncomfortable when I'm pushing around a little. I'll be as quick as I can."
Harri eyed him warily, probably debating whether or not she wanted to argue about just how uncomfortable it would be with a full bladder. She pulled her gown up, trying to do it with one hand so she didn't have to let go of Aiden's. Her eyes went to the screen as she sucked in a breath and braced her feet in preparation for the coldness. The moment the wand touched her stomach she whimpered and felt like kicking out, but Riley didn't deserve a black eye for doing his job. That's what she had to keep telling herself.
Riley glanced at her briefly. "And I do know how it feels. I've been in a similar position to you, sans a uterus of course. It's horrible and one of the worse forms of discomfort you can feel not being able to pee when you want to." He narrowed his eyes just a little as he concentrated on the screen. This early, it might be difficult to find, but he had a clear picture. He shifted the wand a little to the left, holding his still and freezing the frame. He marked a small black dot on the screen about the size of a match head. "That's it, Harri," he told her quietly. "You're very much pregnant."
"What were they checking you for?" she asked, trying to keep her mind off how much her bladder was about to explode. Then the image froze and Harri squinted to try and focus on the little black dot. "I--huh?"
"Clotting. I had an accident when I was sixteen. It was just routine." Riley captured the image on the screen and then hooked the wand back into it's place. He stood up and pointed the prominent black spot nestled in it's surrounding blotchy white. "I know psychologically you were probably expecting to see a baby on the screen, but it's far too early for that. It's just a gestational sac of cells right now. About the size of a grain of rice, if that. But I can assure you, that little spot does tell me you're pregnant. The blood results will be back soon to confirm it, but if you weren't, all I would see was a lot of that white area."
Aiden definitely was expecting to see a baby on the screen, just like in the movies. He tilted his head a little to look at the spot Riley had marked on the screen. It really was just a black dot. Somehow, it didn't seem so bad seeing it like that, but that was only because he was having difficulty linking the spot on the screen to a kid inside Harri. "This grows into something like RJ?" he asked in disbelief. He had never been this linked to anyone pregnant before. It was throwing him off balance. Even worse, it was Harri.
Riley nodded. "Eventually... in about eight months or so. If you choose it to," he had to add quietly.
"I have a gestational sac of cells," was all she could manage to say. Harri stayed there, still staring at the screen. That little black dot was apparently her and Marc's kid. She was still trying to wrap her head around it, and barely heard Riley's comment. She had no idea what she was supposed to do, and she assumed that it was a decision she shouldn't make without Marc at least knowing about the rice grain inside her.
All muses referenced with permission and are from the princeton2nyc universe
Word Count | 2,274