A Bump in the Road - Morgan Rielly
Request: 44. You need to see a doctor.” Morgan Rielly
I winced as I got off the sofa, I had been feeling off for a couple of days now but I just chalked it up to my period and the cramps being extra bad this month. It didn’t help that Mo was out of town on a super long road trip and that always put me in a funk. But he was coming home today and I was ready to spend some time with him. I was picking Morgan up from the airport so I threw on some leggings and one of Morgan’s old sweatshirts.
Getting into the car, I tried to push off the discomfort and focused on the road ahead of me. I managed to pull into the parking lot of the airport just as Morgan texted that they landed. Heading inside the small, private terminal they would be coming through I found a couple of the other girls waiting. Alannah waved me over, smiling as I sat down next to her. “Are you okay Samantha? You look a little pale.”
“Yeah.” Alannah looked like she was going to push more but the guys showed up then. I was slow to get out of the seat so Alannah said something to Morgan before going to Zach. I had just stood up by the time Morgan got to me. “I missed you.”
“I missed you too. Alannah said you don’t feel good.”
“I’m fine, it’s just cramps from my period.” Morgan grabbed his bag as we headed out to the car, I didn’t even argue with him when he motioned for the car keys.
“You’re period isn’t for another 4 days and you only start cramping the day before. You look really pale.” I got into the passenger seat and winced as I twisted to get my seatbelt on. Morgan looked super concerned, reaching over to feel my forehead. “And you feel warm. How long have you been feeling like this?”
“A day or two. I probably just ate something bad.”
“You need to see a doctor Sam.” I really wanted to roll my eyes at him but I also knew he was just worried about me.
“I’ll get an appointment for tomorrow.” That seemed to make Morgan happy because he didn’t bring it up on the way home, letting me call to make an appointment before we cuddled on the sofa. As we caught up on tv I started to feel worse, trying to hide it from Morgan so he wouldn’t worry. That all went out the window when I stood up to get a drink and I literally swayed before falling back onto the sofa.
“That’s it, we are going to the ER now.”
“Mo…”
“No, you just almost fainted. You need to see a doctor. Right now.” His face was as serious as I had ever seen, even when he was on the ice in a tight playoff game. “You are going to sit here while I go get pants for both of us and your purse. Then we are getting in my car and I am driving us to the hospital.” I just nodded, wincing as I moved on the sofa. Morgan left the room quickly, I could hear him down in the bedroom. He came rushing back, pulling on a sweatshirt and carrying sweatpants for me. “Do you need help getting these on while I grab your bag?”
I just shook my head, slowly pulling on my sweatpants. I barely had both legs in the sweatpants by the time Morgan returned, carefully helping me stand up and pulling the sweatpants up before looking me in the eyes. “I have your purse with your wallet, your water bottle, some snacks, an ipad, and some headphones.” I nodded and before I could say anything Morgan picked me up and moved towards the door. He hurried us out of the apartment and down to the car, buckling me in before hurrying around to the driver's seat. I closed my eyes as Morgan started to drive, even with my eyes closed I knew he was speeding as much as he could in a big city with so many traffic lights.
Before I knew it Morgan was stopping and getting out of the car, my eyes opened to see him hurrying across the front of the car with the backpack before helping me out of the car. He had actually parked the car and was now carrying me through the parking garage to the emergency department entrance. A nurse spotted us as soon as we entered, bringing a wheelchair over for me. As much as I didn't want to admit it, the pain was much worse now and I was so out of it that Morgan had to do all the talking to get me checked in. Once that was all done we were moved back to a room and Morgan lifted me onto the bed.
The next few minutes were a flurry of activity, a nurse getting me on an iv as a doctor came in and started to ask questions. They must have given me something for the pain because I was finally about to focus on what the doctor was saying. "Your boyfriend said that you have been having bad stomach pain for a few days now?"
"Yeah, at first I thought it was just cramping but it is much more painful than any cramp I have ever had."
"I'm going to run some tests and we will figure this out." He spoke to the nurse before leaving the room with a nod. Once the nurse was also done I turned to look at Morgan who looked terrified.
"I'm going to text Kyle and Sheldon to let them know I probably won't be at practice tomorrow." I wanted to argue but the concerned look that covered Morgan’s face was enough to stop me before I spoke up, just nodding and watching him type out a text. When that was done he put his phone away and grabbed my hand. “How are you feeling?”
“Like there is a knife in my stomach, but besides that I’m fine. How was your road trip?” Morgan raised an eyebrow, making me laugh. “It will distract me until the doctor comes back.”
“Fine.” With that Morgan launched into a story of the shenanigans that he and his teammates got into during their trip. As Morgan was telling me about Mitch hiding Auston’s gear before a practice. The story made me laugh which caused pain that I was trying to hide from Morgan. "I'm hurting you by making you laugh. Is there anything I can do to make you more comfortable?"
“No, I think it’s just something I have to deal with until the doctor figures it out.” Morgan held onto my hand as we waited, telling me more about the road trip until the doctor came into the room around 30 minutes later.
“Ms. Kennedy, we got the results of your test back. Your appendix is about to burst. We need to get you into surgery right away. The complications if we wait too long are severe so time is of the essence. Our plan is to do it laparoscopically, that might change once we are in there. The surgery should last about an hour as long as everything goes to plan. Do you have any questions?”
“What is the recovery time?”
“You will probably have to stay in the hospital for a day or two, maybe 3 if there are any complications. You should be back to regular daily activities in 2 to 4 weeks, nothing too strenuous for the first week or so. Anything else?” We both say no, the doctor shaking both of our hands before moving towards the door. “Someone will be in shortly to prep you for surgery.”
Once he was gone I looked over at Morgan who was frozen. “Mo, it’s going to be fine.”
“It’s still surgery Samantha! Surgery always has a chance of something bad happening.”
“Wow, did you really just full first name me? I will be fine, and two days from now I will be watching you play hockey from the comfort of our bed while you kick ass on the ice. I’m gonna text my family quickly before I go back for surgery but I am going to need you to keep them up to date with what’s going on. I know they are going to want to fly out but hopefully I can convince them not to come.”
“Good luck with that.”
Morgan’s POV
I watched as Sam texted her family before the nurse came in to take her back for surgery. “I’ll see you once soon. I love you so much.”
“I love you too Mo.” I kissed her forehead and then her lips before they wheeled her bed away. Another nurse showed me to a waiting room where I would be out of the way and they would know where to find me. I was texting an update to Samantha’s family when someone bumped into my legs. It annoyed me when they just stood there then, not apologizing. I looked up and saw Fred and Auston standing there with coffee and a bag of food.
“What are you guys doing here?”
“Sam texted us and said you might need some company. So we brought coffee and snacks." They sit on either side of me, handing me a coffee before pulling out some sandwiches. “How long is the surgery supposed to take?”
“Hopefully an hour. Thank you guys for coming.”
“Of course, Sam’s family too.” Freddie says handing me a sandwich. Auston and Fred kept me distracted for the whole time as we waited for the doctor to come out. I started to get antsy when the hour mark passed. As we got closer to two hours I was pacing the waiting room. “Mo, sit down. I’m sure they will be out soon with news.” Freddie had to pull me back into my seat to stop me from pacing. Instead of pacing my leg was bouncing and Auston laughed at me.
“Sometimes surgery takes a while, if something went wrong I’m sure that someone would come out and update you.” I really wanted to believe my teammates, but I was still worried. Finally Samantha”s doctor came out and as soon as I spotted him I was up, out of my seat and moving towards him.
“Did something go wrong?”
“No, things were a little worse than we expected so we weren’t able to do it laparoscopically. Besides that everything went perfect. She is in a recovery room now. I don’t think the change in procedure will extend her time she needs to stay here, it could take her a little longer to get back to 100 percent.”
“Okay.”
“A nurse can take you to her whenever you are ready, but unfortunately only one visitor can see her.” I thank him, shaking his hand before going to tell my friends what was going on.
“We’ll try to stop by tomorrow after practice if Sam is up to it.” I bid them goodbye before following the nurse back to where Sam was. Walking into the room, I wiped my sweaty hands on my sweatpants before going into the room. Sam was laying in the slightly inclined bed with her eyes closed, so I tried to be quiet as I pulled a chair up to her bed. Just as I was sitting down Sam looked at me smiling.
“Hi.”
“Hi, how are you feeling?” That caused me to laugh, of course she was asking me how I was.
“Aren’t I supposed to ask you that, since you are the one who just came out of surgery?” That got a smile out of her as she reached for my hand.
“I’m fine but I am also pretty sure that I have pain meds in me right now.” Sam stroked my cheek and smiled at me. “You worry about me, and the nurse mentioned that the surgery ran long so I know that you worried even more.”
“Well, Fred and Auston didn’t have to tie me down to the chair.”
“That’s good.” We talked for a bit before a nurse came in to check on Sam. When he left Sam turned to me. “Why don’t you sleep at home?”
“I’m sure they will be okay if I stay here with you overnight.”
“It’s not going to be comfortable for you. Please go home and sleep in our bed, I will still be here in the morning and your back will thank me for making sure you don’t hurt yourself.”
“Sam…”
“Please Mo. Do it for me. I am going to be asleep basically the whole time you are gone.”
“Fine, but I will be back in the morning as soon as visitor hours start.”
“I can’t wait.” Kissing Samantha goodbye, I left the hospital, wishing that I was back with her but knowing she was right.
***
“She is walking around with a nurse but they should be back in the room in a few minutes.” I thank the nurse and sit down in a chair and answer a few texts before I hear Sam and a nurse coming into the room.
“Mo!”
“Hey Sam, how are you feeling?”
“A little stiff, but good. It felt really good to walk around the floor.” The nurse says a doctor will be in soon before leaving us, Sam coming to sit on my lap. “I missed you.”
“I missed you too, but you were right.”
“I’m sorry, can you repeat that?” I laugh, kissing her before lightly squeezing her side.
“You were right and I love you. I also brought you an iced coffee, I called the nurses desk and they talked to your doctor who gave the okay for the drink.”
“I love you too. And not just because you brought me coffee.” Hugging Sam as she drank her coffee and we chatted, waiting for the doctor, I was happy that this was just a bump in a road and even though I was super worried about the surgery, it all worked out.
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