Page 85 of Pucked Together

"Call an ambulance," the voice urges.

"Already on it," says Ryker.

I cough. The forced oxygen into my lungs overwhelms me as Ryker gives the dispatcher our current location and urges them to hurry up.

But I hear it again. The loud sound of airplane engines and if I don't bring my hands up to my ears, maybe I imagine doing it because every movement feels like wading through quicksand.

I don't hear when the ambulance arrives. Or when Ryker insists he goes with me. Because in my mind, I'm back on that plane.

And I'm falling back into darkness.

This time, when I wake up, I'm back in a hospital room. There's an IV in my arm and an oxygen mask over my face.

"...shouldn't be hereditary, but you just never know with these kinds of things. Our mom had—"

"Shhh...she's awake." I recognize Aunt Ginny's voice as I blink back at the lights in the room.

Someone's footsteps walk over to the switch and turn down the lights. Finally, I can see.

"Oh, honey," Aunt Ginny leans over me and wraps me in her arms. There are tears in her eyes, and they're dripping onto my exposed shoulder. The hospital gown that's on me has slipped slightly. And I feel a cool chill run through my body.

"How long was I out this time?" I ask, afraid of what she'll say.

Keelan and Ryker are at the end of the bed and exchange a look between them.

"Oh god," I say. "It's bad, isn't it? What? Did I have another birthday?"

Aunt Ginny smiles and brushes some loose hair out of my face, "Noo, nooo. Nothing like that, baby."

I move to sit up on the bed to get a good look at them.

"Then...what's wrong?"

Keelan walks up to flank me across from Aunt Ginny, and Ryker stays where he's at. His eyes are ringed with shadows. He looks like hell, and that does nothing to ease my nerves.

"Izzy, you're...," Keelan pauses.

"What? Am I dying? I'm dying, aren't I?" That's why I can't remember anything. My body is giving up.

Here lies Isabella Landry. She was almost somebody. Almost.

There's a knock on the door just before a cheerful-looking male nurse walks in, pushing a cart of juices, jello, and pudding.

"How's our mama-to-be feeling in here? You ready to feed that little nugget?" He picks up one of the pudding cups and rips the top off with such finesse, dipping in a plastic spoon and handing it to me like an expert.

I laugh. A deep laugh that starts small but then grows as what he says starts to settle in.

"Oh, noooo. I'm not pregnant. You must have your charts mixed up." I say, still chuckling. "But I do love chocolate, so I'll just hold onto this." I hold the pudding cup up to him in a toast before I bring the spoon to my mouth.

He chuckles, "Very funny. Y'all didn't tell me we had a comedian amongst us. All jokes aside, how are you feeling, Mama?"

Mama? Why is he calling me that?

Ryker's head lowers. "She doesn't know."

"Come again?" The male nurse says cocking his head. His genial smile slowly slips, and he stiffens before facing me.

"Oh my, that must be quite the news for you then?" He laughs nervously. "Well, you didn't hear it from me," he leans in with one hand on the side of his face like he's whispering a secret, "but you, my dear, are with child."