One Heart

Brian’s POV

Thankfully Nat did respond to the treatment and just after a week, my deepest desire came true.

At first her eyes simply fluttered, but I knew from spending the last week at her side in a silent vigil that it was nothing to get my hopes up about, since she could simply be dreaming. However when the flutters stopped and her sapphire eyes greeted me, I don’t know how I didn’t scream out from pure joy or wrap my arms around her and crushed her in my embrace, never wanting to let go.

“Hey honey,” I said soothingly, keeping my voice low so that I didn’t scare her. “How are you?”

“Tired. Sorry I fell asleep,” she replied, raising her free hand to her eyes and rubbing at them before looking at me. “You look like you haven’t slept in a week.”

“Something like that,” I chuckled. She smiled for a few brief moments before dropping it in favour of a frown. “What’s the matter?”

Her eyes seemed to sweep across the whole room. “Where is he?”

“Where is who?” I echoed.

“You said you went to go get him didn’t you?” She looked at me oddly. “Our son?”

“I…”

That was over a week ago…

Her expression was completely sincere after her question, meaning that she truly thought that I had only been gone to get him, meaning… Meaning that she didn’t know she had been unconscious this past week… Or that she had been clinically dead for a few minutes.

“Brian?” She looked questionably at me. “Is something wrong?”

“Hm?” I shook my head. “No, nothing’s wrong.”

“So where is he?”

“Oh… Jimmy’s looking after him. Hang on.” I pulled out my cell and punched in a quick text before returning my attention to her. “He’ll just be a minute.”

We both sat there in silence, neither of us really knowing what to say. Or rather, at least I couldn’t. What could I say to a person who didn’t know of the agony I went through this past week? I even had to begin making funeral plans in case of the worst happening…

“Brian?”

“Yes?”

“Did something happen when I was asleep?”

Looking at her I couldn’t bear to say anything- so I shook my head. “No. Nothing at all.”

Before she could question me further Jimmy walked in with Leana behind him, cradling my son in his arms. He came to an abrupt stop at the end of the bed with a startled look after seeing Nat; his mouth hanging open. “Nat…”

She cocked her head to the side. “What’s the matter, Jimmy?”

“You’re-” He stopped himself as I shot him a ‘don’t-say-what-I-know-you-want-to-say’ look, shaking his head much like I had done earlier and smiling. “Nothing.” He walked over to her and placed our son in her open arms. “Here’s Sammy.”

“Sammy?”

Right then I couldn’t have wanted to pummel the life out of the male drummer any more than I did then- I probably would have tried it as well if Nathalie hadn’t suddenly turned to me, her confusion growing with each passing second.

“I thought you wanted to wait until we were both here to name him.”

“Nat…” I began, fumbling for the right words to say, just as Jimmy beat me to it.

“How could Brian have waited to name him?”

Her perplexed expression deepened as she turned to Jimmy. “What do you mean?”

“He doesn’t mean anything,” I rushed, pushing myself to my feet and propelling myself to his side, clamping my hand down on his shoulder. “Didn’t you, Jimmy?”

“I guess not…” He replied slowly, exchanging worried glances with his wife behind him. “Forget about it Nat.”

“Oh, alright then.” She shrugged it off and directed her gaze back to Sammy, her eyes flooded with pure joy. “He’s perfect…” She murmured, gently running her finger across one of his tiny hands before looking for me. “He looks just like you.”

I joined her on the bed, planting myself on the side and watching the pair of them, every ounce the proud father and husband. “Nothing but perfection can come from you Nathalie.” Reaching over I pressed my lips to her forehead. “You’re perfect.”

“Sometimes I think you idolise me too much.”

“Would you rather I stopped?”

She chuckled. “No, I’m fine with it actually.”

“How is it that even when you are in a room with other people, you still somehow make it so that it feels like it is just you two?” Leana asked. She exhaled a sigh as Jimmy gave her a light shake. “It’s so unreal.”

“I never noticed,” Nat answered truthfully, her gaze still fixated upon Sammy as she played with his fingers. “I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be,” Leana said. She took Jimmy over with her to the bed and planted herself on the side. “He’s so beautiful.” She turned to Jimmy with a wistful look. “Don’t you think…?”

“In time Lea,” Jimmy quickly replied. “We’ve got years to settle that.”

“Years?” Nat echoed, glancing between the two of them which now involved a seething female and a slowly retreating male. “That’s not something you should ever say to your partner, especially one that’s female.”

“Mrs. Haner?”

Everyone looked up to the doctor now hovering in the doorway as she answered. “That’s me.”

He stepped inside and picked the clipboard up from the end of her bed. “You gave us quite the scare earlier. How are you feeling?”

“I’m fine,” she responded slowly, her brow furrowed as she tried to work out how she could have scared anyone. “Why, is anything wrong?”

“Well-”

“Can I talk to you quickly?” I interrupted sharply, essentially forcing the doctor out the doorway with a short “We’ll be back in a minute” over my shoulder before slipping the door shut behind us.

Needless to say, he was confused. “Mr. Haner, may I ask what you are doing?

“Is there anyway you could… well…” I trailed off, trying to think of the right way to put it.

“Anyway I could put what, Mr. Haner?”

“Well… telling Nat about the past week. She doesn’t remember it.”

He looked surprised. “She doesn’t?”

I shook my head. “She thinks she just fell asleep. I just don’t want her to worry about- well, you know…”

“The cardiac arrest?”

“Well yeah,” I murmured. “She’ll just freak out if she knows she was dead for a while, even if she’s fine now.”

“I’m not entirely sure that disclosing this information from your wife is a good idea,” he replied with a frown. “In cases where patients suffer cardiac arrest we have to ensure they are monitored closely to ensure to reduce the risk of it occurring again-”

“But I can look out for her,” I interjected. “You can just tell me what I need to look out for and then I can say if anything happens.”

“Mr. Haner I really don’t think this-”

“Please?” I was desperate now. “Just try it; she seems better not knowing.”

With a sigh, he glanced down briefly at his clipboard before he unwillingly relented. “Alright, we’ll try it your way. However I will have to implore you of the urgency of contacting me if Nathalie begins to show any problems, even if minimal.”

“Whatever it takes,” I said. “Thank you.”

We both returned in silence to the room where I moved back to Nathalie’s side. She looked up at me curiously as I approached and wound her fingers in mine.

“What was that about?”

“Just formalities, nothing to worry about,” I murmured. To my side I saw Jimmy mouth at me asking what was wrong but I left his with a simple shaking of my head to dismiss the issue. Thankfully he got the idea so I guessed he would save the questions for later.

“So Mrs. Haner-”

“Call me Nat,” she interrupted. “That sounds far too formal.” She paused for a moment and flashed me a sweet smile. “Not that I don’t like the sound of it.”

“Well Nat, I have to say that I am pleased with your condition right now, and have wondered if you have changed your mind about treatment. I remember from last time you refused on the grounds of being pregnant with your son, but have you revised your decision now?”

Her eyes flickered back to the doctor from where they had been settled on me for the past few minutes. “It’s still an option?”

“Of course it would have been better if we had started the course earlier, but yes, there is the possibility of a successful treatment if we begin soon.”

“How soon?”

“We can begin the first course this afternoon.”

“This… afternoon?” She faltered and sought out my reassurance, which I responded to with a squeeze of her hand. “That soon?”

“For the best results we need to begin as quickly as possible.”

“Oh.” I could feel her trembling as she had to make a choice that could determine her survival. “I…” Her gaze dropped to the tiny infant moving in his sleep. It was this motion that caused the shaking taking hold of her to stop. “Let’s do it.”

With another squeeze of her hand I brought Nat’s gaze back to mine. “You’ll be fine Nat.”

She smiled at me before she returned it to Sammy. “I’ve got to be. Sammy needs me now- I can’t just leave him to you now can I?”