Almost Perfect

The tour was fast paced, Maroon 5 did shows all over the two continents and made appearances on tons of radio, TV, and internet programs. They were constantly on the run and Stacy tried to keep up as best she could. It was a lot of late nights and early mornings for Adam, which meant Stacy had the mornings to herself to sleep in and relax because she went to each show at night and supported the band. She tried to keep in contact with her family and friends back home as best she could too, Skyping them and calling them every few days.

They were on the last leg of the tour when Stacy got a phone call that broke her heart. She and Adam had just gotten back to their room after an earlier concert; it was outside at this big music festival which turned out to be a pretty cool scene so they stayed a little while longer to listen to some of the other bands play. They were just walking into their room when her mom called and Adam went to jump in the shower to give her some privacy.

She hung up the phone with her mother, instantly starting to cry. Adam became alarmed and moved to her side as she sat on the couch in the small living room of their hotel room.

“Stacy? What’s the matter?” He didn’t know what was going on, she had been talking to her mom for a few minutes but it ended pretty abruptly.

“My….oh my god, my grandma….” Stacy couldn’t get the words out, she was crying much too hard. “My grandma, she’s…..she died.” Stacy was so upset. Adam felt like the world came crashing down around them. They had been having such a good time on tour together and then for her to get news like that.

“Oh my god, darling I’m so sorry.” He sat with her and let her cry on his shoulder for quite some time. He remained quiet, rubbing the small of her back hoping to give her time to collect herself. Stacy and her grandma were always so close, this had to be extremely difficult for her. Even Adam had a few tears, Viola had been the first of the family to accept him as Stacy’s boyfriend and he thought she was a wonderful woman.

After her tears had dried up they sat there together for a while in silence before Stacy finally spoke up, “I should have been there. I didn’t even get to say goodbye.”

“Stacy you can’t blame yourself. She was healthy when we left, you couldn’t have known this would happen.” Adam wasn’t even sure what happened yet, he didn’t want to push her.

“She had a stroke, she died instantly.” Stacy said softly, knowing he wanted more details.

“At least she didn’t suffer,” He rubbed her back, trying to be supportive. Stacy nodded in agreement.

“The funeral is in a few days, I have to go home Adam.” She looked up at him, he agreed with her.

“Of course you do, I’ll go with you.” He was firm on that; he wanted to be there to support her. They could just postpone the shows and he could fly back after the funeral.

Stacy didn’t argue with him, she wanted him there. Adam got on his laptop at that point and booked their flights home before going down the hall to let the guys know what was going on.

Stacy stayed in the room, a slow stream of tears still trickling down her cheeks as she thought about her grandma and all of the amazing memories she had with her. She looked down at her ever growing stomach and placed two hands on it, her grandma would never get to meet their baby. That thought sent her over the edge again and she began to cry, her baby would never get to know the woman that had the most influence on Stacy all her life.

After all the arrangements were in place Stacy and Adam flew back to L.A. and celebrated her grandma’s life with the rest of the Walker family. They went to the funeral and then spent the rest of the day with Stacy’s family, exchanging stories about Viola and trying to remain positive about the long and joyous life the woman had here on earth.

When the couple went home that night Adam had to make plans to go back for the last four shows of the tour. He asked Stacy if she wanted to come with him but she turned him down, saying that she’d rather be here with her family so she could be there for them as they went through her grandmother’s house and all of her things. Adam understood and assured his girlfriend that he would be back as soon as he could.

They spent that night looking at pictures and watching old home movies from when Stacy was little and laughing at all the funny stories and memories she had with her grandma. Although she was going to miss her grandma greatly, her heart felt light as she thought of all the wonderful times she had with her and how she knew Viola approved of Adam and the fact that they were now starting a family of their own. Adam would fly back out to Thailand the following day but Stacy knew that he would be back home before too long which made it easier on her.

When Adam finally made it back to L.A. after the rest of the tour they made sure to go and see Stacy’s doctor to check on the baby and to make sure that Stacy was still in good health. Adam had gone with her and for the first time was able to hear the heartbeat of the baby and see an ultrasound. Stacy didn’t think she could slap the smile off his cute face after that. He was in such amazement at the life they had created. The doctor asked if they wanted to know the sex of the baby but each of them decided that they wanted to be surprised.

Stacy’s pregnancy was going by quickly; before they knew it she was already 33 weeks along. It was late one night when she woke up one night to a sharp pain in her abdomen. Thinking it wasn’t anything major, she rolled over and tried to go back to sleep until another sharp pain caused her to wince. She sat up on the edge of the bed and held her stomach; she wasn’t sure what to think. She glanced behind her, Adam was sound asleep. Stacy stood up, slowly heading towards the bathroom when another sharp pain struck her so strongly that she collapsed to the floor.

She let out a cry with the next pain, waking Adam from his slumber. “Stacy?” He sat up and looked next to him, realizing his girlfriend wasn’t there. He urgently turned on the light next to their bed and stood up, his eyes spotting her on the ground immediately.

He could tell from her face that she was in pain, and tears were starting to run down her cheeks. Adam went to her side, “Sweetheart what happened?”

“I’m having really sharp pains in my stomach,” She said through gritted teeth.

“Come on, we need to get you to the hospital!” When Adam started to help her up she let out another cry of pain as she stood.

Stacy looked down and realized there was a small spot of blood on the floor where she just was. “Oh god, Adam I’m bleeding! We have to hurry, that’s not a good sign.” Being a nurse Stacy could recognize some of the signs of preterm labor but she didn’t know if their baby was okay, they needed to get to the hospital and they needed to get there now.

Adam quickly helped Stacy down the stairs and into the car, then returning back inside to grab her bag and the keys. He drove them to the hospital as fast as he could, glancing at her ever so often.
Stacy was bracing herself in the seat next to him. Clenching her jaw and wincing in pain as the sharp, shooting pains came closer together now.

As they pulled into the hospital Adam parked near the door and hurried outside and around to the passenger side to aid his girlfriend in getting out. He helped her walk into the doors of the large hospital before sitting her in a wheelchair and finding the front desk.

“Please help us, my girlfriend is pain!” He exclaimed to the triage nurse in the ER.

“Sir, I need you to calm down and tell me what’s going on.” She said coolly.

“I’m 8 months pregnant and I’m having horrible pains as well as bleeding,” Stacy said, groaning in pain again. “Please help me, I need to know if our baby is okay!”

“Megan get over here and assist this couple up to L&D!” The nurse called to a co-worker who was behind the desk. The other nurse, Megan nodded and came over to the couple.

“I’m Megan, I’ll help you get up to labor and delivery.” The perky blonde smiled at the couple, instantly recognizing who Adam was. She was giving Adam this googely eyed grin as she walked around to the back of the wheelchair, Stacy couldn’t help but roll her eyes.

Tears were streaming down Stacy’s face when they finally reached the floor and got her into a room. Adam noticed as they walked through the halls people taking second glances and realizing who had just come into the hospital.

“Here is a hospital gown for you to put on Miss….” The nurse trailed off, unsure of Stacy’s last name.

“Just call me Stacy,” She said as she tried to stand from the wheelchair but she was in too much pain.

“Baby let me help you,” Adam offered her his hand and assisted her out of the wheelchair.

“Please put the gown on and get into bed, we have paged your physician and she will be in shortly, she was just at another delivery.” With that the nurse left Adam and Stacy alone.

Adam helped Stacy put the hospital gown on and moved with her slowly as she tried to get into bed.

“I’m so scared,” She divulged as she looked at him with sad eyes.

“Everything is going to be fine,” Adam tried to reassure her but he wasn’t entirely sure he believed that himself. After everything they’ve been through, their baby had to be okay.

The couple sat in silence for a few minutes before Stacy’s doctor, Dr. Jamison entered the room.

“Hi Stacy, Adam,” She nodded in Adam’s direction. “What seems to be going on?”

“I woke up to really sharp pains in my abdomen and then I started bleeding,” Stacy explained.

“Okay, I’m going to hook you up to this monitor and we are going to take a look at how the baby is doing before we make any decisions. I’m also going to have to examine you and see if you’re dilated or effaced.” Dr. Jamison hook Stacy up to a monitor that would show what the baby’s heart rate was doing and what Stacy’s heart rate and oxygen saturations were.

The machine started doing the reading and the doctor was looking it over when the machine started to beep.

Trying not to alarm the couple, Dr. Jamison silenced it and double checked to make sure she was seeing things correctly.

As soon as the beeping began Stacy looked at Adam, her face full of concern and tears in her eyes. He moved next to her and wrapped his arms around her. Stacy buried her face in his chest, beginning to cry.

“What’s going on Doctor?” Adam asked, worried about the condition of their baby.

“I’m afraid your baby’s heart beat is not as strong as we’d like it to be, your baby is having late decelerations with each contraction and it appears the cord may be around the neck. Stacy we are going to have to perform an emergency C-section. I know this was not the plan for you but it’s very important that we get this baby out right now.” Dr. Jamison looked at the two of them, waiting for consent.

Stacy looked at Adam and he gave her a nod. She turned to Dr. Jamison and nodded as well, “Whatever you have to do to keep our baby safe.”

“Okay, I will have the nurse come in and start prepping you for surgery. Adam you are welcome to come in and be with her the whole time. She will be awake but we will numb her so she won’t feel a thing. We are going to do everything we can to keep both of you safe, please trust me.” Dr. Jamison informed them.

“Thank you Doctor.” Stacy said quietly, watching as she left and shortly after a nurse came in to start prepping her.

Adam leaned in and kissed her forehead, “I love you so much, you are going to do great darling. You’re strong and I know you can do this. I’m going to be there by your side the whole time, I promise.”

Stacy gave him a small smile, leaning in to kiss him. “Thank you, I love you too.”